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The Nov. 8 special election called by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger remains a mystery to many California voters. Public opinion polls show they don't understand its urgency and are turned off by its $50 million price tag. But to Schwarzenegger, it's an essential next step to the recall election that swept him into office in 2003. And he says its cost is a bargain when compared to the fiscal and political changes it will bring if he's successful. The movie star-turned-governor sees the special election as simply the middle chapter of a three-part series that is needed to turn around California's...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Dianne Feinstein will participate in the campaign against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's agenda in the Nov. 8 special election, as well as an initiative seeking to impose restrictions on minors seeking abortions. "Feinstein believes that the special election is a mistake. It's a costly waste of taxpayer dollars," spokesman Howard Gantman said Friday. Feinstein, a San Francisco Democrat who also appeals to many independents and Republicans, plans to participate in opponents' efforts to explain why voters should defeat the initiatives, Gantman said. Such efforts could involve a direct mail campaign. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, called the special election...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest dilemma in the uphill battle to pass his initiatives in the Nov. 8 special election carries a catchy musical theme: "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" Maria -- as in the California first lady, as in Democratic royalty, Kennedy clan member, and uber-campaigner for her famous husband. Shriver is scheduled to appear today as a guest on "Oprah," but it's what she won't say that may speak volumes. Shriver, a former reporter for NBC News, will appear on the nationally televised talk show as a journalist to discuss "America's Invisible Poor" -- not the...

BURBANK, Calif. - With his popularity at an all-time low, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger turned Monday to another political star - Sen. John McCain - to help sell his November ballot proposals to a skeptical public. In a brief, joint appearance with the governor in a hotel conference room, the Arizona senator urged California voters to support the four initiatives backed by Schwarzenegger on the special election ballot. They said little about the specifics of the proposals and instead depicted them broadly as an important step in efforts to make government more accountable. "I have campaigned for reform efforts all over...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - To help promote his "year of reform" ballot initiatives, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has turned to one of the best known political reformers on the national stage - Arizona Sen. John McCain. The Republicans will campaign together Monday for the measures Schwarzenegger is promoting on the Nov. 8 ballot, Schwarzenegger campaign spokesman Todd Harris said. McCain has endorsed the four initiatives favored by the governor, which would curb the power of the Democrat-controlled Legislature and their allied public employee unions. "John McCain is known for two things - one is being a reformer, and the other is...

SACRAMENTO -- Californians aren't much interested in the upcoming special election and don't support most of the initiatives they'll be voting on, according to new poll results from the Public Policy Institute of California. The three main initiatives sponsored by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are all in sorry shape, as are dueling measures to provide low-income Californians with cheap prescription drugs. The governor's approval ratings remain dismal as well: The survey found that only 38 percent of likely voters think Schwarzenegger is doing a good job. This is the lowest such rating he has yet received. Poll director Mark Baldassare said...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill by Assemblyman Joe Nation yesterday that would have required people who are paid for gathering initiative signatures to wear a badge. "I am dismayed the governor decided to veto a voter-oriented, good government piece of legislation," said Nation, D-San Rafael. "However, I understand this bill would have adversely affected his govern-by-initiative approach by forcing paid signature gatherers to reveal their true identity to voters." Schwarzenegger has called for a special election in November and is backing three initiatives that will be on the ballot. Proposition 74 would increase the time required before a teacher...

I've been getting calls about the various ballot propositions for the Special Election. Here's how I see them: Proposition 73: Parental Notification for Abortion. If parental consent is required for a child to use a tanning booth or get her ears pierced, shouldn’t parents at least be notified if she’s getting an abortion? YES. Whether you’re pro-life or pro-choice, this should be the all-time no-brainer. Proposition 74: Teacher Tenure. Do parents have a right to expect a higher level of competence before a teacher is granted life-time tenure? YES. This modest measure simply increases the teacher probation period from two...

SACRAMENTO – In January, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a "bold new era of reform" that he said would make government more accountable, improve education and control state spending. He later endorsed a series of five ballot measures for the Nov. 8 special election intended to turn his rhetoric into reality. But mistakes have shrunk Schwarzenegger's once broad agenda. Two of the measures were written so poorly that the governor decided to jettison them. A third, which deals with how political districts are drawn, faces a legal challenge today over a flaw that could cause it to be dropped from the...

SACRAMENTO -- State legislators wrapped up work Friday for a monthlong summer recess with focus already sharply shifted to the looming battle over the November special-election agenda and an August deadline for compromise on ballot measures. With a state budget approved and out of the way, the legislators will spend the next 30 days at home in their districts while legislative leaders ostensibly work with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to craft a compromise on his special-election agenda that both sides can live with. Yet with discussions currently occurring only at the staff level and Democrats having little motivation -- politically or...

On April 22 I was presented with the 2005 Media Award by the New Jersey Family Policy Council at their annual banquet. While honored to receive such recognition, upon deeper reflection, I can’t help but ask myself the question: Was there no one else more qualified? Is there really such a dearth of professional, family-friendly journalists in newsrooms across our state that the Family Policy Council felt compelled to award a businessman moonlighting as a columnist? Apparently the answer is yes. A University of Connecticut Department of Public Policy study found that journalists who were surveyed picked Democrat John Kerry...

