Archive Page 2
ARNOLD’S TIMING
In politics timing is everything. Today it wasn’t on the side of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger—and he knew it. The Governor appointed a panel three years ago to provide him recommendations on ways to better serve the 6.3 million students in California’s public schools. This morning the group unveiled their suggestions with Governor Schwarzenegger present in Santa Monica. From a public relations standpoint, this was probably not the best day to persuasively argue the reports goals. Many of the panel’s recommendations seemingly make sense. They include: increasing language training for students struggling with English (about half the schools in the state), universal preschool, and full-day kindergarten. The panel also wants to streamline the state’s education bureaucracy and give teachers higher pay.
You’d be hard pressed to find many who would disagree with those ideas but equally hard pressed to find someone who could tell you how to pay for them.
At the press conference unveiling the recommendations the Governor jokingly asked the reporter’s first question before they could, “what about the budget?” As California struggles with a budget crisis, one of the state’s biggest expenditures—education—will be taking about a $5 billion hit if the Governor’s suggested budget is approved.. As a result State Superintendent Jack O’Connell called today “pink slip day” as more than 8,500 teachers statewide are facing job losses. Tomorrow (March 15) is the deadline for the state to send letters to permanent, tenured teachers warning them that their job might not be safe. Districts have until July 1 to rescind the “pink slips” or fire the teachers. But in the current budget situation, the rescinding many notices does not seem likely.Districts across the state will be affected differently. The LAUSD, the nation’s largest school district, has pledged not to fire tenured teachers and has not send out any “pink slips”. Still the district could see cuts in administration and after-school programs.Even though the Governor wanted his advisory panel to drive the educational reform agenda, it seems like their advice will have to be put on hold…for now. But any student of California politics knows how cyclical the budgetary process moves. This is certainly not the first time we’ve seen this trend—costly educational reform is approved in strong economic years, and then as the budget tightens, the innovative programs disappear. Governor Schwarzenegger argued against this see-saw budgeting today by saying, “it is inexcusable we are sending kids on a rollercoaster ride where they have to hold on for dear life”.Governor Schwarzenegger says the only real way to improve education is to first fix the budget situation. But changing any status quo in Sacramento is harder than it looks. Remember that old high school science theory from Sir Issac Newton’s—an object in motion remains in motion? Even though the current motion of the budget is not in the best interest of California’s students, it is almost impossible to reverse. Unfortunately, Issac Newton probably couldn’t even find a way to solve the budget mess.
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You might call it the downside to winning election as California’s chief executive. Advancing to one of the highest profile political positions in the nation requires you to move to Sacramento.
I once lived there for a summer and attended college nearby at the University of California at Davis. I know the area. It is flat.. cold (winter) and hot (summer). This isn’t to say that Sacramento is an awful place to live. It’s not. But even natives say one of the nice things about the city is that it isn’t far from nicer places such as San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite valley and the gold country.
The biggest problem with becoming Governor is it forces you to move here. But not Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Our Governor never liked the idea of living in Sacramento. So instead of buying a home and moving his family he simply would stay in a hotel suite at the Hilton across the street from the capitol or just fly home each night.
In a private jet.
Now it is laudable to want to see your family each night and to be a good father to your children. Of course you could do that by having them move to the city where you work. Mr. Schwarzenegger didn’t need to do that because of his ability to get corporations and friends to donate enough money so that he could jet around the state and stay as little time in Sac as possible.
The problem as pointed out recently by the Los Angeles Times, is that his “gulfstream lifestyle” does not measure up with his credentials as the nation’s leading “green” governor. I know.. he says he has purchased carbon “offsets” which allows him to pollute without guilt (often compared to the papal indulgences the catholic church use to sell several centuries ago.. allowing the rich to sin all they want in exchange for cash.)
Nevertheless credibility is your only currency in politics and when it comes to the environment he doesn’t seem to have much left. He signed the “million solar roofs” bill helping promote solar energy but the last time I looked there were none on his house in Brentwood. When he stays at the Hilton he is normally driven across the street in an SUV to the capitol. And the amount of CO2 he puts in the air per private flight is staggering.
