ARNOLD FOLLOWS IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HIS FIRST HERO (NIXON)…

Look out! The Governor’s office has moved their security operation into the Nixonian proportions.

Remember what Schwarzenegger said at the Republican Convention (August 31, 2004):

“’Listening to Nixon speak sounded more like a breath of fresh air. I said to my friend, I said, ‘What party is he?’ My friend said, ‘He's a Republican.’ I said, ‘Then, I am a Republican.’"

Fast forward to this week. According to the San Bernardino County Sun, teachers who thought they were on the “guest list” to attend the Governor’s phony town hall were turned away because they were on a “list.” A list managed by Republican activists.

Is there a Chuck Colson running around the Governor’s office? (http://www.answers.com/topic/nixon-s-enemies-list)

From the San Bernardino County Sun (April 28, 2005):

“Numerous teachers said their names were on the guest list, but they were turned away after their affiliation with the teachers' union became known.

‘Boy, am I mad,’ Fontana teacher Kathleen Casas said, stomping along the dusty side of the road where protesters banged drums and chanted slogans.

‘I know my name was on the list because they went like this,’ Casas said, mimicking someone running their finger along a number of names. Her finger stopped mid-air.

‘They said, ‘Oh, Kathy Casas, here you are.’’

Casas, along with about 14 other teachers were not allowed into the event despite being on the invite list, Linda M. Young, president of the Fontana Teachers Association, said inside the steel company.

‘I saw the list. Their names were on it,' she said.

‘All I can say is that there were some people who were mistakenly put on the list,' said Adam Aleman, executive director of the San Bernardino County Republican Party.

Aleman was manning the entry gate along with two volunteers. He directed all other questions to Brad Mitzelfelt, chief of staff for Bill Postmus, chairman of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors and chairman of the county Republican Party.”


We have a few questions:

Since when are teachers considered a threat to the Governor?

Why are Republican activists in charge of these gubernatorial events?

Who is in charge of these “enemies” lists?

Are these county and state employees using their vacation time to help organize these campaign-style events?

We are sure that that Chairman of the San Bernardino County Republican Party will be able to answer all of these questions:

Supervisor Bill Postmus - 1st District (Chairman)
Main OfficeCounty Government Center 385 N. Arrowhead Ave., 5th Fl. San Bernardino, CA 92415-0110 (909) 387-4830

Bill Postmus is a Bush Campaign “Maverick.” A “Maverick is an under-40 Bush supporter who raised $50,000 for the Bush campaign.

According to the Riverside Press Enterprise (June 4, 2004):

“Postmus is a Maverick. He said he received an e-mail about a meeting led by Bush campaign manager Ken Melman in Los Angeles for donors under 40. Postmus is 33. Postmus pulled out his telephone donor list and in about a month raised $ 58,000 for a March 3 fund-raiser at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. "It's a little more challenging," he said. "For my own campaign, we don't have contribution limits. We can raise unlimited amounts of money. It's a little more of a challenge to go out and look for more people.”

WE KNOW THE GOVERNOR NEVER LOOKS AT POLLS…

As another poll shows the decline of the Governor’s approval rating, one has to wonder what happened to those muscled-up coattails of his?

A statewide survey from the right-leaning Rose Institute of State and Local Government notes that when asked if you approve or disapprove of the job Gov. Schwarzenegger is doing today – over 42% of respondents disapprove (including 64% of Democrats and 41% of Other voters). http://rose.claremontmckenna.edu/redistricting/redistricting.asp

Maybe this explains why we see more Republican legislators making the trek to Pomona to kiss the extreme right-wing of the Republican Party (http://www.ca-ra.org/), than we see walking three flights of stairs to attend that great “Thank the Governor for protecting Taxpayers” rally.

The list of legislators attending his events is getting pretty short. Besides his loyal Lieutenant, Senator Tom McClintock (by the way we liked the old, unplugged McClintock better, but I guess a few well-timed fundraising events with the Governor have muzzled him), where are those Republican Assembly members who were flocking to do photo-ops at the numerous campaign events the Governor had last election cycle?

Maybe the Governor’s advance team isn’t telling anyone because they are afraid that the nurses and teachers will dominate the event (by the way the Governor is doing another fake event in Fontana tomorrow according to today’s Riverside Press-Enterprise headline “Governor to Tout Plans to Friendly, Invited Audience”).

Or maybe it’s because every day when the Republican Caucus opens the clips, they see another story of the administration in retreat and disarray.

