Governor's Race News Update
California Democratic Party: "Arnold Refuses to Follow the Laws He’s Supposed to Enforce
President Bush and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have many things in common: both are beholden to Big Money interests, both aggressively pursue an extreme right-wing agenda, and now, according to published reports last week, both are showing a willingness to ignore major laws. In President Bush’s case, he has ignored more than 750 federal laws. In Schwarzenegger’s case, the governor is ignoring both campaign finance and civil rights laws. The stories are as disgusting as they are shocking in that California’s chief executive is displaying a frightening lack of respect for the very laws he’s supposed to be enforcing.
Arnold Fined For Hiding Enormous Sums Of Special-Interest Cash. The Los Angeles Times reported last week that “Schwarzenegger's campaign has agreed to pay a $202,200 penalty for failing to properly report more than $25 million in campaign donations during the special election last year.” Under California law, “campaigns must publicly disclose donations they receive and money they spend — in some cases within 24 hours of the transaction.” These disclosure provisions are “the bedrock of California's finance law, allowing the public to see the money behind political campaigns.” Yet, in documents released last week, the California Fair Political Practices Commission found “that Schwarzenegger's California Recovery Team, created to advance the governor's causes, failed to report in a timely way millions of dollars in donations that were used to buy TV advertising pushing four initiatives on the November ballot.” In all, the commission “found 143 delinquent reports on $25.6 million in expenditures” – a brazen disregard of California law.
Arnold Ignored The Law Despite Court Claim. The Times notes that Schwarzenegger “was sued during the special election to force him to disclose the donations within 24 hours, but election day came and went before the courts decided the matter.” Schwarzenegger nonetheless refused to follow the letter of the law. Ned Wigglesworth, a campaign finance expert with TheRestOfUs.org, a Sacramento nonprofit, said that meant for a time voters “were deprived of some of the information they should have had" about the governor's donors.
Arnold Has A History Of Ignoring California Law For His Own Benefit. The latest sanction against Schwarzenegger for breaking California law is only one of many such sanctions exposing a governor wholly uninterested in following the statutes he himself is supposed to be enforcing. The Times points out that “in 2004, a Superior Court judge ordered Schwarzenegger to repay a $4.5 million loan he illegally used to finance his recall campaign.” Similarly, last year, “a committee supporting Proposition 77, the governor's redistricting overhaul, was forced to return $1.75 million to Schwarzenegger because it exceeded state limits.”
Size Of Fine Shows Just How Serious The Charges Were. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the nonpartisan Alliance for a Better California filed the suit, and originally “sought $25 million in penalties -- the amount of the improperly reported expenditures.” But the commission instead has agreed to impose a $1,400 administrative fine for each violation – a smaller amount, but still a major fine. “We're happy the FPPC is holding the governor and the CRT accountable for violating campaign laws,” said Robin Swanson, spokeswoman for the Alliance for a Better California. “Voters deserve to know where the money is coming from to finance campaigns. It's a stiff penalty that says it's not OK to play shell games with campaign money.”