Has he ever heard of Southwest?
He’s not the only one. There is an item floating around the internet comparing the environmental sensitivity of two homes.. one in Tennesse.. another in Texas.
House #1 is a 20 room mansion, gas heated, pool and pool house and separte guest house. It uses more energy in a month than most American households in a year.
House #2 was built with every green feature currently used in home construction. It captures rainwater as well as used water from showers and sinks for irrigation. The house uses no fossil fuels or oil for heating. Instead it uses geothermal water pumped from 300 feet below to warm the house.
The punchline? House #1 is that of former Vice President Al Gore and house #2 is that of current President George Bush in Crawford Texas.
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First some full disclosure. My wife homeschooled my son for five years. He had attended private school from kindergarten through 4th grade. Over time it became clear that we could do a better job. My wife, who had left her job working for the County of Riverside’s Office on Aging, has a bachelors degree and a Masters in Social Welfare from the University of California. She also had time. The curriculum she sought out came from a company that promotes classical theories of education. My son studied Shakespeare and Geometry.. Spanish and Biology. There were frequent field trips and writing workshops with other homeschool children. We always intended on him having a traditional high school experience which is what he is enjoying now. His was on the Deans List for academic performance in his first semester and is currently near the top in each one of his classes including Honors English. He also plays on the varsity baseball team.
In my view our decision to home school him was an unqualified success.
I can’t speak for all homeschoolers but others we know are families dedicated to a quality education of their children which is why they chose to school at home in the first place. Each one of the parents has had a college degree or better. From all I have seen the are cared for in a loving environment with plenty of opportunities for socialization.
But now the California 2nd District Court of Appeals has effectively made homeschooling in the state against the law. It is quite possible that the State Supreme Court will uphold the decision. That means the issue should be taken up in the California legislature for debate although I don’t think the homeschooling community will get much sympathy there either. The Democrats in the legislature dominate and they in turn are dominated by the California Teachers Association, a union that dislikes homeschooling about as much as it hates charter schools.
In his decision Justice H. Walter Croskey wrote ”A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare.” He was quoting a 1961 case on a similar issue. The point he missed though is that it is exactly with those goals in mind that people take their children out of the public school system. I dare the good judge to traverse any public school campus and gauge the students ”good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state”.. a lot has changed in 47 years.
I’m just glad my son’s high school years came when they did.
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BUDGET POLITICS
The system in which the state raises and spends money is broken. Most of the time we get buy but then every four or five years there is a downturn in the economy and the state gets slammed. Because there is no fiscal discipline in the system or with the politicians who work within it the crisis gets bigger with each down cycle. Now we are another one and once again “there will be blood.” Lt. Governor John Garamendi was out with students today protesting budget cuts to the state’s community college system. There will be lots of other protests over health care cuts, k-12 cuts, cuts to parks and on and on..
But how is it that we haven’t made any corrections to the state’s budget system in all these years? Where was the leadership? The Governor gets some credit when he went to the voters in 2005 with his special election that sought a balanced budget amendment. But Democrats and the teachers union that is bashing his budget cuts now bashed that idea as well.
So now the talk is about taxes. In fact there are some who believe that Democrats in Sacramento see the draconian condition of the state’s finances as a way to alter public opinion in order to increase revenues. Republicans are opposed in part because they believe the state has enough taxes and that a further increase would delay an economic recovery.
What would be nice is to see an effort to stop this kind of binge and purge budgeting. If that doesn’t happen we can guarantee that the next budget deficit will dwarf the current one.. 16 billion and counting.
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TUESDAY’S OTHER WINNER
The Mayor of Los Angeles had a somber look Wednesday morning at the Universal Hilton Hotel. At least at the start. He appeared before a group of police chiefs from around the world to talk about cross-border cooperation in fighting deadly street gangs. The dramatic up-tick in gang shootings in Los Angeles over the past two weeks added to the gravitas of the event.
But when the news conference was over and a few reporters crowded in.. the Mayor was all smiles. His mood had brightened for one reason:
Texas.
