[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

We're not surprised to hear that the Club for Growth is pulling levers for favorite son Tom McClintock inhis carpet-bagging bid for California's Fourth Congressional District.The Sacramento Bee reports that the club's latest ad calls McClintockopponent Doug Ose, who spent three previous terms in Congress,a—gasp—liberal. We haven't heard that one before.

In an editorial endorsement, the Bee also gives the nod to Ose for the Republican nomination, and of the two, he is clearly the one we could live with, althoughDemocrat Charlie Brown would be a much better choice than either ofthem. Ose, despite his terrible record on taxes and the war, at leastunderstands the need to be practical.

Vallejo's unprecedented decision to declare bankruptcy would set a precedent for other municipalities looking to unload their responsibilities to public employee unions, theSan Francisco Chronicle reports. This is unfortunate. If a city doesn'tfeel it has the resources to commit to COLA or other increases, thatneeds to come up at the bargaining table, not in a Chapter 9 filing.

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[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

It's a crowded field in the 34th AD Republican primary, but if Assembly Republican candidate Bob Smith bests his opponents on June 3rd, he'll bring with him the mutual embrace of the highly controversial vigilante anti-immigration group, the Minuteman Civil Defenses Corps.

Reports the Visalia Times-Delta:

"California Assembly candidate Bob Smith is getting some help in his campaign from a Minuteman.

Specifically, the help is coming from Chris Simcox, founder and president of the controversial Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a group of private citizens that, among other things, regularly patrols portions of the U.S.-Mexico border looking for undocumented immigrants trying to cross unnoticed by U.S. Border Patrol officers. ...

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[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Calitics points out that in the grand scheme of things, AB32 may only be a symbolic gesture,given that the airline industry’s carbon emissions alone could hit 1.5billion tons a year by 2025. AB32 is an accomplishment, but should onlybe considered the very beginning.

State senator Jack Scott will serve as the next chancellor of the California community college system,reports the LA Times. Scott, who is chairman of the Senate EducationCommittee, will be termed out of office at the end of this year.

The last thing California needs is teachers abandoning the state—butwhat else can you expect from mass layoffs? According to the LA Times, school districts in other states have been aggressively courting teachers in California. What with 1/3 of the teaching force due to retire in the next decade, the state is facing the specter of a major shortage.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

The Bakersfield Californian urges a no vote on Proposition 98 and a yeson Proposition 99, arguing that the first measure would lead to an "avalanche of lawsuits involving government, developers and landowners." The Californian also criticizes 98's abolition of rent control and potential to harm the environment.

Legislative Democrats are trying to be reasonable about how to increase revenues this year, with a myriad of proposals targeting strip clubs, six packsof beer, even plastic bags, the Los Angeles Times reports. If theRepublicans cannot accept these tiny bites, they should at least agreeto repeal the mortgage deducation for $1 million vacation homes.

Recalls have the tendency to be wasteful endeavors no matter what party is pushing them,the LA Times editorializes today. The Times supports Senate Pro Tem DonPerata's decision to stop pursuing the "dump Denham" effort, which mayhave served as a distraction during budget negotiations.

Meanwhile, the Bee reports that Denham will continue campaigning, even though support for the recall has been pulled. I guess when you're that unpopular, you can't take anything for granted.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

One year ago, Dean Andal announced his candidacy for Congress in California’s 11th congressional district. Since then, his campaign has been noticeably quiet, and Andal’s fundraising has started to dry up. (Perhaps Andal is too focused on his latest development project to be bothered with his campaign?) Regardless of his excuse, many observers have taken note of Andal’s conspicuous absence from the campaign trail ("GOP recruits show lagging fundraising").
 
However, we haven’t forgotten about Dean and his run for Congress, so we thought posing a few unanswered questions to him might jolt him back onto the trail.
 
Stockton has the highest home foreclosure rate in the United States. How do you plan to address the foreclosure crisis?

Last week marked the five-year anniversary of President Bush’s infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech. Do you support President Bush’s "stay the course" plan for Iraq?

Where do you stand on expanding the state children’s health insurance program (SCHIP) and California Healthy Families to provide health care to millions of uninsured children?

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Image courtesy the Lodi News-Sentinel.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

In the tight race for Senate District 3, Assemblymember Mark Leno scored a major endorsement today: Marin Congresswoman and progressive's progressive Lynn Woolsey.

"Mark Leno has built a strong record on behalf of the issues the people of my district care deeply about. I am proud to announce my support for him today," said Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey. "We can count on Mark to go to Sacramento and provide progressive leadership on the issues we all care about—a cleaner and more sustainable environment, universal, single-payer health care, better schools and access to affordable higher education."

"Congresswoman Woolsey's unwavering, progressive principles and steadfast leadership in Congress have proven invaluable to the families of Marin and Sonoma Counties," declared Assemblyman Mark Leno. "I am deeply honored by the faith and trust Congresswoman Woolsey has in me to represent the progressive democratic values of the North Bay in the State Senate. I look forward to partnering with her and working together on the challenging issues we face."

Woolsey's endorsement is a big deal, because she helps Leno corral the voters most out of reach for the Assemblymember. Leno is polling well, particularly in San Francisco proper, but Marin is former Assemblymember Joe Nation's turf, and of course, incumbent Senator Carole Migden has represented the region for the past four years.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Who's behind the disgusting independent expenditure campaign designed to aid Mayor Heather Fargo in her race against challenger Kevin Johnson in the Sacramento's Mayor's Race? From the near-exact similarities of the server addresses, it looks like it's the same right-wing operative who's launched racist anti-immigration media campaigns, flopped in an attempt to hand over California's electoral votes to Republicans by splitting them, and hyped the "Rescue California" campaign to recall Gov. Gray Davis.

Gillard Blanning has a long history of sleaze campaigns against Democrats. But this appears to be the first time that Gillard has thrown in with a Democrat to try to knock off another Democrat.

The anti-Johnson campaign features grainy photographs of Johnson, an urban/graffiti-filled wall, and a faked telephone conversation. It's probably one of the most vile character attacks I've seen in ages -- and I've seen a lot in my years.

Last night, in the "debate" hosted by the Sacramento Bee and News10, Mayor Heather Fargo said with a straight face that she hadn't seen the website or mailpiece by Gillard. Which made her either a rival for Pinocchio in the truth-telling department or someone who has no clue about the campaign she's in. You be the judge.

In any case, she failed to repudiate the mailer when she had the opportunity. And that's troubling even her supporters.