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LOS ANGELES - California voters have launched a wave of public works projects unseen in the Golden State in decades, and in doing so may have handed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a victory that will define him for his second term and beyond. The approval Tuesday of every bond initiative Schwarzenegger had asked for _ four propositions totaling $37.3 billion _ sets the stage for the building of roads, schools, housing and flood-control projects at a level that could dwarf the state's 1960s building boom that became Gov. Pat Brown's legacy. Passage of the bonds _ the biggest in the nation's...

So, without any further words, here is the Voter Guide:BALLOT MEASURES NOVEMBER 2006 - SUMMARYThe FR and Bill Leonard recommend: Proposition 1A = YESProposition 1B = NOProposition 1C = NOProposition 1D = NOProposition 1E = NOProposition 83 = YESProposition 84 = NOProposition 85 = YESProposition 86 = NOProposition 87 = NOProposition 88 = NOProposition 89 = NOProposition 90 = YES

Three of the four infrastructure bond measures placed on the ballot amid bipartisan fanfare in the spring have surged to big leads in the Field Poll, and the director of the survey said Friday that the entire $37.3 billion package appears headed toward an Election Day victory. "If I were a gambling person, I'd put my money on the yes side here," survey director Mark DiCamillo said. Proposition 1B, the $19.9 billion transportation bond, was leading the pack, with 56 percent of likely voters favoring the measure and 28 percent opposed. The $10.4 billion education measure, Proposition 1D, came in...

OAKLAND — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appreciates the Republican lieutenant governor nominee's opinion that the infrastructure bonds on next week's ballot are a mistake but believes he's "totally wrong." "If you went with his way of thinking, you would never rebuild California," the governor said Thursday of state Sen. Tom McClintock as he visited the Port of Oakland to stump for the $37 billion bond package. With California's population continuing to swell, "we can't continue waiting; we have to build now," Schwarzenegger said, estimating the state's economy is only "70 percent living up to our potential" because it can't move goods...

OAKLAND — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appreciates the Republican lieutenant governor nominee's opinion that the infrastructure bonds on next week's ballot are a mistake but believes he's "totally wrong." "If you went with his way of thinking, you would never rebuild California," the governor said Thursday of state Sen. Tom McClintock as he visited the Port of Oakland to stump for the $37 billion bond package. With California's population continuing to swell, "we can't continue waiting; we have to build now," Schwarzenegger said, estimating the state's economy is only "70 percent living up to our potential" because it can't move goods...

SACRAMENTO – A ballot packed with proposals for record state borrowing, five bonds totaling $43 billion, poses a big question for voters on Tuesday: How much debt can the state afford? When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed a public-works bond package in January to rebuild California's neglected infrastructure, he wanted to give voters some assurance that the state would not plunge too deeply into debt. “I will propose that the Legislature adopt a debt ceiling that maintains our debt at a prudent level, regardless of the amount of debt authorized,” Schwarzenegger said in his State of the State address. But in...

$7,300. That is approximately what each household in California will be asked to cough up to pay for the $42.6 billion bond package on the ballot November 7th, should it pass. While there is a clear consensus that our infrastructure is in desperate need of repair and expansion there is also a growing cynicism that saddling future generations with $84 billion in bond payments over the next 30 years represents more of the same fiscal irresponsibility we have come to expect from Sacramento. Despite tens of millions of dollars in campaign spending to support these measures, a hearty array of...

Early this spring, after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had unveiled his proposal for a $68 billion state spending spree on roads, schools and prisons, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez visited Schwarzenegger in the governor's Capitol office with a counter-proposal. The list of projects was far different than what Schwarzenegger had proposed -- Democrats had taken out prison projects, increased spending on community colleges and added funding for public transportation -- and it carried a much smaller price tag. Schwarzenegger looked over the list for a few minutes and then set it down. I can live with this, he told Núñez. But can...

Standing on a wind-swept hill overlooking the ocean in San Pedro, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stumped Wednesday on behalf of a slate of statewide ballot propositions aimed at cleaning up the coastline, protecting California's supply of drinking water and rebuilding levees and highways to serve a growing population. "We still have a long way to go so that further generations can enjoy all the incredible landscape we have here in our beautiful state," Schwarzenegger told members of the media and others who gathered for the outdoor news conference. The governor, speaking near the Korean Friendship Bell at Angels Gate Park, was...

There are very few absolutes in politics, but let's be clear about this November's election - a vote for any of the proposed bonds, Propositions 1B - 1E and Prop 84, is a vote for the same type of fiscal recklessness that led to the recall of Governor Gray Davis in 2003. Think about it. Since 2003, tax revenues have exploded in California - up $20 billion annually. The Governor's Workers' Compensation reforms are an underappreciated reason for this increase and the economic activity associated with this increase. Unfortunately, the Legislature, Democrats and some Republicans, and the Governor, have spent...

