by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Being called an unreliable and somewhat treacherous partisan might be cool in a general election, but it won't do Tom McClintock much good in the primary against former Rep. Doug Ose in the 4th District.  McClintock, a former Gov and Lt. Gov. candidate, does not have a fan in former Republican Governor Pete Wilson.

Wilson is holding a press conference today to talk about McClintock. The press notice about the conference says Wilson will share at least one opinion about the man:

"I could never count on McClintock. He was always the first to criticize, but the last to help his team."

Ouch! Either way, Charlie Brown keeps chugging along in the Democratic race.  He'll face whichever bruised victor emerges from the GOP primary. You can find Charlie on the Calitics ActBlue page.

by Joe52 [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Mike Lumpkin, retired Navy SEAL and candidate for the 52nd Congressional District, released the following press release this morning regarding yesterday's California Supreme Court decision on same sex marriage.

Yesterday the California Supreme Court overturned a voter-approved ban on gay marriage igniting a storm of divisive partisan reaction across the nation. Retired Navy SEAL Commander and 52nd Congressional District Candidate, Mike Lumpkin, sees the decision and subsequent reaction as an unfortunate yet expected diversion. "Election after election extremists drive this emotionally polarizing issue and marginalize the concerns of everyday Americans," said Lumpkin.  

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

So it’s déjà vu all over again for the Governor who was elected back in 2003 to clean up our budget mess, fill our $15-million budget hole, cut up our credit cards, blow up our boxes and now finds himself inexplicably back at square one.
 
In the past, I’ve been candid about and, by and large, complimentary of our Republican Governor’s major speeches and have been attacked by fellow Democrats for doing do.
 
But, even under tonight’s morbid “Groundhog Day” circumstances, this Governor appeared to miss an opportunity in his State of the State address to demonstrate the kind of bold, unifying leadership I’ve come from expect from this unique political figure.
 
The fact is, the state of our state is precarious. I won’t hit you over the head you with the laundry list of negative economic indicators or the hair-raising revenue projections or the practical dilemma presented by the fact that we are quickly running out of cash, but, suffice it to say, this is the most alarming fiscal situation our state has confronted in at least 15 years.
 
There’s a lot of blame to go around, starting with a President who fights simultaneously for billion-dollar tax cuts and a trillion-dollar war. And the Governor is right when he says that California’s budget process is permanently flawed and needs to be reformed.

There's more...

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

Arnold refuses to take a comprehensive look at the problems that have created our budget deficit and now appears to be pushing what essentially amounts to Prop. 76. It is a power grab, short and simple. The voters rejected it overwhelmingly in 2005, with 62.4% voting NO. It was a bad idea to give the governor more power over the budget then and it is still a bad idea now. SacBee:

Heading into a week in which he's expected to deliver grim news about the state's fiscal health, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is also preparing to propose changes to the budgeting process.

The Republican governor will offer a "budget reform" plan when he outlines his goals in his State of the State address Tuesday. Such a proposal, if successful, would likely give the executive office more authority in making cuts even after the Legislature has passed an annual spending plan.

When Arnold talks about budget reforms, he means being able to cut the budget whenever he feels like it. Meanwhile Nunez has some ideas of his own.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento

The people have imposed qualifications on public office to make sure that those who run and win have the ability to do the job. Thus you must be an attorney to run for judge or district attorney. And all candidates must be registered voters, a fact that establishes citizenship and residency in a district. Candidates for partisan office must have been registered in their party for a year, and so on.

The latest redistricting initiative – backed by Republican Governor Schwarzenegger – takes the opposite tack. It would have a Commission draw political districts that has no qualifications. Rather, it would exclude everyone who had qualifications.

Commissioners would be chosen by three randomly selected certified auditors, none of whom would have any experience or knowledge of the redistricting process.

These unqualified screeners would then pick a pool of people chosen from those with no experience and with no relations with experience – going back 10 years.

These unqualified voters would be randomly reduced to 14. Ideologically extreme Minority Party Members or indifferent unaligned voters would hold the balance of power on the Commission. This group would choose the staff.

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]