The Los Angeles Times had run a story detailing all the time he had spent away from the city helping campaign for Senator Hillary Clinton. The paper talked about the LAPD detail that went with him for security on the city’s tab. That was followed by an amusing piece from Steve Lopez who chronicled his unsuccessful efforts to get an interview with the Mayor while in Dallas. http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/la-me-lopez4mar04,1,63450.column?ctrack=2&cset=true It was such a bad run that the Mayor decided to come home a day early.
But then Hillary won Texas.. and suddenly the negative publicity surrounding his out-of-state campaign swings didn’t seem to sting as much. In fact he may have benefited from it in some ways in that Hillary would appreciate all the heat the Mayor was taking from his constituents on her behalf. And then there was the fact Texas was delievered by some of Antonio’s friends. Bay Area political consultant Ace Smith (who ran Antonio’s race for Mayor) was in charge of the ground campaign in Texas and is widely credited with the win there. And if Hillary did well with Latino voters in Texas.. well Antonio could take some credit for that as well.
And so when the candidate rallies so too do those who have stuck their neck out for them. Leon Beaucoudray’s comment from yesterday’s post:
“The Super-delegates who held fast for HRC are feeling pretty good; the uncommitted are happy that they did not jump prematurely on the Obamawagon; and the ones who jumped recently from her to him must feel like the guy in a traffic jam who changes lanes and then comes to a halt as the cars in his old lane pass him by.”
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WHEN WILL THE ARROGANCE STOP?
Forget “son of super-Tuesday”.. try ”daughter of New Hampshire.”
This could all change by the morning. But at the moment it looks like Hillary Clinton may take three out of four and both of the big states. Of course there will be plenty who will point out that, because the DNC doesn’t believe in “winner-take-all”, she will still trail in delegates by the end of the night. So be it. This is about momentum and it even if she looses Texas by a small margin the Clinton campaign will have stopped the slide and will have regained its footing.
Just how she was able to turn the tide will be the subject of hours of television punditry. Here is mine: Like New Hampshire there were plenty of people on the fence in both Ohio and Texas who simply got fed up with the constant recitation of the conventional wisdom.. that Tuesday would be HRC’s swan song. Take that Chris Matthews! Take that Jonathon Alter! And thanks for nothing Bill Richardson!
Here is a thought. Maybe we should let the voters decide who the nominee is. Or the parties. Maybe we should let this process run its course without us trying to stop it in mid-term. Maybe we should get out of the business of telling people what they think and let them actually cast a ballot.
Now it is on to Pennsylvania for a fight unlike anything since Gettysburg.
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This is a feminist state. The two US Senators are women. A majority of the Democratic members of the House of Representatives are women. The first female Speaker of the House is from here. Even the wife of the Republican Governor changed the title of the state’s history museum into the “California museum of history.. women.. and the arts”.
And Hillary Clinton won here February 5th.. in a walk.
Ellen Malcolm loves it here. She is the founder of “Emily’s list” a group dedicated to getting more women.. err.. more Democrat women elected to office. She is also a national co-chair of the Hillary Clinton campaign for president. Malcolm is out here this week on business but sat down with me long enough to express frustration with the way this campaign has been covered. She was very tactful (“he gives great speeches but Hillary has the experience”) but others have been more direct. To them.. such as NOW’s Gloria Steinem.. its their turn. Steinem even wrote an op-ed piece saying that women deserved a president in part because historically they have suffered more than black men have. Hmmm.
Malcolm believes that women will be with her candidate tomorrow. And she bristles when pundits talk about Clinton getting out of the race. But timing is everything in politics. Right now the feminist left is like a Texas hold’em player with pocket aces just as the young buck across from her gets a third duece on the river.
If the women don’t turn out in droves tomorrow for HRC.. say goodbye to what could have been the feminist dream of a lifetime.
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Lets see:
- Huge crowds? Check.
-Lots of new voters enthused by the candidate? Check.
-Candidate who pledges to give the “special interests” the boot? Check.
-Candidate who claims to be an “outsider”? Check.
