Free Republic

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's top education advisor said the administration is prepared to consider raising taxes as part of a long-term solution to the problems plaguing California schools. The statement by California Education Secretary Alan Bersin came in a Dec. 1 speech to the California School Boards Assn. It was posted on the group's website Friday. His comments mark the first time any top administration official has acknowledged that new taxes could be needed to restore the quality of state services. "No one can look at the history of California education over the last generation and not notice we...

SACRAMENTO - A microcosm for what went wrong for Gov. Schwarzenegger in this month's special election can be found in part of East Highlands. The San Bernardino County area supported the recall of former Gov. Gray Davis. More than half of its registered voters are Republicans, like Schwarzenegger. Yet 53 percent of voters there opposed the centerpiece of Schwarzenegger's "year of reform" agenda: Prop. 76. They also opposed another Schwarzenegger-backed measure, Prop. 77, the redistricting initiative. Across the region, places where voters backed the 2003 recall and the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger swung against the governor Nov. 8 and opposed...

Dear Governor: November 9, 2005 06:19 AM EST There is no such thing as a fusion candidate, no such thing as a bipartisan campaign or a non-partisan issue, and come election night, there are just two parties, one at the GOP HQ and one at the Dem HQ. There's a winners' party and a losers' party. Last night you were speaking to the losers' party. I didn't go. Why bother? The polls had shown for a few days that only Prop 75 had a chance (the measure to stop public employee unions from deducting political dues from their members' paychecks...

TODAY, Californians are heading to the polls to vote on several major propositions that shall dramatically affect both the political and economic future of our state. We are following the activity and will report the results. California Propositions 2.8% of precincts reporting as of Nov 08 08:13 PM PST Results: http://www.sfgate.com/election/

CA Propositions 75, 76, 77 Defeated; Propositions 73, 74 Could Go Either Way: On the Eve of a Special Election, California voters defeat Propositions 75, 76 and 77, but divide on Propositions 73 and 74, according to a final SurveyUSA tracking poll. Support for Propositions 73, 74, 75, and 77 continues to erode. (Proposition 76 is addressed separately in the next box.) Proposition 73, on parental notification for abortions on minors, led by 11 points 1 week ago, and leads today by 4 points. It may hang-on and win, but if so, by the narrowest of margins. Extending the trend...

"On Church and State", by Lores Rizkalla, Freeper 'JustaWoman' Billy Graham said that "bad politicians are elected by good people who don't vote." I think the same is true of "bad propositions" passing because good people decide to stay home on election day. This Tuesday, California (among many other states) has a special election. Statistics say that an average of 5% of registered voters get out to vote in an off-year election. What's worse is the truth so beautifully, yet sadly, written by William Butler Yeats': "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." Where...

SACRAMENTO - The state employees' union can collect extra money to fight two ballot measures from workers who had objected to having their dues used for political purposes, a federal judge ruled Friday. Eight state employees had sued to stop the Service Employees International Union from collecting an additional two-tenths of 1 percent of their salaries - and from the salaries of all 28,000 nonunion workers - to fight two initiatives pushed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Morrison C. England Jr. issued a temporary restraining order that prevented the state controller from turning over the...

The John Ziegler Show on KFI has revealed the identify of the questioners of last night's state-wide broadcast forum on NBC and Telemundo. The forum included Arnold, Barbar Kerr (teacher's union) and Fabian Nunez (Dem legislator). Two of the questioners for Arnold are members Democrat central committees and one is a Democrat Congressional candidate! This forum allegedly included an independently selected balanced audience.

NO side leads YES side on all four of the propositions backed by Governor Schwarzenegger.

The latest ad from Governor Schwarzenegger's campaign has a clear message: if you're opposed to a tax increase, vote yes on Proposition 76. But when you examine the way Prop 76 would impact the state budget process, you're likely to conclude that the ad is a pretty big stretch. The ad features three "average" people sarcastically asking for a tax increase, higher state spending, and modifications to the property tax initiative Proposition 13. "This is how Sacramento thinks we think," says the narrator. The ad ends with a plea to "Say yes to 76, say no to a tax increase...

The second wave of the Stanford University/Hoover Institution/Knowledge Networks (S/H/KN) internet poll conducted during the final week of October shows two of the four propositions supported by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with comfortable leads, one narrowly ahead, and one trailing badly. The latest poll results show Proposition 74 (teacher tenure) slightly ahead, 53-47, but with a margin that is within the sampling error of the poll. The two most controversial propositions appear to be heading in opposite directions. Proposition 75 (public employee union dues) has a comfortable lead, 64-36, but Proposition 76 (state budget process) trails by double digits, 45-55. Finally,...

