President Barack Obama is urging states to get their education policies in line with his administration’s reform priorities. And he has an economic incentive for them to do so: $5 billion in grants known as “Race to the Top.” California is moving forward on this.
** QUICK HITS. AARP is coming out for the national health care bill put together by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. … To no one’s surprise, ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina announced today that she’s running for the US Senate. She is tied in the Republican primary with far right Orange Conty Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, and trails Senator Barbara Boxer by a wide margin. … Look for this Cali GOP race to replicate the far right vs. moderate dynamic of that upstate New York Congressional seat that fell to the Democrats last night. … Speaker Nancy Pelosi will hold a ceremonial swearing-in for Congressman-elect John Garamendi tomorrow afternoon on the House floor to fill the 10th district seat of California left open when Ellen Tauscher resigned to become the Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs. … That will vacate the lieutenant governorship. I’ not sure who Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will appoint.
** CALIFORNIA’S BIG WATER DEAL. After months of negotiation between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic and Republican legislative leaders, both houses of the Legislature late last night and early this morning passed a massive package of five bills intended to deal with the state’s chronic water crisis and the future impact of climate change.
The package went from $9.9 billion in bonds to $11.1 billion this week as liberal legislators added more money for water recycling and conservation programs. Can California afford it?
“This is without any doubt the most comprehensive water infrastructure package that has passed here,” Schwarzenegger said.
Well, since the 1960s, that is, in the days of the late Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown.
The plan provides funding for new dams, groundwater cleanup, conservation and habitat restoration. It gives Schwarzenegger comprehensive tools to begin restoring the crucial Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and create a stable water supply for cities in Southern California and farmers in the Central Valley.
Lawmakers have wrangled for years over how to upgrade the water system. The problems became more acute this year when farmers faced a third dry year with less snowfall and new pumping restrictions to protect a delta fish.
Democrats and Republicans spent months hashing out a strategy intended to change how water is used in California and how to better manage the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The water plan includes creation of a seven-member governing council to oversee the delta that funnels fresh water from Northern to Southern California, where most of the state’s population lives. The maze of earthen levees is susceptible to earthquakes that could halt pumping for months. Federal courts and agencies have ordered reductions in pumping to protect the delta’s collapsing ecosystem.
Legislators want to require California cities to use 20 percent less water by 2020, although large urban areas such as Los Angeles and San Francisco would not have to meet such a high threshold because per-capita water use is lower than other parts of the state.
In his statement issued at 6 AM, which you can read below, Schwarzenegger singled out state Senate President Darrell Steinberg, a prominent Obama backer, for his leading role in making it happen.
President Barack Obama and European leaders speak after a meeting yesterday at the White House where they discussed Afghanistan, climate change, the global economy and other topics of mutual interest.
** OBAMA’S OFF TO A VERY GOOD START. One year ago, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. Is his presidency delivering on the promise of his candidacy? Yes. I think he’s off to a very good start. But I’m not doing handstands.
I keep Obama’s book containing his campaign program, Change We Can Believe In, on my desk. Is Obama doing what he said he would do? Yes, mostly.
It’s important to be clear about something. Obama is not a left-wing politician; he’s a center/left politician. That’s clear when you examine what he ran on last year. He ran on a center/left platform, not a left-wing platform.
Many on the left and the right, either through misunderstanding or pursuit of their own agendas, get this wrong. Each wing imagines (or pretends to imagine) that Obama is a lefty, and alternately prods and assails him on that false basis.
But let’s not clear space on Mount Rushmore just yet. …
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Wisconsin today.
Obama has received his intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He has also participated in a credentialing ceremony for foreign ambassadors in the Oval Office.
At 8:15 AM Pacific, Obama departs the White House on Marine One en route to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 8:30 AM Pacific, Obama departs Andrews Air Force Base on Air Force One en route to Madison, Wisconsin.
At 10:30 AM Pacific, Obama arrives in Madison, Wisconsin.
At 11 AM Pacific, Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan meet with students at Wright Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin.
At 11:30 AM Pacific, he delivers remarks on strengthening America’s education system at Wright Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin.
At 12:55 PM Pacific, Obama departs Madison, Wisconsin.
