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AP source: Rommney picks ryan for running mate -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has picked Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan to be his running mate, according to a Republican with knowledge of the development. KASIE HUNT and STEVE PEOPLES Associated Press -- 8/10/12 What the Ryan pick means for Obama -- The sense among Democrats, including some connected with the Obama campaign, is that Mitt Romney’s decision to pick Paul Ryan as his running mate isn’t exactly a Hail Mary — just a risky throw into tight coverage. Medicare coverage, to be more precise. GLENN THRUSH Politico -- 8/11/12 Analysis: Obama presidency great for stocks. Will it help him? -- Barack Obama often gets slammed for his stewardship of the U.S. economy, but for stock investors, he's been one of the best presidents since World War Two. Jodi Helmer Reuters -- 8/10/12 Podcast: legislatively speaking -- The two year session of the California Legislature is down to its final few weeks, and the wheels are turning on issues from taxes to guns and beyond. John Myers News10 -- 8/10/12 Rising prices mean fewer Californians can afford houses -- Higher home prices offset record-low interest rates and lowered housing affordability throughout California in this year's second quarter, the California Association of Realtors said today. Mark Glover in the Sacramento Bee -- 8/10/12 California State University departments rebel over resident enrollment dilemma -- A matter of conscience is leading some California State University graduate schools to turn away non-California residents -- and the financial windfall they would bring. Matt Krupnick in the San Jose Mercury -- 8/10/12 Here's What Happens To Google Employees When They Die -- It’s no surprise that the employee benefits of Google are among the best in the land—free haircuts, gourmet food, on-site doctors and high-tech “cleansing” toilets are among the most talked-about—but in a rare interview with Chief People Officer Laszlo Bock I discovered that the latest perk for Googlers extends into the afterlife. Meghan Casserly Forbes -- 8/10/12 Wolk criticizes Steinberg for cutting off broadcast of hearing -- State Sen. Lois Wolk, who chairs the Senate Governance and Finance Committee, criticized Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg on Friday for cutting off a cable television broadcast of her committee hearing Wednesday. Dan Walters SacBee Capitol Alert -- 8/10/12 Senate kills live feed of ballot measure hearing -- Rhys Williams, a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, said the Sacramento Democrat's office opted to stop the video feed out of fear that it might become political fodder for both supporters and critics of the ballot initiatives. HANNAH DREIER Associated Press -- 8/10/12 White House Approached Schwarzenegger in 2011 -- Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is getting back into the movie business with a lineup of six film projects–but at one point, things might have gone a very different way. Erica Orden in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 8/10/12 Gasoline tops $4 a gallon in the Bay Area as Chevron refinery fire pushes prices -- Average gasoline prices now top $4 a gallon throughout the Bay Area, according to the latest survey on Friday from the GasBuddy online site, a reminder of the brutal economic impact of the fire that has hobbled Chevron's Richmond refinery. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury -- 8/10/12 California lawmakers reject L.A. County public defender bill -- Amid concerns about conflicts of interest and double-dipping, the state Senate has deadlocked over a customized bill that would allow Los Angeles County to appoint a judge as the public defender. Patrick McGreevy LA Times PolitiCal$ -- 8/10/12 Jerry Brown faces major decision on tribal casino expansion -- Gov. Jerry Brown must make a decision by the end of this month that could have wide-ranging implications for the future of tribal casinos in California. Anthony York LA Times PolitiCal$ -- 8/10/12 Gas tax change may have caused part of parks surplus, analyst says -- There's a new theory about some of the accounting problems at California's parks department, and it's much less scandalous than earlier allegations. Chris Megerian LA Times PolitiCal$ -- 8/10/12 In November tax battle, Molly Munger phones a friend -- Money is one problem Molly Munger does not appear to have in her November tax war with Gov. Jerry Brown. David Siders SacBee Capitol Alert -- 8/10/12 Wildermuth: California Reform Plans Can’t Ignore Politics -- It’s a lot