Jessica Levinson: Recalling Schwarzenegger's Tenure as Governor

Schwarzenegger's legacy: Green laws and red ink
A month before the historic recall that drove Gov. Gray Davis from office in 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared in a TV commercial making a promise to California voters. "Here's my plan," he said. "Audit everything, open the books, and then we end the crazy Deficit spending. If you're happy with the way things are, keep your current leaders. If you want to change this state, then join me." Voters joined in droves, but Schwarzenegger's promises echo distantly as he prepares to leave office seve...

New year, new rules
Major reforms to the way Illinois politicians raise campaign cash and new state workers collect Pension benefits take effect with the new year, both sets of changes inspired by the departure of disgraced ex- Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The state's first limits on political contributions were a direct response to Blagojevich's arrest, Impeachment and indictment on blockbuster government Corruption charges centered on Shakedown allegations. And the gridlock over slowing runaway state Employee Pension c...

Perdue pushed pet projects
Gov. Sonny Perdue leaves office in a week but Georgians will spend the next two decades paying off some Controversial hometown projects he pushed. Ga. Politics news, helpful links Taxpayers will spend almost $4 million annually paying off Perdue’s Go Fish aquatic wildlife and fishing education center, some new equine and livestock facilities at the Georgia National Fairgrounds near his home and the purchase of the Oaky Woods conservation property at a price some lawmakers considered exces...

Raise The Gas Tax?
The director of the transportation section at the famous RAND Think Tank thinks so. And why not? It’s an odd position for a fiscal conservative to take, so I’ll explain. Fact One: We can’t possibly cut enough spending to balance the federal Budget at this point.  Even if it were politically possible to enact deep Spending Cuts on the major drivers of Deficit spending (it isn’t), the consequences of cuts sufficient to balance the Budget would be potentially devastating t...

CT Government Year To Come/Year In Review
Upcoming next Wednesday are the swearings-in and inaugurations in Hartford and governing beyond that.  That is what is at hand.  How to fund our kids is always the biggest issue, especially education and that will be news this year.  Big news and always should be.  How to pay for it.  How to tax, not whether to tax.  How to bridge an inherited fiscal gap beyond all records is an unimaginable task that these public servants have had the willingness to stick...

Spending showdowns will test new Congress leaders
WASHINGTON — Two early showdowns on spending and Debt will signal whether the new Congress can find common ground despite its partisan divisions or whether it’s destined for gridlock and brinkmanship that could threaten the nation’s economic health. Not all of the bickering in the 112th Congress that convenes Wednesday will be between Republicans and Democrats. House Republicans, back in power after four years in the minority, will include numerous freshmen whose unyielding sta...

Spending showdowns will test new Congress leaders
WASHINGTON—Two early showdowns on spending and Debt will signal whether the new Congress can find common ground despite its partisan divisions or whether it's destined for gridlock and brinkmanship that could threaten the nation's economic health. Not all of the bickering in the 112th Congress that convenes Wednesday will be between Republicans and Democrats. House Republicans, back in power after four years in the minority, will include numerous freshmen whose unyielding stands on the de...

Biggest Political Stories of 2010
2010 was a year full of politics, with most of the year spent leading up to the Nov. 2nd General Election.   In that election, the voters of Williamson County were in step with voters throughout most of Texas and most of the United States by electing or re-electing Conservatives to office.  Unlike the 2008 election, when the first Democrat in many years won an election in Williamson County and Democrats throughout Texas and the nation won, 2010 was a year for big Republi...

2010: The Year of the Tea Party
2010 was the year of the Tea Party. The Grassroots conservative political movement made its clout felt the entire year, from the Healthcare Reform debate to GOP primaries and the General Election last month. Senior Democrats, ranging from Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine to Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.), aggressively attacked the Tea Party in the lead-up to the midterms, hoping that doing so would soften losses to the GOP. House Min...

Killing Us To Save The Environment
In my hometown, San Diego, the Blood Bank fields eight "Bloodmobiles" (diesel-powered motor homes converted to clinics to accept blood donations from volunteers) which host more than 1,800 blood drives to benefit over 150,000 patients in 50 area Hospitals every year. A new Regulation ("The Truck Rule") adopted in 2008 by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) requires all on-road diesel powered vehicles (trucks, buses, motor homes, etc.) to meet 2010 emission standards, either by replacing t...

US governors ditching glitzy inaugural events
LANSING, Mich. — In better days, newly elected Governors were welcomed into office with star-studded galas, serenades by rock bands, even an NFL stadium transformed into a winter wonderland. But with many now facing multibillion-dollar Deficits and high Unemployment, states’ top bosses are toning it down. Way down. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is ditching his black-tie affair and holding a free barbecue, while Minnesota Gov.-elect Mark Dayton is encouraging Blue Jeans at his inaugural ball....

AP interview: Barbour pushing job creation in '11
In this Dec. 14, 2010 photograph taken at his Jackson, Miss., office, Gov. Haley Barbour discusses his hopes for his final legislative session as Governor which begins Jan. 4, 2011. Balancing a Budget in a tough economy will be the top challenge as Mississippi lawmakers embark on their three-month 2011 session, Gov. Haley Barbour says. This will be the eighth and final year in office for Republican Barbour, who is term-limited and can't seek re-election. During a wide-ranging pre-session interv...

