by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

We weren't able to arrange everything for our Monday 3:30 time slot, but today, in addition to a wrap-up of the June 3 election, we'll have an interview with Hannah-Beth Jackson, Democratic Nominee for the 19th State Senate District. We recorded the interview this morning, and let's just say she'll make a great Senator. The show will air today (6/10) at 3:30. You can listen live at the homepage, check it out later, or download it at iTunes.

In other news from this race, the Ventura County Star did a report on Sunday about who is funding the Ventura County GOP. You'll find some unsurprising answers:

The nation's largest tobacco company has donated $50,000 to the Ventura County Republican Central Committee as the local party gears up to help GOP candidate Tony Strickland in what is expected to be a multimillion-dollar campaign this fall in the 19th Senate District.

*       *          *

read more »

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Robert Cruickshank

I've always believed that the main obstacle we will face in convincing Californians to build high speed rail this year isn't the pointless arguing over ridership projections or financial details. It's the fact that California faces a multibillion dollar budget deficit, and that will cause some voters to think "well gee maybe we shouldn't spend money when the state is in a deficit."

This thinking is very deeply flawed, but it's out there, as evidenced by a letter to the editor in yesterday’s Ventura County Star. The author, Ron Ruiz of Westlake Village, relies on several incorrect assumptions to argue that there is some kind of tradeoff between HSR and education funding:
“Despite the cuts to education, the California High Speed Rail Authority, as part of our transportation system, is seriously considering designing and constructing a high-speed rail line (200-plus mph) at an estimated cost of more than $33 billion....

“Wouldn't our leaders be more responsive and supportive to the people of California if they used their energy and wherewithal to provide the money that is critically needed for our strapped, declining educational system, instead of earmarking dollars and bond measures for a low-priority, nonsensical high-speed rail line that will serve but a fraction of our citizens?

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

It’s encouraging to be hearing from so many Californians who want to do something about cleaning-up the plastic bag litter instead of just complaining or ignoring it. Here’s another editorial published today in the Ventura County Star supporting my Assembly Bill 2058, the toughest plastic bag reduction bill in the nation:

"If you aren't already recycling plastic grocery bags, now might be a good time to get into the habit. If not, look forward to paying for each bag used to haul your groceries home.

A bill that would have allowed stores to charge 25 cents for each plastic bag has stalled in the Legislature. However, an Assembly committee on Monday approved a proposal by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, to give grocery chains and large drug stores three years to increase plastic-bag recycling by 35 percent. By 2013, stores would have to demonstrate a 70 percent recycling increase. If they don't reach those staggered targets, they would be required to charge customers 15 cents a bag.

When merchants in Ireland started charging 33 cents a bag in 2002, use of plastic bags plummeted a whopping 94 percent in just a few weeks.

read more »

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

This originally appeared in the Ventura County Star. 

Here we go again. The issue of renewing the development of nuclear power is rearing its ugly head under the guise of making California the happiest, greenest place on Earth. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is pushing this Disney-like scenario and it needs a reality check. Nuclear power simply has no future in California's new energy era.

If Californians give nuclear power a new lease on life, we will be moving in the wrong direction and relying on false promises. Today, even during a housing and economic slump, homeowners and businesses are turning to affordable, safe, clean and dependable energy in record numbers.

The governor believes nuclear power is the answer to global warming, but nothing could be further from the truth. Nuclear power is dirty, dangerous, too expensive and cannot exist without massive taxpayer subsidies.

A vicious pollution cycle also comes with the nuclear-power package. The production process of mining uranium to fuel nuclear plants requires massive, diesel-powered machinery that grossly pollutes the air. The mined uranium would then have to be shipped to the United States in large, diesel-powered ships and reprocessed into nuclear fuel in pollution-producing coke ovens.

There's more...

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Is it fair for anyone to tell the candidate who won California, New York, Texas and Ohio to step aside for the good of the party? Hillary Clinton had a great night yesterday, ending Barack Obama's winning streak and giving her campaign new life, the Los Angeles Times reports, but Obama's approximately 100-point delegate lead persists. Figuring out the fair thing to do is what this so difficult.

He's in and he's in to win: Tom McClintock, the grounchy-in-your-face conservative state senator of Thousand Oaks is running for Congress—418 miles away from his home (see map above), the Sacramento Bee reports. McClintock's bid for the Fourth Congressional District ended the campaign of Rico Oller, and Democrat Charlie Brown quipped that he would raise $100 for every mile between the 4th and Thousand Oaks.

Oddly enough, McClintock seems to be "fleeing" his hometown just as Democrats gained a registration edge in Ventura County for the first time since Ronald Reagan's presidency, a point not lost on Democratic state chair Art Torres, the Ventura County Star reports. This reflects trends throughout the state as red specks become purple.

There's more...

Photo courtesy of CNN

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

"Obamacans," Republican supporters of Barack Obama, are actively campaigning for theSenator's presidential bid in surprising numbers, says the LA Times."Republicans made up 6% of voters in Missouri's Democratic primary, 7%in Virginia's and 9% in Wisconsin's."

California Republicans are confident that McCain can winCalifornia. If they're right, it would mark the first time a Republicanwon California in two decades. “We can and will carry California,” saidMcCain's California campaign manager, John Peschong. Don't count yourchickens before they're hatched.

An opinion in the Ventura County Star urges superdelegates to respect the will of voters at the convention.

There's more...

Image courtesy of LATimes.com

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Former Controller and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly may be lending his support to the Yes on 93 Term Limits Reform campaign. According to the Timm Herdt of the Ventura County Star's "95 Percent Accurate" political blog:

"an announcement could be coming soon of his support for the term-limits initiative on the Feb. 5 ballot. The campaign, he said, is putting together a coalition of supporters who do not currently hold elected office. Westly said he was around Sacramento long enough during his one term as controller to understand the importance of having legislators with some experience."

The move is somewhat of a surprise. The chief proponent of the measure, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, supported Westly rival Phil Angelides in the 2006 Democratic gubernatorial primary. Nunez also is on the opposite of him again in the presidential race (Nunez is a top cheerleader for Sen. Hillary Clinton while Westly is a leader in Sen. Barack Obama's California campaign).

There's more...

Image courtesy California Progress Report.