- Word is that the Governor will propose financing billions in prison constructions through the use of lease revenue bonds. I can understand how you would use this kind of bond for, say, a public parking structure with an income from parking. But a prison? I am not clear where the revenue comes from for a prison except from taxpayers? Shouldn’t that require a vote of the people?
- There are some changes taking place in the California operations of Mitt Romney’s fledgling campaign for President. FR is still tracking down the details, but we’ve heard from very reliable sources that California uber-fundraising Anne Dunsmore and her California Capital Campaigns (see the ad to the right), who have been doing fundraising for Romney’s Commonwealth PAC, are not doing the general, federally limited Presidential campaign fundraising for the retiring Massachusetts Governor. We’ll see how this shakes out.
- Yesterday Democrat Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally gave a rather underwhelming apology for calling his colleague, Hector De La Torre, a racist. He said "I have been around long enough to know that you do not mix your personal feelings with public policy. I deeply regret my statement about Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, and it is my hope that this issue is now behind us." I’m sure that De La Torre feels better now. Especially considering that Dymally had on a previous occasion said in a letter, "I would have thought that time would have tempered your bigotry… But I am told that hatefulness is a sickness, so you are to be forgiven. " (I am sure that De La Torre feels good that Speaker Fabian Nunez has publicly rushed to his defense, condemning Dymally’s comments. Oh, wait… We haven’t heard anything out of the Speaker…)
- Republican Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia has introduced legislation to create a government ban on that menace to society — trans fats! Garcia is a very capable, competent legislator. But I think that she should reconsider the role that government should play in whether Californians eat food that is good or bad for them. Isn’t that the role of the marketplace? With public education about the bad impacts of food with trans-fats, people who care about their health will avoid them, and restaurants will start to change how they make their foods. Instead of carrying legislation to introduce coercive government restrictions, Bonnie Garcia should use her considerable moxie and charisma to bring together restaurateurs and others in voluntary efforts to curb the use of trans fats in the food they prepare!
- It will be interesting to see which legislators end up going to the Governor’s Inaugural Ball the evening of the swearing-in. Apparently legislators were balking at the $500 a ticket price tag that the Governor was offering to (there was no GOP discount, either!). That said, apparently the prices were subsequently lowered to a bargain basement price of $100 for legislators. I guess we’ll see if the bargain prices mean that more Senators and Assemblymembers will be on hand…
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on Wednesday, December 20th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.
