Sacramento Biz Journal Poll: 51 percent call economy ‘brutal’

If you ask readers of  The Sacramento Business Journal, the answer is unfortunatley, not very good.

Fifty-one percent of companies say the economy continues to be “brutal,” while 48 percent of executives surveyed say the “recession is easing up,” according to a just-released quarterly report by Pacific Staffing.

The Sacramento company contacted 71 companies for its survey, with the economic forecast heavily dependent on the industry.

For example, construction companies are the most pessimistic about an economic turnaround, with 13 percent expecting economic hardship to continue, while 2 percent are optimistic for a recovery soon. Retailers — one of the hardest-hit industries — are the most optimistic, with expectations of a much-improved fourth quarter. Manufacturers and service companies were split on their outlook.

Also, 52 percent of companies contacted expect to hire during the fourth quarter, but much of the demand is because of attrition. But companies expect to hire more during the next three months than any period this year, and a dramatic improvement from a record-low outlook in the first quarter.

Majority Leader Reid’s Special Deal: Good News for Nevada, Bad News for California

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has secured a special deal protecting his state against the costs of expanding Medicaid under one of the major health care bills moving through Congress.  While his actions may be good news for the people of Nevada, it’s bad news for cash strapped California.

Facing a difficult challenge in his re-election campaign next year, Majority Leader Reid’s side deal protects the citizens of Nevada from a significant portion of the costs contained in the health reform legislation being pushed by Congressional Democrats.  Unfortunately, according to the New York Times the changes came at the expense of not only California but also Florida and Illinois, which would see significant increases in state Medicaid spending under the new formula.

From the New York Times report:

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, has secured a special deal protecting his state against the costs of expanding Medicaid under one of the major health care bills moving through Congress.

…Under Mr. Baucus’s original proposal, the federal government would have paid 87 percent of the new costs in Nevada. Under the modified version, the federal government would pay 100 percent of the new costs…
…
Now Mr. Baucus has modified the bill to spare Nevada and three other states, and Mr. Reid, who faces a potentially difficult race for re-election next year, is taking credit for getting a “major increase” in federal money for his state.

All of the versions of Obamacare currently in Congress cover more uninsured Americans by expanding Medicaid. But the Baucus bill keeps its total price tag below $1 trillion by shifting the most cost to the states.

Environmental Agenda to Take on “Luxury” TP

That super-soft toilet paper you’re fond of using?  According to environmentalists, it’s an ecological disaster.

A new campaign by Greenpeace seeks to raise consciousness among Americans about the environmental costs of their toilet habits and counter an aggressive new push by the paper industry giants to market so-called luxury brands.

“Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age,” Hershkowitz said. “Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution.”

The Washington Post reports:

There is a battle for America’s behinds.
It is a fight over toilet paper: the kind that is blanket-fluffy and getting fluffier so fast that manufacturers are running out of synonyms for “soft” (Quilted Northern Ultra Plush is the first big brand to go three-ply and three-adjective).

It’s a menace, environmental groups say — and a dark-comedy example of American excess.
The reason, they say, is that plush U.S. toilet paper is usually made by chopping down and grinding up trees that were decades or even a century old. They want Americans, like Europeans, to wipe with tissue made from recycled paper goods.

Greenpeace has even helpfully created a PDF that you can conveniently print, clip, fold and carry around in your wallet to spot-check any paper product you’re thinking of buying. One will quickly note that all the “good” brands cost more than many of the “bad” brands.  So what’s the flip-side of the argument?  Perhaps the environmental lobby is simply trying to stimulate the economy by asking people to buy the pricey paper.

Honda Unveils New Take on the Future of Peronsonal Mobility

Honda Motor Co has unveiled an electric battery-powered personal transporter, a unicycle shaped like the number eight that riders steer by leaning in the direction they want to travel.

The “U3-X,” which Honda will show at the Tokyo Motor Show next month, is the latest to join a growing number of futuristic transportation devices, such as the much bigger Segway.

The single wheel on the U3-X is made up of many tiny motor-controlled wheels, packed inside the bigger wheel, allowing the device to swerve in any direction.

Honda’s prototype has an internal self-balancing system–the single large wheel is actually made up of a number of smaller motor-control wheels that allow the U3-X to move forward, backward, diagonally and sideways without toppling over.  The vehicle, has a maximum speed of 3.7 mph.  

The UK’s Daily Mail has a video HERE. 

