Prop 93: Power Play, Not Reform

If there is no other issue you follow during this election cycle, pay attention to Prop 93. The following is an excellent Editorial from the San Diego Union Tribune outlining the sneaky Proposition and it's sleazy backers, Fabian Nunez and Don Perata.
Here's why you must vote NO on Prop 93:
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It's a self-serving power play, not reform

November 28, 2007

This editorial page has long viewed term limits as a populist stunt. The claim that term limits would reduce the clout of special interests and bring fresh blood and fresh thinking into politics has not been borne out over the past two decades.
Nevertheless, we strongly oppose Proposition 93, the highest-profile measure on the February presidential primary ballot. It would loosen California's term-limits law by allowing lawmakers to serve 12 years total in either the Assembly or the Senate. They now are allowed to serve a maximum of six years in the Assembly and eight in the Senate.
This change is not an inherently bad idea. But everything else about the initiative stinks of expedience.
Consider Proposition 93's origins. Assembly Speaker Fabian NÚñez and Senate President Don Perata built early support for the measure by vowing to pair it with a redistricting initiative that would end the severe gerrymandering that makes it all but impossible to defeat a legislative incumbent, however shady or ineffective.
Instead, NÚñez and Perata once again went back on promises to back redistricting reform and worked to put the term-limits measure on the ballot by itself.
Consider the base motives driving the initiative. NÚñez, Perata and 40 other lawmakers will be termed out and lose their jobs in a year unless it passes.
The Legislature ostensibly added a third 2008 statewide election on Feb. 5 so Californians could have extra influence on the presidential race. Don't believe it. The real reason was so that Proposition 93 could pass and thus allow these 42 lucky incumbents to run again in the June 3 legislative primaries.
Consider the dishonest way the initiative is being marketed. Its ballot title is misleading in the extreme – “Limits on Legislators' Terms in Office.” So is the ballot description, which offers no context to help voters understand how the measure benefits a select club of 42 career politicians. (Thanks a lot, Attorney General Jerry Brown, who approved the wording.)
The deception continues with Proposition 93's Internet campaign, which declares it would immediately improve the Legislature – even though its sole immediate effect is to keep the same bickering, ineffective pols on the job.
The only good thing about Proposition 93 is that its brazenness will further bury the myth that NÚñez, Perata and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have ushered in a new and enlightened era. The initiative reflects the same sort of shabby power politics that have long been the Sacramento norm.
Thankfully, voters are lukewarm about the measure. Even before the inevitable TV ad campaign points out 93's self-serving nature, a fall Field Poll showed it had less than majority support.
Now it's time for Schwarzenegger to follow through on statements that he would only back term-limits changes if they were paired with a redistricting fix. The governor should use his popularity and actively campaign to put Proposition 93 where it belongs: the scrap heap. Well, governor?

Governor Fabian?

From Jon Fleischman at The Flash Report:

"In some of the more - uh - interesting political analysis seen in a long time, Fabian Nunez's communications guru Steve Maviglio is promoting the embattled Assembly Speaker for Governor of California. In a blog post that Steve wrote for the The California Majority Report, he lists Nunez, his boss, as #8 on the list of Top Ten Democratic potential candidates for Governor in 2010. Incredibly, Nunez's gubernatorial prospects have improved since the blog's previous assessment of would-be Governors when the Speaker was ranked Number 10. Now that's what we call spin. Talk about failing upward. Since Maviglio's last handicapping of Nunez' odds at being the next Governor of California, a few things have taken place...
Nunez is under investigation by the FPPC for personal use of campaign funds, failure to adequately disclose campaign expenditures and the use of his campaign account to finance international travel and luxury goods.
It has been revealed that Nunez personally benefits financially from special interest money thanks to his wife's six-figure salary from a foundation financed by interests with business before the Legislature. (There is no way that Nunez could afford his expensive Sacramento home without his wife's income)
The press has reported the Speaker also pays a bargain rent to live with his professional fundraiser (who's received a whopping $600,000 from Nunez in recent years) in a luxury loft when he's in LA.
Nunez also funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars from special interests with business before the Legislature - and who had already contributed the maximum allowed to the Speaker's campaign accounts - to a non-profit foundation suspended by the state and legally which should not have been operating but which explicitly promoted Nunez politically in his Assembly district. (Imagine - curry favor with the Speaker, and get a write-off!) The litany of Nunez scandals is one way to boost name identification - and it has worked rather dramatically. Perhaps the Majority Report has a point. In a June 2007 survey by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), Nunez only had 11% name ID among likely California voters. Recent private polling which I have seen has shown that in the last six months the Speaker has quadrupled his name ID. The only problem is that Nunez's name ID is now almost 2 to 1 negative!The glory-seeking Nunez has always wanted to surpass the fame and accomplishments of previous Assembly Speakers Jesse Unruh and Willie Brown and he's finally succeed in at least one respect - the same polling shows Nunez's negative ratings are dramatically higher than even those of the legendary Willie Brown among California's electorate. That's one heck of a campaign platform - to loosen term limits and pass Prop. 93 - much less run for Governor.I heard from a reliable source over the weekend that the back-room politicking is going on to decide what the Assembly leadership will look like come February, after a termed-out Fabian Nunez is forced to accept being a lame duck. Nice. "