At 2:40 PM Pacific, he arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Marine One.
At 2:55 PM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
At 4:15 PM Pacific, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama host an event celebrating classical music in the East Room.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
Iran, which seemed, after a typical stalling tactic, to accept the nuclear deal it negotiated the week before last in Vienna, albeit with big caveats, then said no to it. Now it says it wants to negotiate “details.”
Obama continues deliberations on Afghanistan, where President Hamid Karzai is officially re-elected with the weekend election now canceled.
Republican Chris Christie, a former corruption-busting prosecutor, unseated the deep-pocketed but very unpopular Governor Jon Corzine on Tuesday in a bruising contest that focused on New Jersey’s ailing economy.
Things did not go well yesterday for Obama in elections in New Jersey and Virginia, where both Democratic candidates lost.
Virginia was long expected.
But Obama tried to help Governor Jon Corzine pull things out over the weekend in New Jersey, where the former Wall Street mogul had become quite unpopular. It didn’t happen.
Obama has good job approval ratings in both states, so his coattails, at least for a weak candidate (Virginia) and an unpopular candidate (New Jersey) proved non-existent.
Things went better in Congressional special elections.
In California, Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi easily won a Bay Area seat, as expected.
In upstate New York, the Democrats picked off a seat long held by Republicans, taking advantage of the bitter fight between right-wingers and moderates.
Vice President Joe Biden went head to head on the day before the election with Sarah Palin again, and helped win the seat.
Obama also monitored the New York city race in which independent Mayor Michael Bloomberg narrowly defeated the Democrat, despite record-setting spending (Obama was effectively neutral in that race), and the Maine initiative to repeal that state’s gay marriage law, which did pass.
NOTE: SCHWARZENEGGER WATER WEBCAST NOW AT 11 AM.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger lengthy private talks in and around the Capitol paid off early this morning with the passage of a big California water deal.
Schwarzenegger hailed the legislative passage early today:
“Water is the lifeblood of everything we do in California. Without clean, reliable water, we cannot build, we cannot farm, we cannot grow and we cannot prosper. That is why I am so proud that the legislature, Democrats and Republicans, came together and tackled one of the most complicated issues in our state’s history. This comprehensive water package is an historic achievement.
“I particularly want to applaud the leadership of Senate President Darrell Steinberg. He has been a tireless leader, a relentless advocate for the environment and a true statesman.”
Schwarzenegger will hold a press conference to discuss the legislature’s passage of the package to reform and rebuild California’s water system today in the Capitol at 10 AM.
This afternoon, he tours Electric Vehicles International and announces the opening of their new worldwide headquarters and manufacturing facility in Stockton.
That event is at 4 PM.
Both events will be webcast live on www.gov.ca.gov.
** IT’S NOVEMBER 22, 1963 ON MAD MEN. “Everything’s going to be okay.” — Don Draper
No, Don. It won’t. It really won’t. …
** AFGHANISTAN, AGAIN: THE THICKET OBAMA’S NOT GETTING OUT OF. … From my October 29th column.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: “THE GYPSY AND THE HOBO.” … From my October 26th review.
** CHINATOWN’S 35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION AND THE POLANSKI SCANDAL. … From my October 23rd essay.
** OBAMA IN THE THICKET OF “AFGHANIRANISTAN.” … From my October 21st column.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: “THE COLOR BLUE.” … From my October 19th review.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: “WEE SMALL HOURS.” … From my October 12th review.
** WHY OBAMA DOESN’T DESERVE THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE, OR THE OLYMPICS RAP. … From my October 9th column.
** ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, JERRY BROWN, BILL CLINTON AND THAT CRAZY CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP. … From my October 8th essay.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: “SOUVENIR.” … From my October 5th review.
** IRANIAN CRISIS: PROGRESS, PROBLEMS. … From my October 2nd column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation. You can listen to my recent video webchat with Schwarzenegger here.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading around $81 per barrel.
This is up about $47 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
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| Comments (40) |
The President looks good with the Euro leaders.
Corzine really bombed out as Governor.
Hey, they did pass the water bill!
Barack’s doing great on that.