easier to run California if you don’t actually have to run California. Just ask any of the think tanks mavens, good government groups and special interest sorts who typically have all the answers to the state’s problems. John Wildermuth Fox & Hounds -- 8/10/12 Fleischman: Exempting Olympic Medalists From Taxation Is A Bad Idea -- One of the biggest problem with our tax system in America, and here in California, is that it is overly complex and is filled with all kinds of special treatment for one group or another. Jon Fleischman Fox & Hounds -- 8/10/12 Poll watch: Talk of turning point for Obama premature -- After a string of favorable polls for President Obama, some Democrats have begun to talk of a turning point in the race; that's probably premature. David Lauter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/12 Romney advisors dismiss recent polls on eve of swing-state tour -- Mitt Romney will launch a swing-state bus tour Saturday, visiting four states President Obama won four years ago, but the presumptive GOP nominee hopes to swing them his way. Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/12 Mitt Romney's Tax Return Time Bomb -- He's already promised to release his 2011 returns before the election -- a guarantee that the issue will be reopened at an inopportune time. MOLLY BALL The Atlantic -- 8/10/12 Obama Campaign Is Convinced Tim Pawlenty Will Be Romney's VP Pick -- As the frenzy of speculation over whom Mitt Romney will pick as his running mate intensifies, David Axelrod, senior adviser to President Obama’s reelection campaign, predicts that it will be former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. MAJOR GARRETT National Journal -- 8/10/12 New director named for Sac State's Center for California Studies -- The head of higher education for the Legislative Analyst's Office is taking a new job at California State University, Sacramento. Laurel Rosenhall SacBee Capitol Alert -- 8/10/12 Hydropower bills energize environmental debate over dams -- Hydropower dams would get a boost, while their skeptics would get punished, under a controversial new bill backed by Western conservatives in Congress. Michael Doyle McClatchy -- 8/10/12
'Betrayed' lawmakers question California state budget accounting -- In their first examination of state accounting problems, California lawmakers condemned parks officials Thursday for hiding nearly $54 million from budget writers. Kevin Yamamura in the Sacramento Bee -- 8/10/12 Lies, sloppiness alleged at Capitol budget hearing -- It often feels good to vent your anger and frustrations, and so it shouldn't be surprising that assemblymembers wanted to do the same Thursday afternoon on the state parks saga that's fueled questions about all kinds of government accounting practices. John Myers News10 -- 8/10/12 Lawmakers question special funds practices -- Lawmakers called Thursday for greater oversight of state accounts after expressing outrage over revelations that state park officials hid money. HANNAH DREIER Associated Press -- 8/10/12 Finance director says there is no other 'hidden' money in special funds -- A review of California's 560 special funds has found that the $54 million in hidden state parks department funds discovered this summer was an isolated incident, the state's top fiscal officials told legislators Thursday. Timm Herdt in the Ventura Star -- 8/10/12 Walters: Censorship rears its ugly head in California Senate -- Let's not mince words about what the state Senate's Democratic leader did Wednesday. It was self-serving censorship, the sort of thing that one expects from tinpot dictators, not from those who fancy themselves to be progressive civil libertarians. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 8/10/12 Foes win ruling over Prop. 33 ballot words -- Opponents of Proposition 33, which would rewrite California law on auto insurance rates, won a preliminary court skirmish Thursday over ballot language. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 8/10/12 Judge declines to change wording on death penalty measure -- Sacramento Superior Court Judge Timothy M. Frawley issued a tentative ruling today that rejected efforts by death penalty proponents to change the wording on a ballot measure that would repeal capital punishment in California. Andy Furillo SacBee Capitol Alert -- 8/10/12 Challenges to Stockton Could Affect Pensions -- Legal challenges Thursday to Stockton, Calif., from two of its biggest creditors over the city's pension obligations have implications for how cash-strapped municipalities deal with retiree benefits during insolvency. BOBBY WHITE in the Wall Street