SACRAMENTO ---- California's chronic spending imbalance has generated multibillion dollar deficits each of the last four years and is set to create another $6 billion shortfall in the next fiscal year. A state government spending beyond its means was one of the main reasons for the recall effort against former Gov. Gray Davis, the 2003 special election that catapulted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger into the governor's seat. Schwarzenegger's solution for taming the perpetual budget deficits is a 6,000-word ballot measure that would completely overhaul how the state spends money and would give the governor authority to make midyear cuts if spending...

SACRAMENTO - As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger struggles to make his case for reform measures on the Nov. 8 special-election ballot, he and his opponents have stepped up their battle for the state's Latino voters. The governor taped a town-hall forum on Spanish-language Univision that aired statewide over the weekend, even as opponents launched their first Spanish-language TV ads featuring Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attacking the governor's proposals. The high-profile events are just the latest campaign efforts aimed at courting the 2 million Latinos registered to vote in California, accounting for 14 percent of the statewide electorate. "We've been on the air...

A constitutional amendment setting limits on state spending and school funding When the dot-com boom was upon us, the state was taking in huge amounts of income tax from capital gains on stock options. When the dot-com bust hit, the spending had been locked into permanent formulas. This fundamental problem; one-time money going into permanent spending formulas; is at the heart of Proposition 76, "Live within our means." Because we haven't been living within our means, we've spent more than we had for each of the last six years; we've tapped out our state credit card, raided funds intended for...

For too many years, the California Legislature has been treating the public treasury with about as much consideration as a shopaholic treats a Visa card with no credit limit. Like all addicts, state lawmakers protest that they can stop spending any time they want. Really. But it's clear they can't. Otherwise, their bad habits wouldn't have continued when state revenue was shrinking. And why should they? There were virtually no consequences to their irresponsible actions other than getting re-elected. Proposition 76, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Live Within Our Means" act, is the addiction intervention the state desperately needs before it bottoms...

A Public Policy Institute of California polls shows none of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's initiatives on the Nov. 8 special election ballot with majority support. The poll also found voters also dissatisfied with the job performance of the governor, the state Legislature and President Bush. All results are from the sampling of likely voters. _ Proposition 73, the parental notification initiative, had support of 42 percent of likely voters but was opposed by 48 percent. _ Proposition 74, the teacher tenure initiative, was supported by 46 percent of likely voters and opposed by 48 percent. _ Proposition 75, the union dues...

Most political analysts would agree: The single most politically significant measure on the Special Election Ballot is Proposition 75, dubbed “Paycheck Protection” by its proponents. Proposition 77, the Redistricting Reform measure, is also a major reform. But without a change in the campaign funding paradigm (especially at the state legislative level), fair districts will not necessarily be competitive districts--Republicans are significantly outspent by the majority party. No, it is the major loss of political resources by public employee unions that would rock the foundations of the status-quo in Sacramento. Most political insiders, let alone members of the public, are unaware...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warned Wednesday that legislators could push California into a nightmarish era of higher taxes and runaway spending unless voters endorse his proposal to place tighter controls on the state budget. In a staged poolside appearance at a private home, the Republican governor told an invitation-only audience that Proposition 76 would give him the tools to fend off a Legislature eager to dig deeper into taxpayers' pockets. He also suggested that without greater budget discipline, the state might be unable to meet the mounting demands for everything from electric power to health care to highways. "They have come...

ARCADIA, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warned Wednesday that legislators could push California into a nightmarish era of higher taxes and runaway spending unless voters endorse his proposal to place tighter controls on the state budget. In a staged poolside appearance at a private home, the Republican governor told an invitation-only audience that Proposition 76 would give him the tools to fend off a Legislature eager to dig deeper into taxpayers' pockets. He also suggested that without greater budget discipline, the state might be unable to meet the mounting demands for everything from electric power to health care to highways....

WALNUT CREEK – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last night insisted his spending-control initiative on the Nov. 8 ballot is not a gubernatorial power grab that would produce draconian budget cuts, as opponents contend, and that it could actually lead to a tax increase. Struggling to gain traction for his four-part ballot agenda with two weeks to go until the special election, Schwarzenegger fielded questions for the first time during the campaign from voters not selected by his campaign. He and two of the most persistent critics of his agenda made separate appearances during a 90-minute forum. His opponents – state Senate...