Gallup: 80% satisfied with health care, 61% with insurance

The latest Gallup poll of American adults shows overwhelming satisfaction with current medical care and insurance plans, which explains why most of them would like to improve the existing system rather than put government in charge of it:

Americans are broadly satisfied with the quality of their own medical care and healthcare costs, but of the two, satisfaction with costs lags. Overall, 80% are satisfied with the quality of medical care available to them, including 39% who are very satisfied. Sixty-one percent are satisfied with the cost of their medical care, including 20% who are very satisfied.

There is a clear gulf in these perceptions between the health insurance haves and have-nots. According to a Sept. 11-13 USA Today/Gallup poll, the 85% of Americans with health insurance coverage are broadly satisfied with the quality of medical care they receive and with their healthcare costs. At 79%, satisfaction with costs among Medicare/Medicaid recipients is particularly high.

The 15% who are uninsured are far less satisfied with the quality of their medical care (50% are satisfied), and only 27% are satisfied with their healthcare costs. (Sixty-nine percent are dissatisfied with their costs.)

The bottom line from Gallup is that Americans are much more skeptical than optimistic about the likelihood that healthcare reform will reduce their own healthcare costs.

NCAA to Sacramento: No More March Madness at ARCO

Due to concerns over the conditions at Arco Arena, the NCAA has bypassed Sacramento’s bid for hosting the regional round of the men’s collegiate basketball tournament through 2013.  Local officials have been told the city won’t be considered until it replaces ARCO Arena.

The Mayor made the announcement on his blogthis morning calling the news “devastating” and “embarrassing”.  Sacramento has been in rotation to host the first and second round games since 1994.  Arco was host to to the tournament in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2007.  

According to officials, when Arco hosted the tournament in 2007, fans filled the arena, and the event injected $4 million into the local economy.

The NCAA rejection message supports what the owners of ARCO Arena have been saying for a number of years. Built in 1988, ARCO is the oldest arena in the NBA.

New Report: 70 Percent of Families Will Receive More Benefits Than They Pay in Taxes Under Obama Plan

New reports from the Tax Foundation show that President Obama’s policy proposals will increase the financial dependence of middle-income Americans on the federal government.

Specifically, by 2012, if President Obama’s proposals on taxes, health care and climate change become law, 70 percent of American families will, as a group, be receiving more in federal spending than they pay in federal tax.

Currently the bottom 60 percent of the income spectrum receives more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes.“Attempts to put ‘price tags’ on health care and cap-and-trade proposals vary among government agencies and think tanks,” said Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge, “but one vital question has been left unanswered: Counting all federal taxes and spending, how would these policies affect American families’ financial ties to the government? The foundation’s new ‘fiscal incidence model’ answers that question.”

 

“Currently the bottom 60 percent of the income spectrum receives more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes,” said Hodge. “By 2012, if President Obama’s proposals on taxes, health care and climate change become law, 70 percent of American families will, as a group, be receiving more in federal spending than they pay in federal tax.”

In fiscal year 2010, the lowest-income families will receive $10.44 in federal spending for every dollar in taxes they pay. Middle-income families, who are the targeted beneficiaries of many Obama policies, will receive $1.15 in government spending benefits for every dollar they pay in taxes.

The Tax Foundation also reported:

When only taxes are analyzed, Obama’s policies lead to tax increases for a curious mix of rich and poor families. Families earning less than $23,700 are disproportionately affected by regressive cap-and-trade policies and higher tobacco taxes, and those earning more than $280,000 will see their tax payments go up because of higher income tax rates. On net, however, when spending is included, the lowest-income households gain more than $2,200 while the highest-income families lose more than $127,000.

You can see the full press release from the Tax Foundation HERE. 

Clip of the Week: Jon Stewart Takes Media to Task on ACORN Scandal

The ongoing controversy over the community organizing group ACORN – spurred by a series of undercover videos shot for  biggovernment.com — has shaken the world politic.  The bombshell investigation into the community organizing group ACORN has highlighted Acorn employees apparntly blithely encouraging prostitution and tax evasion. 

The undercover videos showed a scantily dressed young woman, Hannah Giles, posing as a prostitute, while a young man, James O’Keefe, played her pimp. They visited Acorn offices in Baltimore, Washington, Brooklyn and San Bernardino, Calif., candidly describing their illicit business and asking the advice of Acorn workers. Among other questions, they asked how to buy a house to use as a brothel employing under-age girls from El Salvador.

