Back in the February budget battle, notorious right-wing SoCal talk show hosts John and Ken put the heads of Republican legislators who voted for the tax increases on sticks as a threat of grassroots wingnut revolt. Their primary enemy became GOP Assemblymember Anthony Adams (AD-59), who they targeted with a recall effort, gathering and submitting signatures to put a recall on the ballot. It was to be the biggest demonstration yet of the power the KFI duo have over California politics - and the Republican Party.

Except they failed.

We learned today that the recall effort will fall 11,000 signatures short of qualifying for the ballot, according to the random sampling projections. John and Ken turned in 58,000 signatures but the sampling projects less than half - about 24,500 - will be valid, short of the 35,825 they needed to make the ballot.

Chalk this up as a pretty big FAIL on the part of John and Ken and their own SoCal version of the teabagger movement. Armed with one of the West Coast's most powerful radio signals and one of the highest rated shows in the region

On Twitter I noted that if they couldn't get the recall on the ballot, maybe John and Ken aren't so powerful after all. Anthony Adams agrees. Once again, the great anti-tax revolution of 2009 is a mouse that failed to roar.

That's what the Correctional Officers are considering, according to Matier and Ross:   Read More »

Cross posted at Calitics

Senator Jeff Denham knows he can't win on his record. He knows that the state's budget is screwed, he was and remains part of the problem and people are smart enough to put it together. And since he can't resist a recall on his actual performance as a legislator, he's left bitching and moaning over ticky-tack stuff that only matters if you're scared of being judged on your merits.

So today, Denham filed two criminal complaints against Senator Don Perata. They object to some pretty innocuous and obscure actions- like a Senate staffer translating a transcript- which, while worth being looked at, have nothing to do with the actual substance of the recall election. It's misdirection, it's obfuscation, and it's a refusal to take responsibility for the crisis that the state is facing. Par for the course these days from the Yacht Party and it's preference for party loyalty over productive governance.

Senator Denham continues to base his entire campaign on the notion that his behavior is no business of anyone outside the district. He complains that Perata shouldn't be involved, outside activists shouldn't be involved, that the eyes of the state have been unjustly turned to his record and district. But when Senator Denham obstructs a workable budget, it isn't just his district that suffers. Kids are losing teachers in every corner of the state because of the budget shortfall that Denham helped create. Vital services are being slashed across California because Denham refuses to deal in fiscal reality instead of partisan obstinacy.

We're all in Jeff Denham's district, and if he's going to whine about it, maybe he should find a different line of work.

Update: Just received a press release (full text below the flip) accusing Denham's campaign of using state email accounts to solicit state employees for campaign purposes. State resources should, it seems, be used to protect his own hide but not to provide basic services to Californians. Presumably the resources in question do not exclusively come from his Senate district. We're all in Jeff Denham's district.   Read More »

It looks like we've finally figured out how to get decent policy out of Senator Jeff Denham. All it took was to directly threaten his own political wellbeing. In response to being targeted for recall, Denham has embarked on a rather elaborate woe-is-me defense campaign, part of which is legislation to reform the signature gathering process. This sort of reform- which would make the law much tougher on out-of-state sig gatherers, might have been quite relevant back when the Dirty Tricksters were bending the law to the breaking point. But Senator Denham waited until his own butt was on the block to suddenly take an interest in the integrity of the signature gathering process. This is a solid bit of legislation, and as the first article notes, Don Perata was one of the aye votes today.

It's just a shame that Denham's personal interests don't appear to coincide more often with the people in his district or the state of California. He ran strong on education to get into office, but once his personal career was better served by toeing the CRP line, he blew that one off. He talks a big game about opposing pay raises, but then he accepts them. That one is obviously the most literal of personal profit trumping good policy. So as Denham's reform of signature gathering works its way towards passage, it's an opportunity to appreciate the potential for good policy. It would just be nice if Senator Denham would do the right thing because it's the right thing once in a while.

Cross posted at Calitics

Jeff Denham's first tv ad is up and running, and it's striking a familiar "how dare you" tone, but mixing in a new bit of "you want me on that wall, you NEED me on that wall." Via Capitol Alert, is the transcript as delivered by former Secretary of State Bill Jones:

The recall was launched against Sen. Jeff Denham for one reason only.

He refused to vote for a budget billions out of balance. But then the non-partisan Legislative Analyst proved him right, forecasting an additional $10 billion in red ink.

Local newspapers label this recall an "Abuse of the ballot box." (The Monterey County Herald 2/17/2008)

-- a "sham." (The Madera Tribune, 3/21/2008)

"Petty politics" (Hollister Freelance 2/19/2008)

And "Unjustified" (Fresno Bee 3/20/2008)

Saying this recall is "Just plain wrong." (Merced Sun-Star 2/11/2008)

I agree. Vote No on the Recall.

At some point between last fall and now, Denham and Republicans forcing their budgetary priorities on the Democratic majority has turned into Republicans standing strong in the face of fiscal irresponsibility. At least in Jeff Denham's head. If Denham really wants to hold himself up as a paragon of budgetary virtue, he might need to answer a few questions. Like why he keeps accepting pay raises even though he proudly/loudly opposes them. He also better start coming up with an actual defense for why he stood in lockstep with his GOP brethren in sacrifice of his (supposed) legislative priorities:   Read More »

Cross posted from Calitics

I have to run but there isn't a lot that needs to be added here. I want you to start by taking these two quotes from today from the Governor

"Now even though I was criticized by Sen. Perata, who said, 'Boy, he should not mind our business. We know exactly what we are doing.' Well, obviously they don't know exactly what they are doing because otherwise we wouldn't have a $14 billion deficit. If everyone knows exactly what they are doing, we wouldn't have the budget mess in 2003 which created the recall election."

and

"Sometimes you see schools protesting out there or sending me letters," Schwarzenegger said. "I'm with them. I wish I could stand there protesting, too. Because we have to protest the budget system. Not this year's budget. The budget system is the failure. That is what has to be corrected as quickly as possible."

Now, try to pick just one direction to run with in those brief words. Will you talk about the Governor throwing stones from his glass budgetary house? Will you talk about how this is the perfect summation to your thesis on how the Governor talks like a moderate reformer but acts like a through-and-through (occasionally insane) fiscal conservative? Will you talk about how productive it usually is when resolving disputes to point fingers and call people names? Will you talk about the absurd, both-sides-of-the-mouth, 'I support education above everything except that it's the first to go' rhetoric?

Those are just a few conversation starters for you. Reflect on them, offer your own, whatever.