"Orange Juice! Politics For The Rest Of Us." - 11 new articles
Never mind Correa - state budget now hinges on State Senator Abel Maldonado’s vote
State Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg talks to reporters as budget vote falls apart (Picture taken by an Orange Juice pajarito in Sacramento) “Sen. Abel Maldonado said this afternoon he’s open to providing the final Republican budget vote needed to close the deal on the state’s $40 billion budget shortfall,” according to the Sacramento Bee. Hours later he apparently did cut a deal with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and State Legislative leaders, according to a pajarito in Sacramento. Republican State Assemblyman Chuck Devore is reporting that Maldonado wanted an Open Primary in return for his vote. If that is true, that is welcome news. Open Primary = less extremists in the State Legislature. But will Maldonado vote to increase our taxes? He isn’t exactly tight with Governor Schwarzenegger. “Maldonado is still resentful that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t support him in his campaign for state controller in 2006,” according to the Sacramento Bee. I think Maldonado will end up voting for the district - but will that doom his prospects if he runs for State Controller again? UPDATE: My pajarito is reporting that the deal has fallen apart - the budget talks will continue tomorrow. Embryonic Stem Cell Ban: Get ready for lift-off, Obama style.
Human embryonic stem cell growing on a layer of supporting cells (fibroblasts). Micrograph by Annie Cavanagh and Dave McCarthy. Source. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will soon issue an executive order officially lifting an eight-year ban against embryonic stem cell research imposed by his predecessor, President George W. Bush, a senior adviser said on Sunday. President Obama had promised to reverse the ban, should he become president, during his 2008 election campaign. Making good on that promise could eventually yield research that will produce cures to illness such as diabetes, heart disease, spinal cord injuries, Parkinson’s disease and others. Bush’s 2001 decision to ban embryonic stem cell science was seen as a largely political move to placate religious zealots that tout faith based decisions over scientific solutions to health and human needs. Moderates from both sides of the aisle are applauding the reversal. Here is a recent opinion piece making the case FOR Conservative, Pro-Life Case for Embryonic Stem Cell Research. The lifting of the ban will allow the US to remain scientifically competitive in a quickly changing world of mapped genomes, human clones by the Chinese, stem cell injections for spinal cord patients, organ creation for replacement parts and immune system break-throughs. Please proceed with Ban Lift-Off, Mr. President!  In loosely related stories for recent scientific developments, a human ear is being grown on the back of a laboratory mouse. No embryonic stem cells were used in this procedure, however.  Australian performance artist, Stelios Arcadious (aka Stelarc) has a third ear implanted onto his forearm. He spent nearly 10 years searching for a surgeon who would perform the controversial operation. He has become a “living exhibit” and is planning to install tiny bluetooth transmitters so that his audience can hear the sounds that his arm-ear pick up. Weird Science, for sure! Sacramento Bee urges State Senator Dave Cox to vote for tax increase
The Sacramento Bee’s editorial board is urging GOP State Senator Dave Cox to vote for the proposed state budget - and they are asking their readers to contact him and urge him to agree with the Democrats’ proposal. Never mind pressuring State Senator Lou Correa. If you don’t want the tax increases to take effect, you need to contact Dave Cox right away. Click here to contact him via his State Senate website. Or click here to email Cox at his campaign email address. The $35 million Lou Correa would get for Orange County would COST us $1 billion
State Sen. Lou Correa is a smart fellow. But he must have taken that New New Math back in grade school instead of real math. In return for selling his vote for the $14 billion tax increases in Gov. Arnold's Budget Abomination, Lou extracted from his fellow Democrats, who run the Legislature, $35 million more in state spending for Orange County (for the first year; more in subsequent years — if state Democrats keep their word, which they might not). But Orange County's 3 million residents are 8% of California's 37 million. 8% of the $14 billion tax increase is $1.12 billion. Next: $1.12 billion - $35 million = $1.085 billion. That's how much Lou's vote would cost Orange County. Obama left without a clue
