Posted on 09/02/2006 10:56:40 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO - If 2005 was the year that California government was too consumed by partisan warfare and futile ballot initiatives to accomplish much of anything, 2006 may be remembered as a period of exceptional productivity in Sacramento.
The Legislature adjourned for the year early Friday, leaving in its wake a string of high-profile accomplishments on global warming, prescription drug costs and the minimum wage. Earlier in the year, lawmakers passed a timely budget for the first time in years and placed a $37-billion public works package on the November ballot.
The dramatic election-year turnabout was made possible when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sought to repair the self-inflicted damage from last year's special election by embracing major planks of his Democratic counterparts' agenda.
Whether that was a temporary transformation by the governor to ensure his political survival or the start of a lasting era of cooperation in the Capitol will be left to voters to judge.
Whatever the answer, the string of legislative victories could spell more trouble for Schwarzenegger's Democratic challenger in November, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, who trails in the polls. Those accomplishments could rob Angelides of popular issues to run on and demonstrate that Schwarzenegger is capable of working again with the Democrat-controlled Legislature.
"Poor old Phil Angelides. He's running out of a platform," said Shaun Bowler, a political science professor at the University of California, Riverside. "Up until this session, you could have harnessed two horses to go after Schwarzenegger -- the dislike generated last year with the special election and you could have harnessed the do-nothing governor thing."
After this session, Schwarzenegger "actually does have something he can point to as an accomplishment," Bowler said. "For something like 18 months, he didn't."
Though Democrats got much of what they wanted, Schwarzenegger actively engaged in negotiations over the bills and won some concessions, particularly on the minimum-wage bill. The governor has long championed environmental issues and said earlier this year he was prepared to raise the minimum wage.
The alliance between the governor and legislative Democrats this year benefits both, analysts agree. Democrats pushed their long-held agenda. The governor notched election-year accomplishments with broad appeal to Democrats and independents.
Schwarzenegger has "demonstrated he can lead," said Republican political consultant Wayne Johnson. "He has demonstrated he can build consensus. He has proven he can move things forward without being unnecessarily influenced by parochialism and partisanship."
Schwarzenegger had a 13-point lead on Angelides in the most-recent public poll. Only 58 percent of Democratic voters said they planned to vote for Angelides -- a number that must rise dramatically if the treasurer is to have any hope.
Angelides spokesman Nick Papas downplayed concerns that the productive legislative session will undermine Angelides' case for ousting an incumbent governor.
"At the end of the day, people are not going to cast their votes for governor based on what the Legislature did or did not do," Papas said. "When offered a choice between a fake Democrat and a real Democrat, California voters will choose a real Democrat every time."
The governor and legislative Democrats didn't see eye to eye on everything this year. Lawmakers balked at ratifying a raft of new American Indian gaming deals the governor struck recently. And his prison overhaul measures were abandoned for now.
But on the whole, the governor's relations with the opposite party reached a high point this year.
"I don't think Democrats in the Legislature are intentionally trying to help the governor win re-election," said Matthew Dowd, the chief strategist for Schwarzenegger's campaign. "I do think they decided that it's more important to get things done in California" than bicker for political gain.
In part, Schwarzenegger is simply doing what it takes for a Republican to win in a heavily Democratic state. But some Republicans said that by adopting an agenda that could easily be mistaken for that of a Democrat, Schwarzenegger risks alienating voters in his own party. Many in the GOP are already demoralized by the war in Iraq and President Bush's unpopularity.
"Folks who think like me won't vote for a Democrat," said Republican Assemblyman Ray Haynes of the Inland Empire. "But they may not vote, or they may not vote for this governor."
"You can't ignore your own voters," he added.
Johnson, the Republican consultant, thinks concerns that conservatives may stay home on Election Day are overblown. "Any voter who is even having those thoughts in the deepest, darkest recesses of their mind has to remember Schwarzenegger's running against Phil Angelides."
Lawmakers sent hundreds of bills to Schwarzenegger in the final harried days of the legislative session. But among the most-prominent ones were traditional Democratic causes: raising the minimum wage by $1.25, lowering prescription drug costs for low-income families and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Business interests that usually side with the governor opposed him on all three bills, as did all but a few legislative Republicans.
In many ways, this year mirrors Schwarzenegger's early days in office -- when he and legislative Democrats worked cooperatively to place bond- and balanced-budget measures on the ballot and revamp the state's workers' compensation system.
It bore no resemblance to last year, when Schwarzenegger and lawmakers fought over a slate of reform measures pushed by the governor but rejected by voters. It was a wasted year, many analysts thought, that produced almost nothing but hard feelings.
By contrast, the Democratic leader of the Assembly, Speaker Fabian Nunez of Los Angeles, lavished praise on Schwarzenegger this week for working well with Democrats. But he stressed that he plans to campaign for Angelides this fall.
Nunez said he wasn't about to squander a chance to pass major Democratic legislation, even if doing so improves Schwarzenegger's political prospects.
"The governor has come up to us and said, 'Hey, by the way, I want to get done ... those things that Democrats want to get done,"' said Nunez, a co-chair of the Angelides campaign. "Why should we turn our backs on that? He wants to advance a Democratic agenda. We embraced it. We took advantage of the opportunity. The governor is acting like a Democrat, and we're going to benefit from it.
"He might be a Democrat," Nunez added. "I don't know."
I like "victories" is always defined as advancing the Liberal agenda (and "setbacks" is always defined as advancing the Conservative agenda.)
I foresee major tax hikes to bail out California. Bend over America, this might pinch a bit...
With victories like those who needs defeats - and I voted for the turncoat!
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
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
All these "victories" involve spending more money.
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
That's it. PRODUCTIVITY !
The legislture is not dominated by liberals and our Republican governor is not a RINO.
There just PRODUCTIVE !
Vote for members of either major party but only vote for PRODUCERS !
BTTT
What is the status of SB840 Socialized Medicine in Ca.?
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