Elections

US Attorney General Eric Holder and and Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), have inserted themselves into the debate on Prop 19, arguing that they would not only enforce marijuana laws in California but that the Department of Justice would sue to overturn Proposition 19 should it be approved next month by California voters.

It was a move inspired by the possibility that the measure would pass, although recent polls now show it modestly behind as the election next week rapidly approaches.

It was last June when the voters of California sent a loud and clear message that they would not be fooled by a deceptive ballot measure backed by tens of millions from PG&E in order to help PG&E corner the market on energy, under the guise of democratic protections that in most cases already exist.

Apparently big Texas oil -Texas-based Valero Energy Corporation and Tesoro Corporation along with Kansas-based Koch Industries (Kansas apparently does not generate the same fear as Texas oil) – did not get that memo however, as they sponsored Proposition 23.  This time they sought to use the economy as a wedge to get Californians to suspend the ambitious AB 32, which has stringent requirements for carbon emission reductions.

The Associated Press this morning is reporting on the latest Public Policy Institute of California polling on the California’s Governor’s race.  The PPIC poll, released late yesterday, shows that former Governor Brown now holds an 8-point lead over Meg Whitman,  44 percent to her 36 percent among likely voters.

In addition, they found that Senator Barbara Boxer continues to hold a small lead of five percentage points over her challenger.

The other week Tom Torlakson, who is running for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, really had some thoughtful things to say about education.  One the things he said that stuck in my mind had to do with teachers.

“We owe a lot to teachers.  I’m fed up with the blame game, pointing fingers, blaming teachers, the teachers are the problem,” he said.  “Teachers aren’t the problem, teachers are the solution.”

The US Attorney General has now weighed in, to join local law enforcement in opposing the legalization of marijuana. 

The Justice Department has strongly opposed Proposition 19, and has been pressured by local law enforcement to take a more active stance against the California ballot proposition.

Marijuana legalization has always formed a good nexus for me – tying in my libertarian streak of wanting the government not to involve itself in private lives of individuals (I part ways on economic issues) with my sense of support for fiscal restraint.

A number of years ago, I remember reading an article on Ron Dellums, back before he was Oakland’s Mayor, when he was a powerful figure on Capitol Hill.  He was the defense cutting guru, and in order to make the case for wasted money in defense, he had to become an expert on defense systems.  The reason he chose this area, however, is unusual.  He chose it because he wanted to find money to free up for social programs, which was his priority.

It was not Jerry Brown’s finest moment of the campaign or in the debate, but it is the moment that everyone is talking about, even though it will not do a thing to fix the problems of California.

At issue, an inadvertent recording of a Brown strategy session in which an unidentified person suggests portraying Whitman as a “whore” for creating a loophole in her pension plan to appeal to public safety unions that were endorsing her in the governor’s race.

The good news is that we have a budget.  The bad news is that it is a budget that no one is happy with.  The worst news is that it is a complete and total fraud.

All it does is push tough decisions into the future.  It papers over most of the $19 billion deficit with clever accounting.  It assumes billions from the federal government that will never materialize.  And it relies on loans and numerous bookkeeping maneuvers to defer payments to schools.

As California debates as to whether to legalize marijuana, Govenor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law SB 1449 that will now reduce possession of an ounce or less of marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction, with a maximum punishment of a $100 fine.

Even as a misdemeanor, possession of up to an ounce of pot was still punishable only by a $100 fine and no jail time. But offenders also faced arrest, a possible court appearance and a criminal record.

The debate on Tuesday might have been the only chance Californians will have to look at both candidates for Attorney General, as it was their only scheduled debate.  While Steve Cooley said after the debate he hopes they can schedule another one, perhaps at a law school near San Diego, that decision is out of his hands.

That is a shame because the debate was held during the noon hour, meaning working people could not view the event, and the Office of Attorney General figures to be hugely important as we go forward.  Not only will we have to deal with serious reforms in the legal system, but also go into areas such as environmental law where, traditionally, the AG’s Office has not gone.