The story has quickly become one of the biggest of the year… all uncovered by two young amatuer activists.

In our clip of the week The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart takes the main stream media to task asking the mainstream media… “WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?”

WATCH THE VIDEO CLIP HERE: http://www.hulu.com/watch/95851/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-the-audacity-of-hos

In response to the Acorn videos, an instant hit on YouTube, the Senate voted 83 to 7 on Monday to prohibit the Department of Housing and Urban Development from giving federal housing money to the organization. The bill’s advocates said the group had received $53 million in such financing since 1994.

Last Friday, the Census Bureau dropped Acorn as one of 80,000 national unpaid “partners” helping promote the 2010 census, saying the group’s involvement might “create a negative connotation” and discourage participation in the population count.

Did California Taxpayer Dollars Go to ACORN?

Late Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked the attorney general to investigate ACORN’s activities in California in the wake of a video showing a volunteer giving advice on setting up a brothel.

On the site BigGovernment.com two activists have posted videos of their visits to ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) offices around the country in which they posed as a prostitute and a pimp seeking advice. The series of videos highlights Acorn employees exhibiting outright disdain for the law.

The most recent video was released Tuesday and reveals a San Bernardino, California ACORN worker telling undercover filmmaker James O’Keefe and his associate Hannah Giles about how she ran a prostitution business, how she shot and killed her husband, and how on a daily bases she talks to multiple lawmakers including Sen. Barbara Boxer and California State Senator Negrete-McLeod.

ACORN is a national organization that serves low-income residents and has been involved in controversial efforts to register Democratic voters. More than 37,000 members make up California ACORN. With exposes now public from three different offices, pressure is mounting on state officials to investigate potential illegal activities and misuse of state funds by ACORN offices.

Through the short memo, Schwarzenegger has now officially asked Brown to launch a “full investigation” into the activities in San Bernardino. His spokesman, Aaron McLear, said the governor wants to find out whether the organization has engaged in criminal activity.

“Over the past few days, I have seen a series of news stories regarding the ACORN organization that have concerned me greatly,” Schwarzenegger wrote. “As you may be aware, the most recent report has come out of San Bernardino. Given this, I believe it is appropriate that your office launch a full investigation into ACORN’s activities in California . My administration stands ready to assist in any way necessary.”

Whether or not the Attorney General will pursue such an investigation is unclear, but the Sacramento Citizen has obtained exclusive information regarding the question of whether or not state funds have been issued to ACORN.

The most likely state agency to have issued fund would be the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), the statewide agency with the mission of providing “policies and programs to preserve and expand safe and affordable housing opportunities.” Through various bond and grant monies the Department frequently provides funding opportunities for local governments, groups and organizations which can help to meet the goal of creating and preserving more housing in the state.

HCD shows no record of ACORN receiving any awards from the Department in bond funds, federal funds or from the General Fund. However, the Sacramento Citizen has learned that the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA), which provides financing and programs tot create affordable housing opportunities for individuals within specified income ranges, reported that in 2008 they did award federal NeighborWorks grant dollars to ACORN offices in California.

NeighborWorks is a national nonprofit organization created by Congress to provide financial support, technical assistance, and training for community-based revitalization efforts.

Last year NeighborWorks made grant funding available for various housing projects. CalHFA applied for a portion of those funds on behalf of California. There were several criteria to be met to make an entity eligible to then apply for those federal funds either directly through Neighborworks or through CalHFA. One of those requirements is that the entity must be a “qualified counseling intermediary” – which means they had to be HUD approved. ACORN met that eligibility requirement, and therefore was eligible to apply for funding the federal funding through CalHFA.

Of the $8 Million in federal monies that CalHFA made available through the first round of funding in 2008 only $611,340 went to ACORN offices in California. Apparently while CalHFA has now opened applications for Round 2 of funding and no ACORN groups have applied for funds.

Will California Attorney General Brown Investigate ACORN?

Allegations of fraud have dogged Acorn, for years sometimes resulting in convictions.  On Monday, the U.S. Senate voted 83-7 to strip ACORN, of more than $1.6 million in federal housing money meant to assist low-income people obtain loans and prepare tax forms. This dramatic step followed last Friday’s decision by the U.S. Census Bureau to sever its ties with the organization, one of several community groups it was partnering with to conduct the nation’s head count.
 
