August 31, 2003
(Almost) the complete coast of California in photos -- brought to you by "No on Recall...Yes on Bustamente". (Really). Check out this photo of San Franscisco.
Here is where I got married.
And my daughter loves this place.
California -- gotta love it.
(link via Pathetic Earthlings)
Tacitus has been on the MECHA - Bustamante watch since the story broke two weeks ago. What does Bustamante think of MECHa and it's racist philosophy? Well, for more than a week we never got a straight answer to the question -- and Tacitus has all of these non-answers posted on his blog. And then, finally, this:
On Fox News on Saturday, Bustamante was asked whether he renounced a slogan of the group: "For the race everything. For those outside the race, nothing." He responded that he loved his culture and would represent the entire state if he became governor. "My politics ... have grown to a point where I'm a very inclusive individual, and all you have to do is look at the politics I've shared and the kind of politics that I've had," Bustamante said. When pressed a fourth time for a more direct answer, Bustamante said, "Racial separatism is wrong... You have to look at what people do, not just what they say, and I think I've demonstrated my ability."
Tacitus comments:
It shouldn't take multiple tries over eight days to drag a straightforward denunciation of MEChA's more reprehensible beliefs from someone. Unless that someone is a Democratic candidate, I guess. This story is over as far as I'm concerned. When I raised the MEChA issue exactly two weeks ago, I said that Cruz Bustamante needed to face the resultant questions "squarely and publicly." It was a logical request and a simple test.He failed it.
"The voters are angry". The Contra Costa Times takes a tour of the state and gets a read on the pulse of the people of California. Quotable:
"[The recall] sends a clear message to politicians that if they don't do a good job, they will be kicked out of office," said Dave Horsley, who cuts hair at the Lincoln City Barber Shop in Placer County. "If I did a bad job of cutting hair, my customers would fire me. Why should we keep a governor who has done a bad job of running the state?"
Rahnold Scwharzenreagan. Lou Cannon does another is Schwarzenegger like Reagan piece.
What candidate Ronald Reagan could teach candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger about running for governor of California.
Danial Weintraub talks with historian Ken Star:
Instead of a petulant partisan jihad, Starr now sees the eruption of a political volcano, a legitimate citizen movement reacting to a disconnect between the governors (not just Davis) and the governed."The culture of politics, the appropriations, the hearings, the budget proposals, the whole apparatus of California government is basically 18th century in origin," Starr said. "It's become a self-perpetuating system, in both Republican and Democratic circles.
"On the other hand, people are getting information on a 24-7 basis. They're used to feedback. They're used to things being changed. They're used to laying down databases. Everything moves very rapidly, and people want that from their government as well."
But beginning with the dot-com crash in 2000, government hasn't seemed to work very well at all. We have gone from an energy crisis to a budget crisis to a political crisis. And Californians who came here craving something special or were born into the state's heightened sense of self are shaken by such failures.
"People are personally offended when California doesn't work," Starr said ..
Starr thinks that no matter who wins, the activism reflected in the recall will not soon subside. Voters, he predicts, are going to demand the very sort of structural reform about which experts have been talking for years but which the politicians, wedded to competing interest groups, have refused to enact.
"We have earned it and we will get it," he said, "either through representative politics or back at the ballot box again. We are past the point of no return." He predicts the voters won't be fooled by half-measures or platitudes.
"There was an old saying in vaudeville: Never follow a dog act with a dog act," Starr said. "The people are tired of dog acts. There has to be a new act, the re-founding, the rebuilding of this state."
Starr says the current period is reminiscent of 1879, when California tore up its original constitution and started over, and of the Progressive Era during which the state adopted the tools of direct democracy, including the recall, that have come to be a cornerstone of our political system. Today the defining characteristic, he says, is the lack of faith in big institutions, and the desire to break down the hierarchies that rule our world.
The Internet and other new technologies are a transforming force behind that trend. The World Wide Web has leveled the traditional barriers to information that once forced citizens to depend on opinion leaders for their news.
"We are getting ready for the 21st century, getting ready for the destiny that history has given us," he said. "California is the epicenter of creativity in so many fields, and it has got to have a government equal to its creativity. The people understand that. They don't want to be bothered with the details. They just want it done."
A Tom McClintock profile. Quotable:
And if he does end up splitting votes, allowing Bustamante to win? How would he feel then? McClintock falters for the only time in the interview. "I guess I, uh I would, uh I don't believe it will occur. I have great confidence in the people's ability to work through the issues and make the right decision."
California tax rates -- not yet the worst in the nation. And here is the web site of the California Taxpayers' Association.
Recall the legislature -- The California Budget Deficit Prevention Act.
"We're Not Gonna Take It. No, we ain't gonna take it. We're not going to take it anymore." -- bang your head for Arnold.
Mickey Kaus fact checks the LA Times, and goes rhetorical:
Is the L.A. Times a) "objectively' reporting on a campaign controversy or b) bending over backwards to exonerate Latino activists, either out of political correctness, or because it's terrified of alienating a large group of potential readers, or as part of its near-monolithic Bustamante-boosting coverage? You make the call! ... Would the Times show similar tolerance for, say, an anti-bilingual site that reprinted a document containing the slogan, "For Anglos, Everything. For non-Anglos, Nothing"?" ...
August 30, 2003
Like a terrier with a rat Hugh Hewitt shakes the living daylights out of the LA Times for its continually biased coverage of the race to replace.
Danial Weintraub on Peter Ueberroth's uninspiring campaign for governor.
Rev. Louis Sheldon writes letter demanding to know more Schwarzenegger's sex details.
Greenspan defends Fed ad hockery and argues that today's deregulated economy can better handle "shocks" than the more highly regulated economy of the past. And Greenspan defends the Fed's decision to continue fueling the bubble economy of the late 1990s with artificially low interest rates -- trust me, Greenspan's argument is don't miss stuff. Greenspan was speaking at the Kansas City Fed. Conference proceedings will be published here.
Mickey Kaus and Matt Drudge can mud wrestle for the scoop on this one -- a BBC documentary titled "Made in Britain" interviewed an actress named Gigi Goyette who claims to have had a seven year "outercourse" affair with Schwarzenegger. Take it away Mickey and Matt. The Guardian has the story here. The Evening Standard's account is here. And
here is a blog entryon the story; and another one here. Now I think I'll go take a shower.
Schwarzenegger finally has a full service campaign website. Here is Schwarzenegger's agenda. And here are the official press releases of the Schwarzenegger campaign.
Where does Schwarzenegger stand on the issues? Find out here.
Finally, here is a list of those who have endorsed Schwarzenegger in his campaign for governor of California.
�I am disgusted, appalled, revolted, sickened, disturbed and troubled� -- Gloria Allred attacks Schwarzenegger.
California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante today said he is considering renouncing ties to a racist organization which persists in judging a person by the color of his skin .."I don't know if can stay with a group that promotes racial division," said Mr. Bustamante. "How can I, in good conscience, remain a member of the Democrat party?"
Fisking the Chronicle's whitewash of Bustamante's racist past. Somehow seeing racism in a Chicano-seperatist organization is possible only if you're one of those not-to-be-taken seriously "conservatives". The bias at the Chronicle is beyond parody -- who needs Scrappleface, when the leftist bias is simply laughable?
A Ronald Reagan reality check:
Bill Bagley was a Republican assemblyman then. "Ronald Reagan came in in 1967 after the campaign where he was going to cut, squeeze and trim that terrible budget in Sacramento. First thing he did was raise taxes." In fact, Reagan increased his budget by 100% from $4.6 billion to $10 billion during his first term.
Opposition researchers do the leg work for newspaper "reporters". This, folks, is the inside story on how papers like the Chronicle come up with their "news".
California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres labels Schwarzenegger a "sexual predator" and a "misogynist" in radio interview.
McClintock won't be in the voters guide.
Sen. Tom McClintock faces one of a candidate's worst nightmares, finding himself not included in the official state voters guide. A state appeals court, then the state supreme court ruled against McClintock's request for inclusion, saying the Northridge Republican didn't do his paperwork correctly. McClintock's lawyer said the senator checked a box where candidates refuse to accept voluntary spending limits, not knowing that it also keeps candidates out of the voters guide scheduled for printing on Sunday.
Paid signature gatherers were among the crowd of about 2,000 people who showed up Thursday at a Fresno shopping mall parking lot to rally in support of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Republican's aides have promised an aggressive voter registration drive and workers from a company called American Petitions signed up hundreds.
August 29, 2003
The sponsor of the licenses for illegals bill -- Sen. Gil Cedillo -- suggests that anyone who might worry that illegals will register to vote at the same time they get licenses are nothing but "brownshirts" -- Nazis. Cedillo quoted today on KFI radio in Los Angeles.
Arnold flashes his big blue lapis lazuli ring.
"Schwarzenegger has etched out a public image, through accouterments, that says: I am bigger than you. I am richer than you. I am stronger, luckier, lustier .. Schwarzenegger always has worn the clothes of a company man dressed for casual Friday. The bold jewelry, however, suggests that he owns the company."
More on the style of California politics here. And this:
[Bob] White says Kathleen Brown .. telephoned him with an urgent campaign suggestion after seeing Schwarzenegger on TV:"Tell Arnold to take off the big blue ring. Tell him to dump the ring."
Schwarzenegger sex interviewer Peter Manso and a rape survivor advocate sift through the Arnold rumour muck on leftwing talk radio. Quotable Manso:
I know that on very good account that six, seven, eight years ago, Arnold bought up for the sum of $1 million the rights of film "pumping iron" and all the outtakes for that film- the cinema verite film- These guys constantly had the camera running in Golds gym. I'm told that the outtakes of the film really chronicle the very orgies that Arnold talks about in the interview. Now, why would Arnold, rich as he is, peel off a million bucks to buy up the rights a half dozen years ago if he wasn't anticipating a political run sooner or later. I'll leave the answer to that question to your audience.
(via L.A. Observed)
Instapundit is also giving big play to the MECHa - Bustamante story. Quotable:
ROBERT TAGORDA WONDERS if Cruz Bustamante isn't using the MEChA issue to energize Latino voters.Hmm. Makes the parallel to race-baiting Southern politicians of previous generations all the stronger, doesn't it? Bustamante may indeed be trying to use racism in an effort to win election. The question is, why are the Democrats going along? The answer, I guess, is that they care more about winning than they do about racism.
Kausfiles picks up the Mecha - Bustamante story. Quotable:
"For the Race, everything. For those outside the Race, nothing:" The issue of Cruz Bustamante's refusal to distance himself from Mecha, the creepy Chicano identity politcs student group--raised most insistently by Michelle Malkin--appears to be getting some traction in the California recall. On tonight's L.A. evening news it got equal billing with the Scwarzengangbanger story. But while the latter scandal could fade quickly, the Mecha story won't, because Bustamante's response has been so revealingly pathetic. ... Mecha may or may not be separatist, secessionist or irridentist--here's a pro-Mechista denial of any such thing--but it's at the least still an extreme expression of a distasteful and discredited identity politics. It's not only opposed to assimilation but it seeks to make ethnic identity and "nationalism" the fundamental basis of politics. (Many American Jewish groups fight against assimilation too, but I haven't seen any with a slogan equivalent to "For the Race, everything. For those outside the race, nothing.") ... I'm not saying Bustamante has to condemn Mecha as the equivalent of the KKK, as Malkin and Republican candidate Tom McClintock seem to demand. But you'd think he could at least say "I was a student then. I don't agree with that anymore. I think it's wrong." Instead, his defense (as televised) was basically that many of his Mecha student colleagues have gone on to become college graduates and professionals. Great! I'm sure Mecha is a powerful upward-mobility networking machine on California's campuses. But can't college graduates and professionals be racialists and separatists? Are there no, say, college graduates in Quebec who want to secede from Canada? ... P.S.: The Mecha issue is also a test of character for Bustamante. Who is it he's scared of offending and why? Donde esta la Hermana Souljah? ...
August 28, 2003
LA Times columnist Peter H. King has signed on as a campaign writer for the Gray Davis team at the Davis web site -- home of the famed Mrs. Davis blog.
UPDATE: Actually, the Davis campaign has signed up King, but King has NOT signed up (contractually) with them, and the LA Times is not happy --L.A. Observed fact checks PrestoPundit:
The official No on Recall website -- the one with Sharon Davis' diary -- has picked up the latest Peter King column from the L.A. Times op-ed page without labeling it as from the paper. Campaign sites link to favorable press coverage all the time, but this time it's misleading. It appears on the same page of links as Gray Davis' UCLA speech, so someone who doesn't know that King is a Times staffer could mistake the unlabeled column for a campaign product. It's compounded by the credit line: "Peter H. King's twice-weekly column will run through the recall election." Anti-Davis blogger Prestopundit appears to have been taken in. Former Bee staffer Dave Jensen (The Condor) too. Also, isn't there a copyright issue with a campaign grabbing an entire column, not just excerpts and a link?
And here's the comment posted to L.A. Observed:
Hi Kevin -- thanks for the tip. I spoke with Jeremy Thompson, who is responsible for the no-recall and Davis websites. I explained that they cannot use our articles without our permission and told him to take them down.Posted by: K Goller at August 29, 2003
UPDATE: And here is The Condor on the King flap:
Never assume. Never assume. Never assume. Yours truly did, and I am very embarrassed.I assumed the Peter King column on the Gray Davis site was legitimately posted by the Davis campaign. It was not. The Davis campaign has now removed it from its site.
As it turns out, King's column is being done for the Los Angeles Times. The Davis campaign apparently lifted it from the Times site and presented the article as work done for the campaign. There was no indication on the Davis site that King's work had originated elsewhere.
Debra Saunders on the bill which will give California drivers licences to foreign criminals.
"The students who are MeCHA today are just like the students when I was there. Pretty much they are trying to get an education .. I think the actuality of what takes place in those organizations is to provide student leadership. For me, and many, many others, we were running for student government. That's how I got here today."
Here's a MeCHa watch web page. And at hispanicvista.com you will find opposing views on the significance of MeCHa and Bustamante's past affiliations with this group. Sharkblog characterizes the racist and statist platform of MeCHa as national socialism.
2,204,500 Californians fled the state between 1995 and 2000, part of a national red state to blue state migration revolution as citizens vote with their feet against life in the high tax, high cost red states.
UPDATE: PresoPundit color coding: Red = left dominated. Blue = true blue liberty loving America. The television networks are conciously practicing political spin by reversing these colors -- at least it's a likely guess.
UPDATE: It's estimated that 2.3 million illegals have moved into the state of California. Do the math.
UPDATE: Bound in a Nutshell does a fisking.
In a return to the economic thinking of the early 1970's Cruz Bustamante calls for price controls on gasoline .
Bustamante refuses to renounce his racist past. Follow the story here. Michelle Malkin's article gives background on the story.
Movie fanatics to vote any body but Arnold. An interview with the President of theArnoldFans.com .
Why is California in trouble? According to the unofficial Democratic Party newspaper in Los Angeles, it's because we aren't taxed to death quite enough:
When, at last week's news conference, [Schwarzenegger] placed Proposition 13 and tax increases hors de combat for the duration of his campaign, he tagged himself as yet another politician unwilling to reexamine the self-destructive policies that have brought the state to its sorry pass.
-- Michael Hiltzik, The LA Times
Here's my California recovery program -- give a lifetime Paris fellowship to the entire leftie / Democratic Party press contingent, along with a similar fellowhip to 40,000 or 50,000 of the leftie academics who train budding journalists to think this way. Somehow these folks believe that a new Republican governor should be the tax collector for a corrupt union controlled government -- and everyone not on the government payroll should work two jobs to pay for this corruption. Give me a flippin' break.
LIES, DAMN LIES AND... � MEDIA LIES�. Among those recently exposed is � �We don�t know what Arnold Schwarzenegger stands for!� Well, yesterday Arnold went down a list of key issues on Sean Hannity�s radio show and guess what? Not a single surprise. He�s a moderate (more liberal on social issues, more conservative on the fiscal side). We knew his positions all along. In fact anyone living in California with even a passing interest in these matters (like a political reporter, for instance) should have known them because they have barely changed for decades. But no�we were warned there could be dangerous revelations here. The problem is�it�s hard to imagine what those revelations could have been.So we were, in essence, lied to by a nebulous, self-serving consortium of media types anxious to have us read their papers and watch their TV shows. No surprise there either�and harmless enough. In fact, they seem to have done Arnold a favor�it was so easy to prove them wrong. Not that he appears to need this. His campaign seemed like a winner from the outset and still does.
What is truly interesting about the debate over what AS needs to answer is that the questions the Dems and McClintock want AS to answer are not the questions on California voters' minds. It still is about the car tax and a collapsing state budget and service structure. There is a page one story in this morning's Wall Street Journal, for example, on how the "California Crises Take a Heavy Toll On State Colleges." The inability to get into these collegses, their rising costs and rotten course offerings --now those are issues that all relate back to the crazy priorities of a Sacramento ruled by special interests that don't care about the state college and community college systems.While some who will vote to remove Gray Davis will do so because of social issues, the vast majority of those giving him the boot will be doing so because of his utter ineptness in managing the state's finances and his corrupt handling of the sacramento power brokers. Listen again to my interview with AS over at www.870krla.com, and you will hear him address this theme again and again. It is the key theme, and he is pounding away at it. No wonder the Dems don't like the answers he is giving: They are the answers that voters in California want to hear.
August 27, 2003
The Washington Times -- Peter Ueberroth, quit the race. Quote: "His blandness and lack of energy will not do."
Tom McClintock hosts the Roger Hedgecock show Thursday afternoon, between 3-6 pm.
Volunteer here for the Schwarzenegger campaign. Or join the McClintock team here.
The only news story posted at Schwarzenegger's campaign web site. Right now it's all about securing the Republican base and energizing the tax revolters behind the recall movement.
Schwarzenegger -- the CATO Institute's dream candidate. So says Fresh Potatoes.
42% of American's want Schwarzenegger to be governor of their own state. But Arnold can forget about ever being President. An overwhelming majority of American's oppose changing the Constitution so that Schwarzenegger could run for the highest office in the land.
Schwarzenegger smashes through the 40% glass ceiling -- leads Cruz Buz 45% - 29%, in the first poll taken since Simon bailed out of the race to replace. An amazing 64% want Davis out of there. McClintock is still in double digets at 11%. Significantly, only 2% of voters are undecided on the race to replace. Note well, these poll numbers reflect respondents who said that they are certain to vote.
What's your caption?
Here's mine. "Schwarzenegger announces support for domestic partnerships".
Schwarzenegger takes the pledge -- barring a state emegency Schwarzenegger pledges he will not raise taxes and there will be no new taxes in California. Hear Schwarzenegger take this pedge on link below to his interview with Sean Hannity.
Kausfiles spreads the news of Schwarzenegger dirt dug up in an old Oui magazine sex and drugs interview from 1977 -- dirt first posted on EBAY. Smoking Gun has the full interview here. It's a bit surprising to see Kaus doing a job usually carried out by the Chronicle. The vast left-wing conspiracy -- from Ebay, to Kaus, to Smoking Gun, to The Hollywood Reporter, to Drudge, to ... we'll next it will be the mainstream "news" press, right?
