Free Republic

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —Chester Nez, the last original Navajo Code Talker, has passed away in his Albuquerque home. Nez was recruited with 28 other Native Americans by the U.S. Marines to create a code the Japanese couldn't crack during World War II. Nez went into kidney failure Wednesday morning. He was 93. "Many people have met him," said Judy Avila, a friend and author of Nez's memoir. "When you meet him, you're charmed by him." He was the last living member of the group. "There were a lot of people and naysayers who said, 'How can these young Navajo men help...

Coyotes are champions of change and have evolved in clever ways to take advantage of a human-dominated landscape Near the dawn of time, the story goes, Coyote saved the creatures of Earth. According to the mythology of Idaho's Nez Perce people, the monster Kamiah had stalked into the region and was gobbling up the animals one by one. The crafty Coyote evaded Kamiah but didn't want to lose his friends, so he let himself be swallowed. From inside the beast, Coyote severed Kamiah's heart and freed his fellow animals. Then he chopped up Kamiah and threw the pieces to the...

A political fight over raising taxes to help solve California's fiscal crisis was touched off Wednesday when Democratic lawmakers proposed taxing big oil to help pay for threatened public education programs.ABX3 9, introduced by Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, would have raised $1.2 billion a year by taxing oil firms' windfall profits and through a separate tax on petroleum that is pumped in California.The bill, which required a two-thirds vote to pass, was defeated on the Assembly floor after Republicans refused to vote for the new taxes. But several other Democrat-authored tax bills are likely to stir heated debate...

When Democratic leaders -- especially Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez -- launched their drive to modify legislative term limits, they painted big targets on the backs of their well- tailored suits. A fundamental political tenet is that when someone really wants something, he or she cedes leverage to others, and Núñez really wants to change term limits because otherwise he and Senate leader Don Perata, among others, would be forced to give up their seats next year. Thus, the squeeze is on. An obvious example is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's unsubtle threat to oppose the measure changing term limits unless Democrats place...

Once an amateur boxer, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez is no stranger to a slugfest or a political controversy. Now Núñez is preparing for another bout -- one to extend his legacy, and tenure, as speaker. Núñez is banned by state law from serving another term as head of the Legislature's lower house. But he is pushing to change that. "I'd like to stick around this job another four to six years," he said. "I think it would be great, if the voters give us an opportunity and if my members continue to support my leadership." The Los Angeles Democrat is...

Top employees of Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez recently received raises as high as 22 percent to boost their salaries, most already exceeding $100,000, at a time when state government continues to spend billions more than it receives in revenue. Dan Eaton, Núñez's chief of staff, received an 18 percent increase that will pump an additional $30,000 into his wallet this year and make him the Legislature's first employee to earn more than $200,000 annually, state records show. Eight employees working in Núñez's office or for his Assembly Democratic Caucus earn more than the speaker's own base salary of $130,000, which...

Behind the scenes in the Capitol, the wrangling over the unprecedented two-pronged plan to attack global warming is intense. Two major pieces of legislation have been amended several times--one was completely rewritten in April--and the bills have ricocheted separately from committee to committee. The bills' torturous paths partly stem from parliamentary maneuvers by supporters to keep the proposal alive. Watched closely by the nation and a skeptical California business community, the Legislature's Democratic leadership is crafting landmark legislation to cut greenhouse-gas emissions over the next 14 years from factories, power plants, construction sites, cement companies, and even dry-cleaning shops. It...

It may not be on a scale of Franklin D. Roosevelt's attempt to pack the Supreme Court, but Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez's bid to pack the Coastal Commission with his cronies is very troubling all the same. As speaker, Núñez, D-Los Angeles, gets to make four appointments to the 12-member panel. Under state law, if an appointee is unable to attend a Coastal Commission meeting, he may send a designated alternate in his place. Núñez, however, is attempting to dictate who the four alternates will be – a clear usurpation of each commissioner's legal authority. What's more, the timing of...