Journal$ Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee -- 8/10/12 Report: Major cities not prepared for growing retiree health costs -- Most major California cities are failing to address the growing health care costs of government retirees, which have ballooned to more than $1 billion in some areas and soon could threaten municipalities' ability to pay other expenses, according to a recent financial analysis by a nonprofit research group. Corey G. Johnson California Watch -- 8/10/12 5 Graphs That Show How Crazy It Is to Compare California to Greece -- At a campaign stop yesterday in Iowa, Mitt Romney tossed out a laugh line that seemed to neatly sum up the core of conservative fears about our future as a country. "Entrepreneurs and business people around the world and here at home think that at some point America is going to become like Greece or like Spain or Italy," he said, before adding, "or like California -- just kidding about that one, in some ways." JORDAN WEISSMANN The Atlantic -- 8/10/12 Brown dismisses Romney's comment on California economy -- Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday said Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney ought to rethink his comments about California after comparing the state to struggling European nations. AMY TAXIN Associated Press -- 8/10/12 Brown sounds off on political hot-button issues in Torrance stop -- Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday took a few minutes in Torrance to sound off on several hot-button issues, including his tax initiative on the November ballot, pension reform and a recent comment by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Art Marroquin in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 8/10/12 California sues major veterans charity -- California's attorney general has sued a major veterans charity on allegations that its directors misused millions of dollars in private donations for hefty pensions and other perks, including more than $80,000 in golf memberships for its board members. JULIE WATSON Associated Press -- 8/10/12 Chevron response to fire threat probed -- Investigators looking into the fire at the Chevron oil refinery in Richmond suspect that heat insulation around a leaking pipe contributed to the disaster by masking the extent of the danger until it was too late, The Chronicle has learned. Jaxon Van Derbeken in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 8/10/12 Rep. Laura Richardson's House reprimand just one of her problems -- Most observers doubt the congresswoman will be able to overcome long odds in her race against fellow Democrat Janice Hahn for a southern L.A. County seat. Jean Merl in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/12 Nonprofit mapped political path for state Sen. Sam Blakeslee -- Though the state senator has said he plans to leave politics to run a nonprofit, an early blueprint for the organization laid out plans to make him a candidate for statewide office in 2014. Evan Halper and Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/12 Heavy hitters helping Garamendi raise funds -- Rep. John Garamendi, challenged in his bid for re-election by Republican Colusa County Supervisor Kim Vann, apparently feels it’s enough of a race to warrant asking some well-known names to help him raise money. Josh Richman Political Blotter -- 8/10/12 Area labor group asks Williams to explain contribution from Walmart -- The Tri-Counties Central Labor Council, the umbrella group for labor unions on the Central Coast, has demanded a meeting with Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara, asking him to explain why he accepted a $7,800 campaign contribution from Walmart — a company he once fought in a labor-backed campaign to prevent the opening of a store in Ventura. Timm Herdt in the Ventura Star -- 8/10/12 California lawmakers look to scrap state tax on Olympic medals -- Go for the gold, get a ..... tax bill? -- A group of state legislators is looking to prevent that situation from happening in California with new legislation to exempt Golden State Olympians from paying state taxes on their medals and prize money. Torey Van Oot SacBee Capitol Alert Patrick McGreevy LA Times PolitiCal$ -- 8/10/12
San Francisco Fed chief John Williams favors QE3 -- John Williams, president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, said this week that the lack of progress on reducing the unemployment rate and the slow economic recovery have convinced him it's time for the Fed to move ahead with a third round of stimulus known as quantitative easing, or QE3. Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 8/10/12 $1 Gas Tax? One Auto Dealer Says, ‘Yes, Please’ -- Drive to the southeast edge of Los Angeles and you’ll hit miles of gleaming car lots, lined up beside the smoggy 210 freeway. Coral Davenport National Journal -- 8/10/12