Here is Schwarzenegger on the Sean Hannity show. And here is the AP coverage of the interview. And here is the NY Times.
Worth quoting:
This election will show once and for all if there is a viable middle in California politics.
Hugh Hewitt slams the Chronicle and writes his own lead to the Hewitt interviews Schwarzenegger story.
Virginia Postrel on THE CALIFORNIA DISEASE. Quotable:
Here's an example of the sort of policy that has made California a place where it's hard to do business and even harder to buy a house. There's a reason Arnold keeps talking about regulation, even though regulation would seem to have no direct effect on the state budget crisis. People are leaving the state because it's too expensive and too hard climb the economic ladder. And by "people" I don't just mean native-born people. I keep meeting immigrants--the incredibly ambitious (and so far quite successful) Vietnamese guy who owns my nail salon, the Mexican guy who sold me my new cell phone--who left Southern California for Dallas because it's easier to live and do business in Texas.
Weintraub on McClintock and our criminally pathological state government. Quotable:
"I think the people of California are coming to the conclusion that if we don't bring the state's finances under control, if we don't restore the state's economy, the future is bleak.""
Superstar teacher Jaime Escalante signs up with team Schwarzenegger.
Worth quoting:
The California Democratic Party is, for all intents and purposes, the organized labor party, and the California Labor Federation, under whose auspices the decision today was made, is the de facto central committee.
August 26, 2003
Molly Ivins, Robert Sheer and Maureen Dowd have recently written on Schwarzenegger and the California recall.
San Francisco's official Democrat party newspaper wants Schwarzenegger to provide more specifics. And they've looked everywhere and found other folks who also think so.
Marc Landy believes that Schwarzenegger is using "radical" rhetoric to advance "moderate" policies.
Schwarzenegger quotes from the "unofficial" Arnold for Governor web site.
Here is the C-SPAN video of Schwarzenegger's "economic summit" press conference.
Schwarzenegger on Roger Hedgecock's radio show. Listen to it here.
Priorities & Frivolities does a proper fisking of a Demo party talking points memo published as "news" in the Chronicle. You'll be seeing much more of this from Demos and Lefties -- in the press and elsewhere -- doing what it takes to weaken Schwarzenegger within his base -- the Republican party. And flat out dishonesty will be a common part of the package. Sad but true.
Walter Cronkite acknowledges -- and then whitewashes -- the Leftist / Demo party bias which we've been getting from CBS news and the national press for 50 years.
Right-Wing Vegetarian on Arnold on taxes:
My take: all worthless talk. Ahnold reminds me of Ross Perot, who would appeal to the brainless pissed off middle class voter by spewing generalities and platitudes about the problems that existed without ever offering a solution of his own.
The big race to replace question -- will Schwazenegger put something on the table before Oct. .. and can he stay credible if he doesn't? Without any specifics he can pound the table with the debates and any extended interview will be no cakewalk for Schwarzenegger.
One of the best race to replace bloggers isdamnum absque injuria. Special feature -- cadidate profiles of the down ballot governatorial hopefuls.
Schwarzenegger hits the campaign trail -- which in 2003 means talk radio.
August 25, 2003
Reagan speech writer Peter Robinson privides some race to replace analysis, based on his informal polling of National Review Online readers. A snippet:
Friday I asked California conservatives to let me know whether Arnold Schwarzenegger's news conference last Wednesday made them more or less inclined to support Der Arnold. I got dozens of emails [..] and I just spent an absorbing hour wading through them. The findings? One was predictable, the other startling.In the you-should-have-known department, my correspondents support Arnold by an overwhelming three-to-one.
The surprise? The reluctance with which most of them do so ..
And this:
"If McClintock can only convince conservatives that he has a chance of winning, support for Arnold could evaporate."
A couple problems with this. A good deal of the conservative political elite is already on board with Schwarzenegger. Second, most of these folks won't ever be convinced that McClintock has a chance of winning -- even if somehow he does.
Polling shows that "social conservatives" who take the position seriously enough to effect their vote on Schwarzenegger make up hardly a third of the Republican base -- i.e. they aren't even a majority among conservatives. Schwarzenegger has effectively reached emotional home with voters on the issues of taxes and business -- as focus groups in Riverside establish. The key areas were McClintock has an advantage over Schwarzenegger is on knowledge and to a lesser extent seriousness. McClintock has proven himself as a master of the budget and as a reliable combatant against the enemy of the citizen -- taxes. Schwarzenegger can only go on trust in these areas -- but here Schwarzenegger's believable emotion on these issues, and his forceful declared desire to take the reigns of leadership, somehow trump McClintock. And Schwarzenegger already is working with some of the best talent in the state on these problems, as his economic summit made clear. McClintock has helped lead a recall movement, but he's not had much room to provide leadership in Sacramento (where anti-tax and spend forces are incredibly weak), and he doesn't register on the passion and conviction scale as a public figure in the way Schwarzenegger can.
PulseWatch recall watch. Worth quoting:
.. leaning on McClintock will be tough. McClintock is part of a group of Prop. 13 babies known as the Cavemen, who came to the Capitol on a wave of tax revolt in the late 1970s and early 80s. (McClintock was first elected in 1982). He is dogmatic to the point of rigidity, and has always voted his conscience in his years in the Legislature, often against the wishes of the party. And there's little reason to believe he'd budge now for an untested political candidate ..
The Ueberroth radio spot is out -- and the thing sounds a lot like a PBS telecourse. Factual. Dull. I'm not sure why, but everything about the Ueberroth campaign is, somehow, uninspiring. It's still a mystery what the point is. Ueberroth doesn't get it. He's running for office in a political campaign. He's not volunteerings to lead the church committee tasked to re-structure church's debt and persuade everyone to turn in their once promised donations. His web site is here.
Another fisking -- this time Daniel Weintraub gets it from Brad DeLong. And California Insider seems to get a kick out of it.
Mickey�Kaus deconstructs fisks the LA Times coverage of the LA Times recall poll.
Bullsh*t on stilts. Graffiti is philosophy -- "crime is freedom", "worthless 'self=expression' is priceless art", "private property is tyranny", etc, etc., blah, blah, blah we've heard it all before -- more nihilistic worship of the criminal mentality from, oh guess who -- the Los Angeles Times. And -- your tax dollars at work -- an academic from back East. Boy he must be a smartie.
What daring and iconoclastic "cultural jammers" those LA Times editors are and how clever, unique and "subversive" is this academic -- just give me a fricken penny for every one -- and please oh please don't make me read another word of it. Ever. And, God help us, please Lord Almighty, somebody quit stuffing my Introduction to Philosophy texbooks with this, a, ripe brilliance. Only leads to grafitti .. of the "this is bullsh*t" variety.
August 24, 2003
Tom McClintock hits the airwaves with a nostalgia-tinged radio spot. The ad may lock in the votes of gray haired California -- but will it appeal to those who don't remember McClintock's boyhood California?
And here's an LA Times' McClintock profile.
"Holy s--. This guy may be just the next Ronald Reagan."
-- focus group guru Frank Luntz, after Schwarzenegger knocks 'em dead at a Republican race to replace focus group session in Riverside.
According to the reporter on the scene, this group of voters ".. seem blown away by Schwarzenegger".
RealClear Politics provides RealGood Punditry on its commentary page. Example:
Schwarzenegger did what he had to do yesterday in a very impressive news conference to kick off the substantive phase of his campaign. He was able to put to rest the background noise from last week that questioned his commitment to lower taxes and less government regulation. Just these few comments below on taxes will be enough to win over conservatives whose votes he will need to win: (video)Does that mean we are going to make cuts? Yes. Does this mean education is on the table? No. Does this mean I am willing to raise taxes? No. Additional taxes are the last burden we need to put on the backs of the citizens and businesses of California.
I feel the people of California have been punished enough. From the time they get up in the morning and flush the toilet they're taxed. When they go get a coffee they're taxed. When they get in their car they're taxed. When they go to the gas station they're taxed. When they go to lunch they're taxed. This goes on all day long. Tax. Tax. Tax. Tax. Tax.
Not only is this exactly what conservative voters want to hear, this message will resonant with millions of voters in the political middle who also feel they are overtaxed considering what they get in return from Sacramento.
When this anti-tax message is contrasted with Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's plan to raise taxes and fees a whopping 8 billion dollars it will work as a very powerful campaign message between now and October 7.
Lou Cannon -- dean of the California press corp -- on Reagan, California and the future of the Republican party. Quotable:
In the century before Mr. Davis took office, only three Democrats had served as governor. Beginning in 1952, Republican presidential candidates carried California in all but one election for four decades.Traditionally, recurrent defeats encourage political parties to become more inclusive. The state's Republican Party, however, remains firmly in the hands of social conservatives who have set themselves against the majority of Californians ..
Mr. Reagan was elected governor in 1966 after promising to "squeeze, cut, and trim" the budget, and he made some trims, to be sure. But he balanced the deficit he had inherited the old-fashioned way � by raising taxes.
In the first week of his governorship Mr. Reagan proposed a $1 billion tax increase, then the largest tax hike ever sponsored by any governor of any state. It was a relatively progressive proposal, too, imposing higher rate increases on banks and corporations than on individuals. The Reagan tax increase was equivalent to $5.3 billion in 2003 dollars.
In addition, Governor Reagan signed a permissive abortion-rights bill that was supported by most Republican legislators.
And Cannon's bottom line:
In this milieu, and in this field, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the only candidate with the potential to be realistic about California's financial situation.
Arnold for Sale. Quotable:
Amazon.com has advertised a sale of 30 percent off a selection of "Arnold Schwarzenegger items" including DVD's of "Terminator," "Total Recall" and "Kindergarden Cop" and his books "Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder" and "Arnold's Bodybuilding for Men."
Here comes the mud! New report has it that Schwarzenegger's father was not just a Nazi, he was a stormtrooper -- a volunteer in the SA aka the notorious "brownshirts". Is this the work of Davis's "issues research" team? Time will tell.
Cut the punny business -- Fox News execs ban Schwarzenegger movie references.
Republicans - 47%; Bustamante - 35%; Undecided - 9%; Larry Flint - 1%.
LA Times Poll (pdf)
Schwarzenegger in this poll gets only 39% of the Republican vote -- real fallout from the ill-advised Buffett and Lowe appointments. One wonders how many of the 44% who polled "unfavorable" for Schwarzenegger are stanch Republicans not happy with Buffettology on property taxes -- or with Rob Lowe as "a senior Schwarzenegger advisor" (which turned out to be press spin on Lowe's role as a Hollywood fundraiser). For a few days there, my opinion of Schwarzenegger sank into the "unfavorable" category as well. I guess that's why they call these things "snapshots". Will Schwarzenegger's Republican vote reach Weintraub's magic 70%? I'd like to see some of the "overnights" since Schwarzenegger's ad hit the air -- and since his very forceful statements Wednesday on taxes and government reform.
Conservative elite begins to break Schwarzenegger. Notable quotable:
"He's in the John Wayne, Ronald Reagan tradition of people you can believe in." -- Newt Gingrich
Debra Saunders flips -- now says "Gov. Gray Davis deserves to be recalled."
August 23, 2003
Professional politician Cruz Bustamante -- living the American Dream -- . Quotable:
"I'm not the smartest guy," he said. "I never was the smartest guy in class. So maybe on an intellectual basis, I couldn't speak to anybody, but I figured guys like me hired guys like that."
Simon bails -- no one covers the breaking story better than California Insider. Here is CNN's coverage; and Reuters; and the AP.
As Schwarzenegger lines up Republican and conservative endorsements others balk. While the cannibals carry the day once again? Quotable:
Joel Fox, former president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which sponsored the tax-cutting Proposition 13 in 1978, is now advising Mr. Schwarzenegger on tax and budget issues.
The California street:
I talked to eight or ten local residents who had wandered onto the event and was struck by how little they cared about his specific policies. And it wasn�t just that they were star-struck. They were attracted to Arnold�s passion, his optimism, his heart, his take-charge attitude. They have a sense that things are going downhill in California, and they don�t want to hear excuses. They don�t want to hear that it was the private energy generators or the economy or the Bush Administration. They want to hear someone tell them that he can make it right again. That�s what they seem to be hearing from Arnold.
August 21, 2003
Donald Lambro has this Schwarzenegger tidbit:
[Schwarzenegger's] reading includes books by Friedrich Hayek, the Nobel Prize-winning economist best know for his seminal free-market work, "The Road to Serfdom."
Davis recall -- a 2-7 sure thing in Vegas. Schwarzenegger is a 7-5 favorite to win the Governorship.
Conservatives taken to the cleaners.
By Jerry Taylor & Peter VanDoren
The passage of President Bush's ten-year, $350 billion tax cut has put a bounce in the step of conservatives while casting a pall of gloom upon their liberal brethren. Yet it's unclear to us exactly why devotees of limited government are cheering while advocates of activist government are booing. Our view of the facts suggests that both the Left and the Right are reading off the wrong political scripts. The Left should be popping the champagne bottles and the Right should be wondering how they ended up being taken to the cleaners.
The president sold the tax cuts as a good-old-fashioned Keynesian stimulus measure. "My proposal," Bush said, "is based upon this principle: If your economy is slow, you need to increase the demand for goods and services." While Bush's tax cut is admittedly not a particularly muscular attempt at providing this short-term stimulus (one of the few facts that both liberal and conservative economists agree on), the Left can cheer the fact that � rhetorically at least � the leader of the Republican party has repeatedly and publicly embraced the one macroeconomic theory that justifies big government in spades.
Ironically, this GOP stamp of approval comes at a time when most academic economists have already quit this school of thought. If ideas indeed have consequences in politics, Republicans � by further cementing public opinion behind Keynesian orthodoxy � will find it difficult if not impossible in the future to replace the big foot of government with the invisible hand of capitalism in course of managing future business cycles.
Then there's the curious deficit fight. While the Left pounds away at the red ink, most of them are happy to preach the Keynesian gospel to justify increased spending. But big-time deficits are part and parcel of the orthodox Keynesian prescription for moving sluggish economies out of the doldrums. You can't be a Keynesian in the morning and a Monetarist at teatime.
The Right's total abandonment of balanced budgeting is even more curious. Sure taxes are unpleasant to pay. But someone, someday has to pay for the government we're buying every year. Deficit spending just puts off the day of reckoning � but with interest. Trading off smaller taxes today for larger taxes tomorrow is a curious position for anti-tax conservatives to take.
Machiavellian conservatives usually fall back when pressed on this to what we'll call "The Milton Friedman Hypothesis." That is, the only way to restrain the growth of government in the long run is to starve it of revenues. This is certainly a plausible argument at first glance, but where's the beef? Government this year will be about $400 billion in the red but spending will increase nonetheless by at least 7.4 percent. Republicans control the House, Senate, and presidency and we're in a non-election year. If political planets aren't properly aligned now for an attack on government spending, then when will they ever be?
Moreover, the Friedman Hypothesis is testable. If one runs a regression analysis and controls for the business cycle, no relationship can be found between the growth of federal spending and the size of the federal deficit since World War II. It might well have held in earlier days, but the public's tolerance for debt over the past six decades demonstrates that, if deficits are a restraining factor on politicians, we're a long way from crossing that threshold of red ink.
Conservatives may well be right to argue that the Bush tax cut will enhance long-term economic efficiency by reducing the double taxation of dividends and reducing the marginal income tax rate applied to high wage earners, but such reforms do not require deficit spending. Whether the modest gains in economic efficiency will offset the long-term damage done by exploding deficits and new distortions introduced to the tax code is anyone's guess.
So this is the "Great Tax Fight of 2003" in a nutshell. Both liberals and conservatives happily and without great argument sign off on the purchase of a $2.3 trillion dollar government (with more spending surely to come). But as a matter of high principle, liberals argue that we should put 11 percent of this year's tab on the national credit card while conservatives argue on high principle that we should put 17 percent of it on said national credit card. Conservatives are nearly drunk with glee over an "historic" tax cut that will reduce government's take on the private sector by all of 0.2 percent over ten years, while liberals bemoan that this minute reduction in federal revenues ushers-in a Dickensonian world of hellish squalor. How partisans of either side can get their blood up over such an argument is beyond us.
Once we clear away the political smoke, it is crystal clear that conservatives in Washington have completely abandoned their campaign against big government. Rather than tackle spending head-on, Republican politicians trot out tax cuts as a symbolic surrogate and Republicans respond with ideological gusto, forgetting the fact that tax cuts have nothing to do with the size of government. They have to do with how we pay for government.
Conservatives who are ambivalent about how we pay for government should be reminded that deficit spending invites more spending than would likely be the case if Republicans actually had to swallow hard and raise taxes to pay for the spending bills they're busily whooping-through the Congress. After all, you'll usually buy more of something when you think you're getting it at 20-percent off with payments due...probably not in your tax-paying or vote-getting lifetime (that's the next generation's problem).
This collapse of Republican principle shouldn't surprise. George Bush's 2000 campaign slogan of "compassionate conservatism" was a not-so-veiled call for the GOP to give up the green eyeshades once and for all, a call Bush made reality during the campaign when he excoriated House Republicans for contemplated cuts in the growth of domestic spending. Domestic-spending increases under President Bush, accordingly, are among the largest in postwar history. And all the while, many conservative activists happily cheer the administration on, either oblivious to the fact � or cynically all too aware of the fact � that political success is being achieved at the expense of the one thing � limited government � that supposedly divides the two parties. Annual tax-cutting campaigns, the White House hopes, will distract fiscal conservatives from the reality of what's going on here.
Liberals should revel in this little-noticed turn of events. If deficits no longer matter and fights over the size of government are off the table, how bad can things be? Conservatives who care about limited government, on the other hand, should despair over developments within the Republican party and the conservative movement as a whole. As long as fiscal conservatism is defined as taking a "no new tax" pledge as opposed to a "no new spending" pledge, the limited government crowd will find themselves increasingly irrelevant to American politics.
� Jerry Taylor is a policy director at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. Peter VanDoren is editor of Cato's Regulation magazine.
Schwarzenegger -- "The public don't want no budget figures. I don't have to show you any stinking budget figures". (transcript)
Schwarzenegger's economic team:
Michael J. Boskin -- Senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and professor of economics at Stanford University. Advisor to Gov. Pete Wilson and chairman of the President's Council on Economic Advisors in the first Bush administration.
Warren Buffett -- World's second-richest man and legendary investor; chairman of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Has homes in San Francisco and Laguna Beach.
John Campbell -- State assemblyman from Irvine. Has a bachelor's in economics from UCLA and a master's in business taxation from USC. On Tuesday called Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's economic proposals "absolutely unspeakably bad."
John F. Cogan -- Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Member of the Congressional Budget Office's Panel of Economic Advisors and an economic advisor to President George W. Bush.
Robert A. Day -- Chairman of Los Angeles investment firm TCW Group, which manages $85 billion. Raised more than $100,000 for George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign. Grandfather founded Superior Oil, later bought by Mobil.
James L. Doti -- President of Chapman University in Orange since 1991. Professor of economics. Schwarzenegger helped raise funds for a new film and television studio at Chapman, and Doti presented the actor with an honorary doctoral degree in 2002.