.Schwarzenegger ready to do battle in special election By Gary Delsohn -- Bee Capitol BureauPublished 2:15 am PDT Saturday, June 11, 2005If the political experts are right, Sacramento's "summer from hell" officially begins Monday.That's when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, after months of threats and name-calling, has said he will sign a proclamation setting a special election Nov. 8 for his three initiatives that he says will reform state government. He plans to offer a live statement to television stations statewide at 5 p.m. The election stakes are extraordinarily high. Some political analysts say Schwarzenegger's political future could be sealed in the...

The following initiatives are likely to be on the ballot Nov. 8 if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger calls a special election by Monday, as he said he would. Five already have qualified. Others are awaiting verification by the Secretary of State's Office. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing three initiatives(all qualified for ballot): TEACHER TENURE: CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS: STATE SPENDING CAP: Other initiatives: PARENTAL PERMISSION FOR ABORTION: (Q) PUBLIC EMPLOYEE UNION DUES: (Q) PRESCRIPTION DRUG DISCOUNTS (by D)(pending) PRESCRIPTION DRUG DISCOUNTS: (other) (pending)ELECTRIC SERVICE PROVIDERS: (pending)

SACRAMENTO - No one uses California's initiative process quite like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who swept into office through the recall election and promptly embarked on a perpetual ballot box campaign. Born nearly a century ago as a populist tool to break the railroad industry's grip on the Legislature, initiatives have morphed into a billion-dollar industry over the past decade. Since 2003, Schwarzenegger has relied on ballot measures to burnish his bipartisan sheen while campaigning with Democrats on bond and balanced budget measures, pushed an initiative to cajole lawmakers into rewriting the rules governing workers' compensation, and helped defeat gambling initiatives,...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The Assembly passed legislation Thursday that would curb Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's fundraising by putting a $5,600 limit on donations to ballot measure committees controlled by candidates or officeholders. The bill was designed to close a loophole in a voter-approved campaign finance law that Schwarzenegger has used to raise tens of millions of dollars to support his agenda at the ballot box. "This loophole is bad public policy. It undermines public trust," said Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, sponsor of the bill. Wolk's bill deals with contributions made to committees such as Schwarzenegger's California Recovery Team, which don't face...

SACRAMENTO – Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and public employee unions allied with Democrats began filing signatures yesterday for the last of their initiatives, moving the state closer to a major ballot war in November. The governor said this week that he does not have to make a decision about calling a special election for his proposals until about June 13, leaving time to negotiate compromises. "So there is plenty of time to work that out," Schwarzenegger said Wednesday. If the required number of signatures are submitted, the governor's proposed state spending limit and the union-backed initiatives to re-regulate electricity and...

Sacramento -- The committee supporting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's package of ballot initiatives said Friday that it will not have enough signatures to put a proposal for teacher merit pay on a November special election ballot. Allan Zaremberg, co-chairman of Citizens to Save California, said the idea to pay teachers based on merit instead of seniority is "lagging behind a little bit." Zaremberg did announce that the committee began turning in signatures for the governor's budget reform proposal Friday. Signatures for the governor's two other initiatives -- changing when a teacher can receive tenure and how legislative districts are drawn --...

ANAHEIM -- Arnold Schwarzenegger has made some trippy movies, but they can't compare with the bizarre drama he's now starring in. Since being elected governor in the October 2003 recall of incompetent and irresponsible Gray Davis, Schwarzenegger has pursued a reform agenda that has even liberal policy wonks like Time's Joe Klein cooing. Yet thanks to a California media that seem unable or unwilling to detail the extent of Democrats' dysfunction, Schwarzenegger isn't the hero of "The Battle to Save the Golden State." If you ask many of the state's most influential opinion-shapers, he's the villain. This is beyond perverse,...

"Democracy on speed" is what one expert calls it, where professionals hustle signatures on the street for multimillion-dollar petition merchants, one name and about one dollar at a time. With Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger threatening to call a special election for November, the signature-gathering industry is ramping toward an all-time peak, rivaling last year's record in which political campaigns spent $24.2 million to put their initiatives before voters, according to the secretary of state's office. --snip-- "It makes politics more convenient," said Bryan Kenney, 23, of Sacramento. "It's the only real kind of politics I ever get. My mom is a...

http://netwmd.com/articles/article890.html After a first term marked by schizophrenic Iran policy initiatives, the Bush White House will soon develop a coordinated policy to promote peaceful regime change in Iran. The Bush administration is heartened by the apparent success of the Iraqi election and believes that Iranians are ready to exert their democratic rights. Bush policy is motivated by the grave and growing threat from the Islamic Republic's nuclear weapons program, and the realization that neither Iran nor the European Union are sincere in preventing Iran's acquisition of nuclear weaponry. The Islamic Republic's potential threat to American security emanates from Tehran's determination...