Eli Jacks-in-the-Box

Phil Wins! Democrats Unite!

2006-06-07T21:22:00.000-07:00

2006-05-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

First, Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there who read this blog (Better late than never, right Momma Jacks?).

Yesterday, in a wonderful Mother's Day gift to the two wonderful Mrs's Angelides' the Sacramento Bee endorsed Phil Angelides in the Democratic primary. The hometown paper saw the light and recommended Phil to their readership.

Here's some of the good ink:

During the campaign, Angelides has been more forthright about how he would increase funding for public schools and also close California's chronic budget gap...

Angelides has also made more of his office than Westly. As treasurer and a board member of the state's two pension systems, Angelides has gone after fraudulent investment firms and a chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Grasso, who wasn't minding the store. He has fought U.S. companies that have taken advantage of offshore tax havens at the expense of shareholders and taxpayers. At times, he has even bucked the public employees that are a big part of his base.

Westly, unfortunately, has been less dynamic...

If elected, Angelides could have a historic impact on directing California's growth, ensuring that state money is directed toward compact, desirable communities, instead of the usual sprawl....

...if Democrats want a gubernatorial candidate who offers more substance than style, they will vote for Angelides on June 6.

Oh Snap!

2006-05-11T15:25:00.000-07:00

Steve Westly, Republican. He sucks.

2006-04-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Wow.

I'll admit Phil's a little nerdy. But it's good nerdy. Smart nerdy. The kind of nerdy you want in the governor's office.

But Steve Westly, that's just straight up dork. Dork that isn't very smart (lottery reform?). Dork that should be at home (maybe in his mother's basement) playing with, oh I don't know...

SLOT CARS!

Oh, and guess what... Westly does play with slot cars. From the Ventura County Star today:
Westly plays tennis and races slot cars at home with longtime friends such as investment banker Paul Rosentiel, now serving as policy director for his campaign. The two have known each other since 1981, having met during their days as graduate students.

Seriously... We can't let this guy run the 5th largest economy in the world. He'd obviously rather play with his little toy cars.

Here's some independent confirmation of his love of little boy toys:

He had a custom built slot car track made
He has an online testimonial about his track

Steve Westly - "I've owned my track for about 6 months now, and I couldn't be
more pleased. My only regret is that I don't have more time to race on
it."

And finally... pictures of his slot car track:

Phil Phights!

2006-04-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

Capitol Weekly's got an interview with Phil Angelides today. It's pretty good, and let's Phil tell it in his own words why he would be the best governor for California.

I think what's happened is the Right has pushed the politics of this
country and state further right, and there have been too many Democratic
collaborators and weaklings like Steve Westly. I stand at what has always been
the center of our politics. There are too many Democrats who measure their
progress by how much they have retreated. Where was Steve Westly when this
governor was turning kids away from college? He was saying to a business group
"my job is to make this guy successful."

***

Westly and Garry South have leveled personal attack after personal attack.
I've refrained from that. But I am going to draw differences. I have a plan to
balance the budget and fully fund schools. He has none. I stood up early to
HMOs, I stood up early for SB 2. When I was supporting it, he was abstaining on
it. On issue after issue he just wasn't there

***

Whoever is governor next year is going to face a $3.8 billion deficit.
Westly has already said he wants to pay back the school money Schwarzenegger
took over four years. That would boost the budget gap to $4.6 billion. Plus
Westly has proposed a set of new programs: free community college for some kid's
who finish their degrees, Wilma Chan's health-care bill for children. He's got
no credible way to close it. I'm willing to close the gap, which would be $5.3
billion. That's three-tenths of 1 percent of our entire economy. It's peanuts.
When you measure it against what Pete Wilson did [in 1991] it's a third as large
I'm going to ask in taxes when you compare it to the size of the economy and the
budget. It's a quarter as large as what Ronald Reagan asked for in '67.

Yay! Good Press...

2006-04-21T22:23:00.000-07:00

Whew! I've been so busy lately, I haven't updated here much. Phil got some great press from his hometown newspaper this past week. The Sacramento Bee was all Phil! Phil! Phil!.

