** IOWA POLL: EDWARDS AND OBAMA LEAD DEMOCRATS. THREE-WAY TIE AMONG REPUBLICANS. In a new Strategic Vision poll for the first-in-the-nation Iowa presidential caucus, John Edwards is in a strong first and Barack Obama a strong second among Democrats, while the Republicans are bunched in a three-way tie between John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Mitt Romney.
** PAT BROWN AWARDS. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez will each receive the Governor Pat Brown Award from the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance tomorrow in Sacramento for their leadership roles on climate change.
** RECORD LOW RATING FOR BUSH. President George W. Bush is down to a 31% record low approval rating in this American Research Group national poll. His disapproval rating is 64%.
** RICHARDSON IN IOWA. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, the former UN ambassador, energy secretary, and House intelligence subcommittee chairman, will pick up the pace of his Iowa campaign in the wake of multiple polls showing him moving up into a notable fourth place in the Democratic presidential race there. He will also increase the tempo of his much praised TV advertising campaign there, which he has just begun.
** HILLARY ON PRE-SCHOOL AND OUTSOURCING. I was on a conference call this morning with Senator Hillary Clinton, who declared the expansion of preschool one of her top priorities. How would she fund it? Through the elimination of “500 outsourcing contracts.”
“I have done a careful analysis of everything this administration has outsourced,” said the former first lady. Outside contracting, she said “has not been proven to save government money.” There are “not the usual safeguards” with outsourcing, and there are “many reasons to go after the outsourcing epidemic.”
I asked her to tell me what was wrong with the outsourcing contracts she would sacrifice to fund expanded preschool programs.
They are “throughout government,” said the Democratic presidential frontrunner. “There may well be better kinds of ways” to do those tasks. “I am certain we will find those ways to save money.”
** HILLARY CLINTON. I was just on a conference call with Senator Hillary Clinton. And, as is not infrequently the case these days, with information cascading from around the globe, pressed the “star 1″ combination to ask a question without having any idea of what I was about to ask the Democratic presidential frontrunner. Yet, we came up with something interesting. Nonetheless, it would not be inaccurate to say that I am looking forward to Memorial Day weekend.
** OBSCENITY, OR INSANITY? Pakistan’s female minister of tourism has resigned following criticism of her for “obscenity.” Was she in an illicit sexual relationship? Did she appear in an explicit adult film? Er, no. As incredibly shocking, as it were, as such acts might be, she is actually guilty of something far worse. She learned how to parachute jump in France. After completing a successful jump, she was photographed hugging her instructor. This, according to a leading Islamic fundamentalist cleric, was obscene.
** JERRY BROWN AND CALIFORNIA PREPARE TO SUE BUSH ADMINISTRATION. The Bush Administration is “acting in collusion with the auto and oil industries,” said California Attorney General and former Governor Jerry Brown. The two-time runner-up for the Democratic presidential nomination says California is preparing to sue the federal government if it blocks the state’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas-causing emissions from motor vehicles. Sources around Arnold Schwarzenegger confirm this.
Addressing a U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hearing this morning in Washington, Brown said federal law allows California to set vehicle emission standards tougher than federal regulations, and then allows other states to adopt the California standard.
“The California legislature passed a greenhouse law in 2002 requiring automakers to reduce vehicle global warming emissions 30 percent by 2016,” Brown explained. “There is no doubt that automobile manufacturers can meet that goal, and since the federal government does not want to seek such a reduction California intends to move forward.” Brown said that 11 other states — Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington — have since adopted the California standard.
“Together we represent one-third of the population of the United States, and the people of our 12 states want to act now to combat global warming. We are not willing to wait while President Bush offers only rhetoric, excuses and delays. Suing the federal government is not our first choice, but we will have no choice if our legitimate efforts to protect our planet are blocked because of partisan political games in Washington.”
Brown noted that inCalifornia and the other states, the fight against the greenhouse effect is a bipartisan effort.