Analysis:A Look Ahead At Politics In 2011
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - In with the new in these early hours of 2011, some ideas as to what the New Year may bring in terms of political power. First up: President Obama’s attempt to rekindle the political flame and at the same time the new Republican leadership needs to show fast results on their anti-tax Deficit reducing promises. That will be big. Also big on the agenda, the Republicans with the primaries a year away must find more than stalking horses but rather a certifiably power...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo arrives in Capitol; starts working
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is on the job. The Democrat arrived early Saturday at the Capitol where his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, presided for three terms. Andrew Cuomo held a private meeting with his cabinet at 8:30 a.m. in a public schedule choreographed to show resolve to tackle the state’s fiscal and ethical crises. Cuomo plans an inaugural ceremony at noon followed by a reception line at the Governor’s mansion for New Yorkers who obtained tickets a we...

Cuomo Calls For Bold Agenda At Inauguration
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP/CBSNewYork) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is on the job. The Democrat arrived early Saturday at the Capitol where his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, presided for three terms. Cuomo held a small inaugural ceremony at noon followed by a reception line at the Governor’s mansion for New Yorkers who obtained tickets a week ago. “There is no more time to waste. It is a time for deeds, not words and results, not Rhetoric,” Cuomo said, “it is time for a bo...

Californias new primary system will eliminate Republican candidates from ballot
W hen the founders considered the form of government that would replace the English monarchy, two examples of representative government led the lists: Democracy and Republicanism. Reasoning that a representative republic led by informed citizens with a stake in the nation’s well being would be more stable than a direct Democracy subject to volatile emotions of a public fired up over the issue du jour, they opted for the republican form of government. California, in its state constitution, ...

Work to do
For a brief moment this year, Britain's smaller political parties thought that finally their time had come. An opportunity arose that, until then, had been the stuff of their dreams. In the confusion following the indecisive General Election, there was talk of a rainbow coalition taking office, a multi-coloured pantheon of political parties joining a government led by Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Together they would make up the numbers to out-vote the Conservatives in the House of C...

Johnson urges VAT rise 'rethink'
Shadow chancellor Alan Johnson is urging a last-minute rethink on Tuesday's planned 2.5% VAT increase. In a letter to Chancellor George Osborne, Mr Johnson warned the move was likely to hit the poor hardest. And he claimed it could lead to the loss of 250,000 Private Sector jobs. VAT is set to increase to from 17.5% to 20% in a move the Treasury hopes will raise an extra £13bn to fight Britain's Budget Deficit. But Mr Johnson has repeatedly warned about the dangers of a "doub...

ODonnell: Spending accusations are thug tactics
Stumble This! Failed U.S. Senate Candidate Christine O'Donnell said Thursday that accusations she misspent campaign funds are politically motivated and stoked by disgruntled former campaign workers. The Delaware Republican appeared on several network morning shows to defend herself a day after The Associated Press reported federal authorities have launched a Criminal Probe to determine whether she broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses. O'Donnell, the Tea Party favorite ...

Campaign finance leftovers from 2010 who gave to everybody?
Some campaign contributors  spread their money around in last year’s Elections. Nearly 100 political action committees, corporations and individuals gave at least 50 checks of the maximum-amount to various state office Candidates in Florida for the 2010 election, including 33 contributors who cut more than 100 such checks, according to an Orlando Sentinel review of Campaign Contributions. Almost all of the frequent givers spread the money to both Rep...

Eliot Cutler News Roundup
The Maine Commission on Government Ethics and Election Practices held a meeting Monday to clear up an issue still lingering from the gubernatorial election. The issue? Somebody had created an anonymous website attacking Independent Gubernatorial Candidate Eliot Cutler. The end result of the meeting was the disclosure of the authors of the website. One was John Bailey, the president of a Public Relations firm based out of Portland. In addition, he was also a consultant for Democratic Candidate...

New year, new rules on campaign cash, pension benefits
Major reforms to the way Illinois politicians raise campaign cash and new state workers collect Pension benefits take effect with the new year, both sets of changes inspired by the departure of disgraced ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The state's first limits on political contributions were a direct response to Blagojevich's arrest, Impeachment and indictment on blockbuster government Corruption charges centered on Shakedown allegations. And the gridlock over slowing runaway State Employee Pension c...

'A big f------ deal': The top 10 political quotes of 2010
Vice President Joe Biden’s use of Profanity, a New York congressman’s admission of groping and a denial of witchcraft were among the top 10 political quotes of 2010. The Healthcare Reform debate is featured in several others, ranging from a Texas lawmaker’s outburst of “baby killer” to President Obama’s admission that he and his party took a “shellacking” in the Midterm Elections. Democrats were jubilant after they narrowly passed the Healthcare Bill in Ma

Incoming secretary of state had no role in cutting client's campaign-finance fine, official says
Both Gessler, an experienced Elections issues lawyer, and officials with the Secretary of State's office say his taking the reins of the office in January had nothing to do with the department's Dec. 15 decision to cut the $504,500 in fines against the Colorado Independent Auto Dealers Association down to $8,475. But both sides also acknowledge the appearance of potential conflict the situation presents. "Sure, but our job is to be as consistent and fair as possible and not take factors like tha...

Grebien will be sworn in Monday as Pawtucket mayor
PAWTUCKET -- Donald J. Grebien will be sworn in as mayor on Monday: officially by the city clerk in the morning and ceremonially that evening by Governor-elect Lincoln D. Chafee. The ceremony will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Tolman High School auditorium and is slated to include Chafee’s administering a ceremonial oath of office to Grebien. The new mayor will administer oaths of office to the incoming City Council and School Committee. A procession at the ceremony will include th...