Both of these actions came after secretly recorded videos involving employees in Acorn’s Brooklyn, N.Y., Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Md. and San Bernardino, Calif. offices were televised on Fox News.  This series of videos across the Nation have show Acorn employees exhibiting outright disdain for the law.
 
A fourth video released yesterday on the Glenn Beck show, reveals a San Bernardino, California ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) worker telling undercover filmmaker James O’Keefe and his associate Hannah Giles about how she ran a prostitution business, how she shot and killed her husband, and how on a daily bases she talks to multiple lawmakers including Sen. Barbara Boxer and California State Senator Negrete-McLeod.
 
ACORN employee Tresa Kaelke, told O’Keefe and Giles that she ran a prostitution business and that she knows how not to get caught.   She would make $15,000 a month and the women who worked for her 10k.  She told Giles, that if she beat the girls working for her, she would “get more out of them.” and that prostitution should be legal.
 
Kelke goes on to tell how she shot and killed her husband.  She claims it was in self defense but says that she laid groundwork before, talking to agencies on how her husband was beating her.  She said she has no problem with killing people.
 
ACORN has been closely associated over the years with liberal causes and Democratic politicians. The group says it has registered 1.7 million low- and moderate-income voters since 2004, a period in which Democrats scored major victories in consecutive national elections.
 
More than 37,000 members make up California ACORN.  The group organizes communities across the state, centered around thirteen offices.
 
With exposes now public from three different offices, the pressure should develop on states’ attorneys general to open investigations of these ACORN operations.  Yesterday, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo launched an investigation into pork-barrel grants given to ACORN by state lawmakers.  Now that state lawmakers have been named in the latest video will California Attorney General Jerry Brown follow suit and launch his own investigation? 
 
California’s Attorney Gernal has a long list of duties and responsibilities, one of which is to participate in criminal investigations and establishes and protect Californians from fraudulent, unfair, and illegal activities.  General Brown will face a choice of ignoring the sleaze or doing his job and opening an investigation.  CA’s AG is proud of his crime-fighting record, but ACORN’s operations will put him in a big box if their east coast employees have counterparts on the west coast.  If he does nothing, expect that inaction to be part of the campaign for the Golden State’s governorship, already underway.

According to the Press Enterprise, California State Senator Negrete McLeod said on Tuesday that she recalls Kaelke attending a July 10 meeting in her Montclair office to talk about state legislation dealing with medical bills and mortgage fraud.  Apparently Kaelke was one of a group of about six people who supported legislative measures AB 1503 and AB 260.

UPDATE: On Wednesday evening Governor Schwarzenegger urged Attorney General Brown to investigate ACORN activities.

US Dept of Treasury Admits Cap and Trade is a Significant Tax

When the Heritage Foundation did its analysis of the Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade legislation, it broadly compared the economy with and without the carbon tax. Under this scenario, it found Waxman-Markey would cost the economy $161 billion in 2020, which is $1,870 for a family of four. As the bill’s restrictions kick in, that number rises to $6,800 for a family of four by 2035.

At the time proponents of Cap and Trade legislation dismissed the analysis done by Heritage pointing instead to estimates from MIT’s John Reilly, who put the cost at $800 a year per family. 

Now, a previously unreleased analysis prepared by the U.S. Department of Treasury says the total in new taxes would be between $100 billion to $200 billion a year. At the upper end of the administration’s estimate, the cost per American household would be an extra $1,761 a year. 

The documents (PDF) was obtained through the Freedom of Information Act Christopher Horner at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.    Horner says,

These are candid, internal discussions of what they are telling each other and what they won’t tell you. The words cap and trade were chosen for a reason, and that is to avoid a vote on tax. This memo tells you it’s a tax. Why else are they discussing hundreds of billions of revenue to be taken from the taxpayer?”

The energy tax amounts $1,761 a year for families – “the equivalent of hiking personal income taxes by about 15 percent” as stated by Declan McCullagh of CBSNews. Horner writes that the Treasury memo offers much more, including:

the admission that cap-and-trade would cause the loss of steel, paper, aluminum, chemical, and cement manufacturing jobs which, as happened under Europe’s scheme, tend to export themselves to saner environments. Windfall profits under the scheme of allocating the ration coupons, the Waxman-Markey approach, are also admitted to.”