After pushing Congress for weeks to hurry up and pass the massive ($3.27 Trillion) stimulus bill, President Obama promptly took off for a three-day holiday getaway. The president plans to spend the Presidents’ Day weekend in the Windy City, and is not expected to sign the bill until Tuesday. read more So let me get this straight. After failing to give the American people the 48 hours promised to review the $3.27 Trillion Stimulus Spending Fiasco so they can inform their representatives what they think, and voting on this bill without even reading it… Obama is now going ON VACATION? Excuse me, he hasn’t been in office for 30 FLIPPIN DAYS YET!! Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Bundled up against a cold Chicago wind, the first lady and the girls smiled as they climbed aboard Marine One, the large presidential helicopter that whisked the family to the South Side and spared authorities the headache of closing the Kennedy Expressway during rush hour. Though the president has taken several trips on Air Force One in recent days, his family had not been aboard the country’s most famous airplane until Friday. So what if he’s going to Chicago? So what if the elitists could sneer at a president taking a vacation at a ranch in the country and this is something the appletini crowd can understand? THIS IS WRONG. ITS INCONSISTENT. It shows that Obama has absolutely no idea of how to send the public the right kind of message and may not know anything about what he is doing. I wonder if they’re going to call his vacation home the East Side White House? Is it time for a Tax Revolt in California?
Is it time for a Tax Revolt? The folks at Tax Revolt 2009 think so. Here is their mission statement: Tax Revolt 2009 is not about ideology - it's about common sense! You must protect yourself! Democrat's won't protect you. Republicans won't protect you. Only you can protect yourself - by joining Tax Revolt 2009. This might be the taxpayer's last stand before reckless self-serving politicians plunge California into a Great Depression. Unemployment has already reached 10 percent or more in parts of California. Do your part to take back California! Click here to join the Tax Revolt. Click here if you are ready to quit the lame GOP or the Democratic Party - and join the California Libertarian Party. California budget remains unresolved as Republicans man up against new taxes
The Republicans in the California State Senate appear to have found their huevos as one of them, Dave Cox of Fair Oaks, changed his mind and refused to vote for the proposed state budget and its huge tax increase. And State Senator Roy Ashburn, of Bakersfield, abstained when Cox would not vote for the budget. “The support of Sen. Lou Correa, Democrat from Santa Ana, was thought to be secured after top lawmakers brokered a deal to bring more money to Orange County,” according to the Orange County Register. Sabrina Lockhart, a spokeswoman for GOP State Senate Leader Dave Cogdill of Modesto, said her boss believed he “has negotiated … the best possible package to keep the state from plummeting off the financial cliff,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle. In related news, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger cut a deal with “the union representing nearly 95,000 state workers,” according to the Sacramento Bee. The deal “includes one unpaid furlough day off per month instead of the two the governor had ordered. The deal also includes fewer paid holidays, changes to how overtime is calculated, kicks in more for employees’ health insurance premiums and limits layoffs.” Uber right wing John Lewis endorses Democrat Tom Daly for the BOS
Steven Greenhut confirmed the other day that uber right wing “Republican consultant John Lewis will be supporting (although not working for) Clerk/Recorder Tom Daly in his bid for the 4th district supervisorial seat once Chris Norby is termed out,” according to the Orange Punch Blog. Apparently Lewis “appreciates that Daly was one of the very few people who backed Norby when the entire establishment was behind Cynthia Coad.” Greenhut points out the fact that Daly, who is a prominent Democrat, willl not likely be a better advocate for limited-government than either of the two likely Republican contenders, Fullerton Councilman Sean Nelson (Republican elected official of the year), or Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu. Does it really help Daly to be endorsed by the guy who created Jeff Flint and Matt “Jubal” Cunningham? Why would he seek out such an endorsement? Didn’t Lewis, Flint and Cunningham all back Prop. 8? How is that association going to help Daly? Yuck! And isn’t Lewis going to P.O. his party by not backing Nelson? I don’t think anyone cares about Sidhu, but Nelson is a darling of the OC GOP. And none other than State Senator Lou Correa endorsed Nelson’s latest bid for the Fullerton City Council. Does that mean Correa won’t be backing Daly? Or that he might back Nelson? And why aren’t any Democrats trying to field a Latino candidate for a district that is majority Latino? In a contest between Daly, Nelson, and Sidhu, a Latino might actually be able to get into a run-off election. Democrats give Lou Correa $120 million reasons to vote for the proposed state budget