As described in this week’s Political Pulse, “In Year Two of the Schwarzenegger gubernatorial, many Republicans have fallen into a pre-recall funk. It is the forlorn resignation that comes from the familiar taste of defeat. Before their very eyes, the great Republican hope is disintegrating.” The article even mentions those two dreaded words – Jesse Ventura!

Maybe the Republican Caucus wants to see if the Governor’s ship can right itself before they run over and endorse what’s left of his initiative agenda. They don’t want to be left hanging out there like Assemblyman Keith Richman – holding the bag on an initiative that was so flawed that even the Governor dropped his support. Good luck on that run for Treasurer…

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Schwarzenegger’s Triple Lindy on Immigration

The Governor’s office is in full retreat after his Wilsonian slip yesterday in response to a reporter’s question on immigration:

“It's a federal issue and the only thing I can say to add to this is: close the borders. Close the borders in California and all across -- within Mexico and the United States. Because I think it is just unfair to have all those people coming across and have the borders open the way it is -- to have this kind of a lax situation.”

Was this just another slip of the tongue or another attempt by the Governor to pander?

CNN’s Casey Wian today noted that it’s difficult to tell where Schwarzenegger really stands on immigration because “his positions have been all over the map.” In fact, the Governor’s positions on immigration resemble Rodney Dangerfield’s fictional dive, the Triple Lindy, from 1986’s “Back to School.” But unlike the movie, Schwarzenegger doesn’t need an extra springboard for his triple flips.

Consider that as a candidate Arnold had a different take on immigrants when he appeared at a candidate debate during the recall. In response to a question about the driver’s license bill Schwarzenegger stated that he opposed the bill, but went on to say: Let's get them visas. Let's get them temporary working permits… Let's get them permanent working permits. (Recall Debate, Cal. State U. at Sacramento Sep 24, 2003)

So which is it? “Let’s get them visas” or “close the borders” or “I meant securing?”

For a governor who has been conspicuously absent on the immigration debate during his time in office to now advocate “closing the borders” was a bit of a surprise. But his flip-flops are not. Remember that the day after dropping the flawed pension reform plan the Governor went on right-wing talk radio and declared it as a “victory,” said he wasn’t dropping it at all, just delaying, and pledged to keep fighting.

The next time we hear the Governor on talk radio will we hear him praising the Minuteman Projects as “patriots” or will we hear him praising Mexico for its vacation spots and trade potential?

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ASK ARNOLD AT HP IN ROSEVILLE

It’s great to see Arnold attending another Chamber-directed made-for-TV campaign appearance. Instead of forcing his way into the home of a handpicked chamber of commerce representative in Fresno, the Governor has cut out the middleman and gone straight to the source (of campaign donations). Remember, major donor HP has donated over $280,000 to the Governor’s California Recovery Team and initiative coffers since 2003...

One question to “Ask Arnold” today is how many California jobs is HP going to outsource this year?

According to CNET News.com (April 22, 2005) Hewlett-Packard is working hard to catch up in the outsourcing game. They recently appointed Steve Smith to lead the HP Managed Services unit. According to the article Smith’s team is raring to go. The article highlights some recent victories:

“Last week, HP signed a multimillion-dollar outsourcing contract with the Bank of Baroda in India. HP will implement and manage the bank's service-oriented architecture, which includes core banking, phone banking, Internet banking, delivery channel integration, customer relationship management and data warehousing.

“‘It's a milestone customer win which follows the Bank of India deal,’ Smith said. ‘It's easily one of our largest wins.’ …

“‘In addition, 2005 presents new opportunities for HP on the outsourcing front as contracts signed 10 years ago with competitors will be up for renewal,’ he said.

“‘We're into second-generation outsourcing. In the next six to seven months, companies that decided to outsource eight to 10 years ago, will be looking at the next step, and many have determined that they know how to govern not just one supplier,’ Smith explained.”

I guess it really won't matter to the employees of HP if Arnold's anti-worker, anti-education agenda passes, since their jobs will probably be outsourced anyway.

See How They Run

Don't be surprised to see the Assembly Republican Caucus on the side of a milk carton soon. When it comes to the supporting the Governor, they're running away faster than rats on a sinking ship. Given the lack of turnout, it was easy to spot the only Republican Assembly member on hand for last week's half-baked "Thank You, Governor" rally by the Citizens to Save California.