Jonas Blane says:
November 4, 2009 at 8:55 am
The President looks good with the Euro leaders.
He’s a stiff, like Deeds in Virginia. Nobody’d vote for him if he wasn’t so rich.
Jonas Blane says:
November 4, 2009 at 8:58 am
Corzine really bombed out as Governor.
Anybody know what’s in the water deal?
And I’m more surprised than when USC lost back-to-back games in Oregon.
The losses yesterday remind me of Arnold’s supposed coattails in 2004. Before the election, Republicans said he would win seats for them — he didn’t. Afterwards, Democrats said it was a referendum against Arnold — it wasn’t.
“It’s not nirvana. Just an impressive, imperfect man dealing with the real world.”
Great piece and a great last line. Well done sir.
I guess the lesson about Bloomberg narrow win for a thrid term is style matters. Voters wanted him to eat some humble pie.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/nyregion/04mayor.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion
Bad candidates lose.
Brasky says:
November 4, 2009 at 9:19 am
The losses yesterday remind me of Arnold’s supposed coattails in 2004. Before the election, Republicans said he would win seats for them — he didn’t. Afterwards, Democrats said it was a referendum against Arnold — it wasn’t.
The new LAPD chief will have some baggage to deal with — not the top choice of the Police Commission and actually hurt by Bratton’s heavy-handed lobbying on his behalf.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-chief-decision4-2009nov04,0,1525869.story
Where’s Schwarzeneger?
I love the new HP article on the first anniversary of the election!
Additional video today?
The state Office of Administrative Law is seeking input on how it disseminates agency regulations. I imagine some of you insider types might have comments you may want to submit.
http://www.oal.ca.gov/Request_for_Information_Regarding_CCR_Publication.
htm
The link got broke–cut and paste it into your browser. Thanks!
Bill, You were the only reporter, really, the only one, who said Obama had a chance against Hillary. The fevered pitch of the press now, reminds me of the rush to judgement in the primary. People have to take a bit of the long view here. He ran as a moderate and will govern that way. And..thats the only way he can get re-elected. I feel Bush Jr could govern as a conservative and win re-election in 04, but Obama cant govern, even if he wanted to, as a liberal and win re-election.
And re-election is important in order to make sure the changes implemented, can get some roots.
Thanks, I appreciate it.
I try to ignore the yip-yap. It’s bad for analysis.
Perhaps.
> Jonas Blane says:
November 4, 2009 at 11:25 am (Edit)
Additional video today?
Thanks!
> Lorena says:
November 4, 2009 at 11:17 am (Edit)
I love the new HP article on the first anniversary of the election!
Was he really Antonio’s choice?
> Dana says:
November 4, 2009 at 10:57 am (Edit)
The new LAPD chief will have some baggage to deal with — not the top choice of the Police Commission and actually hurt by Bratton’s heavy-handed lobbying on his behalf.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-chief-decision4-2009nov04,0,1525869.story
Not a good election for tycoons …
> Dana says:
November 4, 2009 at 10:49 am (Edit)
I guess the lesson about Bloomberg narrow win for a thrid term is style matters. Voters wanted him to eat some humble pie.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/nyregion/04mayor.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion
Thanks, I appreciate it.
There’s a certain hysteria and lack of perspective happening …
It happened last year, too.
> Brasky says:
November 4, 2009 at 9:26 am (Edit)
“It’s not nirvana. Just an impressive, imperfect man dealing with the real world.”
Great piece and a great last line. Well done sir.
Endorsers aren’t that big a thing, especially for weaker candidates.
> Brasky says:
November 4, 2009 at 9:19 am (Edit)
The losses yesterday remind me of Arnold’s supposed coattails in 2004. Before the election, Republicans said he would win seats for them — he didn’t. Afterwards, Democrats said it was a referendum against Arnold — it wasn’t.
I’ll have something on that. It’s been in the newspapers.
> Brasky says:
November 4, 2009 at 9:17 am (Edit)
Anybody know what’s in the water deal?
And I’m more surprised than when USC lost back-to-back games in Oregon.
Good video of the President in Wisconsin.
