In the latest extreme weather event, fires are raging across Australia amidst a record heat wave.
** NEW COLUMNS COMING UP … JERRY BROWN’S NEW BUDGET and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA AT 50: A TIMELESS EPIC RESTORED WITH TIMELESS LESSONS IN STORE.
** QUICK HITS. Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed California state budget got respectful reviews from both sides of the aisle today, with Democrats lauding the end of the state’s chronic budget deficits and Brown’s new Prop 30 revenues and Republicans pleased by his insistence on reining in new spending initiatives. … The 74-year old governor unveiled the fiscal plan in a very lively hour-long press conference today, betraying no ill effects from his recently concluded prostate cancer treatments. He got no pushback from any media critics, either. … In what is shaping up to be a rather low-key second inaugural, President Barack Obama will take the oath of office using not one but two bibles, which belonged to Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln. … The inaugural ceremony takes place on January 21st, which is MLK Day. And it takes place in the month of the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which of course began the process of freeing African American slaves. … Perhaps then it is fitting that Steve Spielberg’s Lincoln led the way today in the Academy Awards nomination announcements with 12 Oscar nods. The film is about Lincoln’s drive to pass the 13th Amendment, which finally abolished slavery.
** NEW SURVEY: NATIONAL SUPPORT FOR DEATH PENALTY AT 63%. Following the relatively narrow defeat of an initiative last November to do away with the death penalty in California — where it is extraordinarily difficult to execute the existing law as it is — a new Gallup Poll survey brings news that support for capital punishment has stabilized in the low 60s after years of decline.
Only liberals oppose the death penalty, and by a small margin at that.
Sixty-three percent now favor the death penalty as the punishment for murder, similar to 61% in 2011 and 64% in 2010. …
Although views on the death penalty have been fairly static since 2010, support has been gradually diminishing since the high point in 1994, when 80% were in favor. By 2001, roughly two-thirds were in favor, and since then it has edged closer to 60%.
The death penalty is not relevant in the Newtown case, given that the lone gunman took his own life after his rampage; however, the tragedy could have influenced Americans’ thoughts about capital punishment and may be a reason support for it held steady this year, rather than declining any further. …
The majority, or at least plurality, of most demographic and political groups are in broad agreement about supporting the death penalty as punishment for murder.
One exception to that is adults who describe their political views as “liberal.” Just under half of liberals, 47%, favor the death penalty, while 50% oppose it. However, most conservatives and moderates support it, as do majorities of all party groups, including 51% of Democrats. …
** JERRY-RIGGING: CALIFORNIA BUDGET DEFICIT IS ENDED BUT HAPPY DAYS AREN’T HERE AGAIN. Governor Jerry Brown this morning presented his new state budget proposal. He says that thanks to the passage of his Prop 30 revenue initiative and past budget cuts which were three times as large as the temporary tax hikes, the state budget is at last balanced, with a minor budget reserve of $1 billion.
His new budget adds $2.7 billion a year to education, with per pupil spending up $2700.
But he is holding the line in other areas.
“It’s very hard to say no,” Brown noted. “That’s basically my job. It’s like a governor on a machine. When a machine tries to exceed a certain speed, the governor then depresses the speed. That is the metaphor for 2013.
“I accept my role of saying no. Yes, there is inequality and hardship. but I want to take the money we do have and put it into our schools and colleges and help people help themselves. Education is the social program that I think will give us the biggest return on our investment.”
He won’t restore funding for a variety of programs cut during the great global recession.
“That kind of yo-yo political economy is not good,” he said. “You give benefits, then yank them back when times are bad. I want to advance the progressive agenda, but consistent with the amount of money the people made available.”
Much more to follow in my upcoming column.
In a speech in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show, former President Bill Clinton outlined the importance of mobile technology before swerving into gun control, calling the availability of high-capacity ammo magazines “nuts.”
** NEW COLUMNS COMING UP … JERRY BROWN’S NEW BUDGET and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA AT 50: A TIMELESS EPIC RESTORED WITH TIMELESS LESSONS IN STORE.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden received the intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
Biden then holds a series of meetings in the Eisenhower Executive Office Bldg. with stakeholders on the gun issue.
First he meets with advocates for sportsmen and women and wildlife interest groups as part of the Administration’s effort to develop policy proposals in response to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.
Then he meets with representatives from gun owners’ groups.
Finally, Biden meets with representatives from the entertainment industry.
At 10:30 AM Pacific in the East Room, Obama announces his appointment of White House chief of staff Jack Lew to replace Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Lew was director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Bill Clinton Administration.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein is making it clear in comments public and private that she is fully behind Obama’s appointment of former Senator Chuck Hagel to replace veteran California political figure Leon Panetta as secretary of defense.
The Chuck Hagel confirmation battle for secretary of defense rages on.
See my latest essay below.
Obama is monitoring several geopolitical crises involving the Arab Awakening, Iran and Israel, Syria, Iraq, AfPak, and the South China Sea.