First it was Dan Weintraub, expanding on his blog post of a few weeks ago in a full column. Again, I'm not a big fan of Weintraub, but he's been decent to Phil.

Either way, the debate Angelides is trying to provoke is good for the state. Whether you think he's dead right or simply crazy, voters should be happy that he's had the guts to tell people where he stands and put this touchy issue on the table.

Gutsy... That's what we like to hear.

Then there was an editorial last Sunday in the Bee as well.

Last year, this page chided Treasurer Phil Angelides for urging extra spending on almost everything - schools, the elderly, the poor, transportation - without a plan to pay for it. Angelides has since provided a enough details to make him the most candid of the three on this thorny subject.

The Bee's editors are coming around to Phil... now more voters need to as well.

Finally there was Peter Schrag. I like Peter Schrag. He's a great writer and seems to be a really smart guy, who truly loves California. Here's what he had to say:

In the primary at least, Angelides is running as the unabashed New Deal Democrat, talking about helping the young by cutting corporate and upper income tax loopholes for people already getting a windfall in federal tax cuts. Westly is the candidate of modest and sometimes mushy generalities.

Schwarzenegger's 2006 shtick has yet to be revealed.

Mushy generalities is right. Oh, that and lottery reform. Which should pay for about one pencil per student.

Angelides is the Odds on Favorite

2006-04-13T00:40:00.000-07:00

Oddsmakers have Phil Angelides as the favorite to win the governor's race this year, according to the SF Chronicle. Lookie here. The permalink doesn't appear to work. Scroll down to Monday, Apr. 11, 2006.

Phil Wins Something Else!

2006-04-12T02:01:00.000-07:00

It's pretty obvious that I spend to much time on the Internet. I think that this will be further proof.

Raise your hand if you've ever heard of Googlefight. Well, I have and I was bored recently, so I did a googlefight between Phil and the other guy. And guess what?

Phil won that too! See for yourselves. That means that Phil's won more endorsements, googlefight, and he will win the California Democratic Party endorsement a few weeks from now at the state convention.

Revenues

2006-04-10T23:21:00.000-07:00

I've been immersed in taxes all weekend, writing a paper for school on revenue volatility (titillating isn't it?). No doubt I'll bore my classmates to sleep on Wednesday when I give my presentation.

But I did manage to work a passage from this blog post into my paper. I'm not usually a Dan Weintraub fan, but he got this one pretty good. Angelides is an honest liberal. And, in fact, he's the only honest liberal, and the only liberal, in the race. The other guy pretends to be liberal, but he's more like a Republican in a Democrat's tie.

Here's a passage from Weintraub's blog:

Phil Angelides continues to stake his claim as the honest liberal in the race for governor. Until recently he was laying out some very expensive priorities while pretending that they could be paid for with little more than a return to the tax rates on the wealthy that were in place under Pete Wilson (and Ronald Reagan).

It's Twins!

2006-04-05T23:29:00.000-07:00

Man. Remember that movie with Schwarzenegger and DeVito, where they're basically, genetically engineered twins separated at birth? I remember enjoying it when I was a young kid, and then watched it again when I was a little older and boy did it suck.

Well, today we saw Twins: the Sequel. Phil let the other guy have it; not being nasty, just drawing basic, factually based I should add, contrasts between the candidate and his opponent.

Read Phil's speech. Some excerpts for you:

We are the richest state in the wealthiest nation in human history. A state of boundless potential. Yet we've learned the hard way these past two years: it takes more than tough talk to lead a great state. It takes more than empty soundbites to educate a child, more than scorched-earth rhetoric to balance a budget, more than celebrity swagger to care for the sick and the aged.

Damn straight, Phil!

I see something different. I see the California and the America in which I grew up -- a place where one generation would do anything to lift up the next one; a place where my grandmother could work day and night as a seamstress, and send my dad to UC Berkeley, one of the great universities in the world. A place where I could work part-time and get financial aid and student loans when my dad was laid off from his job, so I could stay in college. A place that makes opportunity real for each new generation of seekers and idealists, for all who are willing to work for it. I'm running for Governor to see that every Californian has that chance. I'm running for Governor because our economy, our basic sense of fairness and decency, demand that we help more young people -- not fewer - get a world-class education.

