President Arnold Schwarzenegger makes a tough call in The Simpsons Movie.
** CALIFORNIA BUDGET STALL. The California budget stall continues. But it’s a remarkably uneventful event as these events go. The budget, which passed the Assembly on a bipartisan vote, is stalled in the Senate. Though Democrats have big majorities in both houses of the Legislature, California is one of only three states in the country requiring a two-thirds vote to pass a budget.
Earlier in the week, Senate Democratic leader Don Perata called the Republican budget blockaders, who want another $840 million in cuts, “terrorists.” Republican Senator Dave Cox responded by brandishing a picture of Osama bin Laden. Ho-hum.
Even the so-called movement supporting the conservative senators seems quite anemic. Daily newspapers have called the right-wing web site Flash Report the locus of opposition to the Asssembly-passed budget, which Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger supports. But while issuing various declarations throughout the day yesterday, the site garnered only one comment all day long. And that was from a Democrat taking issue with its line.
After weeks, if not months, of prodding, the conservatives revealed what they want. Not that they all actually agree, mind you. They want to cut $300 million in welfare payments to people who aren’t living up to federal workfare standards. An interesting point, since most states insist on those requirements in exchange for the payments. But they also want to cut $120 million in voter-sanctioned drug treatment programs. They want to eliminate 6000 currently vacant state jobs. Are those jobs all waste? Or are they merely currently unfilled? They also want to change state environmental law to prevent climate change from being considered in local planning, a stance which is wildly at odds with the views of their own voters. They want to chop another $100 million out of the just whacked public transit budget. And so forth.
Meanwhile, $800 million worth of transportation projects have been postponed because a state budget hasn’t been passed. There’s something not very professional about all this. The conservatives, while they have some points, have not provided a strong governmental efficiency critique, as witnessed by the slapdash manner in which their cuts finally emerged. Nor are they stimulating a movement on their behalf. In fact, Californians are paying little attention.
** CALIFORNIA’S NON-SECURE VOTING SYSTEM? How hackable is the California vote? That’s the question raised by a new report from California Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s office. The report came out late yesterday, just a week before decisions need to be made abou the February 5th California presidential primary, so I obviously haven’t read it. It seems alarming enough. I’m not a big conspiracy theorist about elections — though Max Cleland’s loss in a Georgia Senate race a few years back seemed odd to me — but computer systems are only as secure as we make them. I must say this is a pretty major thing to dump on a Friday afternoon one week before decision time.
Here’s the report. Perhaps some of you would like to have a go at it.
** A CALIFORNIA PRISON CAP? As expected, two federal judges overseeing California’s decades long-troubled prison system have gotten a third, one of the most liberal judges in the state, to join them on a panel which will determine whether they should set a cap on the state’s prison population or even order the early release of inmates. The judges are getting in on this via the route of declaring that prisoners are not receiving good enough medical care. State Senate Republicans, incidentally, would cut funding in that area.
As you might guess, Schwarzenegger is not happy about this, so he — actually, Attorney General Jerry Brown — is going to court to block the move. Said Brown in his writ: “The state is addressing the issue as evidenced by the landmark prison reform package, AB900, which was signed into law a mere two months ago, in May 2007.”
Schwarzenegger cobbled together a bipartisan $8 billion package to expand the system’s capacity, relieving overcrowding, adopting short-term measures to deal with the crisis by transferring prisoners into other facilities, pushing rehabilitation programs and parole policies to cut the sky-high recidivism rate. Here’s his radio address today on the matter.
** A BIG BALLOT FIGHT OVER CASINO TRIBES? Some rival Indian casino tribes and racetracks and the union that wanted enhanced organizing abilities have banded together to launch referendum drives against four gambling compacts negotiated by the Schwarzenegger Administration and approved by the Legislature. This will be one to watch, as it has all the great aspects of power, greed, and all those wonderful things. But not to write about today.
The rival interests should be able to qualify the referenda for the February California primary ballot. They have 60 days to gather less than 450,000 signatures each, and all the money needed to do so.
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That’s the lamest Schwarzenegger impression I’ve ever heard.
That’s the lamest Schwarzenegger impression I’ve ever heard.
The Flush Report is a fraud. lol
I like the Simpsons clip. The Arnold voice is bad.
Maybe the GOP Senators need Dr. Phil. Their rants sound like a cry for help to me!
“Slapdash.” I like it.
The Schwarz voice in The Simpsons Movie. There’s a whole story behind that.
It’s Harry Shearer. A great friend of Arianna Huffington …
Arianna Huffington! She hates Schwarzenegger.
Indeed.
Worst Arnold Impression Ever.