And this would not be complete without reading Steve Maviglio's comment to John Fleishman - this is getting good:

"Jon, maybe you should spend a little more time trying to figure out how to get the CRP out of its massive debt instead of writing fact-deprived missives on the Speaker. I'm not promoting the Speaker for Governor. The ratings are independent of my job. And the main reason he moved up is that the list has shrunk from 15 potentials to 10. Also, I provided full disclosure about that, something I recommend you do since you appear to be bankrolled by the anti-Prop 93 big bucks.Allow me to correct you on some other items:1. The FPPC is randomly auditing the Speaker, along with 29 other legislators. A quick peek at FPPC Chairman Ross Johnson's filings on similar expenses while he served in the Senate show the same (or less) transparency.2. The rent on the apartment is market rate, with an agreement drawn up by an election lawyer to insure transparency. You might want to check with some of your GOP legislators (some of whom have their WIVES as fundraisers) about the office space they share with their fundraisers before you throw that stone in your glass house. (BTW, it's not a "luxury loft." It's a 1,000 sq. ft. apartment in a five-story building.)3. The Speaker didn't funnel any money to a "foundation." It was a nonprofit charity, which gave toys to kids and scholarships. Contrast that with some of the "behests" by Republican legislators (now available on the FPPC website) or the LA Times story on Bill Leonard and Barbara Alby.4. The Speaker's wive's job is not policy related and was earned based on her experience as a nurse. The primary funder is the California Hospital Association -- which does NOT support the Speaker's bill.5. The Speaker's accomplishments -- co-authoring the nation's first global warming bill, raising the minimum wage, passing billions in infrastructure bonds that you opposed but are now being embraced by Republicans in the legislature -- far outweigh a week of bad press. It would interesting for you to cite the polls you're talking about, since the public polls show no such negative ID.5. Prop 93 enjoys a double-digit lead in the polls, including widespread support among Republicans. The initiative REDUCES the number of years in office, hence strengthening term limits.And since we're on the subject of ethics ...Maybe you can take a pledge not to accept any advertising dollars from the anti-term limits reform group to ensure that your readers don't see any conflict of interest in your numerous columns on the subject? Wadda you say?
Posted by Steven Maviglio, Deputy Chief of Staff, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez at November 26, 2007 10:12am"
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Have You Had Your Moral Fiber Today?

This is a column I wrote from The Sacramento Union. My Publisher and Editor had asked me to write about my son's path the the Naval Academy.

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I just returned home from a trip east to visit my son Morgan, at the United States Naval Academy where he is a Midshipman. My husband and I dropped him off at the USNA in June just after high school graduation. We have seen him only once since then.

Morgan has always been a person of impressive character, often surprising his parents when we expected him to act his age. His moral fiber has always been evident. And now, after only five months at the USNA, I am witnessing his grit, and his firmness of purpose.