California’s Attorney General candidates met for their first and perhaps only debate on Tuesday at the UC Davis Law School.  It was north versus south, liberal versus conservative, as LA District Attorney, Republican Steve Cooley, faced off against San Francisco District Attorney, Democrat Kamala Harris.

Throughout the debate, Steve Cooley would often refuse to take a position on anything, offering instead that he would defend what the voters supported, whereas Kamala Harris argued that the AG is not simply a position that blindly follows the will of the voters, but rather has a leadership role as well.

Assemblymember Tom Torlakson, candidate for the State Superintendent of Public Instruction told a good-sized crowd at the Palm Court Hotel on Monday night in Davis that he is a teacher and therefore fundamentally an optimist, despite the challenging fiscal and economic times.

“I’m asking this question to group after group, why are we here?  Why are you here?  It’s because, despite the double-digit unemployment, despite the horrible foreclosures, despite the cutbacks that are gripping and destructive to education, fundamentally aren’t we all optimists? We’re here because we believe that we can be a force for change, individually linking arms with like-minded citizens, we can turn things around in the right direction.”

The whirlwind continued the past few days as the clock was ticking on the expiration of the lethal injection drugs, set to expire on October 1, with new drugs  not  available until 2011.

There was just a surreal element going on with Jerry Brown pushing for the rush to execute ahead of the Governor’s election, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger moving in the other direction. On Monday the Governor ordered a one-day delay in the execution, giving defense time to file appeals.

While pundits will likely be quick to point out that there were no knockout punches thrown on Tuesday night at the first debate, the debate did offer an at-times refreshing respite from the normal formulaic and scripted candidates’ debate.

The debate also offered the voters somewhat of a clear distinction between the two Governor’s candidates.  Voters will have to choose between the contrasting ideologies of Meg Whitman as the anti-tax conservative, and of Jerry Brown as the candidate who, like it or not, is tied to labor and public employees.

At a time when support for a death penalty is softening, and other states like North Carolina have joined the call for a moratorium on the death penalty, we see Attorney General Jerry Brown pushing hard for the death penalty to resume in California.

In 2006, a federal judge halted executions and ordered prison officials to overhaul lethal injection procedures.  The state adopted new regulations on August 29, 2010 but has not put the matter before US District Judge Jeremy Fogel.

Why doesn’t more law enforcement support the elimination of marijuana laws?  In private, most police officers will acknowledge they do not like marijuana laws.  Some do not like drug laws in general and do not believe that such laws work.

I remember last summer going on police ride-alongs on back-to-back days in Davis and Woodland.  In both cities we encountered someone in the park with marijuana.  In both cases, the police took the marijuana away, gave the individual a warning, but did not write up a citation.  It was explained to me that from the standpoint of law enforcement, possession charges are cumbersome and costly.

Proposition 23 is a contest over nothing less than California’s energy future. As such, it will be hard fought with campaign spending projected to exceed the previous record of $154 million (Public Policy Institute of California  4/10). This proposition would suspend AB 32 until California’s unemployment rate remains at 5.5% or lower for four consecutive quarters. Since 1979, this has happened only three times. Thus, Prop 23 could well confine us to our trajectory of ever increasing environmental pollution.  

AB 32, passed in 2006, designated the California Air Resource Board (CARB) to develop regulations and market mechanisms to reduce California green house gasses (GHG) to 1990 levels, a decrease of 12%. Reductions would begin in 2012 and gradually reach the goal of 12% reduction by 2020.

When PG&E pumped in millions in an attempt to prevent public power from gaining more marketshare into California, the California voters saw through the charade and voted to defeat the measure.  Now they will have a similar challenge this fall with Proposition 23.

In 2006, California moved to the forefront of green policies with AB 32, which not only improved our air quality but it encouraged the growth of profitable green industries.  Contrary to what industry advocates would have you believe, there is nothing anti-economic about environmental policies.