[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

His credibility on state parks issues is low to non-existent, but that hasn't stopped Governor Schwarzenegger from proposing a waiver for a high-voltage power line to run through Anza Borrego Desert State Park—the largest in the state, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Matier and Ross report in today's San Francisco Chronicle that the power line issue may have been the cause for Arnold's much reported removal of brother-in-law Bobby Shriver and director Clint Eastwood from the state's parks commission. That would explain a few things, at least.

If one fact emerges from this Sacramento Bee article about the Congressional GOP primary up north in the 4th, it is that Tom McClintock is rather awkward on the stump, hoping that past loyalty in his many failed runs for statewide officewill put him over the top. That and the fact that he really does makeDoug Ose look like a liberal (kind of).

There's more... 

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Today, thousands of Californians young and old are packing unionshalls, senior centers, churches and schools around the state to selectdelegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, and the number of candidates is unprecedented, theSan Francisco Chronicle reports. For instance, in Barbara Lee's EastBay Congressional district, 101 people are vying for four delegateslots for Barack Obama.

Balancing the budget is hard, as this Sacramento Bee article pointsout, and sometimes the kind of non-partisan solutions offered  byLegislative Analyst Liz Hill are ignored. The balance becomes harderwhen Republicans insist on calling every proposed tax increase "stifling."

For more on Republican budget hypocrisy, check out this Calitics piece, which breaks down what exactly the GOP means by "economic growth."

by Robert in Monterey [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

I've been getting E-mails in response to Saturday's Sacramento Bee article by Judy Lin, from people wanting to sign up to prevent some of the proposed cuts to schools, parks, health care and other vital services. The article describes the very preliminary conversations among leading organizations spanning a broad range of fields to work together toward a better solution to the budget crisis.

I think it's an indication that California is ready for another solution to the budget crisis, other than cuts, cuts, cuts.

The enthusiasm comes through in our recent work. It comes through in the fact that we have health care organizations and leaders active and ready to go to oppose the cuts to health care.

The energy comes through in the conversations we've been having with groups in completely different sectors. I've been in broad-based campaigns before, but the depth and breadth of interest in stunning, bring together health and social service organizations with environmental groups, the education community, the world of police and public safety, and many others.

by Sheri Divers [courtesy of Blog for America]

As you know, DFA-List candidate Deb Bowen was elected as California's Secretary of State last November with the enthusiastic backing of California for Democracy and DFA. One of the huge issues she ran on was election reform and ensuring that every Californian's vote is counted fairly and accurately.

Friday night, Deb Bowen courageously took a stand against questionable Diebold and Sequoia voting machines. Check out this excerpt from a recent Sacramento Bee article:

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, bowing to fears of computer fraud, Friday decertified Los Angeles County's electronic voting system and sharply curtailed the use of two other machines that California counties had hoped to use to conduct the February 2008 presidential primary.

She said she would allow unlimited use of one system, Hart InterCivic, as long as security and auditing safeguards are implemented.

But in the case of two major companies -- Diebold Election Systems and Sequoia Voting Systems -- Bowen said she would allow just one machine per polling place, apparently to provide an accessible option for disabled voters.

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