The path to the USNA was tedious. The many levels of applications, resumes, transcripts, interviews, letters validating his performance and reference from teachers and coaches, medical exams, physical aptitude test, and more interviews, took time and patience. He did the hard work; I was his Navigator. The hard work paid off when Morgan was nominated for an appointment by Congresswoman Doris Matsui, and then awarded an appointment and a scholarship worth $300,000. At the end of four years, he will have earned a B.S. and be commissioned as an officer. The minimum service requirement after graduating the Naval Academy is five years in the Navy.

We were just at the Naval Academy during Veteran’s Day weekend. Ripe with history, the USNA has been located in Annapolis, MD since 1845 located on the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay. The United States Navy was born during the Revolution when the need for our own Naval Force to match the British Royal Navy became clear. The Naval Academy started with only 50 Midshipmen in 1845, and today is home to a Brigade of 4,000 Midshipmen. (“Midshipmen” refers to their rank)

John Paul Jones, the “Father of the American Navy,” is interred in a breathtakingly beautiful crypt below the chapel at the USNA. Famous flags of the U.S. Navy and captured flags from enemy ships are displayed throughout the academy. The most famous, perhaps, is the "Don't Give Up the Ship" flag at the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813; it bears the dying words of Captain James Lawrence of the USS Chesapeake. It is displayed in Bancroft Hall, the residence hall of all 4,000 Midshipmen.

The west coast isn’t exactly steeped in military tradition the way the east is. I have been asked repreatedly why my son wanted to attend the Naval Academy, where there is very little personal time, leave only during Thanksgiving, Christmas and Spring, extensive weekly military training, stringent academic requirements, with a future in the Navy? Not exactly the recipe for fun college party life…

The answer is Moral fiber.

From Plebe Summer through graduation, the Naval Academy's Officer Development Program is a four-year integrated continuum that focuses on the attributes of integrity, honor, and mutual respect. One of the goals of this program is to develop midshipmen who possess a clearer sense of their own moral beliefs and the ability to articulate them.

The USNA focuses heavily on Moral and Ethical development, integrity, honor, and mutual respect based on the moral values of respect for human dignity, respect for honesty and respect for the property of others. Strength of character, firmness of purpose, resolution and toughness of spirit are the goals. Most Midshipmen possess these characteristics going in, but are young, inexperienced, and only babies at 18 years of age. But in their limited worlds, they have been leaders, not followers. They desire to be around men and women who are greater than they.

Am I proud of my son? That obvious, hmmm? But more importantly, I am proud of who he has become in only 18 years, and am very excited to see who and what he becomes when the fruition of his own moral fiber melds together with Naval Academy training.

The best of the best is yet to come. Thankfully, there are 4,000 Midshipmen working toward being the best for America. They are giving themselves to their country, and desire only to become finer, greater patriots, people, Americans. The United States Naval Academy means Honor, Courage, Commitment.

A kid from Sacramento, graduate of C.K. McClatchy High School, chose the United States Naval Academy for college. That speaks volumes for our community.

More on "NO on Prop 93"

Okay, time to get back to politics.

The NO on Prop 93 campaign is heating up. Since the announcement that CA Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has joined the campaign and donated $1.5 million of his own, I see defeat. Cheating politicians Fabian Nunez and Don Perata will go down in flames.

read on...

Populist rising
By Chris Weinkopf, Editorial Page Editor
LA Daily News
11/10/2007

California's next action hero

A few weeks back, there was some speculation that California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner - who hopes to succeed Schwarzenegger as governor - was looking for a campaign issue to create some buzz and excitement about himself. Back then, the thought was that he would try to increase access to auto insurance - a bad idea, because it would have inevitably touched the political third rail of immigration.

But in the meantime, Poizner has come up with a far better cause. Rather than craft a popular ballot proposition that excites voters, he's decided to fight an unpopular one that should enrage them.

Poizner has agreed to head up the campaign to stop Proposition 93 - the anti-term limits initiative that state legislators crafted in a desperate attempt to remain in power. He's also putting an initial $1.5 million of his own money - and perhaps more as the campaign winds on - to defeat Fabian Nu ez and Don Perata's job-protection scheme.

This is huge.
Sacramento has carefully labored to disguise Proposition 93's true purpose. Dishonest ballot language makes the measure look like it would strengthen term limits, when it would really undermine them. Nu ez and Perata must have figured this would be easy. All they had to do was sow confusion through an expensive ad campaign - expecting to face a nominal, penniless opposition - and, voila, they would get to keep their offices for a few more years.
Now their victory is far from assured.

