It could be a political ploy, but one never knows with Arnold… From NY Times: If Republican candidates for governor of California are hoping for an automatic high five from the sitting governor, they ought not to get too comfortable. When asked Friday after giving a speech on health care in which he highly praised [...]

It’s happening a lot more now that other loans besides the subprimes are coming due. From North County Times: Ward Hanigan, a San Diego investor who purchases foreclosures, agreed that the longer foreclosure procedures produce artificially low inventory numbers, with no recovery in sight for the region’s housing market. “It’s like an oil pipeline; it [...]

For years I’ve been arguing that the government should simply get out of the institution of marriage all together, and some folks in Cali are trying to put that idea into motion. From The Herald: California’s top election official gave two Southern California college students the go-ahead Tuesday to start collecting signatures for a proposed [...]

The biggest economy in America is now suffering from double digit unemployment. So what about underemployment? Well, that’s probably closing in on 20%. Just thought you should know.

The California Republican Party is in a sad state of disarray. After formulating a budget compromise with Democrats and a handful of dissident Republicans, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger skipped the party’s state convention in Sacramento and headed to a Governor’s conference in Washington, D.C. Undoubtedly, that was a wise move on his part. Schwarzenegger is going [...]

The state is so cash strapped that they’re giving their residents $3.5 billion worth of IOUs on tax returns and making workers go without pay two days out of the month, as mentioned in the title above. From AP: State agencies scrambled in the days before the furloughs took effect to avoid confusion for the [...]

Christopher Beam of Slate talks about the recent seismic shift in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Out: Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, the tough, cantankerous eminence grise of the House Democratic caucus (he’s 82), who was so deferential to Detroit as chairman of the House energy and commerce committee that Lee Iacocca once said [...]

Douglas W. Kmiec, a high profile lawyer in the Reagan and Poppy Bush administrations, lays out what he thinks is the solution to this gay marriage mess. Essentially, get the government out of the business of religious marriage, and instead create civil unions for all that are legally recognized by the government. That way you [...]

Well, they ruled on it once this year and looks like they’ll have to do it again thanks to the passage of Prop 8. From AP: The California Supreme Court on Wednesday accepted three lawsuits seeking to overturn Proposition 8. The amendment passed this month with 52 percent of the vote. The court did not [...]

“This dialogue about ‘we have to go back to our core values.’ What is that? How far does ‘core’ go back in history in America. Thirty years? Fifty years? Because we know that Teddy Roosevelt talks about universal healthcare. I think it’s all nonsense talk.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger on This Week with George Stephanopoulos Looks [...]

Jon Meacham and Ashton Kutcher discuss Prop 8… I agree with both of them, but Ashton more so. The idea that people voted on somebody else’s rights and relationships is crazy. In the end, I wish the government would get out of the business of marriage and set up a separate civil union system so [...]

Do far right conservatives really think that setting the bar so low for an Obama presidency is a wise move? Because let’s go down the list of things that Obama has to prove: that he’s an American, he’s not a terrorist, he won’t take away people’s guns, he’s not like Hitler and that raising taxes [...]

As usual, he’s pitch perfect… Yes, the idea that increased African American turnout may have helped passed this ridiculous discrimination so tragically ironic it hurts. I mean…69% supported this ban? In California?? Really??? Truly crazy stuff. And it proves, yet again, that discrimination knows no color and we have a long, long way to go [...]

I thought California’s Proposition 8 would fail and California would become the first state where the voters themselves actually voiced approval for gay marriage. Obviously, I was wrong. Turns out the progressive coalition that swept Barack Obama into office is not so progressive, at least not on the issue that many on the left consider [...]

An interesting turn of events in California… Kate Kendall, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said 3 million to 4 million ballots remain uncounted statewide. “The fact is depending on the turnout model we are looking at millions of votes yet to be counted,” Kendall said. The race is too close to [...]

A pretty shocking turn of events in California, as Proposition 8 narrowly passes. LA Times has more… As Proposition 8, the most divisive and emotionally fraught issue on the state ballot this year, took a lead in early returns, supporters gathered at a hotel ballroom in Sacramento and cheered. “We caused Californians to rethink this [...]

Here’s Arnold’s POV on politicians changing their mind… Flip-flopping is getting a bad rap, because I think it is great. Someone has made a mistake. I mean, someone has, for 20 or 30 years, been in the wrong place with his idea and with his ideology and says, ‘You know something? I changed my mind. [...]

And fittingly, the very first one was performed for a couple how had been together 15 years and helped start this movement in California. Here’s their story from the LA Times: In Los Angeles County, longtime partners Diane Olson and Robin Tyler were the first and only same-sex couple to obtain a license Monday. [...] [...]

As you all know by now, the march towards universally allowed gay marriage continued today. From my understanding, the specifics of the California case create a legal pathway to gay marriage without actually mandating the legalization of the practice. So I want to be clear, this post is inspired by today’s ruling but is not [...]

By the way, I’m adding “Total Delegates Needed To Clinch” to the totals below because Obama is getting within 100. First, Rep. Henry Waxman and Rep. Howard Berman of California… Senator Obama’s vision for change has inspired tens of millions of Americans,” Chairman Waxman said. “And he’s also proved that he has the experience, judgment, [...]