The political sucking-up has already started in the governor's race. The latest is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic challenger Phil Angelides showing up at the American Legion convention in Fresno to tell veterans how much they'll do for them if they get their support in November. The candidates do this at every group they appear before -- real estate agents, mortgage brokers, teachers, farmers -- you name the special-interest group and they'll have a giveaway program for them.

Angelides seemed to offer the most goodies Thursday, including waiving fees at public colleges for National Guard members; ensuring that all National Guard families have health insurance; provide family leave for spouses of activated National Guard members, and increase access to the California Military Family Relief Fund.

Schwarzenegger said veterans homes are a top priority for him, and the state will open five new homes in the next seven years.

(Read this story about the candidates' Fresno visit.)

No wonder California can't live within its means. The politicians promise that the taxpayers will fund everyone's needs. These are mostly good causes, but doesn't someone have to say, "How much is all this going to cost the taxpayers and can we afford it?"

Posted by Jim Boren at 2:56 PM | Permalink

Looks like Fresno's Pete Mehas won't be stepping away from politics, even though he is retiring as Fresno County schools superintendent. He's already working for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's re-election campaign. Today the Schwarzenegger campaign pushed Mehas into a public fight with Treasurer Phil Angelides, who is the Democratic nominee for governor. Here's a press release the governor's folks just issued after Angelides came to town for a campaign appearance:

Sacramento, CA - Today, Fresno schools Superintendent Dr. Peter Mehas issued the following statement in response to Phil Angelides' education event:

"As an educator of 44 years, I am disappointed that Phil Angelides continues to bring his negativity and pessimism to one of the most important issues to Californians -- education funding.

"Like a typical politician, he is distorting the facts by using data from 2003 to talk about our schools. Angelides ignores that Governor Schwarzenegger has put unprecedented amounts of funding towards educating our students. Two years in a row he raised per-pupil funding, bringing it to over $11,000, which is more than $1,400 higher than just two years ago. Governor Schwarzenegger is fully funding our schools, while Phil Angelides offers no real plan - just his promises for higher taxes."

The Angelides campaign issued a response to Mehas' statement. It came from Bob Mulholland, senior adviser to the Angelides campaign. Here it is:

Continue reading "Mehas takes on Angelides" »

Posted by Jim Boren at 2:38 PM | Permalink