Eugene F. Fama -- Professor of finance at University of Chicago business school. Known for theories on the efficiency of free markets. Director of research at Dimensional Fund Advisors, a Santa Monica investment management company in which Schwarzenegger owns a stake.
Larry L. Flores -- President of El Tapatio Markets Inc. in Los Angeles, a supermarket chain.
Paul F. Folino -- Chairman and CEO, Emulex Corp., a Costa Mesa maker of computer circuit cards. Board member of New Majority, a Orange County group of more than 100 wealthy, moderate Republicans. Encouraged Schwarzenegger to run for office.
Russell D. Goldsmith -- CEO of City National Corp., Beverly Hills-based banking firm catering to small and mid-size businesses.
Bonnie Guiton Hill -- President, B. Hill Enterprises. Former senior vice president of the Los Angeles Times.
Brian L. Halla -- Chairman and CEO of Santa Clara-based National Semiconductor Corp., which this week said it cut back on grants of employee stock options, an increasingly controversial form of compensation.
F. Warren Hellman -- Chairman of San Francisco investment firm Hellman & Friedman, which owns a 10% stake in the Nasdaq Stock Market. Backs Schwarzenegger but says he still opposes the recall election.
Bill Jones -- California secretary of State, 1994 to January 2003. Third-generation rancher and farmer from Fresno.
Raymond J. Lane -- Partner at Silicon Valley's best-known venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Former president of software giant Oracle Corp.
Edward E. Leamer -- UCLA professor of economics and director of UCLA's Anderson Forecast.
David H. Murdock -- Chairman and CEO of Dole Food Co. in Westlake Village. Took the company private earlier this year. Major landowner in Hawaii.
Carlos Olamendi -- Orange County restaurateur; has championed the rights of immigrants. Appointed by George W. Bush to the President's Advisory Committee on the Arts.
A. Jerrold Perenchio -- Chairman and CEO of Spanish-language broadcasting firm Univision Communications Inc., based in Los Angeles.
Arthur Rock -- Well-known venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. Co-founder of semiconductor leader Intel Corp.
George P. Shultz -- Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Former U.S. secretary of State and Treasury secretary.
Donna F. Tuttle -- President, Korn Tuttle Capital Group of Beverly Hills; co-owner of the Utah Grizzlies minor-league hockey team and the Inland Empire 66ers, a San Bernardino minor-league baseball team.
Julie Meier Wright -- CEO of San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. Former state secretary of Trade and Commerce under Gov. Pete Wilson.
Source: LA Times
Leftie blogger CalPundit runs Schwarzenegger's numbers and reviews his press performancs -- and concludes that Arnold's campaign is likely in for big trouble. (via Calblog)
California Republic weighs in:
Large and in charge: In what can only be described as a bravura performance, Arnold Schwarzenegger breathed new life and excitement into his candidacy today. He answered questions, he joked, he was charming -- and he did the two things he needed to do: he made it abundantly clear that he is on top and in charge of his own campaign, and he reassured Republicans who were getting a little queasy about him by articulating his opposition to the burdensome taxation that afflicts California today.
Weintraub's reports on Schwarzenegger's coming out party -- and give his take. Quotable:
Schwarzenegger displayed leadership abilities Wednesday, or at least major league communications skills. He was focused, prepared and in command, quick and at times witty. It would be easy to imagine him in the governor's office, wooing Democrats and Republicans alike with his charm while threatening to go over their heads to the people if they refused to go along with his program. But for now, Californians are being asked to simply trust him, to believe that this man and the people on whom he relies will be able to pull off a fiscal miracle that so far has eluded the political insiders in Sacramento. And after five years of figures and drafts and percentages but no balanced budget, voters just might be willing to take that chance.
California Insider has a breakdown of the PPI poll numbers. Here are the ones I'm watching:
23% Arnold Schwarzenegger
18% Cruz Bustamante
5% Tom McClintock
4% Bill Simon
3% Peter Ueberroth
My guess is that Ueberroth will fall of the map with his less than inspiring appearences this week -- and with his endorsement of both the tripling of the car tax and the the move by the legislature to give drivers licence identification to folks whose very presence in the country is a violation of the law. Ueberroth comes across as an old man, slow in articulation, and only a shadow of the man who ran the 1984 Olympics. Even Lou Dobbs in his CNN interview with Ueberroth seemed to know by the end of the interview that this was a nostalgia meeting with a man whose best days were already behind him.
August 20, 2003
California Insider has prepared a transcript of Schwarzenegger's more significance statements at the press conference Wednesday. Worth quoting:
�We must have a constitutional spending cap. We must never again permit Sacramento to mortgage our children�s future by unconstitutional deficit spending. We must immediately attack the operating deficit head on. Does this mean we are going to make substantial cuts? Yes. Does this mean education is on the table? No. Does this mean I am willing to raise taxes? No. Additional taxes are the last burden we need to put on the backs of the citizens of and businesses of California.�
More from Bloomberg on Schwarzenegger's policy statements -- including more details from the goings on at the Schwarzenegger "economic summit".
Schwarzenegger leads Bustier, er, Bustamante by 5 percentage points in the latest Public Policy Institute poll. Also, the sad truth about California begins to sink in with the public at large. Oh, and Davis is a goner. Out of there.
Bill Whalen provides his analysis of Schwarzenegger's press conference.
John Fund joins the chorus calling on Schwarzenegger to take the pledge I'm with Schwarzenegger on this. Tax pledges always struck me as dumb -- the last person to sign one of these things that I can think of was George Bush I. Schwarzenegger's own pledge is much less of an empty gesture -- and much more of a weapon in the real world of California politics:
Mr. Schwarzenegger already has shown his willingness to play hardball with the legislature. Yesterday, he promised to call a special legislative session to address the state's antibusiness political environment. He has also told friends that if the legislature balked on his budget proposals--without offering anything constructive--he would visit the districts of key legislators. There, the Terminator would turn up the political heat by holding rallies in support of his budget. He could even hold fundraisers for opponents to run against offending legislators.
I have to say, I liked what I heard from Schwarzenegger today. I particularly liked his proposal for a Constitutional measure limiting spending by the legislature. Milton Friedman has been recommending the Constitutional measure now in place in Colorado -- something similar to Ronald Reagan's failed Proposition 1.
CENSORED -- Schwarzenegger cancels Howard Stern booking.
The 1st Amendment of the Constitution -- could the Supreme Court's interpretation of it have anything less to do with the purposes of the folks who wrote it?
Rush Limbaugh's Wall Street Journal Op-Ed -- "California Needs Conservatism" -- is up on the web. (warning, hard to read). And you can listen to Rush read it here. If anyone knows were I can find an HTLM text copy, send me a note.
Team Schwarzenegger finally has Schwarzenegger's official statement on Proposition 13 up on his campaign site.
I think we can put this one to bed.
Schwarzenegger press conference coverage: LA Times; The Chronicle ; New York Times; Reuters; CNN; Bloomberg; FoxNews.
Schwarzenegger faces the press -- California Insider is on the scene.
The EIB Blog:
Rush Limbaugh demands show me your core beliefs:
My friends, I am not "piling on" Arnold Schwarzenegger when I say that having to consult economic advisors at age 56 means you don't have any core beliefs settled yet. (Note that there are loads of left-wing liberal economists who win all the Noble Prizes, but precious few who actually know what they're doing.) This is not "piling on;" it's simply an observation for those of you who see Arnold as the second coming of Ronald Reagan. Reagan had his core beliefs formed years before he ran for governor. He didn't need to talk to a bunch of eggheads.Schwarzenegger campaign advisor Sean Walsh said, "Arnold has spent a great deal of time talking on the phone with world-renowned economists and experts and getting perspective..."
It's never fair to fact check elrushbo, but of course Reagan did talk with a bunch of eggheads during his run for President in 1980 -- meetings set up by Hoover Institute's Martin Anderson .. and a large percentage of these folks were members of Hayek's Mont Pelerin Society. There is no incompatibility between core beliefs and conducting conversations with folks who dedicate themselves to analysing policy nuts and bolts.
Where's Arnold? Where are the buttons and signs? Local republican officials are even having trouble getting their phone calls returned. So far, the Schwarzenegger campaign has been a no-show for Republican activists across the state.
In Kern County -- heart of the recall -- voters remain sceptical of Schwarzenegger. Is he really a Republican? Or is he really a Democrat? A report from the "show-me" heartland of California.
August 19, 2003
The LA Times tells the story of how the Spanish language papers are covering the recall. Noteworth -- Davis gave the Spanish press a 1-day scoop on his decision to sign the bill which will give drivers licences to aliens living in the state in violation of the law.
Schwarzenegger's Buffett blunder gives boost to McClintock, who comes out gunning at Schwarzenegger -- and fat chance he's dropping out now. Quotable:
"I think what happened last week shocked a lot of people into realizing that a familiar name is not enough," McClintock said Tuesday. "With Warren Buffett pining for the days people lost their homes because of spiraling property taxes, it's becoming very clear that Schwarzenegger campaign is one of the most liberal that we've seen in the past 20 years."McClintock said contributions to his campaign have surged since Buffett's remark. The events of last week have only strengthened his decision to remain a candidate.
"If anyone wants to call to tell me to drop out, they can save their time because it's not going to happen," he said.
David Dreier gives a preview of Schwarzenegger's Wednesday press conference. Quotable:
Mr. Schwarzenegger will repudiated Mr. Buffett's tax comments at today's press conference, Mr. Dreier said late yesterday. The candidate will say Mr. Buffett's sole role in Mr. Schwarzenegger's campaign will be helping put together state bond issues � an important consideration, given the looming budget deficit."He is going to be strongly conservative, clearly demonstrate that he is his own man and stand up to Warren Buffett."
The rest of the article examines conservative worries about Schwarzenegger.
A modest Buffett prepares for Schwarzenegger's "economic summit". Quotable:
[Buffett] said he is analyzing financial information about California and already has discussed economic issues with Schwarzenegger.Buffett said he has no "magic" ideas that would solve that state's crisis. In fact, he isn't even sure his ideas will be the best ones to follow.
"They don't need my ideas. They need good ideas, and if the two happen to coincide, that's fine."
Laguna Beach neighbors blast Buffett. Here's the story in the LA Times.
Here come the Schwarzenegger television spot.
View the ad here Windows Media Player.
Or here Quicktime.
It's a strong ad, kind of tugs at the heart. And it ends well, with a "Yes on Recall" poster board that gives the viewer an action to carry out. The work of real pros who know what their doing -- and I'm guessing one of those involved is Schwarzenegger himself.
Schwarzenegger's tax problem -- John Fund reports. Fund is doing some great reporting -- you'll find lots of newsie tidbits in the article. This article is must reading. Quotable:
With three other credible GOP candidates dividing up the Republican vote and only a single major Democrat on the ballot, Mr. Schwarzenegger has to consolidate the conservative base or watch his chance to be governor slip away.
The editor of the Washington Times reads the recall blogs. Quotable:
Arnold Schwarzenegger may never be the governor of California, but he will be remembered as the man who first demonstrated the peril of running for office in the age of Google ..Recruiting celebrities to endorse the celebrity candidate is so far the only visible strategy of the Schwarzenegger campaign. You might think the Terminator, who is big enough to do it, would stuff a sock in those celebrity mouths.
He could begin with Warren Buffett, who is so big he lives in two places. He gets by with a $4 million bungalow in Laguna Beach and a love nest in Omaha, and he can't understand why a supermarket clerk at Ralph's in Pasadena, a Toyota mechanic in Bakersfield or a grape picker in Sonoma County isn't just as eager as he is to pay more taxes on his houses. (On the other hand, Arianna, reeling under the burden of a $772 annual federal income tax, does understand.) Mr. Buffett is offended by Proposition 13, which limits tax increases on houses to no more than 2 percent a year. Prop 13 saved thousands of Californians from losing their homes, but Mr. Buffett can't figure out why Californians are so devoted to it. How could a two-bedroom tract house in Petaluma be that important to anyone?
Gray Davis, the man at the end of the rope in this gallows tale, can't believe his good fortune. "Lord knows we have some things in California that cost a lot," he says, "but property taxes are not one of them, and nobody is going to change this."
In his first week as a candidate, the Terminator has neatly reversed partisan roles. He has assumed the role of defender of the rich, leaving Gray Davis the honor of defending Prop 13 and the humble hearths of "the people" the Terminator was only yesterday proclaiming himself the champion of. A nice week's work.
So far, the great white hope of California Republicans has identified himself as the champion of abortion, gay rights and gun control. Now the tax man cometh. He's well on his way to a mere supporting role in his next movie: "My big fat Mexican governor."
California's failed "workman's comp" law -- it's all about hundreds of millions for California's snakeoil medicine industry. Call it the revenge of Upton Sinclair.
California Insider will be blogging Schwarzenegger's "economic summit" from Los Angeles Wednesday.
Schwarzenegger will take Q & A from reporters after his private "economic summit" with George Shultz, Warren Buffett and others at UCLA Wednesday. Advice for team Schwarzenegger -- get Shultz to stand next to Schwarzenegger in the photo ops, and keep Buffett in the background.
Dan Walters reports that these "economic summits" will be part of a two-pronged "Oprah & Eggheads" strategy.
Reporting as good as anything in those East coast papers -- the LA Times takes you inside Schwarzenegger's After-School All-Stars. The Democrat-leaning Times manages to wrest a mix-review spin on Schwarzenegger's executive performance out of what looks to me to be a talent for entrepreneurial alertness and adjustment which makes use of both decentralized knowledge and adaptive organizational planning.
Anyway, here's something that caught my attention:
According to associates, Schwarzenegger is frustrated that new funding for after-school programs hasn't become available despite last year's passage of Proposition 49, which he championed, as a weak economy kept state revenue from expanding by $1.5.
And so did this:
[Schwarzenegger] said he continued to believe in decentralized management � "we don't tell them what to do," he said of the foundation's affiliates. But he also said he expected more discipline from his group as it competed for scarce public funds."We have to now concentrate on accountability," he said. "Otherwise, we will not get the federal funding."
And one more tidbit:
By the star's account, digital education became a priority after a summer workshop co-sponsored by its New York City affiliate found, in a survey, that computers were as popular as sports with its middle-school-aged participants.By 1998, Orlando, Fla.; Miami and Houston were operating computer camps with machines from Dell Inc. and software from Cendant Corp.
August 18, 2003
The Schwarzenegger campaign re-launches Wednesday with television ads and an "economic summit" -- which will include Warren Buffett at Schwarzenegger's side.
Jack Kemp -- fire Buffett. Quotable:
As a native Californian, my instincts tell me Schwarzenegger will never see the inside of the governor's mansion in Sacramento unless he says hasta la vista to Buffett before Election Day arrives.
Schwarzenegger has his hands still clutching the "third rail" of California politics, and I think he's finding it a lot harder to break free than any of his political advisors have imagined.
An enraged George Putnam -- radio talk host and original backer of Proposition 13 -- also called for the firing of Buffett. An enraged George Putnam -- imagine it. You've really screwed up when you've enraged a man as sweet natured as Putnam. Putnam beat the drums on what a threat a Schwarzenegger governorhship would be to the senior citizens of California.
So far Schwarzenegger's response to the Buffett fiasco has been too little, too late -- his press release of the other day simply isn't registering over the outrage over Buffett and the suggestion that Proposition 13 should be trashed.
And now Bill Simon is running radio spots saying this:
"I'm Bill Simon. Gray Davis tripled our car taxes and now Arnold Schwarzenegger's team wants to triple our property taxes, which just goes to show you, don't send a liberal to do a tax-fighter's job."
Schwarzenegger's latest written press statement reads as follows:
"I expect many dynamic ideas and policy recommendations from my team. But with regards to my position on Proposition 13, my position is rock solid in support of that initiative."
Schwarzenegger's loudest statement -- Buffett still sitting at the top of his economic policy team. I doubt many have read Schwarzenegger's press release. If you've turned on the radio or watched a news show, it's hard to have missed the fact that Schwarzenegger's top economic advisor opposes Proposition 13 -- but doesn't oppose tax increases. That's still the #1 message coming out of the Schwarzenegger campaign, and it's a message that can only mean disaster for Schwarzenegger's effort to expand support among Republican voters. Schwarzenegger has almost guaranteed that the base of support for McClintock and Simon will hold -- and in the short term will almost certainly expand.
And the thing I can't get over is that none of this should ever have happened.
What will a winning coalition look like in the race for Govern of California? -- California Insider provides an analysis.
Weintraub figures that a winning Schwarzenegger coalition would include 70% of the Republican vote. If that's on target, it looks to me at this point like Arnold Schwarzenegger will not be the next Governor of California. Schwarzenegger has bizarrely chosen a path which is alienating to the great middle class majority of Republican and independent voters. He begins his unannounced campaign for Governor with a speech celebrating the 25 year anniversary of Proposition 13 before the anti-tax Club of Growth. He then announces his candidacy as a movement to bring "the people" back to Sacramento. But what is is first formal move as a candidate? Well, his first move is to put a man as far removed from the people as one can imagine -- and a complete amateur at that -- in charge of tax and budget policy. Warren Buffett -- a man for whom paying taxes is like tipping the waitress at Dairy Queen. Oh, and this is also a man rather famously in favor of both increased tax rates and increased government spending. Middle class voters could only ask, "What's the message Arnold?" It was all a train wreck waiting to happen.
August 17, 2003
George Shultz is on record opposing any tax increase for California.
If this were any other election featuring any other candidate, the first official week of the California recall campaign would be considered a bust for actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.The self-described fiscal conservative signed on a billionaire who thinks California's property taxes are too low. He couldn't remember a meeting with disgraced Enron executive Ken Lay. He hired campaign consultants with questionable pasts. Actor Rob Lowe joined as a volunteer campaign adviser.
All of this gave the political and media establishment exactly what they were looking for: An opening to question Schwarzenegger's abilities as a candidate. The establishment likes to think the world of politics is the most brutal of all, where even Mr. Olympia can be reduced to a crying wimp when he doesn't play by the regular rules ..
Rob Lowe endorsed Schwarzenegger on the entertainment news show "Extra". Quotable:
"I know that when I'm on a set, I want to know who the director is. I don't want to have to guess," Lowe said. "That's what Arnold will bring to this state."
A Field poll nugget -- candidates in the recall election can count on only paper thin support from a large percentage of registered voters. Quotable:
44% of those backing a candidate said they might change their minds.
Oprah to endorse Schwarzenegger?
Schwarzenegger is considering an appearance on �Oprah.� An endorsement from Oprah Winfrey, a close friend of his wife, Maria Shriver, could boost his appeal tremendously among women.
And this:
This week Schwarzenegger will try to deflect criticism that his flashy campaign lacks substance by appearing at UCLA with members of his newly formed Economic Recovery Council.
-- Newsweek
Schwarzenegger issues a formal statement on the Buffett blowup -- California Insider has it.
Sunday night's Drudge Report lead: GOVERNOR TAX: ARNOLD TELLS ADVISERS HE WILL NOT RULE OUT HIGHER RATES -- teasing his late-night, heard only in California, KFI Los Angeles radio program.
UPDATE: It's now titled "ARNOLD TELLS ADVISERS HE WILL NOT RULE OUT HIGHER TAXES; BUFFETT BLOWUP OVER PROP 13".