California fire fee likely to kindle ire -- Starting Monday, tens of thousands of Bay Area residents and more than 825,000 people statewide will begin receiving bills of $150 or more from the state to help cover the costs of preventing wildfires. Wyatt Buchanan in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 8/10/12
LAUSD chief John Deasy's back-to-school pep talk includes promise to get teachers, students computer tablets -- Setting an ambitious agenda for the new school year, Superintendent John Deasy urged Los Angeles Unified leaders Thursday to continue efforts to boost student achievement, and also vowed to get them the computers needed to get the job done. Barbara Jones in the Los Angeles Daily News Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/12 Do-or-die time for teacher evaluation bill -- After lying dormant for a year, a bill to overhaul the state’s teacher evaluation law will resurface Monday, subject to continuing negotiations over its cost and some disagreements over its content. John Fensterwald EdSource -- 8/10/12 Bill would force creation of standards for transitional kindergarten -- Even as hundreds of California schools prepare to launch transitional kindergarten for the first time this year, a bill awaiting a Senate vote would create standards for what and how the program’s not-quite 5-year olds should be taught. Kimberly Beltran SI&A Cabinet Report -- 8/10/12
Review finds hospital-acquired infections went unreported -- California public health authorities who reviewed 100 hospitals found that the facilities failed to report as many as a third of the infections they should have reported in 2011 under the state's public reporting law. Christina Jewett California Watch -- 8/10/12
Insurance firms lose fight over Stringfellow cleanup -- California's Supreme Court says consecutive insurance policies by various firms required each to pay up to their policy limits for damage caused by Riverside County waste site. Maura Dolan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/10/12 Study: Cleaner cars helping to reduce L.A. pollution -- The Los Angeles area still has some of the nation's dirtiest air, but a study released Thursday concluded cars are belching far fewer pollution-causing fumes. Robert Jablon Associated Press -- 8/10/12
U.S. Not Seeking Goldman Charges -- After a yearlong investigation, the Justice Department said Thursday that it won't bring charges against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. or any of its employees for financial fraud related to the mortgage crisis. REED ALBERGOTTI and ELIZABETH RAPPAPORT in the Wall Street Journal$ PETE YOST Associated Press -- 8/10/12 Retired Contra Costa Sheriff Warren Rupf succumbs to leukemia -- Retired Contra Costa Sheriff Warren Rupf, the county's own larger-than-life Wyatt Earp passed away early Thursday afternoon after a two-month battle with acute myeloid leukemia. He was 69. Lisa Vorderbrueggen in the Contra Costa Times -- 8/10/12
Obama to include Republicans in hard-hitting convention -- Advisers to President Barack Obama are scripting a Democratic National Convention featuring several Republicans in a prime-time appeal to independents — and plan a blistering portrayal of Mitt Romney as a heartless aristocrat who “would devastate the American middle class,” Democratic sources tell POLITICO. MIKE ALLEN Politico -- 8/10/12
Obama, Romney campaigns run provocative ads to draw attention in crowded media landscape -- The anti-Romney ad released this week by Priorities USA has been widely skewered as over-the-top and irresponsible, condemned for insinuating that Mitt Romney is to blame for the death of a woman whose husband lost his job and health insurance after Bain Capital bought his steel mill. Priorities USA is offering no apologies. Nia-Malika Henderson and David Nakamura in the Washington Post -- 8/10/12 Paul Ryan’s Washington lineage could be risk for Mitt Romney -- For all the talk about how the young vice-presidential prospect’s budget blueprint would pose a political risk to Mitt Romney, there’s been little mention about how his resume would so glaringly clash with the message of the GOP nominee-in-waiting. JONATHAN MARTIN Politico -- 8/10/12 Academic goes deep on Colbert -- Stephen Colbert is so profound and influential, apparently, as to warrant a dissertation from a big-time academic. PATRICK GAVIN Politico -- 8/10/12 |
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