“The California law was passed by a Democratic legislature and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican,” the former governor noted. “Governor Schwarzenegger supports our plans to sue EPA if we are not allowed to implement the California law. Protecting our planet is not a partisan issue, and the states now want to do what we can in the absence of federal action, and the EPA has no right to deny us the ability to move forward.”
Brown said the proposed California standards are the most comprehensive effort to combat global warming in U.S. history. The attorney general noted that California filed its request for an EPA waiver, which in the past has always been routinely granted, in December 2005. Under the Clean Air Act, California can adopt stricter standards by requesting a waiver from the US Environmental Protection Agency. Such requests have been approved more than 50 times in the past. Approval of California’s waiver means the other states would get approval automatically.
** BRITS SAY EX-KGB OFFICER MURDERED PUTIN CRITIC LITVINENKO. British prosecutors say that ex-KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi is responsible for the spectacular London assassination of Alexander Litvinenko, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, by polonium poisoning. Prime Minister Tony Blair’s office says it expects Russia to comply with an extradition request. But, of course, that won’t happen. These developments are distressing for admirers of Russia. But not surprising.
** GIULIANI OPPOSES CURRENT IMMIGRATION BILL. The former New York mayor and leading Republican presidential candidate opposes the “present version” of the immigration bill. Giuliani says he wants a database that will let the federal government “know everybody who is in the United States, who comes here from a foreign country.”
“If you make that your goal,” he says, “then everything follows from that or leads to that. There should be a tamper proof ID card, a biometric ID card that everyone who comes here from a foreign country should have. In order to make sure you identify everyone, in order to be secure.”
Giuliani, an advocate of immigrants rights in the past, holds out some hope for another version of the bill, which might emerge through further debate in Congress. But the reality is that momentum on the issue is stalled, and the planned for vote prior to Memorial Day is now delayed till sometime in June.
** Track global and national energy prices in near real time via Bloomberg. Crude oil prices are up around $66 per barrel.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum.
Read 
| Comments (0) |
Re the subway: does Henry Waxman know realize the errors of his ways? Or does it get “Methaned” again?
Mr. Bradley”I’m afraid that Mayor Villaraigosa has much worse publicity coming than this….”
The PERSONAL stuff will not wash…I mean even my grandmother went to her death praising and loving Pres. Kennedy AFTER she had learned that he had a mistress who asserted he requested she get an abortion and shared he her with a mafia don…that he possibly had a mistress that was working for the East Germans…had more than one “inconvenient woman” in his life that met a convenient death all during his married years…and that all these women were more or less flauted in his beautiful wife’s face …..and those are the stories that have are known to the public…
In any event it is interesting that you say this…could it be that THE LA WEEKLY is leading the charge against the Mayor? If yes …is this going to “opinion” journalism or real hardnosed investigative journalism unveiling some terrible political corruption via verifiable facts?…Somehow and for some reason, I think it is NOT going to be the latter….
Barbara, you need to develop some perspective on this.
One of the reasons I haven’t gotten around to writing about the New Yorker story is that it’s not all that shocking or tough. So I keep forgetting about it.
Antonio has had a remarkably soft press. That can’t continue.
All politicians get tougher stories than this.
Mr. Bradley:that it’s not all that shocking or tough
I agree…if you bother to read what I said above I said the writer comes off from worse than him …
I am not worried about Antonio politically…I shall start praying that he stays healthy and that he and his wife find peace and happiness either together or a part…if they ever part, I think I will have one of his BIG supporters who admires him a great deal and who is a most noble and respected man in the legal and entertainment world… slip him my phone number! so Mr. Bradley, I know you just hate to write about all these personal stories …but do keep us posted if the Mayor and his wife break up!…Toodles
Richard, legislation is working thru Congress to undo the Waxman methane prohibition. Even the Yaroslavsky local funding ban for tunnels may eventually be undone. But these things take time. MTA is just starting the anlternative analysis process (the first step) that could result in the subway project going forward.
http://www.socata.net/gm/archives/00000024.shtml
Barbara, I really don’t think the writer — who is very top notch — comes off badly at all.
