Traditional, non-former actor Republicans having a decent shot at the state’s highest office? Republicans tearing each other to shreds? Jerry Brown back as governor? Welcome to the 2010 California gubernatorial race!
“The reality is, we have to live within our means.” Which fiscally conservative luminary would you guess made that statement this week? The answer is Gavin Newsom. Yes, the very same Gavin Newsom who currently serves as the Democratic mayor of the liberal bastion known as San Francisco.
On March 2, Governor Schwarzenegger spoke in Palm Springs to highlight his jobs package and encourage taxpayers to support a new measure that would exempt from the yoke of the sales tax, companies which work to produce cleaner technology through such mediums as the windmill and biomass harvesting.
While some cheer for the quick and painful erosion of mindless campaign finance regulations, others rue the day the funding restrictions were ever questioned. Those who appear to be shouting the loudest also tend to be those who quickly point to “big business” as the root of all evil. San Diego and Los Angeles are currently hot spots of campaign finance reform/free speech decisions,
John McCain has taken issue with it. Russ Feingold lent his name to it. Nary a day goes by without someone taking issue with it. What on earth is the “it” alluded to? Campaign contributions, of course!
Why is it that state politicians can’t seem to understand that water is a necessity, and not a game? US Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) recently decided to take up the clarion call of water for needy Central Valley farmers, in a proposal attached to the AgJOBS bill currently in the Senate.
It’s been a successful week for supporters of cannabis taxation: the recent news of strong support for an initiative (09-0024, or the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010) to tax and regulate marijuana has spread quickly.
The old animosity between the governor and state representatives was on full display again over the nomination and confirmation of Santa Maria Republican State Senate representative Abel Maldonado to the post of Lieutenant Governor.
Extra taxes on such goods as alcohol and tobacco are sometimes referred to as “sin taxes,” since, as the name suggests, they are seen as vices. When buying a loaf of bread at the market, you may have noticed that you will not be charged an additional tax, whereas if you go to buy a bottle of wine or a pack of cigarettes, you will incur that charge.