Military Crisis Zone Times: The Persian/Arabian Gulf is ten hours ahead of Pacific time and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time. The time in Manila, on the South China Sea, is fifteen hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES. Governor Jerry Brown is in Sacramento.
Brown presents his new California state budget proposal this morning at 10 AM in the State Capitol. You can watch live on the California Channel.
While some legislative Democrats are chomping at the bit to greatly re-expand various social programs and raise taxes, Brown is calling 2013: “The year of fiscal discipline.”
Bet on Brown there.
Look for bolstering for public schools and public universities even as he pursues his new rebalancing of education funding designed to bolster support for poor schools and schools with large numbers of students who struggle with English.
More to follow in an upcoming column.
The California State Teachers Retirement System pension investment fund will divest itself from holdings in arms manufacturers which make weapons illegal for sale in California.
Click here for my compendium of articles laying out the re-emergence of Jerry Brown as governor of California.
Click here for my compendium of articles providing a narrative of his governorship.
Kurdish refugees from Syria are flooding into northern Iraq.
** WHY THE HAGEL BATTLE MADE MORE SENSE FOR OBAMA THAN THE RICE BATTLE. …
From my January 9th essay.
** CALIFORNIA’S FUTURIST AGENDA: A TALE OF THREE GOVERNORS. … From my January 4th essay.
** THE CLIFFS WE AREN’T FALLING FROM (AND ONE FROM WHICH WE ARE). … From my December 15th column.
** EXIT SUSAN RICE. … From my December 13th column.
** WHERE THE DEMOCRATS GO NEXT, OR, PIVOTING WITH HILLARY. … From my December 10th column.
** FROM THE NOTEBOOK: OBSERVATIONS ON JERRY BROWN’S PROP 30 VICTORY. … From my December 5th essay.
** FROM GOVERNATOR TO MOONBEAM. … From my January 3rd, 2011 feature.
** 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, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in major military operations in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. 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.
** 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 from the Russia Today channel. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the state-run channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 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 $94 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
This is up about $60 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity, and down about $20 per barrel from the price at the time of the Osama bin Laden raid.
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| Comments (20) |
Good news video of President Clinton in Las Vegas on gun nuts.
Good bad news Al Jazeera news video on the Syrian refugess in Iraq.
Sometimes I just have to love BC.
Jonas says:
January 10, 2013 at 8:52 am
Good news video of President Clinton in Las Vegas on gun nuts.
Jonas says:
January 10, 2013 at 9:04 am
Good bad news Al Jazeera news video on the Syrian refugess in Iraq.
Yep!
BB:While some legislative Democrats are chomping at the bit to greatly re-expand various social programs and raise taxes, Brown is calling 2013: “The year of fiscal discipline.”
Bet on Brown there.
Something MUST be done about the guns.
BB: Biden then holds a series of meetings in the Eisenhower Executive Office Bldg. with stakeholders on the gun issue.
First he meets with advocates for sportsmen and women and wildlife interest groups as part of the Administration’s effort to develop policy proposals in response to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.
Then he meets with representatives from gun owners’ groups.
Finally, Biden meets with representatives from the entertainment industry.
Where is Jerry?
lol
Here is JB.
JB rocked that press conference, man!
Brown is very impressive. He’s funny, too. I like him a lot.
More crisis video today?
The crazy weather story out of Oz is really wild…
Not much will happen, again.
Capitol Boy says:
January 10, 2013 at 9:54 am
Something MUST be done about the guns.
BB: Biden then holds a series of meetings in the Eisenhower Executive Office Bldg. with stakeholders on the gun issue.
First he meets with advocates for sportsmen and women and wildlife interest groups as part of the Administration’s effort to develop policy proposals in response to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.
Then he meets with representatives from gun owners’ groups.
Finally, Biden meets with representatives from the entertainment industry.
If he went around the country talking about it it might make a difference…
Capitol Boy says:
January 10, 2013 at 9:49 am
Sometimes I just have to love BC.
Jonas says:
January 10, 2013 at 8:52 am
Good news video of President Clinton in Las Vegas on gun nuts.
Great HuffPost feature column on the Hagel battle. Rice was a stone loser.
JB is getting it done!
** QUICK HITS. Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed California state budget got respectful reviews from both sides of the aisle today, with Democrats lauding the end of the state’s chronic budget deficits and Brown’s new Prop 30 revenues and Republicans pleased by his insistence on reining in new spending initiatives. …
It was another great JB performance…
… The 74-year old governor unveiled the fiscal plan in a very lively hour-long press conference today, betraying no ill effects from his recently concluded prostate cancer treatments. He got no pushback from any media critics, either. …
This is a fitting Best Picture for the year in which Barack was re-elected.
… Perhaps then it is fitting that Steve Spielberg’s Lincoln led the way today in the Academy Awards nomination announcements with 12 Oscar nods. The film is about Lincoln’s drive to pass the 13th Amendment, which finally abolished slavery.
Your former President Clinton speaks from his heart about guns, yet your gun nut culture is too deeply a part of your culture to allow its amputation.
Syria crisis video today?