ASSEMBLY REPUBLICANS CHOOSE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OVER NATIONAL GUARD RESERVISTS

Today Assembly Republicans rejected job protection for thousands of Californians military reservists, instead siding with the California Chamber of Commerce.

Republicans voted en masse against Assembly Bill 985 (Torrico, D-Newark) which would protect the jobs of military reservists who are called to active duty.

AB 985 is sponsored by the National Guard Association and opposed by the California Chamber of Commerce. It would make it illegal for an employer to fire or discriminate against workers who take time off to serve on active duty. It would also require six months compensation if the job of the returning reservist has been outsourced.

In the past several years, thousands of military reservists in California have been called to active duty and served in Iraq and Afghanistan.Thousands of California military reservists have left their homes, families and jobs to honorably serve on active duty. Many have been wounded or paid the ultimate sacrifice.

For the Republicans to celebrate our veterans at Memorial Day services on Monday and vote against the right of reservists to reclaim their jobs on Tuesday simply proves that the Republican Party will never buck their big business donors, no matter the issue.

AB 985 passed the Assembly on a party line vote with 26 Republicans casting “No” votes. The bill now goes on to the state Senate.

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ASSEMBLY REPUBLICANS KILL LAW TO FIX CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISING LOOPHOLE

With the mighty rallying cry “stop the harassment of corporate America”, Assemblymember Ray Haynes rallied the Assembly Republican Caucus to kill a real election reform law (AB 938 Umberg, D-Santa Ana) that would close a fundraising loophole for ballot measures.

The law required a 2/3 vote of the Assembly and amended the Political Reform Act by requiring certain campaign committees to file an electronic report within 10 business days of making contributions or independent expenditures of $10,000 or more to support or oppose the qualification or passage of a single state ballot measure.

In the past few months we have seen the Small Business Action Committee exploit this campaign finance loophole to great effect by essentially skirting current election laws and accepting unlimited contributions from unknown sources and then transferring these contributions to the Coalition for Employee Rights – an initiative committee formed to quality a statewide initiative.

Mr. Haynes attacked this measure as an attack on the “power of the people” designed to quash the initiative process. Huh? How would shining some light on these shadow committees that launder contributions to help qualify statewide initiatives kill the initiative process? Maybe the citizens of California deserve to know who is really behind these initiatives while they are in circulation and not six months later.

Small Business Action Committee – PAC ID# 1270683

Contributions to Coalition for Employee Rights:

3/24/05 $ 75,000
4/06/05 $200,000 4/18/05 $ 35,000
4/29/05 $ 20,000
5/03/05 $225,000

TOTAL $555,000



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Assembly Republicans Vote Against Fundraising Limits by Ballot Measure Committees

Assembly Republicans voted en masse today against a bill that would let voters decide on fundraising reforms for ballot measures. The bill to block candidates from fundraising for ballot measures nonetheless passed through the Assembly 44-30

The Republicans’ vote on Assembly Bill 709 by Assembly Member Lois Wolk, D-Davis, can only be construed as a vote in favor of big money from big business and for the governor’s Chamber of Commerce-driven agenda against the citizens of California.

Wolk’s bill, if approved by the Senate and signed by the governor, would place a measure before voters at the next statewide election that would limit fundraising for candidate-controlled ballot measures. AB 709 would impose the same maximum contribution limit of $5,600 from any single source on ballot measure committees controlled by a state elective candidate.

In essence, AB 709 would block candidates from using ballot measure committees to skirt the limits on fundraising mandated by Proposition 34 which was approved by voters.

The governor has raised more than $30 million from big business special interests since taking office. Millions of dollars have been spent by committees under the governor’s control to promote the governor and his misguided special election agenda.

The lock-step vote by Assembly Republicans allows the governor to continue to raise large sums of money from big businesses and wealthy individuals who also supported his ascension to the state’s highest office.



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GOVERNOR MULTI-TASKS AT CHICAGO FUNDRAISER

Yesterday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s press office issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Senate's reauthorization of the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP).

"During my campaign, I promised to go to Washington and fight for more federal funding for California. Each time I have traveled to Washington, one of my highest priorities has been securing reimbursement for the costs of incarcerating criminal aliens. Even today I met with the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative's, Dennis Hastert, and SCAAP was one of the issues we discussed.”