Justene is back from Alaska and returned to her usual post at Calblog.
Ronald Reagan historian Steve Hayward has this perceptive thought posted at No Left Turns:
One of the interesting things Reagan did, though, was to realize that people would think he was just an actor repeating memorized lines. So in his campaign travels around the state he gave short speeches, and then took questions from the audience for as long as an hour. He demonstrated a real ability to think and talk on his feet, as well as a decent familiarity with state issues. It was this that impressed reporters, and made the media take him seriously. Arnold needs to do something like this to prove he is for real.
Gun control advocacy -- making the world safe for actor politicians who make movies like this. Any chance an actor would re-think exactly what sort of regulations are advised to make us safe in a world were such movies shape the minds of children? Nope.
Schwarzenegger -- what's the appeal? And here is California Insiders take on the latest all-Arnold Field Poll.
A must read from historian Ken Star. Worth quoting:
Something powerfully transformative is underway in state politics, and it is nothing less than voters' self-liberation from a claustrophobic and demeaning political culture out of sync with today's 24/7 information society and unworthy of the larger creativity of the Golden State.
And this:
The high-speed Internet- connected multimedia culture, thirdly, cannot be controlled at any one point. It is open, unfiltered and rabidly democratic. Now it helps spawn political candidacies .. Candidates open Web sites, not headquarters. The political debate is conducted in cyberspace, with blogs of virtually all political stripes and voters providing the dialogue � and it's instantly accessible. State politics, by contrast, is a largely closed system of noncompetitive seats, limited budgetary options and rules designed to impede action, with the development of leadership on a voter-imposed time clock. In short, politicians are playing on an increasingly smaller court at a pace that seems frozen by Internet standards.
Schwarzenegger -- lone candidate no-show in LA Times budget questionaire. Worth noting -- Bustamante proposes a huge new tax burden on Californians in order to close massive state spending overruns.
McClintock brings Californians to their feet in head-to-head face-off with Bill Simon.
georgewill@washpost.com
Who would have thunk the world would come to this. (via Priorities & Frivolities.)
August 16, 2003
Reason Institute has an electricity blackout policy resource center up and running. The Knowledge Problem is providing superior blog coverage of the blackout and electric energy policy generally, as you might expect.
Brad DeLong takes a "cut to the chase" look at Irving Kristol and the neoconservatives.
BLOG THE RECALL is a fairly solid left-of-center anti-recall cite. Worth a look.
Upclose and personal with Daniel Weintraub.
I found this particularly interesting:
My weblog, which I started in April, is generating more than 20,000 hits a day, which I think puts it among the top 10 or 20 blogs in the country.
Daily Pundit on the Buffett Proposition 13 trainwreck, "It didn't take a genius to see this one coming." You don't say. And a Daily Pundit prediction -- it's lights out for Buffett.
Does Schwarzenegger need to go all the way to Nebraska to get advice like this?:
Buffett said the state clearly had to close the gap between its spending and revenue, whether through spending cuts or taxes."That has to happen someday," Buffett said. "The earlier you get there the better."
Buffett said allowing deficits to accumulate would leave the state overburdened by its interest costs.
"You close it up one way or another. It's up to Arnold to decide which things to cut and where to make changes in revenues," he said.
Unbelievable. And this:
Buffett's new political role left at least one Berkshire Hathaway investor cold."I'm a little disappointed," said Nancy Black, member of an investment club in St. Joseph and one of the estimated 1,300 people who attended Friday's furniture store opening. "I think it's such a circus out there. I'm surprised he became involved in it."
Asked about Black's concern, Buffett said his attention remained steadfast on Berkshire and its businesses.
I'm concerned that Schwarzenegger's advisors are empty vessels (see below).
A series of questionable campaign appointments will quickly give California voters the first impression that Schwarzenegger is a dumb actor, out of his element and in over his head.
Club of Growth's Stephen Moore on Buffett's blunder:
"It was kind of our worst nightmare coming true."
From LA Times coverage of the blowup over Billionaire Buffett's implied suggestion that Prop 13 should be eliminated and property taxes in California should be steeply raised. Some reaction from California voters:
"I don't know why this would be an issue in the governor's race," said Chuck Scheid, 76, a Huntington Beach homeowner for 40 years. "Anyone that talks about eliminating Prop. 13 is pretty much dead on arrival."Sharon Ashford, a writing instructor and Granada Hills mother of three, said much the same thing.
"The fact of the matter is that 99% of Californians are regular working-class people who struggle to buy their first home and struggle during the first years to keep up with the mortgage and taxes," she said. "Raising property taxes is not the answer because it puts too much pressure on families."
And here is the SacBee story on the Buffett blowup.
And from the AP, including this:
"He takes the risk of being perceived as an empty vessel, a smart but empty vessel, into which Warren Buffett, George Shultz and Pete Wilson can pour their ideas."
From the Chronicle:
The flap over Buffett's comments only enhance the suspicions among conservative Republicans that Schwarzenegger is not a true California-style Republican committed to the no-tax, cut-spending philosophy that has been the mainstay of the state's GOP.
And the Mercury News.
[Kris] Vosburgh [executive director of the Jarvis taxpayer group] called Buffett's comments a ``slap at Proposition 13 and the two-thirds of voters who voted to pass it. What we're talking about is one of the world's richest men, and it's clear he's out of touch with the average working Californian.''
And Mark Martin in the Chronicle:
Buffett, the billionaire investor, hit one of the deepest political nerves there is in California. "Those are fighting words," proclaimed Ted Costa, an anti-tax advocate who helped implement Prop. 13 and also kick-started the recall effort this year. "That doesn't play well in California. He [Schwarzenegger] needs a new script."
Steve Hayward on Warren Buffett and Proposition 13 -- includes an interesting little tidbit on McClintock.
What exactly is Schwarzenegger's position on gun control? Xrlq wants to know. In the mean times, he's tentatively backing McClintock.
The latest Field poll numbers, brought to you by California Insider. Worth noting -- Republicans are splitting 36% Schwarzenegger, 19% McClintock, 17% Simon. Watch these numbers tighten as the negative reaction to Schwarzenegger's campaign blunders begin to register, and as the Simon and McClintock campaigns begin to gain traction, with Simon already on air with radio ads. Also, Schwarzenegger is getting only 9% of the Democratic vote, which has to be a disappointment for the Schwarzenneger campaign. Oh, and people hate Arianna Huffington. Her negatives are over 50%, which can't be too far behind her name recognition numbers.
August 15, 2003
First impressions are important in politics, and the impression the Schwarzenegger for Governor campaign is making is the impression of the gang that couldn't shoot straight. Today on afternoon drive in Southern California, Schwarzenegger's campaign was hammered for two solid hours by KFI's John and Ken and their listeners on the topic of Warren Buffett and taxes. This is California's most listened to talk radio program, which has been a driving force behind the California recall. The Schwarzenegger campaign was put in the position of doing damage control once again -- and doing it rather poorly. Instead of going on air to help ease the furor caused by Warren Buffett's statement that Californians are not taxed enough, the Schwarzenegger campaign directed hosts John and Ken to this AP story. Had the Schwarzenegger folks read the thing? Contained within the story was this choice bit:
University of California, Riverside political science professor Shaun Bowler suggested Buffett's remarks may be a campaign "trial balloon" to gauge public response. "If it ends up just attracting venom on (Los Angeles radio station) KFI, then he'll say, 'This is just Warren Buffett speaking,"' Bowler said.
Unbelievably, the Schwarzenegger's appointment of Buffett has given Gray Davis the unlikely opportunity to take a stand as a tax increase fighter and better friend of the taxpayer than "Republican" Arnold Schwarzenegger:
"Lord knows we have some things in California that cost a lot, but property taxes are not one of them and nobody is going to change this," the governor said at a Los Angeles elementary school.
And it gave Schwarzenegger's Republican rivals the opportunity to signal to voters that they are reliable on the tax issue, while Schwarzenegger -- whose views are essentially unknown -- is not reliable on taxes. In a tax revolt year in a tax revolt election, this is not a good place to be, to say the least. Quotable:
Another Republican candidate, state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Northridge, said Buffett's comments were shocking in the heavily taxed state."My message to Mr. Buffett and Mr. Schwarzenegger is this: That property tax bill is a suggested minimum. They are more than welcome to send in as much more as makes them happy. I only ask that they leave the rest of us alone."
And this:
"He needs to let the people of California know today and just as loudly whether he supports his adviser's scheme for massive property tax increases," Simon said in a statement.
And now the appointment of Rob Lowe, the poster child of both Hollywood sex scandal and the stereotypical air-head Hollywood Democrat, as a "senior advisor" to Schwarzenegger. It's as if the Schwarzenegger campaign is intentionally hightening every worry and concern voters might have about Arnold Schwarzenegger -- that he might not be a reliable Republican, that he'll governor from the left, that he has no moral values, that he's an air-head celebrity actor, etc., etc.
UPDATE: Foxnews has good copy on the Buffett blowup. (via Calblog).
The Commanding Heights -- Hayek vs Keynes, the market vs the state -- "the battle of ideas that still divides our world". The full three part PBS special is now available for viewing on the web. Here is part one. And here is the full broadcast transcript of episode one.
The power outage -- a teachable moment. Watch for the "ratchet-effect" of bigger government in operation through course of the crisis. Government regulation and intervention is a central underlying source of the crisis causing problems in the electrical energy business -- And the soluton widely offered to correct the current mess? Yet more government regulation and further government intervention into the business of producing electricity. This time-tested process is the one Friedrich Hayek labelled The Road to Serfdom.
The Godfather of Neo-Conservatives speaks: Quotable:
Neoconservatism is the first variant of American conservatism in the past century that is in the "American grain." It is hopeful, not lugubrious; forward-looking, not nostalgic; and its general tone is cheerful, not grim or dyspeptic. Its 20th-century heroes tend to be TR, FDR, and Ronald Reagan. Such Republican and conservative worthies as Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, and Barry Goldwater are politely overlooked. Of course, those worthies are in no way overlooked by a large, probably the largest, segment of the Republican party, with the result that most Republican politicians know nothing and could not care less about neoconservatism. Nevertheless, they cannot be blind to the fact that neoconservative policies, reaching out beyond the traditional political and financial base, have helped make the very idea of political conservatism more acceptable to a majority of American voters. Nor has it passed official notice that it is the neoconservative public policies, not the traditional Republican ones, that result in popular Republican presidencies.
And I must do a bit of fisking. Irving Kristol has admitted that he had never read Hayek's The Road to Serfdom. That's right, never read it. But Kristol has attacked both Hayek and his book for beliefs that Hayek does not hold and for ideas that are not contained in The Road to Serfdom. On the otherhand, Kristol has read Hayek's The Constitution of Liberty -- you won't know this because of any citations contained in Kristol's work, but you will know it if you've read both Hayek's Constitution of Liberty, and some of Kristol's best-know essays. Key themes from Hayek find there way into Kristol's work (example, the Britain vs. France theme). Anyway, Hayek always left room for the welfare state in his works, and never argued that a welfare safety-net was a necessary threat to liberty or a first step on the road to serfdom. If Kristol had ever bothered to read Hayek's The Road to Serfdom, rather than to merely criticize it unread, he would know better. In fact, Hayek in such books as Law, Legislation and Liberty was all about studying "alternative ways of delivering [welfare state] services" -- even when (or especially when) these services are delivered by the state (and the same could be said of Milton Friedman's work on social services). So what follows from Kristol hits a deeply false note -- a false note which is the product of having failed the basic responsibility doing your research and knowing what you are talking about:
This leads to the issue of the role of the state. Neocons do not like the concentration of services in the welfare state and are happy to study alternative ways of delivering these services. But they are impatient with the Hayekian notion that we are on "the road to serfdom." Neocons do not feel that kind of alarm or anxiety about the growth of the state in the past century, seeing it as natural, indeed inevitable .. People have always preferred strong government to weak government, although they certainly have no liking for anything that smacks of overly intrusive government. Neocons feel at home in today's America to a degree that more traditional conservatives do not.
George Bush's Bigger, Fatter Welfare State. The President is a liar -- but the thing he's lying about is the near half trillion dollar federal spending overrun. The Federal government is on a much bigger new spending binge than Gray Davis and the California legislature ever imagined in their wettest of wet dreams. He's what the President said the other day:
Q: With that in mind, if a Democrat were President .. and were running a $455 billion deficit, as are you, all other things being equal, wouldn't you be upset about it?THE PRESIDENT: Let me tell you something, the deficit was caused by a recession which we inherited and did something about. The deficit was caused because we spent more money on fighting a war, and the American people expect a President to do what is necessary to win a war. So I look forward to taking this debate on. I really do. We did the right thing when it came to tax relief. We inherited a tough situation.
But most importantly, the American know that I'm not afraid to lead and to make a tough decision. And I made a tough decision, a series of tough decisions. One, to make America more secure, a tough decision to make the world more peaceful, and I made tough decisions when it comes to making sure our economy grows.
So far, the President's only "tough" decision has been to shower the American people with money he's borrowed from overseas investors. This, to say the least, is not in the long-term interest of the American people -- especially of those in the next generation who will be paying off all this new debt -- with interest.
Hugh Hewitt handicaps the race to replace:
truth be told, unless AS is felled by some meta-scandal, the race is over, and most California political reporters know this and acknowledge it to each other. The contest will still be fun, especially the collapse of Gray as the starch goes out of the empty suit, but all the GOP candidates other than AS have as their grand strategy hoping that AS --one of the most disciplined individuals in California-- will make a giant misstep. At least they have a strategy, though, as the Dems do not. AS v. Cruz --yeah, that will be close.
"Why do they hate me?" -- California Insider has a breakdown of the new Davis recall numbers just out from the Field Poll. George Will insists that all "true" conservatives will vote against the recall -- if so, all the "true" conservatives in California will barely fill the seats in a Mini. Either that or all the "true" conservatives in California are actually Leftists: Here are the numbers -- "The recall wins big among conservatives (87-7) and moderates (58-36) while losing among liberals (18-78)."
Did Schwarzenegger meet with Enron's Ken Lay in 2001 to discuss electric power deregulation? Some folks at Consumer Watchdog claim that he did.
Rough & Tumble cites a Wall Street Journal story in today's paper which has it that Warren Buffett attacks Proposition 13 and suggests that California property taxes need to be raised. If Buffett isn't given the boot, it will be interesting to see how Schwarzenegger finesses this one. If Schwarzenegger can't be trusted on taxes, he won't be governor of California. It's that simple.
I know what Ronald Reagan would do. He'd fire Buffett.
UPDATE: Reuters has the story.
UPDATE II: And here is California Insiders take on the story.
Now this is more realistic. George Shultz will head Schwarzenegger's economic recovery team. This is the A team follks. But a simple question for the Schwarzenegger folks -- can't we find at least one person under the age of 70 to be put in charge of something?
Fred Barnes on Bush, the big government "conservative". And note well, the first thing Barnes lists which makes this big government President a "conservative" is .. abortion. Presumably, Fred Barnes would consider FDR a "conservative" because there is no record of Roosevelt acting to legalize abortion, working to control guns, or pushing for gay marriage. That's right, in Fred Barnes' world, Franklin Roosevelt is a conservative, and it looks like Barry Goldwater is not. Something is very rotten in Denmark.
August 14, 2003
In my estimation, the effort by some conservatives to read Arnold Schwarzenegger out of the Republican party comes down to one thing, and really one thing only -- it's really all about the cutthroat power politics of abortion.
The most significant fact about this political guillotine is that abortion policy has nothing to do with it -- because the issue of abortion has nothing to do with anything in the real world. Not nationally, and especially not in California. A governor of California's position on who will win "American Idol" would have more effect on the world than a California Governor's position on abortion. In other words, it has none. Zip. Zero. So what is this national effort all about? It's about cold, calculating back-alley, knife fighing power politics -- i.e who gets control of the Republican party machinary and who is allowed on the Republican ballot. Simply put, the anti-abortion powerbrokers want exclusive control of the Republican party and the Republican ballot -- even if this means effectively killing the Republican party as a state-wide entity in many states, as has been attempted in Oregon, Washington and California. You can be a fifth or sixth generation Republican, more conservative than Ronald Reagan, but if you don't pass the abortion litmus test, your chair at the Republican table will be kicked out from under you. And in my judgment, kicking the chair out from under good folks you haven't been able to persuade is nothing but political and moral stupidity -- especially when the Republican party would go down in flames nationally if it came to be widely perceived that the Party stands really for nothing -- except a non-majoritarian position on abortion, widely rejected in many regions of the country.
Take a look at what the Republican Congress and the Republican President have and haven't done and ask yourself, are these people "conservatives"? Consider. Does this Republican Party stand for a government that protects the citizen from bigger government? -- simple answer, no. Does this Republican Party stand for a government that takes less out of the national pie? -- simple answer, no. And has this Republican party done what will be needed to protect the citizens of the country from foreign nationals? -- simple answer, no.
So why do the national "conservatives" stay on board with this party -- why do they want to call this party "conservative"? One word answer: abortion. "Conservatives" and many Republicans have sold their souls for a crack-pipe dream in which abortion politics brings them both national political power -- and a world in which abortion if constitutionally outlawed. But note well -- these are mutally exclusive ends. National political success for the Republican party will continue only in a world were the hope of an anti-abortion constitutional amendment continues to be dead-on-arrival. Democracy requires persuasion, and persuasion of the kind required is nowhere -- nowhere -- on the horizon.
But consider for a moment just how bogus the abortion litmus test is for deciding "who is a Republican", or more commonly, "who is a conservative". If you are going to have an abortion litmus test for "who's" a conservative, then you will need to say that Barry Goldwater was not a conservative, and if you are honest, you'd have to say that that Governor of California who made abortion availability the law of California -- Ronald Reagan -- is not a conservative. And ditto the idea that an abortion litmus test can tell you who is a "real" Republican, and who is not. Barry Goldwater not a "real" Republican? Gerald Ford not a "real" Republican? George Bush I in the 1970s not a "real" Republican? California governor Ronald Reagan not a "real" Republican? Give me a break.
Barry Goldwater was "Mr. Conservative" -- the very paradigm of a conservative -- and the issue of abortion had nothing to do with that title. So don't be fooled. The abortion litmus test that the national "conservatives" wish to impose upon Californians isn't intellectually substantive -- it's about politics, cold, brass-knucked politics, and nothing more.
Tom McClintock has been endorsed by the California Republican Assembly.
Ed Feulner -- what we're doing to my new children -- and Ed's new grandchild.
National "conservatives" face a dilema -- as many choose a social issue litmus test, others struggle to live in the real world. Worth quoting:
"We're talking about who can win in California, not who can win in South Carolina." -- Roberta Combs, President of the Christian Coalition.