If Poizner pours enough money into the "no" campaign, he'll be able to expose Proposition 93 for what it is. And the more the public knows about this measure, the more it's likely to oppose it.

Already, the failure of the Legislature to accomplish much of anything this year has soured voters to 93 - as has news about Nu ez's lavish lifestyle, shady political relationships and sketchy "charitable" endeavors. According to the latest Field Poll, support for Proposition 93 has dropped 10 points since August, falling below the majority necessary to win approval.

Give Poizner credit: He's shrewd, choosing just the right issue at just the right time, with high prospects for victory.

He's also gutsy. By taking on Proposition 93, he makes himself persona non grata among all his peers in Sacramento. (Schwarzenegger, by contrast, has diplomatically yet to offer any position on the initiative.)

But isn't that what being a populist is all about - standing strong against a self-serving establishment in support of the people?

Here's what Poizner has to say about the pro-93 camp: "Instead of focusing on the issues Californians care about, like education, health care, jobs and the economy, these politicians are more concerned with protecting their political backsides."

Take that, Fabian and Don! Steve Poizner is about to become a California populist hero - at the expense of your political careers.

and from the horse's mouth...

California Focus: Term-limits reform measure a sham
Ballot initiative would actually extend the power of top legislative leaders

by STEVE POIZNER

Accountability in government. The will of the people. Honesty in elections. These core principles, no matter how often they are debated, form the foundation of American politics and represent core values shared by all of us regardless of party.
But every one of these principles is under attack in the form of Proposition 93, an initiative on the Feb. 5 statewide ballot. Prop. 93 is one of the most deceptive and dishonest measures that Californians have been asked to vote on in many years. It's a sham proposal to weaken term-limits, masquerading as an effort to "reform" and strengthen them.
Put simply, Prop. 93 is a trick. It is intentionally designed to fool the people into thinking they are voting to reduce terms for state legislators when, in fact, it contains a special loophole to give 42 termed-out incumbent politicians more time in office. In fact, it will dramatically increase terms for 80 percent of California's legislators. Prop. 93 doubles the number of years a politician can serve in the Assembly from six to 12 years and increases Senate terms by 50 percent - from a total of eight years to 12 years.
You won't be surprised to learn that Prop. 93 is written by career politicians for the benefit of career politicians, and funded by millions of dollars from special interests with business before the Legislature.
The entire strategy behind the Yes on Prop. 93 campaign is smoke and mirrors. The politicians and special interests working to pass Prop. 93 are counting on voters never learning the facts about the initiative's real impact because they know they could never win an honest vote to weaken term limits.
That's why I've decided to lead the opposition to Prop. 93 and work to ensure that Californians know the truth about this scam initiative.
Term limits serve as a check on the powerful. They force career politicians to relinquish power and create a chance for new people, hopefully with innovative ideas, to be elected to public office. They help open up the process and create opportunities for more women and minorities to run and be elected.
Term limits also provide the only real accountability we currently have on legislative politicians. The legislators have gerrymandered their own districts so completely that it's virtually impossible for an incumbent to lose or for a legislative seat to switch parties.
The numbers tell the story. Of the 459 elections for Assembly, state Senate and Congress since the gerrymander of California's legislative districts following the 2000 Census, only a single seat changed partisan hands. In those same 459 elections, only a single incumbent lost.
Today, about the only way politicians ever leave office in California is when they're termed out, thanks to our existing term-limits law.
To add insult to injury, the legislative leaders behind Prop. 93 promised they would pass meaningful redistricting reform and promote reform of term limits and California's redistricting process as a package to gain support for their effort to stay in office longer. But they didn't.
If Prop. 93 passes it would remove a check on powerful politicians. It's also likely to permanently kill any hopes for really reforming the way the state's legislative districts are drawn every 10 years. If politicians and special interests get what they want by extending their terms and staying in office there will be no incentive in Sacramento to ever reform redistricting. They'll be even more powerful than they are now and better positioned to defeat any citizen-sponsored initiative to make our legislative districts fair.
These legislative leaders have prioritized extending their terms in office over improving California's water policy, improving health care or reforming redistricting. The cynical career politicians behind Prop. 93 do not deserve to be rewarded with more time in office - or with your vote Feb. 5 for this bogus ballot measure.
Please join me in supporting our current term limits law by voting No on Prop. 93.