In response to this press release, we had a few questions:

1) Did anyone on the Governor’s staff inform the governor that Chicago isn’t in Washington?
2) Since when does attending a fundraiser in Chicago equal fighting for federal funds in Washington DC?
3) This “special” meeting with Hastert, did it consist of the Governor leaning across the table and asking about SCAAP after the Speaker introduced him at the Chicago fundraiser? Or was there a more formal sit-down is some sort of smoking balcony?
4) How many of the Governor’s taxpayer-funded staff joined him on his campaign fundraising trip to help him manage the SCAAP meeting? Do they get to bill the taxpayers for their time and travel as a result? Does issuing the Hastert press release provide cover for taxpayer-funded travel?


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Tis the season…

With the campaign season fast approaching, it must be time for Republican statewide candidate Chuck Poochigian to burnish those environmental credentials. Believe me they need burnishing…

Poochigian, who represents parts of the Central Valley that are consistently given an “F” for air quality by the American Lung Association, will be holding a press conference to “encourage replacing nearly 1000 CA schools busses that do not meet federal safety standards or state air quality standards.”

Thanks for stepping up to the plate, Chuck. But, where have you been the last 5 years?

When Pooch’s constituents needed him to step up on important legislation to fight air pollution or clean up the environment, he has failed them miserably. In fact, according to the CA League of Conservation Voters Scorecard, from 2000 - 2004 Senator Poochigian has averaged one pro-environmental vote every other year.

CLCV Scores (according to www.ecovote.org):

Year Poochigian Score
2000 7%
2001 0%
2002 0%
2003 0%
2004 6%

Nice going. Does tomorrow’s event mean he gets to skip a year?


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Another “non-partisan” group?

A spontaneous “grassroots” group sprang to life Thursday at the Sacramento Hyatt. According to the press release (found on the CA GOP website) the group formed because (dare we say it?) “they’re not going to take it anymore.”

“Angered by government employee unions and Democrats in the legislature who continue to push for tax increases, reform-minded taxpayers today launched Go For It Arnold, a grassroots mobilization effort to champion Governor Schwarzenegger’s common-sense reform agenda. The Go For It Arnold team includes taxpayers, parents, and community leaders who are fed up with the billions of dollars in tax increases being supported by government unions and the majority party in Sacramento. Today these citizens launch a campaign to blaze the way to fight for real reform led by State Co-Chairs are Jalene Forbis of Siskiyou County and Julie Vandermost of Orange County.”
(Go For It Arnold Press Release, May 19, 2005)

But wait there’s more - according to a report on the KCRA 3 website: “As it turns out, the California Republican Party paid for the rented hotel room, the signs, a Web site, which features talking points, and suggested form letters to send to local newspapers.”

Background on the Citizens Co-Chairs of this “grassroots” organization:

Julie Vandermost, a delegate to the Republican National Convention, is the president of the California Women's Leadership Association. This group is an Orange County-based Republican group whose mission is to “get more Republican women elected to office and to the policy tables and to appointments.” Orange County Register (August 29, 2004)

Jalene Forbis is the Secretary of the California Republican Party. According her bio on the CA GOP website Jalene is one of the youngest board members. Jalene holds the distinction of having been the youngest elected RCC Chairman in California. She has held two terms as RCCC Chairman of Siskiyou County and held an office on the Republican County Chairman's Association.

Sounds about as real as the Governor’s Kitchen Cabinet events…

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GOP BUDGET TACTICS

According to Thursday’s Sacramento Bee, Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman has a new Republican budget strategy – hold out this year because a long fight could benefit Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's political position in a special election.

When Republicans claimed Democrats were discussing a budget holdout – the exact same thing Ackerman is suggesting today – during the impasse in 2003, the GOPers had this to say:

"Their intention is to destroy the state of California and its financial base," said Assembly Minority Leader Dave Cox of Fair Oaks. "They intend to hold up the budget."

Assemblyman Tony Strickland, R-Moor Park (Ventura County), said the Democrats are putting "politics before people."
San Francisco Chronicle (July 22, 2003)

Assembly Budget Committee Vice Chairman John Campbell (R-Irvine) –
"It sounded like they were hoping to create a crisis at some point to further their political gains in other areas," he said. "I thought that was outrageous."
Los Angeles Times (July 22, 2003)

Do you think we will hear same outrage from Campbell and crew today? Don’t hold your breath…

WHO’S ON FIRST? WHAT’S ON SECOND? I DUNNO’S ON THIRD.

Today’s Orange County Register reports on Gov. Schwarzenegger’s campaign visit yesterday in Santa Ana. Coming on the heels of the Sunday Register article, “Questionable Campaigning” that raised questions regarding the state’s taxpayers subsidizing of Arnold’s campaign events, you would have figured the Governor’s staff and campaign would’ve huddled up and practiced getting their stories straight.

“When asked on Monday who paid for the event at Behr Process Corp., Dickens first said, ‘I'll double-check, but I think this is the governor's event.’

