THE NOONER for September 21, 2012
E-46
The governor signs 18 bills relating to veterans.
POLL POSITION: Field-UC Berekeley's poll release today includes good news for labor, with the first poll indicating Prop. 32 is losing.
Proposition 32: Prohibits Political Contributions by Payroll Deduction. Prohibitions on Contributions to Candidates. Initiative Statute.
Yes: 38%
No: 44%
[n=902, 9/6-9/18/2012]
Meanwhile, the Small Business Action Committee gives $450,000 to the committee supporting Prop. 32. This is probably some of the $4 million that Charles Munger, Jr. gave SBAC last week.
FOLLOW THE MONEY: The seniors are back! Not in the Older Women's League sense, but in the senior executives of large corporations who like to play in politics. We saw the expenditure yesterday by the California Senior Advocates League, but the filing of that committee won't tell you where the money is from. Instead, you need to map it out:
Phillip Morris USA ($150,000), Sempra Energy ($125,000), Anheuser Busch ($30,000)
====>>> GIVE $305,000 TO Reform California Now
====>>> WHICH GIVES $214,000 TO California Senior Advocates League
====>>>WHICH THEN SPENDS
- $73,313 in opposition to Fran Pavley (SD27) and
- $86,328 in opposition to Cathleen Galgiani
See, transparency is alive and well!
$$$: Jerry Brown's Prop. 30 committee has a $5 million day.
CD36: A couple of weeks ago, I put the Coachella Valley congressional race between Mary Bono Mack v. Raul Ruiz in the tier of "Democrat tide." Well, while the prospects of a Republican tide have dropped significantly in the last three weeks, I don't see strong indications of a Democrat tide nationally. However, with a new poll finding Ruiz behind incumbent Mack by only 3 points (47%-44%), party resources are being moved in, reports Roll Call. The poll was conducted by Public Policy Polling for Howard Dean's Democracy for America, and was automated.
With resources and a neutral to Democrat-leaning national tide, this is an interesting race. Ruiz and allies hope to paint Mack as an out of touch politician who doesn't have many ties to the district. She married former congressman Connie Mack in 2007, who finds himself behind in a race against Florida Senator Bill Nelson.
The CD36 poll also finds Obama and Romney tied 48-48%. Obama beat McCain 50-47% in 2008. In other words, the sample is probably pretty good.
CD03: KQED's Michael Krasny had a debate between John Garamendi and Kim Vann on this morning. The recording should be online by now.
SD37: Mimi Walters may be known as a wealthy member of the Senate GOP caucus, but she's really playing the austerity game well. According to a suit filed by opponent Steve Young challenging her residency, "she's living in a 570-square-foot apartment in Irvine with no dishwasher or washer/dryer hook ups." [Brian Joseph @ OCR]
Walters's consultant Dave Gilliard gets in a great response in the article, "'This is what happens when your opponent is not only a politician but also a trial attorney,' he said."
NOTHING TO SEE HERE: California Debt Higher Than Earlier Estimates, a Task Force Reports [Mary Williams Walsh @ NYT]
OH, THOSE TAIWANESE: Our friendly animators take on the Monica Lewinsky book story. [cartoonishly NSFW]
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TOP HEADLINES ON AROUNDTHECAPITOL.COM AS OF 12:00PM
Jon Ortiz @ sacbee.com
A campaign finance measure on the November ballot is trailing among likely California voters, according to a new survey, although a sizable percentage remain undecided as dueling campaigns head into their final weeks.Carolyn Lochhead @ sfgate.com
Silicon Valley multinationals aggressively exploit foreign tax havens in Bermuda, Grand Cayman and elsewhere to dodge U.S. taxes, according to a bipartisan Senate report issued Thursday.latimesblogs.latimes.com
On politics in the Golden StateDavid Siders @ blogs.sacbee.com
Among the more interesting findings of the Field Poll released on Gov. Jerry Brown's ballot initiative to raise income taxes on high-income earners is that support for the measure is highest among those who are relatively well off.latimesblogs.latimes.com
Just minutes before the retired space shuttle Endeavour was flown over the state Capitol on its way to a Los Angeles museum, Gov. Jerry Brown announced that he signed legislation to give a boost to the commercial space-travel industry in California.Seema Mehta @ latimes.com
Mitt Romney will release his 2011 tax return Friday, as well as a summary of his returns for the past two decades, the campaign announced.sacbee.com
When Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature fashioned the 2012-13 budget, their evident goal was to persuade voters to finance it by enacting new sales and incomes taxes at the Nov. 6 election.Brian Joseph @ totalbuzz.ocregister.com
Claiming that she doesnât really live in the district, state Sen. Mimi Waltersâ Democratic opponent filed a petition in Sacramento County Superior Court today asking the Secretary of State to remove Walters from the Nov. 6 ballot.
Richard Simon @ latimes.com
The House Ethics Committee is considering dropping the case against Rep. Maxine Waters, who has been accused of improperly helping a bank linked to her husband.Robert Samuelson @ realclearpolitics.com
It is a measure of Mitt Romney's inadequacies as a candidate that he has not been able to turn his latest gaffe -- his dismissive reference to the 47 percent of Americans who "are dependent upon government" -- into a teachable moment and a campaign advantage. The fact that roughly half of Americans receive some government payment to which they feel morally entitled is a big part of our budget problem. It's an inconvenient fact, but it's still a fact.Josh Richman @ mercurynews.com
sacbee.com
Two good candidates with valuable local government experience are running for the open seat in the newly drawn 11th Assembly District, which stretches across parts of Solano, Contra Costa and Sacramento counties.JONATHAN WEISMAN @ thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com
The U.S. Senate's efforts to close shop and hit the campaign trail became hopelessly mired in the campaign of one particular U.S. Senator, Scott Brown of Massachusetts.Torey Van Oot @ blogs.sacbee.com
Rep. Dan Lungren wasn't in Tampa as other members of the GOP gathered for the Republican National Convention last monthutsandiego.com
Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Thursday a package of 18 bills aiming to help the military, including legislation promoted by San Diego business leaders nervous over threatened federal defense budget cuts.washingtonpost.com
The Associated Press @ utsandiego.com
Tiffany Hsu @ latimes.com
MICHAEL D. SHEAR @ thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com
had jumped beyond the presidential campaign, it was erased with the first question of the Virginia Senate debate on Thursday.Evan Halper @ latimes.com
A new breed of prospectors—banks, insurers, utility companies—are receiving billions in subsidies while taxpayer and ratepayers are paying most of the costs. Critics say it's a rip-off.ALAN FRAM, Associated Press @ utsandiego.com
Microsoft Corp., the Hewlett-Packard Co. and other multinational corporations have avoided billions in U.S. taxes by shifting profits offshore and taking advantage of weak, ambiguous sections of the tax code, Senate investigators said Thursday.sacbee.com
Census figures released today show that Fresno is one of the poorest metropolitan areas in the nation and that other Central Valley communities also suffer from high poverty levels.Michael McAuliff @ huffingtonpost.com
Posted: 09/20/2012 12:45 pm EDT Updated: 09/20/2012 2:20 pm EDT