-Candidate who says he will .. on the first day of office.. change an unpopular policy taken by an equally unpopular incumbent? Check.
-A “historic” campaign capturing the imagination of the national media? Check.
Obama? How about Schwarzenegger.
The checklist above prior to 2008 was Arnold’s California recall campaign of 2003. Back then just about everything that is being said about the actor/candidate is now being said about the Senator from Illinois. Back then it was the dreaded “car tax” that launched Arnold’s effort (signed into law by the unpopular Gray Davis) something he pledged to repeal on his first day in office. Obama says on his first day he will start the withdrawal from Iraq (which of course was started by an equally unpopular George Bush).
Of course Obama has experience in elective office whereas Arnold didn’t. Nevertheless, assuming Obama wins this fall, one wonders if some similarities will continue. Schwarzenegger has admitted recently to being naive when he sought the governorship. He now says he didn’t really understand the complexities of the issues facing the state. With the state facing another budget crisis (which he could have avoided had he not repealed the car tax) the Governor is proposing some of the very things he condemned when he was running for office. As for “special interests”.. anyone looking at his campaign finance disclosure records can see there is little change between the money he is taking now and the fundraising Gray Davis did prior to his forced retirement.
The Senator from Illinois may find out that being an “outsider” is a great way to garner support from a disgruntled voting public but it might not be the best preparation to be commander in chief. Meetings with dictators, rapid withdrawal of troops and overhauls of the health care system may in truth be a lot more complicated that it sounds in his stump speech.
Just ask Arnold.
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A NEW SPEAKER
Assemblywoman Karen Bass has been in office just two years. But leadership starts not within the halls of government but in the neighborhood. Bass was responsible for “Community Coalition” in South Los Angeles. The organization was the result of all she saw as a physicians assistant in the ER at County USC Medical Center. She witnessed the shooting victims, the drug addicts and the gang members. She wanted to do something that would help.
The first order of business was the removal of hundreds of liquor stores that predominated in south LA. The group also campaigned against sleazy motels that were part of the prostitution problem. Today they have 34 full-time employees and are active in social services.. after school programs and foster care. She made a difference.
The biggest problem for Governor Schwarzenegger is how to cut a deal with the new Speaker. He loves to mix it up in his smoking tent in the patio outside the Governor’s office. She hates cigars.
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NUKES MAKE A COMEBACK
There may still be plenty of passion left on the issue of nuclear power. On Saturday I moderated a panel discussion on the subject at the California Science Center. Former LADWP chief S. David Freeman talked about his days leading the Tennessee Valley Authority and all the sleepless nights worrying about a nuclear meltdown. Cal Berkley nuclear engineer Dr. Per Peterson responded that the reason Freeman couldn’t sleep well is because the TVA was poorly managed back in Freeman’s day. That exchange set the tone for the rest of the discussion. Freeman later arguing that the proponents of nuclear power were “immoral” and that the industry in the United States is “dead”. Dennis Spurgeon of the US Dept. of Energy said that was a “lie”.. that nuclear is one of several non-C02 emmitting energy sources that needed to be looked at.. noting that France had embraced the technology (80% of french power comes from nukes).
I remember the nuclear debate very well. It was during my early years as a news reporter that I covered the licensing of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant adjacent to Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo county. This was the last nuclear plant to be licensed in California. Diablo Canyon, built and operated by Pacific Gas & Electric, has been “on-line” now for 25 years without a problem.. but there are still many issues unreseolved. One of them of course is the disposal of nuclear waste.
Still one wonders if the need to address “global warming” has trumped the anti-nuclear effort. John Edwards was the last candidate for president to oppose investing in a restoration of nuclear power in the United States but his campaign suffered its own meltdown. Clinton, Obama, McCain & Huckabee are all interestedd (the Dems say the only question is if it is “safe”). Even some leading environmentalists argue that whatever the price of nuclear.. the fear of rising sea levels may make it worth the risk. Saturday indicated that there will be a vigerous debate but it thanks to Al Gore it will be much different than the one outside Diable Canyon in 1981.
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