National Review -- Thumbs down on Schwarzenegger. Quotable:
Arnold Schwarzenegger's Tonight Show campaign announcement brought the recall to a boil, but Schwarzenegger, it seems clear, does not merit conservative support. In his multiple careers he has shown himself to be persistent and cunning. He surely believes in his Austrian-immigrant rags-to-riches story, and this seems to have prompted in him at least a curiosity about libertarian economics (he has attended functions sponsored by Reason magazine, and hobnobbed with Milton Friedman). But Schwarzenegger is pro-abortion, pro-gay rights, and pro-gun control. If he has any thoughts on illegal immigration, or the crushing rates of legal immigration from Mexico and points south, he has not revealed them. His campaign utterances so far have been bromides about California's children. (When politicians speak of children, count the spoons.) Rudy Giuliani was a liberal Republican who was a hard-core conservative on one salient issue — crime. Schwarzenegger appears to be simply a liberal Republican. If he is to win a measure of conservative sympathy, he must endorse a firm no-tax pledge and a serious plan to retrench the Sacramento spending and regulatory regime.
California recalls's vast right-wing conspiracy. Worth quoting:
Gerald Parsky, George W. Bush's chief California fund-raiser .. initially distanced himself from the recall out of concern that it might .. divert funds away from Bush's 2004 re-election drive.
The Left crosses its finger and hope the race card will bring Schwarzenegger down.
"In .. two weeks, I've done more political stories than I did in the five years before." --
Local LA television "newsman".
SacBee -- who will get the "conservative" vote. Tidbit -- McClintock is raising $100,000 a week -- raised $27,000 in one day. Contribute here.
August 13, 2003
"WATCHING THE EAST COAST MEDIA attempt to cover the California recall is like watching Tim McCarver call a Dodgers game while Vin Scully looks on without a mike .. " -- Hugh Hewitt.
"In June 2002, the liberal American Prospect magazine was hailing California as a "laboratory" for Democratic policies. With "its Democratic governor, U.S. senators, state legislature and congressional delegation," author Harold Meyerson gushed, "California is the only one of the nation's 10 largest states that is uniformly under Democratic control." In the Golden State, Meyerson said, "the next New Deal is in tryouts." .. " Ann Coulter.
Larry Elder has the beef -- and the numbers -- on what has gone wrong in California.
Nebraska Democrat and pro-tax advocate Warren Buffett has been hired (yes, many news outlets hae it that the multi-billionaire has been hired) by Schwarzenegger as some sort of financial "advisor" and economic policy team leader. Quotable:
"It is critical to the rest of the nation that California's economic crisis be solved, and I think Arnold will get that job done."
What this means I have no idea. I'm not aware that Buffett has any experience in the public sector. USA Today seems to think this is good politics for Schwarzenegger. We'll see.
Here they are -- all 135 contestants in the Miss California beauty contest.
PrestoPundit -- fisked by Brad DeLong:
Give Credit Where Credit Is DueGreg Ransom raves against what he sees as a Federal Reserve devoted to "reducing the value of money":
PrestoPundit.com: The Fed moves to continue its ongoing devaluation of the currency, voting to keep interest rates artificially low. The major worry of the Fed is that there may be some slowing in its highly successful policy of reducing the value of money. Behind all this is the Krugman/ "Keynes" theory of "deflation".... Further evidence in my view that the Fed -- and the economics profession generally -- is overrun by witch doctors and astrologists, not scientists or even competent dentists (reference here to a famous line from Keynes).
Leave to one side the fact this is not a Federal Reserve devoted to reducing the value of money: the inflation rate under Greenspan has been less than under any Fed Chair since the days of Herbert Hoover.
Focus, instead, on the fact that it is definitely not the "Krugman/'Keynes' theory of deflation." The theory is Irving Fisher's (analyzing the impact of a falling price level on the real interest rate and investment), Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz's (analyzing the effect of a falling price level on the banking system and the money multiplier), and Ben Bernanke and Mark Gertler's (analyzing the effect of a falling price level on interest rate spreads).
Bernanke and Gertler may well get Nobel Prize's someday for their work on deflation and the "credit channel." Paul Krugman won't--he'll get his Nobel Prize for his work on imperfect competition and international trade. He's been pushing the line that deflation is greatly to be feared in his columns, yes. But this is the first time I've ever seen anyone say that it is his theory.
Why slight Bernanke and Gertler--and Fisher, and Anna J. Schwartz, and Milton Friedman? Is it because Ransom doesn't want to explicitly call Ben Bernanke and Milton Friedman "witch doctors"? Is it because his core audience knows little economics and less about the history of economic thought, but breaks into hives at the mention of "Paul Krugman"?
Whatever the reason, a bad move: it is good to give credit where credit is due.
I'd meant all day to remove my rhetorical drive-by-shotting of Krugman and "pop" Keynesian econ -- too late! Among other issues involved in all this is the fact that productivity has been going up at a brisk pace -- a fixed supply of money chasing an increasing pile of goods means lower prices. I'll add some helpful articles on the multi-dimensional issue of "deflation" when I get the time.
UPDATE: Let me begin with a little reminder from Lionel Robbins on the topic of deflation .. "the belief that there is nothing detrimental to the smooth working of the economic machinery in the changes which result in a consumers' goods price index falling with increased productivity, is not the esoteric creed of a handful of 'sadistic deflationists'as is sometimes suggested nowadays. It is the view which has been held by the majority of the men who have made modern monetary theory in English-speaking countries what it is -- Marshall, Edgeworth, Taussig, Hawtrey, Robertson, Pigou. That a belief that prices cannot fall without causing depression should be able to co-exist with the overwhelmingly convincing demonstration of the contrary proposition in nearly all the standard works on the subject is a most disquieting revelation of the gulf which still exists between scientific knowledge and popular opinion."
And let me recommend the following: "Deflation" by George Selgin; "Hayek versus Keynes on How the Price Level Ought to Behave" by George Selgin (PDF); Two Cheers for Deflation by Joe Salerno (PDF); Deflation: The Biggest Myths by J.G. H�lsmann; Learning to Love Deflation by Ramesh Ponnuru; A little bit of deflation can be a good thing by Kathleen Pender
Tired of trying to keep up with the glut of recall news articles? Then clip our handy News-o-matic story guide and read it daily until further notice. You won't miss a thing:Schwarzenegger under fire from rival candidates for his (choose one) accent, acting ability, stance on Prop. 187, ownership of a Hummer, eerily white teeth, all of the above.
Wacky unknown candidate says or does something wacky.
Schwarzenegger makes public appearance, ducks questions from media.
Teflon Terminator's poll numbers continue to climb.
Gray Davis, in futile bid to save job, switches from "fighting like a Bengal tiger" to fighting like a giant woodchuck, a fierce poodle, an amphetamine-crazed ferret, a Navy dolphin wired with explosives.
Roy Rivenburg in the LA Times.
The Fed moves to continue its ongoing devaluation of the currency, voting to keep interest rates artificially low. The major worry of the Fed is that there may be some slowing in its highly successful policy of reducing the value of money. Behind all this is the Krugman/ "Keynes" theory of "deflation", defined by CNN this way:
Deflation is an unstoppable drop in prices that hurts corporate profits, leading to more layoffs, which saps demand, hurting prices even further.
Further evidence in my view that the Fed -- and the economics profession generally -- is overrun by witch doctors and astrologists, not scientists or even competent dentists (reference here to a famous line from Keynes).
More:
Though the fed funds rate is at its lowest level since 1958, longer-term interest rates have risen recently, spurred by a selloff in the bond market, anticipating that the economy is poised for a rebound and that the Fed will have to raise interest rates soon to fend off inflation. The Fed has tried to indicate it will keep rates lower for longer than usual in an environment where inflation and the labor market are slow to recover.But the Fed has lost some of its credibility with bond markets, after raising and then dashing expectations for more-aggressive bond-buying and rate-cutting, leading to wild swings up and then down for bond prices.
"In crafting today's FOMC statement, we believe Fed officials were undoubtedly influenced by the perception that mixed signals from the Fed, and possibly some loss of credibility, accounted for some of the recent surge in bond yields," said UBS Warburg chief economist Maury Harris.
The volatility has led many analysts to call for the Fed to be more specific about its goals for inflation, to eliminate much of the guesswork in handicapping Fed policy. But most Fed officials, including Chairman Greenspan, would prefer not to engage in so-called "inflation targeting" ..
Wait till the French and the Lefties hear about this:
The Austrian school of thought that packs a massive political punchIf there was a global godfather of this neo-conservative movement, it would be Friedrich von Hayek .. in 1947, he set up the Mont Pelerin Society, a secretive group that met annually to map out a neo-conservative counterattack against the growing socialist character of postwar economies. It played midwife to scores of neo-conservative think tanks, among them the Heritage Foundation (1973) and the Cato Institute (1977) in the US and Australia's CIS (1975).
The society and its progeny have been enormously influential: of the 76 advisers in Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign, 22 were members. And its members include Nobel laureate Milton Friedman (a former president), Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and former New Zealand finance minister Ruth Richardson. Greg Lindsay, the executive director of the CIS in Sydney, is a former vice-president. Neo-conservative think tanks now dominate the political debate in much of the West.
In Australia, as elsewhere, they ply their trade by publishing "independent research" from a network of like-minded scholars whose reports invariably end up backing the neo-conservative world view. Staff and friendly scholars are paid to write newspaper articles which are submitted - usually free - to opinion pages.
By publishing reports that confirm their arguments, neo-conservative think tanks seek to mould public debate. But they also peddle influence, holding closed seminars and lectures where visiting international conservative luminaries address selected rising members of the political elite - such as last week's CIS gathering on the Sunshine Coast. Von Hayek would have been pleased. He died in 1992, but not before Thatcher rewarded him with a visit to Buckingham Palace, where he was bestowed with a Companion of Honour - a tribute to the most successful, if unheralded, political puppet-master of the past century.
Michael Lind, call your agent.
August 12, 2003
Gray Davis continues his "8 million voters asked me to take on the job of Governor" deception.
"I have an obligation to the eight million who went to the polls last November: They asked me to do a job in California"
In fact, far less than half that number "asked" Davis to do the job of Governor. This must be poll tested stuff scripted by the handlers.
Media critic Neal Gabler gets everything exactly backwards:
�What California voters are doing is to consciously convert the political process into a movie,� Gabler says. �Arnold understands that the election has nothing to do with politics and everything with entertainment values.�The outcome of the election, the New York-based writer believes, hinges on what approach the media decides to take.
�If the media reports this as a serious political issue, I don�t think Arnold will win,� Gabler says. �But if they treat this as just fun and games, then he�s in.�
Pete Wilson, backing Schwarzenegger and the recall -- this is personal.
Schwarzenegger features wife Maria on his web site. These team Schwarzenegger folks are not dumb.
The national Republican party should turn its back on mainstream California Republicans -- Terence Jeffrey
Debra Saunders weighs in on Schwarzenegger and the recall. Quotable:
Some have suggested that Schwarzenegger should pledge to not raise taxes in order to cinch the GOP vote. That is, he should act like other "experienced" politicians by promising more something for more nothing. He should parrot "experienced" pols who promise to cut a deal with left-leaning legislators -- which can only happen by papering over costly debt.If Schwarzenegger wants to show that he can be a leader, however, he won't take such a pledge. Instead, he'll explain how he wants to reform the workers' comp system, eliminate business-hostile regulations and cut the best deal he can cut on the budget, given the fact that the Legislature, alas, is packed with liberal Democrats.
If Schwarzenegger wants to lead, he should start by treating voters like adults. In so doing, Ah-nold could demonstrate the clear advantage of electing a governor who is not "experienced."
Can there be any Californians left who don't know at least someone who has fled the state for Idaho, Nevada, Washington or Arizona? In many ways, all of these states are better places to live, work or build a business. I can easily name a half-dozen people who have left in the last 2 or three years, some of them taking their businesses with them. Thomas Sowell has a nice piece examining new Census data which shows that Californians are voting with their feet.
Mars will make its closest approach to earth in 60,000 years this August 27. Quotable:
"Mars you can't miss, it's bright and red" -- Myles Standish, an astronomer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The BlogFather on Schwarzenegger, voting and sex:
I WAS ON THE HUGH HEWITT SHOW a little while ago, but he didn't ask the questions I most feared: "Is the recall good? Is it good that Arnold Schwarzenegger is running?"As to the first, well, I have to disagree with George Will, who disapproves of the recall's "plebiscitary cynicism," and says that real conservatives will vote against recalling Davis. That seems wrong to me. California's voters put the recall into the state constitution and kept it there. Presumably, they like it. It may or may not be a good idea, but it seems a bit odd to say that the time for the voters to act against the recall petition is once it's triggered ..
At any rate, as I wrote in a law review article called Is Democracy Like Sex? (which inspired a column by Will back in 1995 when it came out), voting doesn't have to make sense to benefit the body politic. In the article, I used a biological metaphor: Many evolutionary biologists believe that sex evolved, despite its cumbersome and expensive characteristics, because it jumbled up genes in a way that made their holders more resistant to parasites over time ..
If one looks at special interest groups as parasites on the body politic -- as, I think, we probably should -- then electoral politics has the effect of shaking up the cozy relationships between politicians and clients, and keeping society more open. (And under Davis, those relationships have been extra-cozy). This disruption of what economist Mancur Olson called the "web of special interests" may be very important way of keeping societies from ossifying. What's more, it works even if (perhaps especially if) the voters occasionally act irrationally or unpredictably ..
In his column about my article, George Will wrote: "Is democracy like sex? Surely not. If it were, more people would vote." Democracy may not be like sex. But Schwarzenegger's candidacy is making it sexy. And perhaps that's close enough.
Read the whole thing for more on Schwarzenegger.
Posted by Greg Ransom | Permalink
Is it possible that George Will knows what a fisking is?
Still, no matter how unlikely [John Fund's] concerns are, at least he didn't fall into harumpphhery like George Will. Will seems to think that the AS candidacy is a threat to Reagan's legacy, and obviously upset at the prospect, unleashes this one: "Truly conservative Californians --you few know who you are-- will vote against the recall to protest its plebiscitary cynicism." Oh yeah, that's right. Forget the illegally tripled car tax, the hot-check written to paper over the deficit, the crumbling schools, the clogged highways and of course, the transgenedered-at-work protection act and the inane family leave for sick puppies act. Written like a man with a nice bank account and secure work, living in an earthquake free zone where fires never break out and spread uncontrollably, who can afford an extra $600 per car and doesn't mind that the local high school is turning out graduates who need to be retrained before they are employable. True conservatives, in other words, sit on their butts and watch institutions and economies collapse so they can feel good about themselves until it is time to relocate to Florida like Tiger Woods.Sometimes you should just take a pass, George, if you haven't been living there.
George Will, you've just been fisked curtesy of Hugh Hewitt
As L.A. Observed notes, there are already some recall winners ... .
More on Friedman, Hayek and Arnold Schwarzenegger from Infinite Monkeys:
Arnold is an Economics NerdWhen I was in college, I was a bit of a library nerd. I used to go to UCSD�s Central Library and browse the stacks, especially the economics section. I remember picking up a small, poorly bound book that was a collection of papers presented at a very academic, very technical symposium held in the early 1980's on the Austrian school of economics. That's not actually a school, but a group of thinkers who ushered in a new free market view of economics. On the first page was a small list of attendees at the conference, and there was Arnold Schwarzenegger's name.
This actually wasn't that surprising, and not just because Arnold's Austrian. He has an undergraduate degree in business and international economics, and was very rich before he ever became an actor (he invested the money he made in body building very shrewdly).
I may still have a lot of questions about Arnold, and I'm not sure if I'll vote for him. But I strongly disagree with those (such as Charles at Little Green Footballs) who claim that no one knows what he stands for.
In fact, I'll let Arnold respond to that, in a way, with this quote from Laissez Faire Book's web page selling Milton and Rose Friedman's "Free to Choose" videos:
Milton and Rose Friedman's Free to Choose TV series has changed my life.
I came from Austria, a socialistic country where government controlled the economy. A place where you can hear 18-year-old kids talking about their pensions. I wanted more. I wanted to be the best. I had to come to America. I had no money in my pocket, but here I had the freedom to get it. I have been able to parlay my muscles into a big movie career.
Okay, so there I was, waiting for Maria to get ready for a game of mixed doubles tennis. I started flipping the television dial. I caught a glimpse of Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman whom I recognized from my studies in economics. I didn't know I was watching Free to Choose. It knocked me out. Dr. Friedman validated everything I ever thought about the way the economy works.
I became a big pain in the neck about Free to Choose. All my friends and acquaintances got tapes as well as books for Christmas after Christmas. If I had come up with Free to Choose, maybe I wouldn't have got into body building. -- Arnold Schwarzenegger
Some notes. Friedrich Hayek is the best well known member of the Austrian School of Economics. The first few pages of Friedman's Free to Choose is classic exposition of Hayek's account of the price system as knowledge communication system. Hayek's classic paper "The Use of Knowledge is Society" was a fixture in Friedman's economic classes at the U. of Chicago. Friedman was among those turned toward a free market liberal perspective after reading Hayek's The Road to Serfdom -- and Friedman was an original member of Hayek's influential Mont Pelerin Society.
When he was taking some heat from journalists and opponents for not taking specific positions on issues, such as the state budget deficit, Schwarzenegger's chief adviser, George Gorton, responded: "This is not a position election. This is a character election. People are looking at character here, they're looking for somebody who will go in and clean house."Schwarzenegger's spokesman, Sean Walsh, echoed those words when he said, "Our strategy is to make it clear that Gray Davis is the problem in California. California wants a vital leader, someone who is tough enough to get the job done."
At some point, the actor's campaign will produce a quota of position papers on the budget and other issues to quiet demands of political journalists, but they will have little or nothing to do with the high-concept strategy of going over journalists' heads to directly sell Schwarzenegger as the cure for the state's ills. And given the dynamics of the situation -- a brief campaign period and the demand on voters to decide Davis' fate -- it may be a winner ...
And Daniel Weintraub:
As much as anyone, I want to hear specifics from Schwarzenegger about his views on state issues and his plans to solve California's problems. But on family leave, Arnold might have been wise to defer. Because while giving employees paid time off to bond with a newborn or adopted child or to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, domestic partner or parent sounds great, the program has serious problems. If not corrected, the new law will probably cost far more than projected and could undermine the solvency of the state's disability fund ...
Do you find better political analysists in New York State or Washington, D.C? No, you don't.
Blogging the California recall from a sailboat off the coast of Mexico. Hmmm. Would PrestPundit trade blogging the recall one handed with an urpy baby in tow for that? Naah.
Schwarzenegger on the record on the litmus test ideological issues.
National Review's Rich Lowry fisks the anti-recall arguments of George Will and Mona Charen -- and comes out strongly in favor of Terminating Gray Davis. Money quote:
if successful [the California recall] will be the most bracing act of political hygiene since Theodore Roosevelt took on the meatpackers. If you were to distill all that is worst about American politics into one man, he would have perfectly combed hair and he would answer to "Gray." A cautious political hack whose only strength is selling out to unions and trial lawyers, Gov. Gray Davis is Bill Clinton without the conscience, Al Gore without the charm. It would be a mistake, however, to overpersonalize his failings. The populist upheaval in California is the result of a chapter in state government that will be compared to the robber baron era. It is a tale of how unions and trial lawyers can ruin a state's economy with assistance from a very willing governor.
August 11, 2003
The Game Show Network will host the first debate in the race for California Governor. At stake -- $21,200 in campaign funds.
