[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Cross-posted on the California Progress Report. 

Out of State Interests Launder Big Bucks on California Ballot Props
Supporters of Electoral College Grab, Hidden Agenda Eminent Domain Measure, and Opposition to Term Limits Reform Don't Want You to Know Who They Are

Powerful out of state interests are contributing millions of dollars for and against California ballot propositions and they don't want you to know who they are. On at least three measures, the pattern is clear. Money is received by an out of state nonprofit organization and then a donation is made in the name of the organization, but the contributors are not known and hide behind the group and a loophole in California law known as the "one bite" rule.

This is a serious subversion of a great reform--the initiative--that came out of the progressive movement in the early years of the 20th Century--championed in California by Hiram Johnson, a progressive Republican Governor. And it is a subversion of another reform coming out of the scandals of the Watergate era, when Jerry Brown spearheaded and California passed disclosure laws--sunshine--on campaign contributions in the Political Reform Act--Prop 9--approved by the voters in 1974.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Supporters of Electoral College Grab, Hidden Agenda Eminent Domain Measure, and Opposition to Term Limits Reform Don't Want You to Know Who They Are

By Frank D. Russo

Powerful out of state interests are contributing millions of dollars for and against California ballot propositions and they don't want you to know who they are. On at least three measures, the pattern is clear. Money is received by an out of state nonprofit organization and then a donation is made in the name of the organization, but the contributors are not known and hide behind the group and a loophole in California law known as the "one bite" rule.

This is a serious subversion of a great reform--the initiative--that came out of the progressive movement in the early years of the 20th Century--championed in California by Hiram Johnson, a progressive Republican Governor. And it is a subversion of another reform coming out of the scandals of the Watergate era, when Jerry Brown spearheaded and California passed disclosure laws--sunshine--on campaign contributions in the Political Reform Act--Prop 9--approved by the voters in 1974.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Governor Schwarzenegger is now fully aware of which lobbyists pay for his overseas trips, reports the Sac Bee. A nonprofit organization closely aligned withthe business lobby in Sacramento, called the California State ProtocolFoundation, revealed the identity of its donors at a fundraising eventin San Francisco earlier this month.

Voters will likely not be voting on a $10 billion water bond this February, due to legislators’ inability to close the deal on time, reports theSac Bee. Governor Schwarzenegger is still optimistic that a compromisecan be reached between Democrats and Republicans, despite being pastthe deadline.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Disclosure: I work with the Yes on Prop 93 Campaign. This is also available in orange.

There's already a Howie Rich exposed website, so the Contra Costa Times will have to just stick with the site they have now.  In today's paper (reg req'd), Steven Harmon goes into a little bit more about the mysterious initiative funder:

Just a few days after Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner's widely heralded takeover of the No on Proposition 93 campaign, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization quietly chipped in $1.5 million to the cause.

The group, U.S. Term Limits, spends considerable effort and money across the country trying to fend off attempts to weaken term limits laws, such as Prop. 93 -- which will appear on the February ballot -- in California. And the group tries to do so while steering clear of the limelight, which is precisely how Howard "Howie" Rich prefers it. (CCTimes 11/19/07))

More over the flip.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

How'd you like a job that pays $201,839 for 30 hours of work a week? Not a bad gig if you could get it, huh?

Well that's what self-annointed taxpayers advocate Jon Coupal made in 2004, according to the latest filings on the California Attorney General's website. There's also an entry for $82,7000 in compensation from the association's hard-to-distinguish nonprofit organization, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Foundation.
 
Yes, this is the same Jon Coupal that you'll read about trashing legislators for getting a 2.75 percent salary increase that was approved by Schwarzenegger appointees on the Citizens Compensation Commission. And the same Jon Coupal featured on the right-wing "Flash Report," trashing proposals that help low-income Californians and forcing the rich to pay their fair share.
 
Glad to see these so-called "taxpayers" are so concerned about the salaries of legislators who do not receive pension benefits when they paid their spokesperson about the same as the Governor in 2004.