Game. Set. Match. State Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg has found a way to help State Senator Lou Correa make up his mind about his vote on the proposed state budget. Steinberg has included in the budget, “a measure to give Orange County an extra slice of the state budget pie,” according to the Sacramento Bee. State Senate Republican leader Dave Cogdill said that “for any Republicans to cast votes for the package - and three are needed to give it the 27-vote two-thirds majority it needs - all Democrats will have to vote aye.” “Capitol sources, who asked not to be named while commenting on private negotiations, said language had been inserted in the massive 33-bill package that would give Orange County $35 million in additional property tax revenues in the coming fiscal year; $35 million in the 2010-11 fiscal year, and up to $50 million annually after that.” So there you go. Correa now has $120 million reasons to vote for this budget. The Republicans will come after him in 2010, but while he will have broken his pledge not to vote for new taxes, he will be able to assuage the voters by pointing to the massive influx of money from the state to the County, due to his efforts. Correa will also be able to say that the Republican State Senate Leader insisted on his vote. I don’t expect Correa to suddenly become vulnerable in 2010. Democrats have a lock on central Orange County and the OC GOP has no one to run against Correa. What are they going to do, recruit lame Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante as their standard bearer? I don’t think so. We will find out tomorrow if Steinberg has given Correa enough reasons to vote yes. I think he has. I may not like this budget, but it will be set in stone by Monday. The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius - Today at 7:25 am
Did you miss out on the moment? Not to fear - you still have plenty of time to enjoy The Age of Aquarius. It is one of 12 successive 2150-year periods, each of which corresponds with one of the 12 signs of the zodiac - the last one coinciding with the arrival of Christ. We are leaving one age (Pisces), and entering into a ”New Age” (Aquarius). Personally, I am looking forward to a new change.
The Fifth Dimension performed the song, Aquarius, in 1969 in tribute to this coming of the New Age When the moon is in the Seventh House This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius Harmony and understanding When the moon is in the Seventh House This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in —Lyrics —- ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ Added Bonus: Happy Valentine’s Day, too!
Will it be a Valentine’s Day tax massacre? It might be up to Lou Correa
State Senator Lou Correa probably wishes he had never promised not to vote to raise taxes. But now he is stuck with that brave position. And now his vote matters - a lot. “The Orange County Democrat, who proudly campaigned in 2006 as “a different kind of Democrat,” still hasn’t committed to Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg that he’ll support a negotiated budget pact with new taxes,” according to the Sacramento Bee. Correa’s vote is the key vote, as it turns out. The OC GOP will come after him big time in 2010, if he votes to increase taxes. But if he doesn’t, then State Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg is going to be most unhappy. The last Senate Leader, Don Perata, treated Correa like crap for not playing ball. God only knows what Steinberg will do if Correa tanks the new budget. Correa should do what he thinks is right, period. I won’t abandon him if he breaks his tax pledge. He is a good man and he is in a bind. Something has to be done about the budget. The problem was not created by Correa. But he might end up getting dumped on no matter what he does. Maybe he should have stayed on the O.C. Board of Supervisors? |
Click here to safely unsubscribe now from "Orange Juice! Politics For The Rest Of Us." or change subscription settings
Unsubscribe from all current and future newsletters powered by FeedBlitz
| Your requested content delivery powered by FeedBlitz, LLC, 9 Thoreau Way, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA. +1.978.776.9498 |
0 коммент.
Post a Comment