CA: Governor left in lurch by GOP (Repub disdain for prisons package helped thwart Schwarzenegger)

Sac Bee ^ | 9/2/06 | Andy Furillo

[NormsRevenge]

Republican disdain for a late-developing package of prison bills left Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger empty- handed Friday as he pressed for emergency legislation to solve the state's inmate overcrowding crisis.

It didn't help that the prison officers union was out to kill it and Democrats never warmed up to the effort, initiated by the governor in June when he called for a special legislative session.

But not a single Republican in the Assembly supported the administration-backed bills, leading the GOP governor's staff to give up on the package several hours before the session came to a virtual close Thursday night -- leaving the measures to wither into oblivion without a floor vote.

Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, one of his party's leading legislative voices on criminal justice matters, said his caucus acted largely out of frustration with the administration over the previous few days. At issue, Spitzer said, was Schwarzenegger's support for the greenhouse gas emission bill stridently opposed by his fellow Republicans. In addition, the administration miffed Republicans, according to Spitzer, through its reluctance to protect prison towns from taking on more inmates than they had agreed to house.

"Those two dynamics collided simultaneously," Spitzer said.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Adam Mendelsohn said the administration "is unwilling to speculate" on why Republicans didn't like the prison bills.

"However," Mendelsohn said, "the governor is committed to solving this prison overcrowding crisis regardless as to how long it takes."

How the collapse of the prison bills affects Schwarzenegger in his re-election fight against his Democratic opponent, Phil Angelides, remains to be seen.

Republican political consultant Wayne Johnson said the bills' demise won't register much with the public "on the natural." But it could generate some intensity, he said, if a federal judge orders inmates released and one of them goes out and kills somebody.

[NormsRevenge]

I guess all those who thwarted the Gub's efforts are working to get PHILth elected too.

It sure would be nice to have a choice between liberal and liberaler this November.

Thanks, Ca GOP for stacking the deck against those you need most showing up and voting in November... or maybe that was your goal all along.

[SoldierDad]

Arnold isn't even a Rhino Republican. He's a wolfe in sheeps clothing.

[goldstategop]

I call that well-deserved payback for his treatment of the party. Ouch! It hurts, eh Arnold? Go put some ice on it!

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )

[Brian Sears]

California Conservatives, Don't Worry!

You still have a choice in the Governor's race. Don't waste your vote on a Republican that might as well be a Democrat. Instead of voting for a pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality, anti-moral, anti-second ammendment, pro-big government, pro-tax increase candidate, who happens to have an "R" beside his name, vote for the true conservative in the race.

Vote for Ed Noonan, the American Independent Party candidate. For more information, go to www.ednoonan4gov.org

[marron]

I'm pretty annoyed with the governor these days. The choice between him and the Dems isn't much of a choice. He is basically enacting their program for them.