Hard to argue with logic this good.

USNA Visit

He's doing great!

We had a wonderful visit and spent time on the yard at the USNA on Veteran's Day. Humbling. Beautiful. Historic.

Gone to the USNA

I am off to visit my Plebe at the USNA. Be back next week.

this is a recent photo of my darling Plebe and friends, in dress uniform after an evening event, enjoying cigars.

Go Navy! Beat Army!

Cosby's Message

The following is the transcript from a speech Bill Cosby recently gave.
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"They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: Why you ain't, Where you is, What he drive, Where he stay, Where he work, Who you be... ?

And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.

In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.
People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around.

The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal.

These people are not parenting.

They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what ? ?
And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.

I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit.
Where were you when he was 2 ? ?
Where were you when he was 12 ? ?
Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol ? ?

And where is the father ? ? Or who is his father ?

People putting their clothes on backward: Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong?

People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something ?

Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up ?

Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body? What part of Africa did this come from?? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa . With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail.

Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back.

People used to be ashamed.

Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands' -- or men or whatever you call them now.

We have millionaire football players who cannot read.

We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs.

We, as black folks have to do a better job.

Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us.

We have to start holding each other to a higher standard.

We cannot blame the white people any longer."

Dr. William Henry " Bill " Cosby, Jr., Ed.D.
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I don't agree with Bill Cosby's politics, but I do agree with this message. It's an epidemic.

Fabian Nunez, The Lying Liar

Fatuous Fabian Nunez proves that he's slimier than we thought:

From No on Prop 93:
It's official. Fabian Nunez is the most ethically-challenged, arrogant and controversial California Assembly Speaker since Willie Brown. The latest evidence comes courtesy of the Los Angeles Times and Sacramento Bee. Nunez has apparently again violated the law - this time both state and federal law. In fact, Nunez's violations put him in hot water with the Internal Revenue Service.

The same interests groups Nunez has shaken down for contributions to his non-profit foundation have also been pressured into giving to Proposition 93, Nunez's cynical effort to stay in office by tricking the voters to loosen term limits. The abuses of power keep adding up. One has to wonder what other Nunez scandals will be uncovered next.

Nuñez used a charity to funnel donations
Donors with business in Sacramento gave nearly $300,000 to his events.

By Nancy Vogel and Evan HalperLos Angeles Times Staff Writers

November 2, 2007
SACRAMENTO - Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez used a small charity as a conduit to funnel almost $300,000 from companies and organizations with business in the Capitol to events that helped him politically.By giving to the charity, the donors whom Nuñez solicited earned tax deductions for which they would not have qualified had they given directly to Nuñez's campaign accounts. They were also able to donate more than the $7,200 maximum allowed under California's campaign fundraising rules.Those donors include Zenith Insurance Co., AT&T, Verizon Communications Inc., the California Hospital Assn., the state prison guards union, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Blue Cross of California -- all groups with high stakes in legislation.The money was used for events including "Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez's Toy Drive," "Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez's Soccerfest 2006," "Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez's Inaugural Legislative Youth Conference" and airplane flights for 50 children from Nuñez's district for "Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez's Sacramento Student Summit," according to state documents.That arrangement may have violated federal tax laws, according to experts. The Internal Revenue Service has a strict policy against charities serving as a pass-through for funds.In addition, experts say, a plan under which a politician solicits a donation to a charity and then directs how it can be used may violate state ethics rules."It raises the question of whether these donors are making a contribution to a charity or simply currying favor with a politician -- and getting a tax deduction for it," said Jack Siegel, a lawyer and accountant who advises nonprofits nationwide through his Chicago firm, Charity Governance Consulting.

Link to full article
and another article

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The dishonesty, the desperation and reprehensible actions of Fabian Nunez are finally being highlighted. Spread the word. Help make sure he is not allowed to continue to manipulate California politics. Boot his slimy butt out!

And make sure you vote NO on Nunez's bogus Prop 93.