Recently in politics Category

El Monte cops say longer response times, less cops on the street and higher crime will be the end result of proposed budget cuts. They took their message to City Hall Tuesday night in hopes of impressing the City Council that no matter how cash poor the city might be it still needs its police force.

Here's Bethania Palma's story:

City officials have warned the police department that 14 to 17 officers could be laid off in an effort to manage a ballooning budget deficit. POA officials said Tuesday they hoped President Barack Obama's signing of the stimulus bill and the possible pending resolution of the state budget could help resolve the need for such lay-offs.

"It's going to kill the police department and it's a slap in the face to the people that live and work here," said El Monte police Detective Eric Walterscheid, the association's vice president. "It's going to disrupt the department's ability to protect the city."

Some said losing more than a dozen officers could jeopardize public safety and result in a longer wait before help arrives in some types of calls

I've come up with a solution to the state budget crisis.

It's simple really and it's a practice that's been in place for centuries.

Make the state Legislature do what the Jesuits do, take three vows in addition to the oath of office.

Here they are:

A vow of chastity.

A vow of poverty.

A vow of obedience.

Three simple rules. Of course that would take courage, and, quite honestly, that's been gone from Sacramento for some time.

As of Sunday, our state ran out of money, out of credit and out of options. Our income tax refunds will be nothing more than dishonorable IOUs. Some state workers will be forced to go without pay for two days a month as a way of helping California save dinero.

Meanwhile our legislators will fly back and forth to Sacramento on your dime and drive around in taxpayer-funded automobiles. Some will cheat on their wives and husbands, while others will strap on the feed bag and feast on the finest foods lobbyists and fundraisers can put together.

Their bloated and ineffectual staffs will continue to draw a paycheck, while their constituents and the businesses they "represent" continue to lose jobs and hemorrhage dollars.

That's where the vows come in to play.

We need a legislature that is obedient to the people of this state. We need a legislature that is chaste when it comes to dealing with the lobbyists and special interests that run Sacramento.

We need a legislature that understands poverty and how tax-and-fee-and-spend scams only hurt the poor and those of us still fortunate enough to have a job.

Unfortunately we have none of that. Instead we have a crisis. Our state is paralyzed by a Sacramento lifestyle that has imposed too many regulations, too many taxes, and too many false promises.

Fortunately there seems to be more and more anger with Sacramento among the voters. At the newspaper we're seeing it in e-mails from readers who've recently lost their jobs.

One of those readers, Mike Serrano, who lives in state Assemblyman Anthony Portantino's district, wrote about losing his job, getting no help from the state's Employment Development Department and nothing but attitude from the staff working for his elected representatives.

"I wanted some information about training benefits. After trying to reach someone for nearly two weeks, I contacted the offices of my two elected state officials, Anthony Portantino and (state Sen.) Carol Liu," Serrano wrote.

"To say their response was disappointing would be an understatement ... these people simply don't understand, they work for us and their job performance is lousy."

Portantino's spokesman Eduardo Martinez was unfamiliar with Serrano's case, but said staff in the office is trained to deal with constituent problems.

I didn't get a response from Liu's office, and checking the senator's Web site it becomes pretty clear her staff is not too interested in hearing from any of us.

I say don't re-elect any of them until they vow to start approaching their vocation like Jesuits.

CNN is reporting that both senators collapsed at various events this afternoon in Washington D.C., following the inauguration of President Obama.

Here's a Washington Post story on the medical events.

Here's the feed.

And a new look at Whitehouse.gov and a blog post

Your thoughts?

The moving vans have arrived at the White House:

H/T Fishbowlla

PASADENA -- A man was hospitalized with serious injuries Saturday after plummeting 40-feet from a train station to the tracks below, officials said.
The incident occurred about 1 p.m. at the Memorial Park Gold Line Station, 125 E. Holly Avenue, Pasadena Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.
After falling from the station onto the tracks, the injured 33-year-old man was able to crawl to the center median between the northbound and southbound train tracks, Derderian said.
The southbound tracks were briefly closed while firefighters rescued the man, she said.
The man appeared to have suffered a fractured arm and other injuries, Derderian said. His exact condition was not clear.
Sgt. Ronald Marquez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Transit Services Bureau said police continue to investigate what caused the man to fall.
Train and car traffic were not significantly impacted by the incident, he added.