She makes legitimate points that Villaraigosa is going to have to address.
He’s a politician. He is not perfect.
Dana, what is the Waxman methane prohibition?
well I am sure bruck will be happy to have yr endorsement. if this opinion piece along with by yr own admission her much “nastier” piece on Arnold makes her a “top notch” journalist…then we see the job of a journalist differently….my dad was top notch…i know top notch ..further.i hardly think antonio who is a seasoned politician is afraid of answering questions …
I hope you’re not going to kvetch about every critical story on Villaraigosa.
Connie Bruck doesn’t need my endorsement.
She’s one of the top journalists in the country, as you know very well.
interesting …top notch…too top in the country….well let us not forget to mention how brave she is too!…i mean he may have “popcorn for brains” but as she pointed out he is sooooo “menacing”!!!!!!!
Seriously, you’re going to get really unhappy if you’re this upset over this particular story.
I was never upset somewhat dismayed..but hardley upset…”upset” I save for Lebanon where my friends are in serious danger…Look, this article was for a national audience, which is why I think it was valid to take a second look at it and discuss its merits….my first reaction was it was slanted….lots of journalists write slanted stuff ..no big deal…and I like Antonio very much…warts and all…so I thought perhaps that I had been unfair to it, which is why I went back to read it a second time after I read Hayden’s complaints…btw, is this the first time nor will it be the last time that he receives less than flattering coverage….the Daily News piece that ran several months ago that more or less accused him of be a chronic liar & fabricator about his childhood was pretty rough going …and then there is this hideous blog that Tommy Boy mentioned here once that I checked out only to find that it not only runs mean and ugly things about him on a DAILY basis but also finds it acceptable to attack and make fun of his wife and children….
…I think it was very disappointing article, not because it was not flattering or fawning over him …which I as a serious reader do not expect nor would I have taken that anymore seriously than I can this article…But I would assume after several thousand words and 11 or so pages I would have some understanding of what has made him into the very successful politician he is today…You don’t after reading this …I would think also in an article of that length that she could have found someone aside from Sheila to say something other than he was “threatening” “disloyal” “menacing” “vain” etc…A friend on the East Coast who is an accomplished writer (not one of the TOP IN THE COUNTRY as you refer to Ms Bruck as ) pointed out to me that she devotes a sentence to the fact that he is talked about as a vice-president candidate but provides no follow up or insight as to why a Mayor of LA of some two years would even seriously be considered as a candidate for VP …If you read the LA Times, as I do, this was very much of a rehash of their stories on the school reform effort and the tussle with Eli…the personal stuff (health troubles, marriage woes, affairs etc) is also not new and referenced constantly on that blog by its author or some poster …she, being “one of the best writers in the country” gratefully was less crude than the blog posters when writing about it!…He is far from perfect…most of the big guys are … look at your Arnold…but, like I said I am not worried about him politically, God willing, he is only in his early fifties and will be with us for the long run … and I really mean it when I say that I will start adding him in my prayers for good health because I think on many issues that I care about… poverty, race relations, climate change, women and children issues, … he can make a major contribution… so I want him healthy and with us for sometime to come…
Well, I’m glad you’re not concerned.
concerned.about pretentious slanted cocktail party fluff trying to pass as serious journalism……no…not really…. I am going on holiday ….then abroad…toodles…
The writer has several more National Magazine Awards than either of us.
now mr. bradley there is no reason for me to have such an awrd because I am not a jornalist..but you deserve one…why don’t you take a look at that “nasty” piece that she wrote about arnold…and you can just wriite one nastier and then you can get one of those awards too! I have to meet plane…so toodles and take care…