Robert Salladay of the Chronical has a piece on Schwarzenegger's "outside the box" political ideology. He's a suggestion folks, just call it "liberal" -- (classic) liberal, the way Friedrich Hayek, Adam Smith and Milton Friedman are limited government, pro-market liberals, who make an important place for the role for governerment. (If you thought otherwise, you don't know your Hayek, Smith, or Friedman). Tidbit -- Bill Whalen of the Hoover Institute has worked as an analyst for Schwarzenegger.
(Footnote -- reading the article I'd say it's a sure bet that Salladay is a big-time reader of the blogs -- including this one).
Milton Friedman set to star in Schwarzenegger for Governor commercials? Stay tuned.
And this -- Arnold will ramp up the content side of his campaign with an all-star team of free-market liberals -- a team which may include Stephen Moore, Larry Kudlow, Steve Forbes and Art Laffer.
John Fund has the scoop. Quotable:
for years [Schwarzenegger's] favorite Christmas present for friends was Mr. Friedman's book "Free to Choose."
Right-coaster Frum seems unaware of Schwarzenegger's close ties to such heavy-hitting research centers as the Reason Institute, a free-market liberal think tank; or the better known Hoover Institute. California is loaded with talented pro-market liberal thinkers and it's a sure bet that Schwarzenegger will pull many of these folk into the Arnold fold.
Schwarzenegger positions himself to re-enter Forbes 100 top celebrities.
George Will tells California conservatives what they should think about Arnold Schwarzenegger -- and how they should vote on the recall.
Workers of the World California unite behind John Christopher Burton.
Schwarzenegger's campaign team goes Hollywood with a Showtime movie scheduled for April, 2004.
Websites of the full clown car of candidates in the race for Governor in California. And here it is, finally, the website we've anticipated most .. and reportedly, the famous actor will be fielding questions via his website soon. (hat tip to Pathetic Earthlings)
MSNBC POLL: California is heading in the wrong direction -- 72%. Schwarzenegger's nearest rival is "undecided" at 26%. McClintock barely registers at 4%. And get this -- 40% of state Democrats want Davis out.
"Schwarzenegger is my kind of Democrat"
-- Bill Press, former chairman of the California Democratic Party, on MSNBC today.
Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition identifies Arnold Schwarzenegger as a dark villain, and has set up organization to block his election as Governor.
David Horowitz flips -- now backs recall, Schwarzenegger:
Arnold's is a dream candidacy for the Republican Party, which he alone can rescue from the dead. He has already made Republicans more user friendly to the public at large. He will make it easier for media talent in the state to relate to the Republican Party, which has ramifications for campaigns beyond California. He will inspire significant numbers of independents to vote for his party. And if he is elected -- unlike the conservatives biting at his heels -- he will be a formidable counter-balance to the Democratic legislature, which means he could actually improve the financial condition of the state .. For all these reasons Republicans of all factions should rejoice at the Schwarzenegger candidacy. It offers the only possibility of a win for state Republicans or for the Bush campaign in California. It will help to revive the California Republican Party. And it could reshape the politics of the nation.
More.
August 10, 2003
The Gallup Poll is out. 68% of probable voters say they may vote Schwarzenegger. 48% of problable voters say their is a good or very good chance they'll vote for Schwarzenegger. 69% of probable voters are in favor of removal from office for Governor Gray Davis. This will shake things up.
Schwarzenegger's top three role models:
1. Ronald Reagan
2. Milton Friedman
3. Muhammad Ali
Interview on MSNBC from 1999.
Speaking of Reagan as role model, I've been dipping into Peter Robinson's How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life. Whoever has it that Peggy Noonan was Reagan's best writer is off by about a 1,000 miles. Robinson brings the same ease of language to his new book that I found in his It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP, which I just plain enjoyed. Robinson's new book is a sort of a mix between a coming of age story and a "self-help" book for folks in their 20's, for those who are trying to figure out what it means actually to be an adult. Reagan, surprisingly, proved an important role model for the young speech writer. Is Robinson a better writer than, say, Lileks? Well, he's no doubt a different kind of writer, but Maybe. Anyway, the guy can write -- and he has something to say. A rare combination. Hugh Hewitt has been pushing Robinson's book, but I don't think he's been very effective in explaining why. Well, this is why. It's great writing and it takes on the "how should I live" question, which interests most all of us. Well, so much for my little book report.
Colby Cosh calls Schwarzenegger a "National Greatness Conservative" who can talk like a Kennedy on domestic issues. No wonder Limbaugh is spinning in his easy chair.
Daily Pundit finds one more reason to support Schwarzenegger for Governor.
A Republican with no political experience "cleans house" in Sacramento:
Hiram Johnson was born and raised in Sacramento, and it was there that he was indoctrinated into politics. As a young man, he accompanied his father, armed with pistols, into a "den" of dishonest politicians and watched as he fearlessly denounced them for their corruption. Although the political poles of father and son were to differ in later years, the younger Johnson was never to waiver in his campaign against corruption. Johnson initially worked in law offices as a stenographer and shorthand reporter, but eventually became a lawyer himself. He attracted the attention of politicians statewide when he successfully took over as special prosecutor in a notorious graft trial when the chief prosecutor was gunned down in the courtroom. Two years later, Johnson, politically a Progressive, was elected Governor. He had never held public office before.
And this:
Johnson, Hiram Warren, 1866�1945, American political leader, U.S. Senator from California (1917�45), b. Sacramento, Calif. His role as attorney in the successful prosecution of Abe Ruef, political boss of San Francisco, led to his election (1910) as governor of California. Johnson broke the political domination of the Southern Pacific RR in California and secured the enactment of much reform legislation. A founder of the Progressive party, he was Theodore Roosevelt's running mate on the unsuccessful Progressive ticket of 1912. He was reelected governor in 1914. In 1916, Johnson refused to support Charles E. Hughes, the Republican presidential candidate, and Hughes lost California and the election to Woodrow Wilson. Johnson himself was elected U.S. Senator on the Progressive ticket and, reelected four times, served in the Senate until his death. In 1920 he was a leading contestant for the Republican presidential nomination, but after Warren G. Harding was nominated, Johnson declined offers of the vice-presidential nomination ..
Hiram Johnson, Republican, Inaugural Address of the Governor of California. Second Inaugural Address.
The religion factor -- in 2001 Schwarzenegger donated a $2 million house to the Roman Catholic church. Schwarzenegger and family attend the same church as Bill Simon -- and Richard Riordan.
The Chronicle reports that Schwarzenegger favored Proposition 187 Calblog has an analysis.
2. Arnold is unqualified.Yes, he's not a professional politician. And that's a disadvantage? The professional politicians are the ones who got California into this mess. This is a "throw the bum out" election, so the successful challenger will be the one who looks least like the bum. Gray Davis has been on the public payroll his entire adult life: he represents the full-time political class. Arnold represents the other California: entrepreneurial energy, wit and invention, the California that understands that if Hollywood and Silicon Valley were run by "qualified" people like Davis we'd still be watching flickering silents and you'd need union-approved quill-feathers to send e-mail.
Arnold made his first business investment at 19, using savings from his bodybuilding contests to buy a failed Munich gym. He turned it around. The first really big money he made in America in the early 1970s came when he and a fellow bodybuilder started a bricklaying business. He's one of a very few actors who was a millionaire before he ever acted. And, if you think it's no big deal being the world's highest-paid movie star, you try it - with a guttural German accent so thick you can barely do dialogue and a body frame so large you're too goofy for playing love scenes. From his gym to his mail-order company to his masonry business to his shopping malls, Schwarzenegger has shown a consistent knack for exploiting the fullest financial value from even his most modest successes. Who would you say best embodies the spirit of California? The guy who has made all his own money? Or the fellows who've squandered everybody else's?
Posted by Greg Ransom | Permalink
64% of Californians want Gray out -- 42% of voters likely to vote Schwarzenegger -- Cnn/USAToday poll. Here's the CNN version.
And this -- a majority of those polled say Schwarzenegger would do a better job than a career politician.
"I think Davis right now, obviously, is the underdog. Schwarzenegger is basically the incumbent .. It's his to lose."
Come to think of it, maybe the best thing Arnold could do for the California economy is stay in the private sector.
TIME's Ahhnold!? cover story -- with more on the Clinton-Davis meeting in Chicago last week.
August 09, 2003
Does Gray Davis have the guts? Or, maybe a better quetion, how many millions will Gray Davis spend putting this on television during the family hour?:
-- a t-shirt design being sold over the internet yesterday.
(Matt Drudge, eat your heart out.)
Bill Clinton provides Gray Davis with daily political advice -- after meeting with Davis last week in Chicago.
Maria Shriver praises her husband for his courage (it's a Kennedy thing) -- and gives him a soccer mom's endorsement:
"I think he is a serious, compassionate, smart, calm man and I think that he will represent Democrats, independents and Republicans all across this state. He is a born leader, he has inspired people for 30 years."
Ueberroth has at least $68 million he can put into play in the California recall race. Key question -- how bad does he want it?
The crazy aunt in the basement, er, California governor's race:
Ms. Huffington's first step in her "guerrilla campaign," as she called it, was a misstep, as she upset the microphone stand of the assembled news media, while trying work her way into a photo opportunity of Mr. Schwarzenegger, and his wife, Maria Shriver .. An awkward silence enveloped the morning crowd. Mr. Schwarzenegger smiled crookedly. Undeterred, Mrs. Huffington found a step behind the couple, smiled, and the photographers snapped away."Who is that lady?" someone in the crowd of onlookers asked.
The AP is reporting that over 130 people have actually filed in the race to replace. We'll see in a few days how many of these filings receive official confirmation from the Sec. of State.
Last I saw, "Michael Jackson" and "Edward Kennedy" where running .. it would be a hoot if these folks were on the ballot.
Schwarzenegger has filed a financial disclosure. Highlights:
-- Schwarzenegger has 20 holdings worth over a million dollars and about 40 investments valued between $100,000 and $1 million dollars.
-- Schwarzenegger's investments include stock in Starbucks, PepsiCo, Coca Cola, Roto Rooter, Washington Post Co., Abbott Laboratories, Clorox Co., Target and Wal Mart Stores Inc.; millions of dollars in municipal bonds; and major real estate investments in Ohio and California. (Schwarzenegger owns a good chunk of Santa Monica and most all of Venice Beach, so the wags say).
A reality check for Mickey Kaus and that weird ex-wife of the gay former Congressman -- I don't think I know a soccer mom in California who doesn't own an SUV -- or (like PrestoMommy) at least really would like to have one. The fact that Schwarzenegger is the poster-stud of the rugged SUV-owning family man only makes the Soccer Mom's heart pound a bit faster.
PoliPundit has more spot on soccer mom political analysis:
No one seems to have a phrase to describe Arnold's politics. Is he a "conservative," a "moderate," a "liberal" or a "pragmatic libertarian?"None of the above. Arnold Schwarzenegger is... a Soccer Mom!
Your prototypical Soccer Mom isn't a hate-the-greedy-corporations Democrat. Heck, her husband is probably a middle manager at Procter & Gamble. She's a "fiscal conservative," in the sense that she doesn't want more taxes and regulation. She doesn't like affirmative action either, since it goes against her sense of fairness and threatens her childrens' future.
On the other hand, she doesn't want to be seen as a meanie. She thinks Republicans are too hard-edged on some issues. She wishes they were more "tolerant" of minority groups like gays and blacks. She's pro-choice, although she doesn't want abortion to be a widespread practice. She is, of course, an "environmentalist." And she's not averse to Big Government programs like Medicare and Social Security. An easy way to win her vote is to claim that some big-spending entitlement is "for the children." She doesn't see why ordinary people need assault rifles, but she can see why pilots should have pistols.
Now look at Arnold's stated beliefs - vague as they are - and see how they dovetail nicely with Soccer Mom values. When he comes out with detailed policy prescriptions, I bet they'll reflect Soccer Mom values too.
Democrats should be scared of Arnold. He has a massive advantage when it comes to the male vote. If he can appeal to Soccer Moms, he can also steal away women voters who ordinarily provide Democrats with their margin of victory.
(via InstaPundit)
More Roger Simon:
"This is going to be the best election ever from a theatrical standpoint .. Everyone can say all they want about all the nuts rolling across the continent into California, but who would want to miss this?"
-- quoted by Matt Welch. (via the BlogFather)
Schwarzenegger leads the field by 10 percentage points. Support for Davis continues to collapse. (via California Insider).
Arnold Schwarzenegger's college degree -- a general business degree in international marketing from the University of Wisconsin in Superior, granted by correspondence, with classes taken at Santa Monica College, West L.A. University, and UCLA Extension. Schwarzenegger also has a California real estate licence.
A quick quiz for Rush Limbaugh -- name the California governor who racked up annual 12 percent state spending increases and also signed one of the first pro-choice laws in the country. This governor also had "Hollywood values" when it came to gays. And he was well-known for not being much of a father to the kids from his second marriage. Get a grip Rush. We're electing a state Governor -- a politician -- not a Bishop in the church.
Another head-up for Rush and the rest of you national "conservatives" who haven't been keeping up with what is happening in California. The business problem in California is a regulation, bureaucracy and lawsuit problem, much more than it is a tax problem. Think workman's comp, hazardous materials lawsuits, union regulations, zoning, redevelopment ripoffs, construction regulations, and on and on. It will take a businessman -- a really smart businessman like Schwarzenegger -- to go and clean up this anti-business mess. Yes business taxes need to be cut -- but this is a secondary problem set next to the problems of workman's comp and all the rest.
Roger Simon fisks Timothy Noah -- as well as another wacky Kausfiles Arianna posting. In Simon's view, the real threat to Schwarzenegger is Rush Limbaugh (see PrestoPundit below).
And Simon explains why it will be Schwarzenegger in a landslide anyway:
What we are looking at here, folks, is press desperation for a story. This election is already over and everybody knows it. And here's why, in case you're one of those people who want to fight me on this (go ahead--make my day!). Imagine holding this election and Arnold loses. Think how the citizens of California are going to feel with some boring snooze of a Gray Davis clone of the right or left in the governor's office when they could have had the Terminator. Deprived is how they'll feel. Now think how they will vote.If you're looking for people against him, try New York. And that's because they're jealous. They're stuck with Pataki ..
California Insider predicts a huge voter turnout in the race to replace. He also ad libs a bit of campaign damage control strategy for Schwarzenegger on an issue likely to hit over the weekend.
Cruz Bustamante -- running for Governor of the Viejas Indian Reservation.
Peter Ueberroth is a registered Republican. Question for the lawyers, does this mean he will be listed as a Republican on the ballot?
Former California Governor Pete Wilson is Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign Co-Chairman.
Governor Schwarzenegger? "It's never going to happen." -- Rush Limbaugh, doing Q&A at Sports Illustrated.
August 08, 2003
This should really be at the top of today's blog:
Here's a free heads-up for national political analysts -- George Bush's re-election will likely turn on the state of the economy. And the national economy is in trouble only if you include California. Take California out of the equation, and the national economy is in pretty good shape. For example, in June, unemployment totals were down nationally -- if you excluded California. They were up if you included California. This month, nearly half of all job losses in the country were California jobs.
So Bush's re-election very likely will turn on what happens in the California economy -- and that very likely will depend on whether or not Arnold Schwarzenegger replaces Gray Davis in the Sacramento governor's office.
The Democrat who should be running for governor -- former state Controller Kathleen Connell. She put Gray Davis and the legislature on notice more than two years ago that the state's finances were in meltdown. This is her important WSJ op-ed piece with Matt Fong, from last week:
Given the magnitude of this crisis, fundamental reform of state finances cannot wait until the recall's conclusion. It must be the focus of the debate leading up to the recall election, and the measuring stick for all candidates on the ballot.It is time for Californians to awaken to the immediacy of the economic threat that undermines the future of our state, risks the success of our businesses, and reduces the quality of life for our citizens. It is time for taxpayers, as shareholders in the state of California, to demand the fiduciary responsibility that is required of any corporate director. Just as the shareholder has forced corporate America to a new standard of transparency and accountability, so should the California taxpayer require those standards replace backroom negotiations and accounting gimmicks in the state budget process.
Over the coming weeks, all gubernatorial candidates should be measured by their response to specific proposals to restructure state government's fiscal operations. Many previous legislative proposals, some sponsored by us as state officials, have urged these common-sense reforms. NGOs like the Reason Foundation and Performance Institute, think tanks specializing in government reform, have also highlighted significant opportunities for restructuring.
To end the financial crisis, the recall debate should focus on these simple but powerful imperatives:
� Implement a watertight expenditure and revenue limit to bring state spending into balance with available revenues and avoid the "feast and famine" cycle of the current system.
� Create the most jobs-friendly climate in the nation through fundamental regulatory and tax reform that would provide the state with a growing revenue pie. Workers' compensation insurance reform should be high on this list.
� Shift the state to a two-year budget cycle, currently used by more than 20 states, to increase legislative oversight and eliminate the potential of spending deferrals and accounting gimmicks.
� Use performance-based budgeting that requires every state agency to justify every dollar spent based on performance goals and savings targets. Currently the legislature only reviews new budget spending proposals, simply assuming previous year's expenditures are acceptable.
� Create a competitive government structure with the requirement of open bidding for state services, including public and private sectors.
� Appoint a budget oversight commission to review progress toward reform goals and enact midyear budget changes as needed. This commission would function similar to the federal base realignment and closure commission that made politically unpopular decisions regarding closure of military bases. Such a commission could become the independent watchdog, akin to a bankruptcy judge in a corporate restructuring.
All these may seem to be common sense to most of us. Yet given the dynamics of state budget politics, no such principles exist in California and the gap between spending and revenues has escalated to the current $38 billion deficit.
The recall election will determine the leadership of California. If the state misses this opportunity to ask the right questions of its leaders and candidates and allows a continuation of the same pattern of deferral and denial, the problem will worsen and next year's budget crisis will make this one look like a picnic. Then, it will matter little who sits in the governor's office.
(thanks to Internet Ronin)
Schwarzenegger is the most disciplined person I've ever met in my life -- former Lt. Gov. Mike Curb, today on one of the cable channels.
The man most responsible for making Mayor Richard Riordan possible -- Hugh Hewitt comes out strong for Schwarzenegger:
REASONS TO SUPPORT ARNOLD: Rush is reported to be slamming the AS candidacy. I haven't heard him do so, but many conservatives are most definitely doing so, so here are the reasons why center-right Republicans and conservative Republicans should vote for AS:1. AS can win. The others in the race who would make acceptable governors --Bill Simon, Tom McClintock, and Peter Ueberroth-- cannot marshall enough votes to top the almost certain 25 to 30% that Cruz Bustamante will roll up. Objectivity matters a great deal here, and even if AS hadn't gotten into the race, the presence of more than one "movement" candidate dooms them all. Period. End of story. Arguing this point doesn't change the facts on the ground ..
5. Finally, the state is in desperate shape. AS is right, businesses and talent are fleeing. Unless the bleeding stops, this economy continues to drag the national economy down, and with them both, the re-elect numbers of the President.
The purists have to get over it and get behind a winning effort.
