Free Republic

SACRAMENTO - No one uses California's initiative process quite like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who swept into office through the recall election and promptly embarked on a perpetual ballot box campaign. Born nearly a century ago as a populist tool to break the railroad industry's grip on the Legislature, initiatives have morphed into a billion-dollar industry over the past decade. Since 2003, Schwarzenegger has relied on ballot measures to burnish his bipartisan sheen while campaigning with Democrats on bond and balanced budget measures, pushed an initiative to cajole lawmakers into rewriting the rules governing workers' compensation, and helped defeat gambling initiatives,...

SACRAMENTO — For $100,000, you can sit at the head table with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, hobnob at a reception beforehand and pose for pictures with the Republican governor. --snip-- Billed as "An Evening with Governor Schwarzenegger," invitations to four upcoming events were handed out Tuesday to lobbyists and business interests in Sacramento. They showed that proximity to the Republican governor comes in four varieties: $10,000, $25,000, $50,000 and $100,000. --snip-- "What's so frightening about it is this is Gray Davis revisited," said state Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough). Davis, whom Schwarzenegger ousted in the 2003 recall election, was derided for his...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A Sacramento school was put into lockdown mode Wednesday after a teacher spotted a student with a gun, according to authorities. ... Students at Hiram Johnson High School were held inside classrooms for more than an hour Wednesday afternoon after a teacher reported seeing a male student holding a gun while standing over a female student, officials said. ... The teacher who said she spotted the weapon is a retired Stockton police officer. She said she is certain she saw a gun. The male student was charged with having a gun on school property.

<p>Editorial - Arnold Schwarzenegger's personal popularity will help him make his case directly to voters by promoting initiatives that go around the Legislature.</p> <p>If Californians think the wild ride is over now that the recall election is complete, they haven't thought too much about what Sacramento will be like with a Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger battling an entrenched Legislature that is far to the left of most Californians.</p>

<p>POLITICIANS of all political persuasions are busy invoking the legacy of Hiram Johnson, the governor of California from 1911 to 1917, who pushed the constitutional amendments for initiative, referendum and recall that California voters ratified in 1911. These reforms set the stage for the state's tradition of "direct democracy."</p>

Oh come on, this is fun--and probably good for California, too. CALIFORNIA OWES a colossal debt to a Republican reformer named Hiram Johnson. He was the governor who put a recall provision in the state constitution in 1911. The idea was to allow voters to oust state officials who'd become wholly-owned subsidiaries of special interests. Along with the right to enact or nullify laws through the initiative and referendum processes, recall was an advance in democratic accountability and grass-roots political participation. And it is as relevant and necessary today as it was in 1911. California is in crisis. Its economy,...

RECALL RALLY MOMENTS in PICTURES These are thumbnails from the PDN Website - Click to open full image in new window. PDN has many more photos to sort through and post with commentary. It was a pleasure to share booths space with our friends from the Anti-Tax Rally last month and an honor to finally meet and be able to introduce the founder of FreeRepublic.com, Jim Robinson to the many PDN and local grassroots folks in attendance.     1 & 2 Mark Williams first up of many talk show hosts to address rally. 3 to 7 Crowd scenes hour...

<p>One of my political rules of thumb: No reform that has any chance of actually working can be approved without squeals of protest from the elite opinion-makers. The converse is true: Anything that moves forward in a bipartisan fashion and is widely admired in the mainstream media is bound to be a disaster.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON - Born along with the initiative and referendum processes in the early 20th century, the recall was designed to help California voters fight back against widespread political corruption.</p> <p>But the rare times it has succeeded, it has often been a vehicle for political payback.</p>

Hiram Johnson High School resembled a compound under martial law Friday as police cars circled the campus and almost 20 security guards patrolled the grounds. If there was any doubt in students' minds that the school officials were taking an apparent resurgence of gang activity seriously, it was gone by the afternoon. "You couldn't even go to the bathroom without someone asking you a whole bunch of questions," said Ashley Hampel, 15. The campus was peaceful throughout the day, but that might have been because of a large number of absences as angry parents kept their children at home. Daily...