That was none other than Assemblymember Bonnie Garcia, who has corporate interests bankrolling an education proposal she didn't even bother to introduce as legislation

(Note to Bonnie: your tax-paying constituents sent you to Sacramento to introduce bills, not initiatives that will cost them $80 million).

Then again, maybe Assembly Republicans still aren't over the Governor's efforts from last year's legislative elections. Despite promising them the world, the Governor's endorsements of Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy's slate of unsurgents (yeah, I made that word up) left their status in the capitol unchanged.

So they're back to their traditional role: holding the broom behind the elephant in the room, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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The Leaky Wheel Gets a Seat on the Bench

The Oakland Tribune today reported that Charles “Ben” Burch, “the federal prosecutor who has been quarterbacking the grand jury investigation into state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata was appointed a Contra Costa County Superior Court judge Wednesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.” (Oakland Tribune, April 14, 2005)

Yes, you heard right, Arnold Schwarzenegger has just rewarded the same “quarterback” whose office has been accused of selectively leaking information to the media just as Perata became the Pro Tem with a judgeship.

At the time, Perata attorney George O’Connell, in a letter to Burch’s boss, US Attorney Kevin Ryan asked “Is the illegal discussion of a grand jury proceeding by government law enforcement personnel being orchestrated for political purposes?”

At the time, one political observer noted that such might be the case: “‘I do believe that it was politically motivated,’ said Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics in Sacramento.” (Oakland Tribune, November 23, 2004)

With Schwarzenegger’s reward of Burch with a seat on the Superior Court, looks like we now have our answer.

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He Said It…

San Francisco Columnist Debra Saunders sat down with Governor Schwarzenegger and asked him “How is the budget you presented for the next fiscal year different from what Gray Davis would have done? Schwarzenegger said he didn't want to compare himself with Davis, who, he said, wanted to make more budget cuts.”

In between swings of his Conan sword, Schwarzenegger lamented the fact that when it comes to State Government, we have to play by rules of Democracy:

“’We are very ambitious’, he noted, ‘but when you work with 120 legislators, everyone's hacking and chipping away and it slows down the process. The advantage that we have is democracy, but the disadvantage is it's not a dictatorship.’" (San Francisco Chronicle, April 14, 2005)


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I Know Yours Are Worthless, But What Are Mine?

Assemblymember Ray Haynes (R- Temecula) stood up on the Assembly floor and, during the debate of ACR 43 (Horton) regarding meal breaks, railed against “worthless resolutions”.

We guess they are only worthless when he doesn’t agree with them.

According to legislative records from the 2003-04 Legislative session, Assemblymember Haynes introduced the following “worthless resolutions”:

ACR 164 Ronald Reagan Day: This resolution recognizes February 6, 2004, and subsequent anniversaries thereafter as Ronald Reagan Day.

ACR 222 Small Business Month: This resolution proclaims the month of May 2004 as Small Business Month.

AJR 22 Judicial Nomination of Miguel Estrada: Resolution that urges the United States Senate to hold a vote on whether or not to confirm Miguel Estrada to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

AJR 23 Estate Taxes: Resolution that urges the President of the United States and the Congress to support legislation that would immediately and permanently repeal estate taxes.

AJR 24 President Bush’s 2002 Economic Growth and Tax Relief Plan: Resolution that urges Representatives and Senators in the United States Congress from the State of California to support and enact President Bush's 2002 Economic Growth and Tax Relief Plan.

AJR 25 Pension and Individual Retirement Accounts: Resolution that urges Representatives and Senators from the State of California in the United States Congress to enact legislation that would repeal the expiration date of the existing law related to the limitations imposed on the amount of tax-deductible contributions made by taxpayers to their individual retirement accounts.

AJR 26 Alternative Minimum Tax: Resolution that urges the President of the United States and the Congress to support legislation that would permanently repeal the alternative minimum tax.

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Save Some Space on Mt. Rushmore

According to an April 12th report run on KCRA Channel 3, the Governor has scrapped another reform. This time the administration is dropping a controversial program dealing with convict diversion.

In addition, the report highlighted other failures of the Governor’s Administration, including his dropping of the plan to eliminate dozens of state boards and commissions and his retreat on the pension fight.

Finally the report ended with some major league spin from one of the Governor’s biggest supporters (NO - it wasn’t Tom Arnold):

“But far from political defeats, the governor's supporters say the decisions are simply tactical, temporary retreats and the sign of a good leader.

“‘If you look at every great leader, you look at Roosevelt, you look at Lincoln, you look at Washington. Theirs wasn't a straight line,’ said Republican Party Chairman Duff Sundheim.” (KCRA-3 NBC, April 12, 2005)

What? No Jefferson?