And I loved this:
There ought to be a ban on east coast opinion purveyors rattling on about California politics. It is a different world. Here's my test. Can you name the Speaker of the Assembly? Do you know the campaign manager for Cruz and the other statewide office holder he represents? Whom did Bruce Herschensohn beat in the 1992 Senate primary? Whom did Jerry Brown beat in the 1978 gov race? California politics are as complicated as most nations', and the canard that you have to be a moderate Republican to win out here without explanation of the Duke's successes (no, not Wayne) or of Feinstein's pummeling of Tom Campbell is a giveaway of an amateur come to play in the sun.
A prime example of the Right coast idiocy? I can't count how many talking heads blathered on about Schwarzenegger announcing his candidacy for governor on the Tonight Show -- and how degrading this was. But in California Schwarzenegger didn't make his announcement on the Tonight Show -- he made his announcement hours earlier in a press conference carried live by all of the local news channels. The additional Tonight Show excitement bumb for the Schwarzenegger campaign wasn't broadcast till hours later -- and it wasn't California "news" of an official announcement at that point, it was a Schwarzenegger campaign rally watched by millions of Californias who already knew that Schwarzenegger was running for governor. Well, just one example how the right coasters haven't got a clue, and I could fill a blog with them.
Virginia Postrel asks: "But did [Schwarzenegger] really start a campaign without getting some policy briefings beforehand?"
The answer -- reported yesterday here on PrestoPundit -- is no. Not only is Schwarzenegger briefed, he's focus-grouped, polled, and advised by the smartest and most successful political people in California on the Republican side of the fence -- including one well-known former governor of the state. And the first rule in the book is that first impressions in politics are the most important -- and you want ALL of these to be very, very positive "on message" impressions. In other words, Schwarzenegger is getting straight A's for open-day politics. He isn't going for the wonks right now -- he's going for the general public. And it ain't rocket science here. You want to put out all the core themes that pull in the vast millions of voters -- and you want to save for another day all the stuff just doesn't matter that much at the moment and in the whole scheme of things, the stuff that first impression folks might trip up on, if that is all they know about the candidate. This is politics 101 folks.
He's on the web. joinarnold.com
California's political history and traditions were laid down nearly ninety years ago by the progressive reforms of Hiram Johnson. The principles were clear: bipartisanship was cherished, progress was prized over politics and the will of the people was paramount. It was upon these principles that our state was built. California became a beacon for the rest of the nation and the world.But today we are in a different place. There is an enormous disconnect between the people of California and the politicians of California. We the people, are doing our job--working hard, paying our taxes and raising our families. They, the politicians are not doing their job. They fiddle, they fumble, and they fail.
It is time to return California to the people.
Is Peter Ueberroth a PrestoPundit reader? Well, if not, maybe his political people are -- anyway, like PrestoPundit Tuesday, Ueberroth is talking about a California death spiral. This from his announcement as a candidate in the race to replace:
I will build a bipartisan administration to stop California's compounding economic death spiral while it is still possible, reverse it and put California back on track ..
Here's a free heads-up for national political analysts -- George Bush's re-election will likely turn on the state of the economy. And the national economy is in trouble only if you include California. Take California out of the equation, and the national economy is in pretty good shape. For example, in June, unemployment totals were down nationally -- if you excluded California. They were up if you included California. This month, nearly half of all job losses in the country were California jobs.
So Bush's re-election very likely will turn on what happens in the California economy -- and that in turn very likely will depend on whether or not Arnold Schwarzenegger replaces Gray Davis in the Sacramento governor's office.
443 -- the number of people who have taken out the papers required to file in the race to replace. 17 -- the number of people how have submitted a completed filing. Zero -- the number of candidates who have so far been certified in the race to replace. Tomorrow is the last day to file. The list of certified candidates will be released by the Sec. of State Aug. 13.
You can register to vote in California via a combination of the internet and the U.S. mail here. If you register by internet, the Sec. of State office recommends that you do so by Sept. 12 at the latest, due to mail delivery time. The official last day to register for the October 7 recall and replacement election is September 22nd. If you'd like to vote for Schwarzenegger, McClintock -- or perhaps one of the circus performers favored by the TV news reporters and just-for-fun bloggers, the time to register is NOW.
"Like surgeons sometimes say, sometimes you have to cut in order to save the patient" -- Arnold Schwartzenegger
Limbaugh continues with his daily Schwarzenegger bashing -- transcript and audio links. But even Limbaugh admits, "there is a part of this you just have to love".
The guest bloggers over at Calblog are serving up lots of tasty California recall treats -- don't miss out.
The question everyone is asking .. where did Gary Coleman get the $3,500?
I'm a fiscal conservative .. very conservative .. and a social moderate -- Arnold Schwarzenegger on the campaign trail today.
When Milton Friedman and Arnold Schwarzenegger sit down for a meal together what do they talk about? -- the economics of Friedrich Hayek of course!
California political consultant Bob White on the record -- talking about Schwarzenegger, Pete Wilson, the Browns, and Arnold's big blue ring ... Quotable:
"[Running for Governor] wasn't my idea," White says. "It was his. His passion is impressive. I have never known a person of more intensity .. He's the most instinctive human being I've ever met in my life. He amazes me with his sincerity."
"I think he'd be a good governor." -- Former Texas governor George Bush on Arnold Schwarzenegger.
LA Times -- we should blame the victim for California's governmental disaster. And the Times comes out swinging against Schwarzenegger, saying Schwarzenegger needs to be investigated by the press the same way David Duke was investigated in Louisiana. (I.e. the Times drops the "Nazi" card by insinuation). and the Times comes up with a former Republican speech writer with real vitrol for Schwarzenegger. He's a "Democrat in a Republican loincloth", among other things.
Well, this is the paper that prints the ravings of the Robert Sheer, who once touted North Korea as the model for all mankind. What did you expect?
Schwarzenegger appearance sets off a frenzy. Quotable:
"I have a very, very good agenda," he said. "The first and most important thing that we have to do is we have to overhaul our economic agenda and California. We have to bring back businesses to California, to make sure that everyone in California has a great job, a fantastic job.""The second-most important thing is our children. . . . I'm very passionate about children's issues," he said. "It is very important that our children have the first access to our state treasury, and the money, so that they can have great schools and great education."
Then, he took questions about details, details, details.
What about a plan to cut the budget?
"We will have a detailed plan very soon on how to face those kinds of problems, and how to solve those kinds of problems," he said. "The important thing is to know that we have a crisis here in California."
What about that Hummer? How does he stand on the environment?
"I have always been environmentally friendly, and I will fight for the environment," he said. "Nothing to worry about that."
Immigration?
"I love immigrants. You know, I'm an immigrant myself."
What kind of campaign are you going to run?
"As you know, I believe in selling, selling a philosophy," he said. "The same thing as I did on Prop. 49 (the after-school care initiative). I will be going to every school, I will be knocking on doors. I will be going from one TV station to the next. I will be going to fund-raisers. I will be reaching out to families. I will talk to everyone."
His qualifications to be governor?
"The most important thing to have when you run a state is leadership . . . and in everything I ever did, I showed great leadership. There were times when people said it could never be done, that an Austrian farm boy can come over to America, and get in the movie business, and be successful. . . . And you know what happened? I became the highest-paid entertainer in the world."
Rev. Lou Sheldon endorses Simon, questions whether Schwarzenegger is actually a Republican
The recall election could be make or brake for California business. More news on how California government is killing the Golden geese that lay the Golden State eggs.
Outside the box -- Schwarzenegger is an idea man and a serious student of politics, and it won't easy for the blow-dried hacks to get a label that fits around his neck. Quotable:
Schwarzenegger said his first exposure to politics was the U.S. presidential campaign in 1968, the year he arrived in America. He had a friend translate the speeches of Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey and Republican Richard Nixon. Humphrey talked about protectionism and more government planning, the actor said, which "sounded a lot like socialism in Austria." Nixon talked about "less government, lower taxes, the free market, international trade and a strong military." "After the translator finished, I realized: Yes! I am a Republican," Schwarzenegger said. "I pretty much thought it was as simple as the movies: The Republicans were the good guys, and the Democrats were the bad guys." Schwarzenegger said he later starting touring the county for the Special Olympics and "learned how America really worked. And what I realized was this: both parties had good ideas. So it's dead wrong to see things only as us versus them."
August 07, 2003
Lileks The Bleat. Quotable:
Listened to much radio commentary today on the Arnie candidacy, and as usual there was much lamenting and rending of garments on the ironclad right; he�s not this, he�s not that, he said this, he sleeps with a Shriver, etc. I am always mystified by people who would rather die pure than live with imperfections. Every candidate will always disappoint, somehow. Any candidate with whom you agree 100% is probably unelectable. If your bumpersticker says DON�T BLAME ME, I VOTED FOR AYN RAND I'm not particularly impressed. �Cause she�s dead and none of that stuff is going to happen. Doesn�t mean we can�t keep the ideas in play, but if you don�t vote because no candidate vows to privatize the sewage systems and disband the Food and Drug Administration, don�t come crying to me when your marginal tax rate hits 71 percent.
Schwarzenegger's true liberal roots. Quotable:
I come from Austria, a socialistic country. There you can hear 18-year-olds talking about their pension. But me, I wanted more. I wanted to be the best. Individualism like that is incompatible with socialism. I felt I had to come to America, where the government wasn't always breathing down your neck or standing on your shoes.
Spooky has some nice things to say about her Congressman. You don't see that every day.
Schwarzenegger becomes a Republican. Money quote:
ARNOLD THE REPUBLICAN is sometimes compared to Ronald Reagan because of their showbiz pedigrees, but there was one reason Arnold signed on with the GOP: Richard Nixon. While watching a Nixon speech in 1968, one which a friend translated because Arnold's English was still so spotty, his friend told him, "He's a Republican--it's the wrong party." But listening to Nixon advocate a stronger military, "getting the government off our back," and opening up trade, "I said, 'No, I love what this guy is saying. If this guy is a Republican, then I am a Republican."
Arnold turns the key -- Schwarzenegger may surprise some folks as he exits the starting gates in the race for Governor of California. Quotable:
.. Schwarzenegger has spent the summer assembling an experienced campaign team. It consists mostly of the brain trust that guided Wilson through two terms as governor. Aides have conducted polls, listened to voter focus groups about Schwarzenegger�s strengths and weaknesses as a candidate, and prepared policy stands on many issues.�All he has to do now is turn the key,� one of his advisers said.
Schwarzenegger takes out papers in race for governor, tells crowd he's ready to overhaul California's economic engine.
U.S. productivity is climbing at a 5.7% rate. If our money was simply retaining its value, prices would be going lower. The fact that prices aren't lower means that we continue to suffer from chronic inflation. This ain't rocket science, but the math here seems to be over the head of the Federal Reserve.
John Fund's latest on Schwarzenegger and California's race to replace.
Richard Riordan conferred with Arnold Schwarzenegger Thursday afternoon, and made it official -- he's endorsing Schwarzenegger's run in the race to replace. Riordan issued a statement which read in part:
"This recall election offers us a choice: We can either continue with politics as usual in California, or we can elect someone who works on behalf of every Californian, not just the special interests. As I have said many times, I believe Arnold Schwarzenegger is a very talented man who would make an excellent governor."
USA TODAY covers Schwarzenegger and the California race to replace.
Quotable Arnold:
SCHWARZENEGGER: "There's businesses leaving every day. There's people leaving the state every day. We see a budget that is the biggest budget deficit that we've ever had in the history of California. We see our ratings, the junk bond ratings that we are getting. That is disastrous. We see a governor that is being recalled. We see an education system that is last in the country. We just see things declining and declining and declining, and the biggest problem that we have is that California is being run now by special interests. All of the politicians are not any more making the moves for the people but for special interests, and we have to stop that. And so this is why I'm running for governor. I will go to Sacramento and I will clean house. I will change that. As you know, I don't need to take any money from anybody. I have plenty of money myself. I will make the decisions for the people."
SCHWARZENEGGER: "I know that the people of California want to have better leadership. They want to have great leadership. They want to have somebody that will represent them. It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or Republican, if you're young or old, what the racial thing is - nothing matters to me. To me what matters is that I want to represent everyone in California. That is the important thing."
MALE REPORTER: "What about the immigrant population?"
SCHWARZENEGGER: "Everyone is welcome. As you know, I'm an immigrant. I came over here as an immigrant and what gave me the opportunities, what made me be able to be here today, is the open arms of Americans. I have been received. I've been adopted to America. I have gotten all the opportunities because of America. I've seen firsthand coming over here with empty pockets, but full of dreams, full of desire, full of will to succeed. It's because of the opportunities that I had available that I could make it, and that's what I want everybody to be able to do."
Quotes pulled rom the transcript of Rush Limbaugh's fisking of Arnold Schwarzenegger on today's radio program.
Recall supporter Darrell Issa says that Schwarzenegger's entry into the race to replace has convinced him that there are enough good candidates for governor, and that he will turn his attention back to supporting President Bush's effort to bring peace to the Middle East. Issa made a surprise withdrawl announcement earlier today -- just hours after sending out a press release officially announcing his candidacy for governor.
Another McClintock Republican makes the case for Schwarzenegger:
Because of his enormous celebrity status and the fact that he can command huge media attention .. he is perhaps the one person who could seriously intimidate the Democrats in the state legislature to back down on some things. Arnold is absolutely right that the legislature is a wholly-own subsidiary of the liberal interest groups (especially the public employee unions and the trial lawyers). This stranglehold is much worse than anything from the railroad robber baron days. The big question is whether Arnold is serious about breaking this stranglehold; if he is not he shouldn't bother running. The fear is that even though a nominal Republican, he will end up more like the feckless Jesse Ventura, who found the limits of celebrity fairly quickly. So far in the first 24 hours, Arnold has made the right noises, and he has around him the very experienced and savvy Pete Wilson team, which, say what you will about Gov. Wilson, knew how to win elections and govern effectively.I place the odds at about once chance in three that Arnold would turn out to be the serious reformer I envision here, but if so, he has a better chance of succeeding than the other Republicans. Any other Republican is going to face all-out war from the Democrats and special interest groups.
Video gamers for Schwarzenegger. Quotable:
The more I read about him, the more I do want to vote for him. I'm a democrat too, I guess. It's much easier to trust him than some puckered anus politician. Plus, it'd be hard for guys and gals my age to NOT vote for him. I mean jeez, the guy was my hero!
Michael Huffington endorses Arnold Schwarzenegger -- and he takes this swipe at his ex-wife:
"This week my children told me that they did not want their parents to run in this election - either of us," [Huffington] said in the statement. "In consideration of my two young daughters, I have determined that entering the governor's race would not be in the best interest of my children."
From an LA Times update of unfolding events, posted this afternoon.
Here is Begging to Differ's Schwarzenegger blog roundup. (Via Instapundit)
Richard Riordan endorses Schwarzenegger, and tells Arnold he was "pleasantly surprised" by Schwarzenegger's announcement yesterday -- according to Schwarzenegger in a public statement today, as the candidate took out papers needed to file in the race to replace the current Governor of California. Schwarzenegger says that in daily conversations with Riordan the former mayor of Los Angeles repeatedly urged him to run for governor of California -- and this tracks with Dick Riordan's quoted remarks in the press (see below).
Flashback: Daniel Weintraub -- "Arnold for Governor would be a powerful candidate".
You don't say! Weintraub on what you didn't know about Schwarzenegger and "Why Arnold will win if he runs".
Blogging Arnold and the race to replace -- HobbsOnline, InstaPundit; DrudgeReport; LILEKS; Calblog; Boomshock; Bound in a Nutshell; Pathetic Earthlings; PatioPundit; LA Observed; and Hugh Hewitt. Let me quote Hewitt, dean of the LA political analysts:
I think Arnold's a winner because he took his front runner status and married it to a huge issue. Arnold denounced the control of special interests over all of Sacramento. The railroad barons had nothing on the public employee unions, the tribes, and the trial lawyers when it comes to owning the California government. When Arnold took aim at this undeniable fact, he won many votes. He also put his finger squarely on the crisis of the day: Businesses and people are fleeing the state.Arnold is quite simply the Shore Patrol come to restore order to a drunken bunch of sailors otherwise known as state legislators.
"As you know, I'm an immigrant. I came over here as an immigrant. What gave me the opportunities was the open arms of Americans .. I have been adopted by America."
An emotional and passionate Arnold Schwarzenegger, yesterday in Los Angeles, explaining his beliefs about California, economic opportunity and the promise of American democracy.
Riordan "Stunned" .. political consultant George Gorton "floored".
With Schwarzenegger roaming the plains and with Gray Davis's poll numbers heading south of the border, the Democratic wagons are scattering in all directions -- Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante has announced that he's broken ranks with Gray Davis and he will be running in the race to replace the (soon-to-be-former) Governor of California.
August 06, 2003
The best part of Schwarzenegger's Tonight Show talk was his seeming tolerance. ... He had nice things to say about Arianna Huffington, Bill Simon, Darrell Issa -- even Hillary Clinton.
Not the best part, but an important part (see my remarks below). And for reasons a bit different than Mickey suggests. This was important because it so bespoke a man who is mature, self-confident, and quite self-aware of the nature of the political arena and the dignity of those who participate within it -- even when political folks are merely playing out a political role. In other words, it revealed Schwarzenegger as a grownup -- not only as a human being, but as a politician. And a bigger man than so many of the little pigmies in both Sacramento and Hollywood.
Schwarzenegger line I liked: Of course Gray Davis knows how to run a dirty campaign, but he doesn't know how to run a state.
Schwarzenegger impressions:
This is a man of conviction -- a man with genuine faith in California, democratic government, a free society and the American people.
This is a man of passion -- a man with passionate concern for young people, for working families, and for the land of his dreams.
This is a man who wants to get things done -- he wants nothing less than to break the back of the politicians and special interests -- and reconnect the people of California with their government and their state.
In Schwarzenegger's presentation you heard the heart of the young man who came to the Golden State to pursue his dreams -- and the mature and fair-minded grownup who understands how a democracy functions and respects the honorable contribution of his peers in the political arena.
And you also got the sense of the firm drive of a man setting about accomplishing the task at hand -- a man who understands that winning is righteous, something deserved, it's not, as Gray Davis might believe, just about winning.
And in all of these things Schwarzenegger is the genuine heir of Ronald Reagan -- but surprising as it might seem, in all of these things (except for perhaps the last) Schwarzenegger seem more genuine than Ronald Reagan -- more deeply passionate, more deeply connected with his convictions.
Perhaps this reflects nothing more than the fact that Ronald Reagan's passions came so naturally to him -- as a sort of birthright -- while for Schwarzenegger they were and are the emotional choices of a man who has adopted a dream -- and who in turn has been adopted by the people of that dream.
James Cameron on Arnold Schwarzenegger:
"Arnold has great presence, timing, and self-knowledge. For a lot of actors, acting is a very convoluted process. They don't know how to get from here to there, because they don't know where there' is. Arnold does.
Substitute "politics" for "acting" and you've got what we've seen from Schwarzenegger today at his press conference and in his Tonight Show bombshell .. timing, presence, self-knowledge -- and a strong sense of knowing where he -- and we -- need to be going. This sort of knowledge is as important as anything in politics. And it's quality which defines what the state so desperately lacks and so desperately needs -- the vision and self-confidence of leadership.