Report Raises New Legal Questions For Arnold. Stories exposing Schwarzenegger’s disregard of campaign finance laws was only the latest example of the governor’s reckless behavior. The Los Angeles Times reports that “Schwarzenegger's office in charge of protecting California against terrorism has tracked demonstrations staged by political and antiwar groups, a practice that senior law enforcement officials say is an abuse of civil liberties.” The Times “obtained reports prepared for the state Office of Homeland Security in recent months that contain details on the whereabouts and purpose of a number of political demonstrations throughout California.” A spokesman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D)said: "When people exercise their 1st Amendment rights to rally, march and protest, they should not have to worry that intelligence officials are watching them or their activities are in any way being painted with the terrorism brush. That kind of conduct by anti-terrorism intelligence agencies threatens civil liberties, runs counter to our values and violates this office's policy regarding criminal intelligence gathering.”" (source)
Arnold Schwarzenegger
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's top campaign adviser is being paid to provide marketing strategy to AT&T Inc. at a time when the governor's office is involved with legislation that could be worth billions of dollars to the telecommunications giant, according to a published report." (source)
AP: Report: Schwarzenegger adviser also working for AT&T (source)
Scripps: Are Schwarzenegger, casino tribes getting cozy? (source)
Calitics: Schwarzenegger reaffirms support for Minutemen vigilantes (source)
AP: Little risk to Schwarzenegger of blackouts, thanks to Gray Davis (source)
Huffington Post: Schwarzenegger Won't Take the Soap -- Clean Money Elections Prop 89 (source)
Mercury News: Protesters line path to governor's fundraiser (source)
Phil Angelides
"In the public and private sector, Angelides has always been at the forefront of environmental leadership. As a successful businessman prior to being elected State Treasurer, Angelides was a smart growth pioneer, planning and building the community of Laguna West, near Sacramento, which was featured in the national media as a model of a livable, walkable, environmentally sustainable community. As Treasurer, Angelides launched the Green Wave initiative which has led California's pension funds to invest $1.5 billion in renewable energy and environmental technologies and to push corporations to combat global warming. He has also created innovative programs and policies to curb sprawl, clean-up toxic contamination, promote sustainable development practices, and encourage the development of fuel efficient vehicles. During the course of this campaign, Angelides has released detailed environmental proposals – Clean California and Coast Guard – to reduce oil consumption and protect the coast." (source)
Calitics: CA-Gov: Rasmussen has Angelides with a small lead (source)
ABC: Westly Stands Beside Phil Angelides - Sen. Hillary Clinton Supports Angelides (source)
California Progress Report: Why Sierra Club Endorses Phil Angelides for Governor (source)
With Gas Prices Reaching Record Highs, Angelides Calls for Protection from Big Oil Price Gouging, Urges Passage of Prop 87 for Investment of Alternative Energy (source)
Angelides Vows Immediate, Tough Action As Governor To Fix Schwarzenegger's Prison Mess (source)
President Bush and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have many things in common: both are beholden to Big Money interests, both aggressively pursue an extreme right-wing agenda, and now, according to published reports last week, both are showing a willingness to ignore major laws. In President Bush’s case, he has ignored more than 750 federal laws. In Schwarzenegger’s case, the governor is ignoring both campaign finance and civil rights laws. The stories are as disgusting as they are shocking in that California’s chief executive is displaying a frightening lack of respect for the very laws he’s supposed to be enforcing.
Arnold Fined For Hiding Enormous Sums Of Special-Interest Cash. The Los Angeles Times reported last week that “Schwarzenegger's campaign has agreed to pay a $202,200 penalty for failing to properly report more than $25 million in campaign donations during the special election last year.” Under California law, “campaigns must publicly disclose donations they receive and money they spend — in some cases within 24 hours of the transaction.” These disclosure provisions are “the bedrock of California's finance law, allowing the public to see the money behind political campaigns.” Yet, in documents released last week, the California Fair Political Practices Commission found “that Schwarzenegger's California Recovery Team, created to advance the governor's causes, failed to report in a timely way millions of dollars in donations that were used to buy TV advertising pushing four initiatives on the November ballot.” In all, the commission “found 143 delinquent reports on $25.6 million in expenditures” – a brazen disregard of California law.
Arnold Ignored The Law Despite Court Claim. The Times notes that Schwarzenegger “was sued during the special election to force him to disclose the donations within 24 hours, but election day came and went before the courts decided the matter.” Schwarzenegger nonetheless refused to follow the letter of the law. Ned Wigglesworth, a campaign finance expert with TheRestOfUs.org, a Sacramento nonprofit, said that meant for a time voters “were deprived of some of the information they should have had" about the governor's donors.