We’re not sure breaking your word to parents and teachers and attacking nurses, firefighters and cops as “special interests” rises to the level of our national fathers up on Mount Rushmore, but we’ll leave it up to history to be the judge…

Suspension of Disbelief Quote of the Day

“I don’t know what polls you’re reading because my polls that we have done, I’m at 60 percent.”
(Gov. Schwarzenegger on KNX and KFWB radio today, when asked about the SPRI poll showing his approval rating dropping to 43 percent – before adding that he never pays attention to polls.)



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Potemkin Village, Oscar-Style

Despite the fact that surveys show public aversion to Gov. Schwarzenegger’s stagecraft and gimmickry, the Governor continued the “kitchen cabinet” charade in Santa Rosa yesterday.

Though they are described as simple meetings with average Californians, a Reuters report indicates the staging for the meetings is more Hollywood Blvd than Main Street.

“Schwarzenegger typically attends carefully staged events. On Thursday afternoon he attended his third "Citizens' Kitchen Cabinet," at which he meets a few Californians to talk about public policy issues.

“Anne Speake, who hosted one of the gatherings at her home in Fresno two weeks ago, described extensive preparations. ‘The people started coming out, the lighting people, and they brought out a big generator and cables through my garage,’ she said in an interview.

‘Evidently the people who do the lighting did, for example, Reagan's funeral and the Academy Awards.’” (Reuters, 4/7/05)

The Santa Rosa event was no different than the ones in Fresno and Long Beach. According to the Pool Report filed by the San Francisco Chronicle, the entire group was handpicked by the Chamber of Commerce and the Governor’s staff:

“Nancy Miller, 44, of Santa Rosa, a career pathway and community outreach coordinator for Santa Rosa city schools. She said she was contacted by the executive director of the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce about her participation and is a member of the Chamber's Leadership Santa Rosa group…

*Teejay (CQ) Lowe, 29, of Santa Rosa, the director of community relations
for G&G Supermarkets. Lowe said he was contacted by the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce president…

*Stacey Camara, 41, a Santa Rosa police officer, who was also contacted by
the Santa Rosa Chamber president…

*Julio Caceres, 31, assistant vice president of First Community Bank in
Santa Rosa, also contacted by the Chamber president…

*Peggy Mays, "50-something," of Sebastopol, administrator of the Santa
Rosa Spine Institute and the Santa Rosa Ambulatory Surgical Center. Mays
said she was chosen for the event after being contacted by her friend, an
attorney, whom she said was a gubernatorial appointee.” (Pool Report, 4/7/05)

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that “advance staffers visited Tuesday and again Wednesday...” and that they were “planning out camera angles and TV lighting in her living room.”

“The attendees said they were asked to keep details confidential before the meeting. They were given materials outlining Schwarzenegger's proposals in advance and background on how the meeting would work during a conference call Wednesday, but they were not restricted in what they could ask.” (Press-Democrat, 4/8/05)

I’m sure the fact that they were hand-picked by the Chamber, coached in advance and dropped into a big-budget production had no impact on types of question these “real” people asked Governor Schwarzenegger.

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REAL PEOPLE PASS ON POLITICIAN ARNOLD’S AGENDA

The Los Angeles Times’ George Skelton today reports that a new poll shows “fewer than half of Californians now approve of the way the governor is handling his job, a sharp decline since January.” (http://www2.sjsu.edu/spri/05survey/politicalpressr1.pdf)

Hmmm, what happened in January? Oh yeah, that’s when Arnold the consensus builder became Arnold the partisan politician.

His Republican advisers are deluding themselves into thinking the governor’s slide in public and private polls is anything less than a rejection of the arrogant partisan politics being practiced in 2005 by Schwarzenegger and his surrogates.

Instead of being a Politician and embarking on the Permanent Campaign, the governor ought to return his focus to the job for which he was elected, governing.

One of his spokespeople declared to the Times that the governor’s “strength comes from being out there with the people.”

The People? What people? The Chamber of Commerce-picked “Kitchen Cabinet” participants? The Fat Cat corporate contributors at his recurrent nationwide fundraisers? The staff at his Idaho or Hawaii retreats?

The real people Schwarzenegger should be worried about are the millions of working Californians his bought-and-paid-for-by-the-Chamber-of-Commerce agenda is alienating.