ARNOLD : THE EDUCATION OF A BODYBUILDER -- currently at no. 6,377 on the Amazon sales list. Look for this book to crack the Amazon top 100 in the next day or two, as reporters break out in a Schwarzenegger for Governor feeding frenzy. Click down to read chapter one.
Tip for reporters -- most of the Schwarzenegger biographies are out of print. Only a few second-hand copies are available in the country. Better snap up a copy while you can. But no worries, here's one that's still in print:
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Man of Action
Fox News -- Schwarzenegger to run. Lots of good details on the big story in California politics.
He's in! Hollywood star makes surprise announcement that he'll run in California recall election.
Quotable Arnold, announcing his run for Governor, today in Los Angeles:
"As you know, I'm an immigrant. I came over here as an immigrant, and what gave me the opportunities, what made me to be here today, is the open arms of Americans. I have been received. I have been adopted by America.""I've seen firsthand coming here with empty pockets but full of dreams, full of desire, full of will to succeed, but with the opportunities that I had, I could make it. This is why we have to get back and bring California back to where it once was."
Schwarzenegger is the right cure to pull California out of its collective depression psychologist says.
California Insider weighs in on Schwarzenegger, pulling out this money quote from the 800 pound gorilla in the race for Governor of California:
�The most important thing is that we bring business back in California,� he said. �More businesses are leaving California than ever before. When business comes back, revenue comes back. When revenues come back, we can afford all kinds of programs that are very important.� -- Arnold Schwarzenegger at his press conference today.
Weintraub's analysis is spot on, and definitely worth a read.
"I decided to run for governor of this great state because I feel very strongly that we have some serious problems in this state. We have businesses leaving here every day. We have people leaving the state every day. We see a budget that is the biggest budget deficit that we have ever had in the history of California. We see a governor that is being recalled, we see an educational system that is last in the country, we just see things declining and declining and declining. The biggest problem that we have is that California is being run now by special interests. All of the politicians are not any more making the moves for the people, but for special interests and we have to stop that. And so, this is why I am running for governor. I will go to Sacramento and I will clean house."
-- Arnold Schwarzenegger -- announcing his candidacy for Governor of California.
Schwarzenegger, announcing it's a go in race for Governor:
�We just see things declining and declining and declining. ... California now is being run by special interests. We have to stop that.�
Schwarzenegger -- wife Maria will vote Republican for very first time in October.
Out takes from the Schwarzenegger press conference .. top Schwarzenegger priorities -- (1) put California back in business; (2) fix the broken state budget, (3) return California from the very bottom to the top in education.
A stunned George Gorton meets with Arnold Schwarzenegger to discuss what happens next -- Gorton was live on the phone from his car on KFI's John and Ken show.
"I will go to Sacramento -- and I will clean house". -- Arnold Schwarzenegger, at a press conference today announcing his candidacy for governor.
Schwarzenegger.com to post Schwarzenegger's official announcement shortly.
LA Times -- Schwarzenegger Will Run in Recall Election. Quotable:
"The people are doing their job in California, the politicians are not doing their job. The person who has failed the people more than anyone is Gray Davis and that is why I'm going to run for governor."
"The people should make the decisions rather than special interests" -- Arnold Schwarzenegger, announcing his candidacy for Governor of California, Wednesday night on the Tonight Show.
NBC4 -- Schwarzenegger Says He Will Run For Governor:
"I think that it was very clear to me that the decision would be difficult to make," said Schwarzenegger, during the appearance.Schwarzenegger praised his wife Maria Shriver and said he had a lot of conversations with her leading up to the decision. "We talked about all that, the movie career ... there will be less time for the children ... what affect it has on the children," he said.
"I know they're going to throw everything at me -- that i have no experience, that i'm a womanizer ... We all know that Gray Davis can run a dirty campaign better than anyone, but we also know he doesn't know how to run a state," said Schwarzenegger.
"The people should make the decisions rather than special interests," said Schwarzennegger, who added that ""no one can pay me off."
"This is the land of opportunity and I can promise you that when I go to Sacramento, I will pump up Sacramento," said Schwarzennegger.
AP -- Schwarzenegger to run for Calif. governor. Quotable:
"The politicians are fiddling, fumbling and failing," he said. "The man that is failing the people more than anyone is Gray Davis. He is failing them terribly, and this is why he needs to be recalled and this is why I am going to run for governor."
Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday announced his decision to run for governor in the state's recall election during an appearance on the "Tonight Show With Jay Leno."
Flashback:
".. Arnold Schwarzenegger is my first choice ... (He) would do a tremendous job .. (Arnold) has a graduate degree in business. He started the Inner City Games ... Arnold is somebody who cares ... and I think he'd be a terrific governor."
-- Richard Riordan last Thursday.
California Race to Replace Time-Line
Aug. 9 - Candidate Filing Deadline
Aug. 11 - Order Of Candidates On Ballot Determined
Aug. 13 - Certified List Of Candidates Available
Sept. 22 - Voter Registration Deadline
Sept. 23 - Write-In Candidate Deadline
Sept. 27 - Voter Guide Mailed Out
Sept. 30 - Deadline To Apply For Absentee Ballot
Oct. 7 - Special Recall Election
"Our state is in dire dire trouble ... We not only have the biggest deficit ... We have the most anti-business state ... Our housing, our education, our health care are in shambles .. "
August 05, 2003
It looks like Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi will be the big name Democrat who will make the jump first into the race to replace.
Schwarzenegger will announce tonight on the Jay Leno show that he's not running for governor of California -- but he still hasn't let his top political aid in on the news:
"I hope that the suspense will end for me today. . . . I believe he's not going to run, but he's certainly left me in the dark."
-- George Gorton. In the mean time Gorton is in talks with Dick Riordan about the possibility of running the Riordan campaign in the race to replace.
Ignorance is bliss in the pedestrian world of everyday academic research:
Over a restaurant dinner (Harris tells us), three professional mathematicians resurrected an issue from the great "crisis of foundations" that racked mathematics in the early 20th century � during roughly the period from Russell�s paradox (1901) to G�del's theorem (1931). This "crisis of foundations" arose because mathematicians had begun inquiring into the logical and philosophical underpinnings of their subject, trying to find the fundamental axioms underlying all of math, trying to find unshakably firm foundations for the process of mathematical proof, asking questions like: "What is a number, really?"Well, the three diners all expressed different opinions on the issue in question, which is a very crucial one. ("The ontological status of the continuum" � but you don't need to know this to understand my point.) Harris sought to pursue the discussion down into deeper matters�but found that his colleagues did not have the necessary knowledge, and didn't actually care. These foundational issues, though interesting in their own right, and fine for a few casual conversational exchanges over the dinner-table, do not really matter in the day-to-day work of most mathematicians.
My point is that a field of knowledge can endure a "crisis of foundations," in which the most fundamental issues are opened up for inquiry and deconstruction, without causing any permanent harm to the field. Harris's restaurant colleagues were working mathematicians � number theorists, actually � who knew about the "crisis of foundations" and found it mildly, historically, interesting, yet went on with their daily work as if it had never happened.
Worth quoting:
If a veterinarian visiting a Montana ranch should conclude the dead cattle there had died of mad cow disease, who would know first: Congress, or the cattle futures market?
-- Pat Buchanan
Chris Bertram interviews Michael Walzer. Quotable:
Elizabeth Anderson has recently asked the following hypothetical question: 'if much recent academic work defending equality had been secretly penned by conservatives, could the results be any more embarrassing for egalitarians?' How do you view current philosophical work on equality, especially with respect to its relevance for the left?Walzer: I think that Anderson's article is right on target. I agree with many of her positive arguments, but I am especially sympathetic to her critique. She is right to say that much contemporary philosophical writing about equality fails to address or even to recognise 'the concerns of the politically oppressed' and the actual 'inequalities of race, gender, class, and caste.' Maybe there is a natural disconnect between academic philosophy and political struggle, and maybe it is a good thing if philosophers are disengaged, looking on from afar. I don't want to argue that academic work is the same as work in the political arena. Still, there are reasons that we are interested in equality and inequality, and Anderson is right to insist that philosophers today don't always have a good grasp of those reasons. There are, however, contemporary writers whose grasp is very good indeed: consider the work of Ian Shapiro (Democratic Justice), Anne Phillips (Which Equalities Matter?), Charles Beitz (Political Equality), David Miller (Principles of Social Justice), and Iris Young (Inclusion and Democracy). It is interesting that these people are not working in philosophy departments; they are political theorists and feminist theorists, and they take their starting point from politics-on-the-ground.
For myself, I think that one great mistake of contemporary academic philosophers, starting with Rawls himself, is the claim that our natural endowments are 'arbitrary from a moral point of view' and should not be allowed to have effects in the social world � or, better, the effects they have should never be philosophically ratified. As Rawls wrote, we have to 'nullify the accidents of natural endowment.' This puts philosophy radically at odds with ordinary morality. Sometimes, of course, that is a useful conflict, but in this particular encounter, philosophy does not fare well. Our natural endowments make us what we are, and what we are necessarily has consequences in the social world, and some, at least, of these consequences must be legitimate. John Rawls deserved the honours he won by writing A Theory of Justice � even if his intelligence was an accidental effect of the natural lottery. Beautiful men and women may not deserve the sexual and marriage offers that they get (we have different, but not entirely different, ideas about intelligence and beauty); still, they cannot be obliged to share their wealth or, as Phillipe Van Parijs has suggested, to compensate the losers in love. This last is one of Anderson's most telling examples, and she goes on to point out that those of us who are not beautiful have never organised to demand such compensation. There is something to learn even from political struggles that never happened!
"What exactly we do on Wednesday has not been decided. [Arnold Schwarzenegger] said to me this morning, 'Don't assume I'm not running.'"
-- George Gorton.
John Fund's continuing California recall coverage. Quotable:
Shawn Steel, a former Republican Party state chairman, says that Mr. Schwarzenegger was running full tilt and hiring a large campaign staff until signals suddenly changed about 10 days ago. He speculates that Mr. Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, were reminded that a top Democratic strategist had warned the LA Weekly his foes would wage a vicious personal campaign against him through the tabloids.
Quotable:
Even Arnold Schwarzenegger will have to admit the obvious after tonight: This was all one giant publicity stunt.
-- Ellis Henican, Newsday.
Say it ain't so, Arnold.
As Calblog points out, as of 4 p.m. today NOBODY yet completed the process of filing in the race to replace Gray Davis. See for yourself here. Seven individuals have actually paid the $3,500 filing fee.
Worth quoting:
Conservative dismay over Taft's liberal agenda led directly to massive Democratic gains in Congress in 1910 and his own loss in 1912. The same dismay over Nixon's liberal agenda led to massive Democratic gains and his ouster from office in 1974.I am sorry to say that I see Bush traveling the same path. He has concluded that the Democrats are very likely to nominate a candidate so far to the left as to be unelectable. Howard Dean's ascension to the head of the Democratic pack supports this conclusion. But ironically, rather than making Bush feel more comfortable pursuing a conservative agenda, he continues to move left on domestic issues -- especially the budget-busting prescription drug subsidy bill.
Bush has also signed into law a campaign finance reform bill that most conservatives view as blatantly unconstitutional, endorsed an education bill written by Ted Kennedy and initiated more trade protectionism by any president since Nixon. But against these, Bush continually plays his trump card: the war against terrorism. And just as Nixon played the anticommunist card in terms of the Vietnam War, it has been enough to keep most Republican voters under control -- so far.
The only substantive difference between Nixon and Bush, in terms of policy, is that the latter cut taxes while the former raised them. Of course, there are also important personal differences. Nixon was sleazy and dishonest, while I don't believe that such can be said about Bush. But if it turns out that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq -- the reason why most people who supported the war supported it -- then he is going to have a "credibility gap" as big as Nixon's to overcome.
Even so, I think Bush is a "lock" for re-election, regardless of whom the Democrats nominate. Yale economist Ray Fair predicts he will get 56.7 percent of the vote based on economic data already in hand. If the economy does better than expected, his vote total will only rise.
But conservatives still need to ask themselves: to what end? Do we want another Taft or Nixon, who imposed liberal policies no Democratic president could achieve as the price for keeping a Republican in the White House? It is a question worth asking.
-- Bruce Bartlett. The set-up to this is worth clicking for.
As of yesterday, there were only seven candidates who will be running for governor . Remember to take notes next time you hear otherwise -- and then remember which press sources are not to be relied upon for accurate information.
August 04, 2003
The Man Without Qualities reminds us what Mayor Riordan meant for Los Angeles --
and for those who just wanted a decent cup of coffee at LAX.
The Krugman Truth Squad fisks Krugman on the California budget. ZAP!
"If it's a campaign about Gray Davis, we lose." -- State Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland
And this:
"There would not be a meeting among Democratic senators today if they didn't have a good reason. This is Chernobyl. Gray Davis is melting down, and the Democrats want to escape the radiation." -- Schwarzenegger adviser Sean Walsh
"Economics" as randomly targetted intellectual junkfood -- the story of a master of the craft.
An analysis of California's coin-operated Governor and other commentary from the guest bloggers this week at Calblog.
August 03, 2003
George Will is back with one of his periodic very stupid columns -- this time equating the attempt of California citizens to save their state with the political knife-fighting of professional politicians. Does George ever get out of his townhouse, other than to go to the television studio? The column reminds me of some of those very high principle articles Will wrote condemning term limits -- just before he did a 180 on the issue and then wrote a book in support of the idea. Will George figure out that he's got the California recall all wrong as well?
That 3 columns a week requirement can be a real reputation killer.
A worthwhile reminder from Calblog -- nobody is yet running in the race to replace because no one has yet filed the 65 signatures and ponied up the $3,500 filing fee. So all you're reading and hearing in the media right now about this weirdo and that high school student "running for governor" is ad selling baloney.
Matt Welch on Gray Davis.
(Yes, I know Instapundit beat me to link. Not the first time. But I've beaten him also. And there might be at least one or two of you out there haven't yet checked out the InstaMan, also known as The BlogFather).
The leading argument I keep hearing from Democrats arguing against the recall is that recalls are wrong .. and we really should be doing is recalling George Bush. A totally incoherent position, of course, but this is gut level politics, not propositional logic.
George Bush borrowed $400 from the Chinese and then sent it to me. He did this he says because I have a kid. Thanks for small favors George. My kid no doubt will have to pay off this debt plus interest, or course. This is not what I want for her, but I'm sure George and the other politicians behind this "gift" couldn't really give a flying **** about my kid.
The Davis dirt begins to fly:
.. the Davis team is ready to go on the offensive. The governor's opposition research team is led by Ace Smith, a San Francisco-based consultant who worked on Riordan's 1997 re-election campaign and is well-versed in the mayor's weaknesses.Riordan may be ready to paint himself as a turnaround artist who rescued Los Angeles, but the Davis team is set to cast him as a bumbler who left the city in worse shape.
If Riordan runs, Democrats would dredge up a plan to home in on the city's divisive police scandal, focus attention on the companies Riordan shut down as an aggressive businessman, and depict him as an imperial leader with a short attention span.
``He was not a person who worked well with other people, and that would be a huge problem up here,'' said Democratic Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, who repeatedly clashed with Riordan when she served on the Los Angeles City Council.
Davis' allies sent a warning shot across the bow last week by suggesting to the San Francisco Chronicle's political gossip columnists that Democrats would imply that Riordan is losing his mind.
Heads up for Bill Lockyer -- better check to make sure that lifevest is going to work ...
Unions & leftists mobilize to protect their go-to man in the California spoils game.
August 01, 2003
As if by magic Democrat Sec. of State Kevin Shelley more than doubles his estimate of the cost of recall to $67 million. (via California Insider)
Democrat strongholds in metro SF and LA want to keep Gray Davis -- everyone else in the state wants to give this failed governor the boot. Quotable:
Philip Dobbs is befuddled. Sitting beside Market Street in the cool shadows cast by the San Francisco skyline, he picks at his lunch distractedly, not comprehending the political upheaval that has gripped his state. "No one here wanted to recall Gray Davis," says the goateed paralegal. "It's a big waste of money."Donita Morris, however, has no such confusion. Taking refuge from the Central Valley's 103-degree F. heat in the skylit vault of the Roseville Galleria mall, she openly laughs when Governor Davis's name is mentioned. "It's just one mess after another, and it needs to change," she says ..
While Los Angeles was almost evenly divided on the question of removing Davis, the rest of southern California wanted to oust Davis by a margin of 57 percent to 36 percent. Likewise, while 57 percent of the Bay Area respondents opposed the recall, 56 percent of the rest of northern California supported it. Support ran even higher in the Central Valley ..
If Christopher Bello is any indication, Davis will have some work to do. Along a nearly deserted section of Roseville's Vernon Street, the short-sleeved and bushy-haired businessman pauses reluctantly in the late-afternoon heat. He says he does not affiliate strongly with either party, but he supports the recall because of the budget debacle. "Davis said the deficit was a certain amount before the [2002] election, then came out after the election and said something different."
Although Davis maintains that he was merely reporting the estimates of the nonpartisan state budget officer, Mr. Bello retorts: "I just don't think he's been a good leader."
The comments resonate across the city, from the nearby freight yard threaded by squealing train cars to the Roseville Galleria, an umber palace outside town. Seated in an armchair amid air conditioning, the potent smell of scented candles, and a seemingly endless permutation of Gap stores, Ms. Morris senses that this revolt has been building for a long time.
"People just see that now it's time to do something," she says.
Being "able to recall elected governors solely on the basis of their performance in office" -- is a good idea. So say the majority of Californians -- and also the majority of Americans.
Note well -- Gallop has a decisive majority of Californian's favoring the recall of Governor Gray Davis. It's 54% / 43% in favor of turning Davis out of office, with only a tiny 3% still without an opinion. Californian's have made up their minds, and what they've decided is that the state needs to say goodbye to this hopelessly failed governor.
XRLQ notes that if everyone runs who's taken out race to replace papers, the California recall will have earned the cash strapped state nearly a half-million dollars in candidate registration fees. With the national press flooding into California, the recall may turn out to be a net money maker for the state.
"I'm just going to do everything I can � until informed otherwise � to fight against the recall. Right now, as far as I know, we're all fighting against the recall."
-- Hillary Clinton, leaving room for the likelyhood that Senate colleague Dianne Feinstein might indeed seek to replace Gray Davis.
Davis's back-alley boys all set for a Riordan bloodbath. A Gray Davis insider is quoted as saying that with last year's viciously bare-knuckled campaign against Richard Riordan, "We were just getting warmed up".
Those who put their money where their mouth is have Davis out as Governor.
Dick Riordan says he'll likely run in the race to replace -- and will announce next week. Quotable:
Clint Reilly, an unpaid adviser to Riordan, said Riordan has decided his campaign team will include George Gorton, a veteran California campaign manager, and former mayoral adviser Noelia Rodriguez, who now serves as first lady Laura Bush's press secretary. Reilly said Riordan moved quickly to assemble a team and strategy after learning last weekend that Schwarzenegger was close to deciding against a run.
Arnold Schwarzenegger for President -- Sen. Orrin Hatch is working to unblock the road to the White House.
Riordan looks for a campaign team -- and considers taking on Schwarzenegger's political advisors.