This comes from the list of projects that will lose funding thanks to a 3-0 vote Wednesday by the state's Pooled Money Investment Board:

CDCR San Quentin: Condemned Inmate Complex ... In design, suspension would lead to

project delays.

Here's a summary of the renovation proposal from the Washington Post

Earlier this week Pomona Police Chief Joe Romero was fired by the City Council there. At least one local family is praising the move, primarily because of remarks Romero made following the murder of Eileen Ponce Orta.

You might remember this story:

POMONA (AP) ― The family of a missing woman found her body in a minivan after police summoned them to pick up the vehicle because it was illegally parked near the Pomona courthouse.

Police said today that Eileen Orta was found stabbed to death on Friday -- three days after her family filed a missing's person report.

The report gave a full description of Orta and the van, and was entered into a national law enforcement database.

When the van was found parked near the courthouse, police told Orta's family to pick it up before it was impounded.

No one apparently checked the vehicle, and it was Orta's mother who found her daughter buried under some blankets.

 

I received this letter from Tracy Ponce, Eileen's mother, this morning:

 

Here's a link. Looks like there is an alleged pattern and practice of selling public office and public contracts in Illinois. Here's a sample or two from the actual indictment:

 

ROD BLAGOJEVICH could use his power to award State of Illinois contracts in order to generate campaign contributions.

ROD BLAGOJEVICH discussed his interest in running for President of the United States. During the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH informed Cari that it was easier for governors to solicit campaign contributions because governors had the ability to "award contracts" and give legal work, consulting work, and investment banking work to campaign contributors.

 

From LA Observed:

Esteban Armando Nuñez, the 19-year-old son of the former Assembly Speaker, was arrested Tuesday in connection with the stabbing death of a 22-year-old college student at a party in San Diego in October. Nuñez and three other suspects, all 19, face a murder charge and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

Full story in the San Jose Mercury News,  here.

The National Archives and the Nixon Library Tuesday will make another 198 hours of tape recordings available from inside the Nixon White House.

The recordings were made in 1972 and cover a variety of topics, including the 1972 congressional elections.

Here's a snipet of a Nixon Library press release issued Tuesday morning:

Approximately 198 hours of tape recordings from the Nixon White House recorded between November and December 1972 and consisting of approximately 1,398 conversations. The conversations cover topics such as the 1972 Presidential and Congressional elections, reorganization of the executive branch, creation of a "New Majority" for a reinvigorated Republican Party or new conservative third party, the late stages of the peace negotiations to end the Vietnam War, and the decision to bomb the Hanoi and Haiphong areas in North Vietnam. All 198 hours of tape recordings will be made available on the web at www.nixonlibrary.gov. They will also be available at both the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, CA and at the National Archives College Park, MD facility.

Here's a letter I received just a few minutes after writing a story about the passage of Proposition 8, which bans same sex marriages in California:

Frank, I live in Texas and wanted to get some election results, so I googled "prop 8 results" and your story came up. I am glad it passed, but wow, what a biased slant you give ! You pick up and continue the media line of prop 8 "bans" something, and then throw in the "hate" junk. Please, that is so lame.
Try thinking for yourself.
Nothing about judicial activism that struck down the will of the California people, or goes against nature, and 5000 years of human history !
Try researching and thinking a bit, rather than just blindly following the pied piper.
John
San Antonio, Tx

The District Attorney's office is going after a professional petiution circulator accused of registering to vote at addresses where he doesn't live, according to a press release issed Monday by Steve Cooley's office.

Mark Jacoby, 25, used the fake addresses to circulate petitions statewide, the DA alleges.

Jacoby was charged with two felony counts of perjury and registration fraud on Oct. 3. He faces five years state prison time if convicted.

He was arrested on Saturday in Ontario and released after posting $50,000 bail, officials said. Jacoby was affiliated with a company known as "Young Political Majors."

A debate is a debate ...unless Batman and the Penguin are involved. Hat tip to mediabistro.com Fishbowl LA