There is a lot to digest in terms of California political news today – you might find yourself spending more time than usual perusing the news.
WILL JAN SCULLY PUT ROB REINER IN FRONT OF A GRAND JURY?
I have featured on the main page today the lead editorial from today’s San Diego Union Tribune because it highlights an important criminal investigation taking place that has managed to slide off of the ‘public radar screen’ – the investigation of Rob Reiner and his role with the state’s First Five Commission. You’ll recall that a lot of controversy swirled around this issue – eventually leading to Reiner stepping off of the commission. There was a lot of monkey business going on (things like Reiner’s Commission spending taxpayer dollars to run pro-preschool advertising on TV at the same time that Reiner was gathering signatures for his preschool ballot measure).
Ultimately the criminal investigation into Reiner’s activities ended up in the lap of tough prosecutor Jan Scully, the District Attorney of Sacramento County. She and her office have been quietly conducting their probe into Reiner’s activities. It would appear from the 30,000 foot level that there is more than enough knowledge of shady-business that Scully could haul Reiner up in front of a Grand Jury. But will she? And will that happen soon?
Don’t miss this editorial — and, if you are in Sacramento and run into Scully, let her know what you think of Reiner’s contemptuous use of public resources for his personal agenda!
THE ‘BONDINATOR’ STRIKES AGAIN?
I know that here at the FlashReport we sound like a broken record. But ‘record spending’ is what we have here in California. The amount of money being taken in and being spent in Sacramento is not only vast (well over $100,000,000,00.00) but it has grown sharply over the past few years. There is more than enough money for the State of California to engage in prison construction (or levee repair, educational institution investment, transportation projects and more) without having to borrow more money from taxpayers, that have to be paid back over 30 year or more. The problem in California is not that taxpayers aren’t already paying enough – the problem is how the liberal Democrats in the legislature want to prioritize the spending of that money. Passing these bonds measures (including a prison bond measure) is passing the buck. It is taking the pressure off of legislators to do the right thing — to stop funding ‘social engineering’ programs and instead fund the basic ‘stone and mortar’ needs of the state. I appreciate that the Governor is trying to solve a problem as best he can, with the reality of a far-left dominated Democrat legislature — but going to the voters with yet another borrowing measure is, in my humble opinion, poor public policy.
**There is more – click the link**
August 2nd, 2006 at 12:00 am
I wonder what the support for prop. 87 (oil severance) will be once the voter comes to understand it will increase prices,reduce supply, hurt retirees holding oil company stock) and be a “suicide pact” (less oil revenues to tax, less tax revenues)