These disclosures will probably not aid the political prospects of the Democrats’ cap and trade bill. The House of Representatives approved it by a remarkably narrow margin in June — the bill would have failed if only six House members had switched their votes to “no” — and it faces significant opposition in the Senate.

The admissions are akin to Heritage Foundation’s economic analysis of the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill where they found:

As noted over at CBSNews Blogs, the The Freedom of Information Act, of course, contains no this-might-embarrass-the-president exemption (nor, for that matter, should federal agencies be in the business of possibly suppressing dissenting climate change voices).

• Higher energy and other costs for a household of four averaging nearly $3,000 per year between 2012 and 2035.
• Cumulative gross domestic product (GDP) losses are $9.4 trillion for the same time period;
• Single-year GDP losses reach $400 billion by 2025 and will ultimately exceed $700 billion;
• Net job losses approach 1.9 million in 2012 and could approach 2.5 million by 2035. Manufacturing loses 1.4 million jobs in 2035;
• A typical family of four will pay, on average, an additional $829 each year for energy-based utility costs; and
• Gasoline prices will rise by 58 percent ($1.38 more per gallon) and average household electric rates will increase by 90 percent.

Pew Research: Press Accuracy Rating Hits Two Decade Low

The latest survey on news media from Pew Research shows that the public’s assessment of the accuracy of news stories is now at its lowest level in more than two decades of Pew Research surveys, and Americans’ views of media bias and independence now match previous lows.
“Just 29% of Americans say that news organizations generally get the facts straight, while 63% say that news stories are often inaccurate. In the initial survey in this series about the news media’s performance in 1985, 55% said news stories were accurate while 34% said they were inaccurate. That percentage had fallen sharply by the late 1990s and has remained low over the last decade.”

Pew also polls on each of the major national media organs.  By their count CNN fares best, as even a plurality of Republicans view it favorably.  Perhaps just as surprisingly, Fox News — which has been the subject of far-Left derision for years — comes in a close second, with a plurality of Democrats approving of their performance.  In the aggregate, though, broadcast network news does best with 64% favorable, and majorities of both Republicans and Democrats approving.

The New York Times fared the worst.  Only 29% give the paper a favorable rating, with Republicans going 2-1 unfavorable (31%-16%), much worse than the statistical tie the GOP gives on MSNBC (35%-34% unfavorable).  Independents, which give all other outlets wide pluralities or majorities for positive assessments, only give the Paper of Record a wan 29%-18% plurality.

In the final analysis, the Pew numbers show a terrible decline in credibility on news reports.  In 1985, 55% of the American people had confidence in the mainstream media to get the facts straight; now it’s merely 29%.  Now, 63% say their reports are “often inaccurate,” up from 34% in 1985.  Small wonder that the mainstream media now struggle to keep readers and viewers.

Last Minute Senate Session Shenanigans

In the last few days of this legislative session Senate Republicans have been withholding votes all legislative measures requiring a 2/3 vote. 

According to sources inside the building, Senate Republicans were withholding support on those measures in order to get previously negotiated and agreed upon budget deals.  Apparently Majority Leadership made several promises, dating back to February of this year which, to date, have not been upheld.  Senate Republicans have therefore been attempting to use the 2/3 vote measures as leverage forcing Dem Leadership to produce on prior promises made 

Now Senate Democrats, are stripping the urgency clauses from bills on the floor so they may be passed with only a majority vote. 

And so the typical last minute shenanigans begin…

Lawmakers Scramble on Water Talks as Legislative Deadline Nears

Tic toc… tic toc….

With a matter of hours left in this year’s legislative session, lawmakers have yet to agree on their most pressing priorities — water reform, prison spending and renewable energy mandates.

Members are rushing to find a last-minute compromise on major water legislation.  The Fresno Bee’s E.J. Schultz has an update on the efforts here.

UPDATE:  Apparently as lawmakers and Senate President Pro Tem Steinberg (D) continue to rush on a solution to the state’s water problems, residents of Sacramento and the Delta are protesting the potential bill & Steinberg’s efforts.

Remembering 9-11

Nearly 3,000 days have passed since the attacks of 9-11, almost one day for each one who has been taken from us on that fateful morning. Eight years since the United States suffered the worst attack on our soil since Pearl Harbor.  It was a day that forever changed America and the world.

The nation paused at the moments when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon — symbols of America’s financial and military might — and at a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

There was silence at the site of the former World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane struck the North Tower, followed by another at 9:03 a.m. when a jet struck the South Tower.