“Dickens said that out of the $11 million spent by Citizens to Save California, ‘very little was on events.’ Yet after checking, Dickens said, ‘This is a CSC event.’

‘Anything that has to do with the ballot measures is a CSC event,’ he added.

“Yet behind Schwarzenegger – on a large television screen – a large logo read, ‘www.joinarnold.com.’ That site belongs to the California Recovery Team, which identifies itself as a legislative advocacy group that has the ability to "accept unlimited contributions from corporations and individuals" and is helping finance the governor's reform agenda. Its funding does not come from the state.

“The T-shirts, reading"goforitarnold" and passed out to Behr employees, are connected to a Web site paid for by the California Republican Party.

“Scott Richards, a senior vice president for marketing at Behr, said a friend of the company president called over the weekend saying he had been contacted by the governor's office seeking to stage a town-hall meeting at the company. According to a statement issued later by the company, its president, Jeff Filley, was also directly contacted by the governor's office.

“Schwarzenegger spokesman Rob Stutzman clarified that it was the California Recovery Team that contacted the company.

“In his remarks to employees, Schwarzenegger thanked Filley ‘for inviting us here today.’ (Orange County Register, May 10, 2005)

You’ve got to be kidding me. “This is their event. No it’s ours. Wait, are you a reporter?”

Look, if you’re the CSC and you’ve arranged an event, don’t you think your spokesman would know it without having to go check first?

These guys draw the line between the proper and improper use of taxpayer dollars about as well as they draw lines on legislative district maps. They aren’t very good liars either.

THE LAWS OF PERCEPTION

Sunday’s Orange County Register included an article, “Questionable Campaigning” by Jim Hinch and Kimberly Kindy, that raises questions the state’s taxpayers deserve to have answered. For instance does Schwarzenegger’s staff really know the law regarding the use of state resources for campaign activity?

Schwarzenegger adviser Marty Wilson was quoted saying, “Number one, we know what the law is, and probably more important than the law is the public perception,”

Really, Marty? Perception is more important than the law?

In any event, the governor’s staff may want to consult the advance team’s cook book because according to the Register’s investigation they’ve been whipping up a “recipe for disaster,” as Mr. Wilson put it. Here are some highlights and a link to the article:

“Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has used taxpayer- funded resources on numerous occasions to advance his own campaign agenda - promoting ballot initiatives and calling on voters to remove Democrats from office - despite several state laws intended to restrict such activities. Schwarzenegger's state staff has planned entire campaign events, scouted locations, overseen construction of elaborate backdrops, and taken and posted campaign photos on the governor's official Web site - often on the taxpayers' dime. State law forbids using ‘state resources for a campaign activity.’” (OC Register, 5/8/05)

But wait, there’s more:

“Rob Stutzman, Schwarzenegger's communications director, said the governor has broken no laws. However, Stutzman and administration lawyers gave conflicting explanations of why the governor's activities have been legal…

“Stutzman said that whenever state resources - such as the five-member advance team that readies sites for rallies and other events - are used for political purposes, they are reimbursed from one of Schwarzenegger's campaign bank accounts.

“But when pressed by the Register to provide proof of this claim, the administration's legal staff changed its reasoning to assert that because advance team members are ‘a complement to (the governor's) security detail,’ taxpayers can foot the bill for their work at fundraisers and other campaign-related events.

The distinction is significant because state law entitles a governor to 24-hour protection by Highway Patrol officers. But there is no provision exempting other staff from laws intended to separate state from political work. The cost to taxpayers of folding Schwarzenegger's advance team into his security detail: more than $1,700 per day. (Orange County Register, 5/8/05) http://www.ocregister.com

I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that the line between campaigning and governing is so blurry to the Governor’s staff, considering Schwarzenegger himself doesn’t seem to have a clue that governing happens INSIDE the Capitol not while driving around it in a Humvee.

But in any case, the Guv’s lawyers and staff need to sit down and have a little chat about how the law is what keeps policy, politics, and money separate, not public perception.

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Redistricting Mid-Decade

It’s too bad the Governor’s staff was too busy re-reading Chapter One of their copy of “The Dummy’s Guide to Being Governor” on the way to Elk Grove today instead of finding the right location for the Governor’s redistricting photo-op.

According to KCRA-TV (Sacramento), the governor’s taxpayer-paid advance staff used a red tape down the middle of a street in a gated community (apparently afraid of running into more protesters) to show that legislative districts are sometimes divided by street. Republican Assembly Members Nakanishi and Houston, who apparently don’t know their own districts, also were on hand as props.