Actually, my Arnold impression is much better than that.
The Flash Report better get going.
This Arnold impression sucks so you have to be better.
A little.
I heard from a most reliable source that Bowen as of Friday had NOT even read …this more or less left the press around the state called together by her office for a conf call on the report more than a little amazed at her actions…I heard you could hear giggling by her and her staff in the bckground and finally one brave reporter said “Debra we need some news here.” which is interesting that the BEE had it on the front page…I guess the reporter stayed up all night reading it…because Bowen offered up nothing at the press con that anyone could write about..
Frankly, Bowen’s office does not do a good job of communicating with NWN.
With all I’m dealing with, I don’t generally count it a loss. I don’t have a shortage of material.
But this is a very serious deal. And quite inadequately communicated in general.
I am amazed that anyone is still taking shots at Arnold.. first of all he is doing a great job…then there is the extra special stuff on the world stage…does anyone think it is going to get any better than this…a member of the Kennedy family and a famous movie star her in sacto …and he turned out not only to be just as smart as so many said but to have a big heart…we are so lucky here in California …if you go abroad and travel and mention you are from California …people break into big smiles and say his name! We are never going to have it this good again..people should just learn to enjoy it…why the Bee is so nitpicking is beyond me…sacto is a whole different town with places to dine ..new energy etc..since Arnold came to town…i am getting back on my horse TOODLES!
Yes, Arnold is cool but, Westly would have been …tre cool;)
Debra Bowen is fumbling the ball.
They’re all fumbling the ball.
I still think that is the lamest impression ever.
I’ve heard worse.
Well, he certainly hasn’t been perfect, and mistakes are still being made.
But people also have various interests to pursue, or people feel left out or behind, or are just cranky …
Kouchner was in Lebanan yesterday meeting with Nasrallah on a deal to exchange Israeli soldiers captured last summer for Israel’s release of Lebanese prisoners.. now Lebanese press is reporting that one of the Israelis are dead. Kouchner is in Egpt today meeting Arab League members briefing them on meetings held in France and Lebanon yesterday on stabilizing Lebanon political factions…
iraq WON Asian Cup!!!! I am with friends 2 of which worked in Kuwait and went to many games and they said the Saudis would win …the evidently won The title 2 or ttimes …I said nope Iraq will win..and they said on what are you basing that ..I said because Allah is Great and Allah is good…they laughed and I said a prayer for Iraq to win …now I have to pray thatno one blows them up again when they celebrate. .
iraq WON Asian Cup!!!! I am with friends 2 of which worked in Kuwait and went to many games and they said the Saudis would win …the evidently won The title 2 or ttimes …I said nope Iraq will win..and they said on what are you basing that ..I said because Allah is Great and Allah is good…they laughed and I said a prayer for Iraq to win …now I have to pray thatno one blows them up again when they celebrate. .
Um, isn’t soccer a sport that actually incites violence when teams win?
Harry Shearer has been doing voices on the Simpsons since year one – long before he would have made Arianna’s acquaintance. Does anyone here think she Casts that show?
Hey, instant comment before you even know what the story is!
Very useful.
Ah, I hadn’t seen that the elections report was discussed here before posting on the previous thread… Just to repeat my comment where it’s more relevant (with some added detail in response to a comment above):
Key quote: “The red teams demonstrated that the security mechanisms provided for all systems analyzed were inadequate to ensure accuracy and integrity of the election results and of the systems that provide those results.”
I have a couple friends who were on this project, and they worked their hearts out, in the face of stonewalling from the corporations involved and pressure from registrars and opposing legislators. They, and Debra Bowen, deserve congratulations and thanks. My understanding is that yes, she hadn’t had time to read it yet last Friday — the document wasn’t even finished until this past week — she’s been studying it in depth this weekend, and has a hearing scheduled for Monday July 30, beginning at 10am, in the Auditorium of the Secretary of State building at 1500 11th Street.
I’m really ticked at Congress right now for trying to punt addressing these issues back to 2012. I’m fine with using the current systems for the primary, but we must, MUST get rid of closed-source electronic voting by the general of 2008, or no matter WHO wins, there will be a conflagration over whether machines somewhere were potentially hackable.
On an unrelated topic — is that supposed to be Pres. Arnold, or Pres. Rainier Luftwaffe Wolfcastle?
I didn’t know that “The Simpsons” are still funny.
I have no idea, Auros, what that Arnold impersonation is supposed to be.
If I didn’t ID it on the caption, I doubt most people would get that it’s supposed to Schwarz.
Whatever, it’s bad.
What is the story with the bad impersonation of Schwarzeneger?
Patience.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainier_Wolfcastle
Ah.