President Obama spoke at the Pentagon to those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001, telling them no words would heal their pain yet calling for a renewed resolve against the ones who attacked the country eight years ago.

For many of us the memories are still fresh in our minds and hearts as we reflect on lives of loved ones affected so personally and so tragically.  Today our nation is full of tributes and memorials. As it should be. As a nation we should daily remind ourselves of the events of that day and why we continue to push forward in the cause of freedom.

Last year on the seventh anniversary of 9.11, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made the following statement which bares repeating: “Today we renew our vows to never forget how this long struggle began and to never forget those who fell first.”

As we look back to that tragic day eight years ago we should take pride in the fact that we came together as a nation in the days, months and years that followed. We rose to the challenge that fateful day and we still can.

Legislative Shenanigans, Last Minute Antics & SB 88

Californians are taking an increasingly dim view of the governor and members of state legislature.  Field Poll numbers show that nearly three out of four survey respondents — some 74 percent — said they do not approve of the job that members of the California Legislature are doing.  Along with a mangled and heavily politicized budget process, legislative measures like Senate Bill 88 continue to provide reasons why the California Legislature deserves to be held in such low public esteem.
 
SB 88 is one of the measures “gutted and amended” on Friday to incorporate provisions very similar to AB 155 (Mendoza), a measure that sought to require state permission prior to a local agency seeking Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.  When heard in the Senate Local Government Committee earlier this year, AB 155 failed to garner even the motion necessary to move the bill so that a committee vote could be taken.  Now authored by Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord), SB 88 gives new life to a misguided effort to prevent local governments from filing for bankruptcy under Chapter 9 of the federal bankruptcy code.    
 
The last minute process of “gut and amends” has become an annual Legislative tradition in the final weeks of the legislative year.  “Gut and amend” is a practice used during the final days of a legislative session in which the entire contents of a bill are stripped out (“gut”) and replaced with something new (“amend”).  Opponents argue that the practice is used to slip through bills at the very end of a legislative session without public input. Although such bills are still subject to legislative committee hearings, often those hearings are held on short notice.  
 
In essence, SB 88 undermines local officials’ discretion in responding to fiscal crises by providing that a local public entity may only file for bankruptcy with the approval of the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC), which may impose prescriptive conditions including an express prohibition on the abrogation of union contracts, thereby significantly preempting local control and promoting efforts by unions to preserve their contracts in cities faced with stark budget decisions that affect their taxpayers.  These potentially prescriptive conditions imposed by CDIAC cannot be overridden by a local agency – therefore undermining local control. 

But power behind the bill and the real reason for its last minute re-emergence is the state labor unions.  SB 88 is so important for the public safety and labor unions throughout the state, because this bill will provide labor unions more control over municipalities finances and make permanent union contracts, should municipalities go bankrupt. This leaves public safety unions unscathed and immune to economic realities, and perpetuate unsustainable fiscal policy within each municipality.

Such state interference with local governments is unconscionable, especially for a Legislature that repeatedly has failed to balance the state budget or make necessary reforms to prevent recurring budget crises.  It is the responsibility of bankruptcy courts, not a politically motivated state commission, to judge whether a fiscally troubled municipality is able to pay its bills and if it has a viable plan for reorganizing its debt to get back into the black. 
 
The gut-and-amend nature of the bill, on a topic of such significance and sensitivity, particularly following the bruising battles of the state budget, makes SB 88 especially outrageous.  It is not only an example of why the California Legislature deserves to be held in such low public esteem, but of the power and influence public unions sway over California’s legislative process.

Perhaps the greatest irony comes when one realizes that the author of SB 88, Senator DeSaulnier, was recently appointed by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) to chair the legislative committee in charge of examining reform of the legislative process.

In a recent press release from Assembly Speaker  Karen Bass’s office outlines the Joint Select Committee’s responsibilities including making government more transparent and accessible from around the state, diminishing the influence of special interests.

UPDATE: Assemblyman Mike Duvall has resigned from the State Assembly less than 15 hours after CBS News and the Orange County Weekly broke a story of him bragging about multiple extra-marital affairs on a live microphone in the State Capitol.

Assembly Republican Duvall Caught In Sex Scandal

Various Southern California media outlets are reporting here and here that Orange County Assembly Republican Michael Duvall, was caught bragging about sex with two Sacramento lobbyists into a hot microphone during an in-house broadcast of a committee hearing. 