A lot of comments have been directed at this country’s “greatest generation,” those who suffered the Great Depression, fought World War II, and then rebuilt this country from the ruins of those catastrophic events. I remember, as my generation attended college and entered the workforce, a lot of debate among my peers as to what we would do when we take over. We all thought we would “do it right,” make this country a better place to work, live and raise a family. I think I can say, having inherited a sizable legacy from the “Greatest Generation,” the baby boomers...

SAN FRANCISCO — Five months ago, state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata had called November's infrastructure bond package "a textbook example of bipartisan cooperation." Perata, D-Oakland, and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that day on the Oakland International Airport tarmac. Perata said lawmakers "weren't sent to Sacramento to be stalking horses for anybody running for office," and Nunez said, "Don't underestimate the role that the governor played." But the governor's name barely was mentioned Friday as prominent Democrats, union members and others rallied for the bond package at Pier 30, just south...

Voters appear to be skeptical about spending more than $37 billion on infrastructure projects, and it may take a big push by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger if the four bond measures on the November ballot are going to pass. Polls show that it may be the sheer size of the bonds -- which are to pay for transportation, housing, education and water projects -- that concerns voters. Television commercials in support of the measures are expected to begin airing today, said Paul Hefner, a spokesman for the bond campaign. "As much as people would like to see improvements in transportation and...

One of the reasons why I think that everyone reading the Flashreport should help Tom McClintock in his campaign for Liuetenant Governor of California is McClintock's strong, decisive leadership on policy issues both in the legislature, and before Californians on the ballot. Back in early August, Senator McClintock took positions on every matter on the November election and listed all of his positions (along with explanations for them) on his campaign website. I took the opportunity to take a look at the website of Tom McClintock's opponent, John Garamendi, to see where he stands on the statewide ballot measures --...

Tom McClintock visited our editorial board and delivered a devastating analysis of the infrastructure bonds that changed my vote on 1B. (I was already opposed to 1C and 1D.) He noted that historically bonds were used to pay for major projects that last for at least a generation, under the theory that if it takes 30 years to pay off, the people here in 30 years should still be benefiting from it. He said that argument was crucial to rationalizing passing bonds, since, with interest costs, they end up costing $2 for every $1 spent. But McClintock said the highway-transit...

We will devote quite a bit of space in the FlashReport in the coming weeks to articulating why the five "big bonds" measures on the November ballot -- Propositions 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E and 84 -- should all be rejected by California voters. You've heard me make the case over and over if you are a regular reader, but if you are new to this site, I can sum up the main over-arching reasons to reject all of this borrowing in just a few paragraphs: For decades, the liberals who control the state legislature, along with a string of Governors...

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic state Senate Majority Leader Don Perata were friends and allies again Wednesday, a day after a political dispute threatened to torpedo a bipartisan effort to pass $37 billion in state infrastructure bonds. Perata and Schwarzenegger each spoke at a $50,000-a-head breakfast fundraiser at the Palo Alto Hills Country Club, then strolled out to the patio by the golf course to ask reporters what all the fuss was about. "There's been some noise recently, last day or so, that Republicans and Democrats, specifically the governor and the legislative leadership, are not going to be campaigning...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off the bipartisan, $37 billion state-rebuild bond campaign Tuesday absent two of his biggest Democratic co-stars at most stops -- thanks in part to President Bush's visit to California. Those in the know said problems between the governor and Democrats Don Perata and Fabian Núñez surfaced right about the time Bush decided to campaign for two House Republicans in California, the same day as the bond kickoff. According to one Democratic operative close to the negotiations between the two sides, it soon became apparent to the Dems that the governor would be using his appearances with...

As Phil Angelides' chances of becoming California's next governor sink slowly in the west, the wonk talk is slowly turning to the possible effects of his electoral weakness on the down-ballot races. The speculation isn't so much about whether moderate Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger's coattails are long enough to drag an unlikely conservative such as Tom McClintock in as lieutenant governor . . . But the talk is less about the governor's strength than about Angelides' negative coattails: Is he so weak that many Democratic voters won't turn out at all? And if that happens, could Schwarzenegger's relative strength ironically weaken...

CBS) SHERMAN OAKS Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger urged Tuesday voters to support a $37.3 billion plan on the November ballot to improve California's roads, schools and levees. The governor appeared at the Sherman Oaks Galleria to build support for Propositions 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E, which together represent a multibillion-dollar plan to overhaul the state's infrastructure. "California has always been an economic, environmental and technological leader, and this November we have the historic opportunity to make sure we continue this trend by building the roads, schools, levees and housing of the future," Schwarzenegger said. Proposition 1A would protect Proposition 42...