The problem is: both sides of the street are in the same district – the very competitive 15th District represented by Assembly Member Guy Houston. The actual district boundary is several blocks away!

On top of that, according to KTVU-TV in Oakland, the two homeowners the Governor’s staff goaded into participating in the event don’t even support the special election. They believe, like most Californians, that the special election is a waste of taxpayer money.

What’s more, according to the Governor’s own Department of Finance, Elk Grove has grown 68.5 percent from the April 1st 2000 census to January 1, 2005 and was cited as “one of the top six fastest growing cities.” From 2004-2005, its population soared from 109,983 to 121,609. (Elk Grove wasn’t even an incorporated city in 2000).

Under the Governor’s plan, that would leave thousands and thousands of citizens without proper representation.

Next time the Governor needs to find an address, maybe he should consult firefighters who need to find homes in a hurry -- or a school teacher who can teach him how to read a map.

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CALIFORNIA DEPT. OF SELF-PROMOTING POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS (SPPC)

One would think that Governor’s political operation and its myriad of committees would be able organize and staff a campaign event without the continued assistance of taxpayer- funded state employees.

Let me guess, I’m sure that the Governor’s state-funded communications and press staff used their lunch breaks today to help carry in some bags of signatures at the Sacramento County Registrar’s office.

The Governor’s committees have raised millions of dollars to pay an army of consultant and flacks to run the propaganda machine for Schwarzenegger’s flawed initiative agenda.

If Citizens to Save California is paying campaign staffers, like spokesman Reed Dickens, $13,000 a month, (WOW! We thought that people made a killing off the Checchi campaign) then why do we continue to see political campaign events staffed with state PIO’s?

Last year’s Schwarzenegger issued a travel ban during his first months in office to save money for the budget. This year’s Schwarzenegger has no problem having the taxpayers of California footing the bill for campaign events designed to highlight his own political agenda?

Is it ignorance or is it the continued arrogance of the Schwarzenegger Administration?

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SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

After listening to both the Governor and his bag-man Alan Zaremberg cry poor and moan about the unanswered attacks on the Gov’s flawed agenda, it’s time to set the record straight. On top of his non-stop free media exposure, the Governor and his allies have been running TV and radio ads as far back as December.

Nurses
Back on December 7, 2004 the LA Times reported that the CA Healthcare Association launched a 30 second “educational” spot thanking Governor Schwarzenegger, “on behalf of nurses, doctors and other caregivers who treat patients every day.” According to reports the ad would run for two weeks in the top media markets across the state.

Education Reform
In February, “the governor's campaign team has released the text and sound of a radio ad they have begun airing to counter the CTA's campaign.” (Sacramento Bee, Weintraub, 2/24/05) http://www.joinarnold.com/video/truth_telling_teachers.mp3 - Paid for by the California Recovery Team.

In mid-March the California Republican Party launched a multi-million dollar media buy to “set the record straight on school reform”. The ad prominently featured the Governor to camera making his pitch. (March 17, 2005 – CA Republican Party press release). This media campaign was statewide and followed with a radio spot highlighting the same message and paid for by the California Recovery Team
http://www.joinarnold.com/video/teachers.mov - Paid for by the CA Republican Party.

Petition Drive
In early March, “Citizens to Save California, a business group supporting Schwarzenegger's ‘reform’ agenda, launched a television ad urging people to sign petitions to qualify the group's -- and Schwarzenegger's -- favored initiatives.” (San Jose Mercury News, March 8, 2005) The ad also prominently featured Schwarzenegger. http://www.citizenstosaveca.org/video/better_place_06.wmv,
http://www.citizenstosaveca.org/video/harassment.mp3 - Paid for by Citizens to Save California

Pension Reform
In addition, as the Governor continued to get hammered for his flawed pension initiative the California Recovery Team launched a statewide radio ad in an attempt to defend his initiative. (LA Daily News, April 17, 2005) http://www.joinarnold.com/video/pensionreform.mp3

Budget Reform
Yesterday the Governor’s launched another “Statewide TV Ad Blitz” pitching his latest spot that is full of sound bites and short on details. According the California Recovery Team press release, “the spot, which features Schwarzenegger talking directly to voters, is set to begin running today in all major markets.” The ad is paid for and produced by the California Recovery Team. http://www.joinarnold.com/video/arnold_cafeteria.mov

The Governor and his allies have spent millions on statewide media campaigns pushing his agenda and what do they have to show for it? - Sinking poll numbers and an administration in disarray. Maybe it’s time the Governor’s political “gurus” admit that the Governor’s approval rating continues to slide because Californians aren’t buying the flawed initiatives and agenda he’s trying to sell them.
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