Freshmen legislators arriving in Sacramento receive advice from veteran
politicians about the intricacies of working in California’s capital. One of those tips is to remember that microphones broadcasting legislative debates can also capture embarrassing, career-ending personal admissions if a politician isn’t careful.  Assemblymember Duvall, Orange County’s 72nd Assembly
District representative, must have forgotten the warning.

The Assemblymember is the vice chair of the powerful Utilities and Commerce Committee.  According to reports, one of the affairs was with a lobbyist for the energy company Sempra.  In this video, Assemblyman is overheard giving vivid details of his sexual exploits.  But Duvall wasn’t content to just share one adulterous tale at the July 8 committee hearing. He referenced a second, simultaneous affair with another woman.  The assemblyman was apparently not aware the microphone was hot as he sat next to an unidentified colleague, explicitly detailing trysts with each of the women.

Duvall is a second term assemblyman from the 72nd District and married with children.  He represents Anaheim, Fullerton, Placentia, Orange, Brea, La
 Habra and Yorba Linda.  According to the reports, both lobbyists involved with Duvall are also married.

Did Rangel pay off Ethics Committee members?

While we normally limit ourselves to Sacramento specific news, the unraveling of  US Representative Charlie Rangle (D-N.Y.) has taken another fascinating turn this morning that is worth noting here at the blog.

This morning CBS went after Charlie Rangel in a big way by probing the embattled House Ways and Means chair over his connections to the very people evaluating his ethics.  The House committee is currently investigating Rangel for a series of false disclosures and tax evasions, but Rangel acts as though he has nothing to fear.  What does he know that we don’t?  CBS follows the money:

CBS 2 HD has learned of more alleged back-door dealings and political power peddling by Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel.

The reigning member of Congress’ top tax committee is apparently “wrangling” other politicos to get him out of his own financial and tax troubles. …

CBS 2 HD has discovered that since ethics probes began last year the 79-year-old congressman has given campaign donations to 119 members of Congress, including three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee who are charged with investigating him.

Charlie’s “angels” on the committee include Congressmen Ben Chandler of Kentucky, G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina and Peter Welch of Vermont. All have received donations from Rangel.

According to reports only Representative Peter Welch realized the perception of the gift and proceeded to return the nearly $20,000 donation.

Nancy Pelosi has assured Mr. Rangel that he can keep his powerful chair on Ways and Means while the ethical probe continues.  Apparently the Washington Post editorial board has heard enough.

California Conference Committee on Water Charged with Solving States Water Woes

With only a matter of days left in the 2009 legislative year, lawmakers have formed a Legislative Conference Committee on Water.  The conference committee is charged with creating a series of reforms that help reform and shape California’s antiquated water system and lead to a reliable supply of water for the state’s water users.

On Wednesday Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Murrieta) and Republican Senators Huff, Cogdill and Aanestad, along with members of the Legislative Conference Committee on Water, joined by the Carpenters´ Union and Latino Water Coalition held a news conference to point out the need for a serious and comprehensive water package to solve California’s growing water crisis.

“We must have a comprehensive solution that reflects the importance of water to our state´s economy. Senator Cogdill has been leading the effort for years to invest in our water infrastructure and we are hopeful we can complete this quickly, and provide the water Californians desperately need,” said Senator Hollingsworth.

While some local water agencies have built regional projects to increase local water supply and storage, California’s state and federal water systems have not seen any major upgrades since the State Water Project was completed in 1973, despite the addition of nearly 14 million residents.

According to population projections, the state’s total population will increase to 60 million people by the year 2050, an increase of over 56% from the 2000 census numbers. As the state’s population continues to grow, this is putting strain on our existing water supplies, as well as bringing into question the ability to accommodate this expected future growth.

At the same time, a historic drought has reduced the snowpack California depends on to fill its reservoirs, and the Delta, critical hub of California’s water system, faces multiple risk factors to its fragile levees.  In other words, the Conference Committee has a lot of issues to resolve and little time to do it in.

The Committee will meet every day this week and through the Labor Day weekend. The Committee has until Tuesday, September 8 to bring a final conference report to the floor of both houses. A conference report can only be brought to the floor if eight conferees (four from the Senate and four from the Assembly) sign the conference report.

The California Senate Republican Caucus Conferees have created a blog page where people can follow related stories and issues taking place as the Conference Committee works towards a comprehensive solution.