Perhaps feeling some of this pressure, Governor Schwarzenegger today decided to drop his flawed pension “reform” initiative while, of course, still denying there was anything wrong with it.

In his remarks today, the governor threatened, “…our pension reform proposal will go to the ballot in June 2006, and we will win because that’s what the people demand.”

That’s unfortunate. The sooner the governor realizes the “people” he talks to at his fundraisers, staged campaign events and at Chamber meetings are not representative of average Californians, the sooner we can get to addressing the real problems facing our state: Education, Transportation, Healthcare and the Environment.

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Anyone Joining Arnold’s Army (Besides the Paid Signature Gatherers)?

While the Bush administration and Republican leaders in Congress are coordinating a month long campaign to overhaul Social Security, GOP elected leaders in California are unusually quiet about Governor’s Schwarzenegger’s “reform” agenda.

According to the latest issue of Roll Call (April 4, 2005):

“Republican spin doctors in Congress hope that all the planned events over the next month will complement the president’s own 60-day speaking tour. Bush reached his 30-day midpoint on Friday.” The article goes on to highlight the activities of the Republican National Committee which has “distributed a 38-page memo to all 50 state Republican parties before sending Members into town hall meetings during the recess. The memo offered polling data, talking points, sample op-eds and letters to the editor, and it contained advice on how state parties can help drive more sympathetic audiences — particularly college students — to GOP lawmakers’ town hall meetings. Republicans have also been encouraged to attend Democratic Social Security events and ask pointed, RNC-scripted questions.”

Meanwhile back in California things seem a little less organized. The Governor is hitting the road on a solo tour and the Republican elected leaders in the state seem to be on an extended Spring Break.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle (April 4, 2005):

“Other GOP insiders in Sacramento say privately that Schwarzenegger is losing the PR war. ‘If they don't get control in the next two weeks,’ one said, ‘(the story line) will be that Schwarzenegger is taking money away from widows and orphans.’

“‘He is suffering right now,’ says Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo, whose February survey showed Schwarzenegger's approval rating at 55 percent, having slipped 10 points in five months.

“‘It wouldn't surprise me if (his job approval ratings) were below 50 percent today,’ says DiCamillo, who notes the biggest decline has been among ‘a very powerful and positive group for him'' -- nearly 1 in 5 state voters who are nonpartisan or ‘decline to state.’”

“Independents Reassessing

“By a 3-1 margin, those independents held positive views of the governor, and now ‘they're starting to turn,’ DiCamillo says; that spells trouble because once those voters develop a negative impression and get turned off, ‘it's harder to win them back.’”

“The voter turnoff stems from the confusing Schwarzenegger agenda, DiCamillo says. ‘They're looking at his plans for a special election and ... they think he's not really fulfilling the job he was elected to do -- which was to govern and make laws.’”

In addition the San Jose Mercury News (April 4, 2005) reported that the Governor’s office is looking to deal.

“There are bills in the Legislature to accomplish the governor's goals. But Schwarzenegger is also pushing ballot initiatives for an anticipated November special election, in the event legislators fail to act.

“‘I think they should be looking at the exit strategy out of a fall campaign,’ Quinn said. ‘These proposals are not ready to go before the people.’

“A GOP operative, who requested anonymity for fear of offending the governor, said Schwarzenegger has lacked a message for months. ‘He has been out-worked and out-organized by the opposition. The governor’s office seems to be flailing away.’”

For a longer list of Republican elected leaders supporting the Governor’s Initiatives you can check the following two websites, but look hard…

http://www.goforitarnold.com/ http://www.citizenstosaveca.org

Assembly Republicans Spin Out of Control

Admitting to reporters that, "I don't know how it works," didn't stop Republican Assembly Member John Benoit from bashing the Assembly Democrats transportation plan after a Capitol press conference today.

Despite not being armed with any facts, Benoit said it raises taxes by $8 billion (reality: it's revenue neutral, using numbers provided by the LAO, slashing the gas tax immediately by 11 cents); wasn't reviewed by the governor's office (reality: the Speaker met with the Governor's cabinet and legislative secretaries yesterday to discuss how the bill works); and increases borrowing (maybe, but his caucus has had no problem proposing this method to balance the state budget).

Benoit also went on to criticize the federal repeal of the estate tax -- a proposal pushed by President George W. Bush and the Republican Congress.

Meanwhile, the Assembly Republicans have no transportation proposal of their own. Maybe their solution is to ride on the "fairy wings" the Governor talked about in his State of the State address in January.

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