What a difference a year makes. The budget Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled last week represents a radical departure from his proposal a year earlier. Out: slights to the state's public employees and the shelving of transportation projects. In: a warm embrace of the Democratic legislative agenda. The governor's shift reflects a keen grasp of the obvious: Last year's political agenda was rejected in total by the voters in November's costly and combative special election. That the governor gets this is a good thing. --snip-- The new "Kumbaya" spirit in Sacramento has led some to speculate that the governor's lurch back...

Assembly Speaker and one-time Pomona immigrant advocate Fabian Núñez is heading into a defining year in his young political career, saying he is prepared to get things done. But critics say the Los Angeles Democrat is only prepared to be an "obstructionist." In a legislative session that was overshadowed by partisan bickering surrounding November's special election, the perception that Núñez can't or won't negotiate was reinforced by his outspoken criticism of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger after election day. Unlike the speaker's Senate counterpart, state Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, who was more conciliatory, Núñez had said, "It can't be just one of...

MEXICO CITY – Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez said Mexican business executives told him yesterday they feel "totally rejected" by California political leaders, a contrast to their warm relations with Texas officials. After a private meeting with a dozen business leaders here, the Los Angeles Democrat said executives regard the current wave of "anti-immigrant hysteria" in California as an affront to them. The speaker said he invited the group to come to California for a meeting with business and political leaders to improve relations. "I said, 'We want your investment in the state,' " Núñez said he told the members of...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is seldom upstaged, but it could happen Thursday when one of his chief legislative rivals flies south of the border to hold private meetings with Mexican President Vicente Fox. Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez said he plans to make the trip -- and miss one of the few legislative sessions remaining this year -- in an attempt to repair relations with California's largest trading partner. Schwarzenegger has been sharply criticized by Mexican media and politicians for supporting private border patrols to curb illegal immigration. ``The tension between the governor and the Mexican government began to boil after his...

Somewhere in Sacramento there are a couple of sizzling, four-letter- word-laced voicemails left by Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez -- who went absolutely ballistic the other day over a new radio ad put out by his friends in the California Alliance for Jobs. Bad enough that the ad, which features comedian Will Durst, praises Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for putting $1.3 billion of gas tax money back in the budget for road repairs. But the alliance -- which gets a good chunk of change from Democrat- friendly unions -- also took a poke at Núñez and company, telling listeners: "Before...

Last spring, I was stunned to hear California Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez announce that the elusive deal to fix California’s disastrous workers’-compensation system had been all but completed. It startled me because I knew Núñez’s claim of an imminent deal almost certainly was not true. I was closely following the closed-door struggle between reformers, who had Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on their side, and anti-reformers: sleazy doctors, lawyers and “injured” workers who have sucked the workers’-comp system dry at the expense of truly injured California workers. Even as Núñez announced an imminent deal, he was fighting crucial reforms and was pushing...

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez launched a broadside attack at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday, saying the GOP governor is acting increasingly partisan and will see his popularity fade if he keeps it up. "He was elected to put an end to the bipartisan bickering," Núñez, D-Los Angeles, said. "He cannot continue to bash the Legislature unjustly and at the same time want to work with us to solve problems in the state." "I think it comes at his own peril," Núñez said. "The Democrats that give him high numbers now, approval ratings, when they see that he's really more of...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A bill that would loosen government regulation of the power market while encouraging utilities to build new power plants in California was approved Monday by a key Assembly committee. The bill from Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, has the backing of a number of major utilities including Southern California Edison. Supporters say the proposal is not a return to full deregulation that some say led to the energy crisis of four years ago. The bill does not impose new regulations. Instead, the bill is a "balanced framework," according to Nunez. Opponents, which include some independent power...

<p>In a departure from legislative Democrats' longtime insistence that the state must raise taxes to ease its budget woes, the Assembly's new Democratic leader said Thursday that his agenda does not include tax hikes.</p> <p>The message from voters in the fall recall election, he said, has prompted him and others to rethink their rigidity on the issue.</p>

<p>In a departure from legislative Democrats' longtime insistence that the state must raise taxes to ease its budget woes, the Assembly's new Democratic leader said Thursday that his agenda does not include tax hikes.</p> <p>The message from voters in the fall recall election, he said, has prompted him and others to rethink their rigidity on the issue.</p>