Arnold Has A History Of Ignoring California Law For His Own Benefit. The latest sanction against Schwarzenegger for breaking California law is only one of many such sanctions exposing a governor wholly uninterested in following the statutes he himself is supposed to be enforcing. The Times points out that “in 2004, a Superior Court judge ordered Schwarzenegger to repay a $4.5 million loan he illegally used to finance his recall campaign.” Similarly, last year, “a committee supporting Proposition 77, the governor's redistricting overhaul, was forced to return $1.75 million to Schwarzenegger because it exceeded state limits.”
Size Of Fine Shows Just How Serious The Charges Were. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the nonpartisan Alliance for a Better California filed the suit, and originally “sought $25 million in penalties -- the amount of the improperly reported expenditures.” But the commission instead has agreed to impose a $1,400 administrative fine for each violation – a smaller amount, but still a major fine. “We're happy the FPPC is holding the governor and the CRT accountable for violating campaign laws,” said Robin Swanson, spokeswoman for the Alliance for a Better California. “Voters deserve to know where the money is coming from to finance campaigns. It's a stiff penalty that says it's not OK to play shell games with campaign money.”
Report Raises New Legal Questions For Arnold. Stories exposing Schwarzenegger’s disregard of campaign finance laws was only the latest example of the governor’s reckless behavior. The Los Angeles Times reports that “Schwarzenegger's office in charge of protecting California against terrorism has tracked demonstrations staged by political and antiwar groups, a practice that senior law enforcement officials say is an abuse of civil liberties.” The Times “obtained reports prepared for the state Office of Homeland Security in recent months that contain details on the whereabouts and purpose of a number of political demonstrations throughout California.” A spokesman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D)said: "When people exercise their 1st Amendment rights to rally, march and protest, they should not have to worry that intelligence officials are watching them or their activities are in any way being painted with the terrorism brush. That kind of conduct by anti-terrorism intelligence agencies threatens civil liberties, runs counter to our values and violates this office's policy regarding criminal intelligence gathering.”" (source)
Arnold Schwarzenegger
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's top campaign adviser is being paid to provide marketing strategy to AT&T Inc. at a time when the governor's office is involved with legislation that could be worth billions of dollars to the telecommunications giant, according to a published report." (source)
AP: Report: Schwarzenegger adviser also working for AT&T (source)
Scripps: Are Schwarzenegger, casino tribes getting cozy? (source)
Calitics: Schwarzenegger reaffirms support for Minutemen vigilantes (source)
AP: Little risk to Schwarzenegger of blackouts, thanks to Gray Davis (source)
Huffington Post: Schwarzenegger Won't Take the Soap -- Clean Money Elections Prop 89 (source)
Mercury News: Protesters line path to governor's fundraiser (source)
Phil Angelides
"In the public and private sector, Angelides has always been at the forefront of environmental leadership. As a successful businessman prior to being elected State Treasurer, Angelides was a smart growth pioneer, planning and building the community of Laguna West, near Sacramento, which was featured in the national media as a model of a livable, walkable, environmentally sustainable community. As Treasurer, Angelides launched the Green Wave initiative which has led California's pension funds to invest $1.5 billion in renewable energy and environmental technologies and to push corporations to combat global warming. He has also created innovative programs and policies to curb sprawl, clean-up toxic contamination, promote sustainable development practices, and encourage the development of fuel efficient vehicles. During the course of this campaign, Angelides has released detailed environmental proposals – Clean California and Coast Guard – to reduce oil consumption and protect the coast." (source)
Calitics: CA-Gov: Rasmussen has Angelides with a small lead (source)
ABC: Westly Stands Beside Phil Angelides - Sen. Hillary Clinton Supports Angelides (source)
California Progress Report: Why Sierra Club Endorses Phil Angelides for Governor (source)
With Gas Prices Reaching Record Highs, Angelides Calls for Protection from Big Oil Price Gouging, Urges Passage of Prop 87 for Investment of Alternative Energy (source)
Angelides Vows Immediate, Tough Action As Governor To Fix Schwarzenegger's Prison Mess (source)
posted by progressivedem11 at 7:23 PM
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