“I feel Bush Jr could govern as a conservative and win re-election in 04″
The compassionate conservative Bush of the 00 compaign was very different in tone than the hard-right appeal of the Bush 04 campaign. And in any case while he by the skin of his teeth got re-elected in the process Bush polarized so much as to leave no room to govern and most of his agenda landed with a thud thereafter(remember his plan to entrust our social security accounts w/Wall Street?). By 06 the Dems had retaken the Congress. The realignment Rove spoke of was an illusion and the Republicans have lost a lot of credibility from their wasted years dominating the White House and Congress. They now only speak to the far right because no one else believes them. Bush left no legacy as a template from which to govern.
Sounds like it was conflict between the smart political move and personality/style. And AV picked to go w/the politics.
What I hope is Beck is smart and puts the two other contenders in high profile positions to the benefit of the city a la Obama.
When Parks was selected he went out of his way to humiliate the other LAPD veteran who was among the finalists. The guy soon after left the LAPD. And it foretold the petty reign Parks had. Hope Beck sets a different tone.
>21.Bill Bradley says:
November 4, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Was he really Antonio’s choice?
NO shit! They really did it.
** CALIFORNIA’S BIG WATER DEAL. After months of negotiation between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic and Republican legislative leaders, both houses of the Legislature late last night and early this morning passed a massive package of five bills intended to deal with the state’s chronic water crisis and the future impact of climate change.
They did something. Hot damn, that is exciting.
lol
He didn’t excite anybody.
Jonas Blane says:
November 4, 2009 at 8:58 am
Corzine really bombed out as Governor.
It’s his best scene.
Jonas Blane says:
November 4, 2009 at 8:55 am
The President looks good with the Euro leaders.
Those candidates didn’t represent the President. I expected this.
Jack Aubrey says:
November 4, 2009 at 4:09 pm
He didn’t excite anybody.
Jonas Blane says:
November 4, 2009 at 8:58 am
Corzine really bombed out as Governor.
I recall this.
Mitchell says:
November 4, 2009 at 11:44 am
Bill, You were the only reporter, really, the only one, who said Obama had a chance against Hillary. The fevered pitch of the press now, reminds me of the rush to judgement in the primary. People have to take a bit of the long view here. He ran as a moderate and will govern that way. And..thats the only way he can get re-elected. I feel Bush Jr could govern as a conservative and win re-election in 04, but Obama cant govern, even if he wanted to, as a liberal and win re-election.
And re-election is important in order to make sure the changes implemented, can get some roots.
President Obama is “off to a very good start”.
He is, if rocky on occasion.
Yes they can!
> Capitol Boy says:
November 4, 2009 at 3:01 pm (Edit)
NO shit! They really did it.
** CALIFORNIA’S BIG WATER DEAL. After months of negotiation between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic and Republican legislative leaders, both houses of the Legislature late last night and early this morning passed a massive package of five bills intended to deal with the state’s chronic water crisis and the future impact of climate change.
He had still had 9/11 working in ‘04.
> Dana says:
November 4, 2009 at 2:51 pm (Edit)
“I feel Bush Jr could govern as a conservative and win re-election in 04″
The compassionate conservative Bush of the 00 compaign was very different in tone than the hard-right appeal of the Bush 04 campaign. And in any case while he by the skin of his teeth got re-elected in the process Bush polarized so much as to leave no room to govern and most of his agenda landed with a thud thereafter(remember his plan to entrust our social security accounts w/Wall Street?). By 06 the Dems had retaken the Congress. The realignment Rove spoke of was an illusion and the Republicans have lost a lot of credibility from their wasted years dominating the White House and Congress. They now only speak to the far right because no one else believes them. Bush left no legacy as a template from which to govern.
He always does.
> Dana says:
November 4, 2009 at 2:58 pm (Edit)
Sounds like it was conflict between the smart political move and personality/style. And AV picked to go w/the politics.
What I hope is Beck is smart and puts the two other contenders in high profile positions to the benefit of the city a la Obama.
When Parks was selected he went out of his way to humiliate the other LAPD veteran who was among the finalists. The guy soon after left the LAPD. And it foretold the petty reign Parks had. Hope Beck sets a different tone.
>21.Bill Bradley says:
November 4, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Was he really Antonio’s choice?