Yay! California for everyone, not just the wealthiest or those with the most resources.

I will put education first in the State of California. You don't have to take my word, you have my record.

I will chase the special-interest lobbyists out of the lobby, and put an end to the shameless parade of tax loopholes and giveaways. You don't have to take my word, you have my record.

I will stand up for those who most need a champion - our families. Our kids. And the most vulnerable. You don't have to take my word, you have my record.

Does that other guy even have a record?

Infrastructure, Infrastructure, Infrastructure

2006-04-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

Phil got some nice free press today about his brilliant infrastructure plan. I say "brilliant" because it's the kind of outside-the-box thinking that we like here In-the-Box. It's novel, and it's not the kind of thing we're used to seeing in California politics.

What is it you ask?

Phil's proposing that CalPERS and CalSTRS, the state's two giant pension funds, invest up to $15 billion (or about 5%) of their funds in California infrastructure projects, as a complement to whatever kind of infrastructure bond plan that the Legislature comes up with.

It's estimated that the pension funds could get a 6-8% return on their investment, making it sound for pensioners too. It's probably not the best return that they could get, but as any sound investor knows, you need a diverse portfolio. This could be a nice little conservative investment that makes up a diverse and stable portfolio.

Education Leaders Endorse Angelides

2006-04-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

Over 80 education leaders throughout California released a letter today asking people to join them in endorsing and working to elect Phil Angelides as the next Governor of California.

Here's an excerpt from the letter:

Phil has a proven track record as a courageous and thoughtful advocate for schools, teachers and students. He was the first statewide elected official in 2002 to call for a $25 billion school bond package. In 2003, he was alone among statewide elected officials to criticize the deep cuts proposed in education, becoming, the Sacramento Bee wrote, “the first statewide officer to question the prevailing assumption that California’s budget crisis means the schools must suffer.” When Governor Schwarzenegger tried to turn away 25,000 students who had done all the work and made all the grades from UC and CSU, Phil stood up for the students while others stood with the Governor. He launched a tax-advantaged savings plan that is now helping over 140,000 California families save for college. He created a new program that has provided down-payment assistance and low-interest loans to help over 1,200 teachers, school employees, and administrators who commit to working in a low-performing school buy their first home. Phil made education the subject of his first major campaign proposal this year, “College Opportunity for All,” which sets sweeping goals to help more young Californians, not fewer, get the higher education they need.

Big News

2006-04-03T20:42:00.000-07:00

Tom DeLay is expected to announce tomorrow that he will not seek re-election to Congress. This is incredible news for Democrats. His district is still largely Republican, but in the last redistricting in Texas (mid-term redisticting that is now pending before the Supreme Court) DeLay gave up some of his Republican constituency to strengthen some of his Republican colleagues in Texas, and make new Republican majority districts.

DeLay had just recently won his primary. I can only think that his decision not to run again may indicate that he knows an indictment is coming (one of his former top aides just pleaded guilty on corruption charges), or there's some kind of serious personal issue that is yet undisclosed (but I'm betting on some sort of further legal troubles - he's already been indicted in Texas, maybe now a federal indictment).

I'm not sure what this will do to that Congressional race. It might open it up more, and give a greater opportunity to a well-funded Democrat. On the other hand, I don't know what the Texas laws are with regard to replacing a person on the ballot. My guess is that since we're still so far from November, the Republicans will be allowed to choose who takes DeLay's place. On the other hand, it's possible, though highly unlikely, that the Republicans are now barred from running someone for that seat. It may also make it easier for a Republican to win. Since there is still a Republican majority in the district, it might make for an easy win, since the candidate they choose likely won't be tainted by indictment and a cloud of scandal like DeLay.

Orange County... Democrats?

2006-04-01T12:22:00.000-08:00

Sounds kind of odd doesn't it? The OC is known to be one of the last, if not the last hardcore Republican bastions of coastal California. And yet, Republicans appear to be losing their grips there.

It seems that more than 100 folks in the OC were duped into registering as Republicans when all they thought they were doing was signing petitions to fight breast cancer and punish child molesters.

The ruse took place over several days in December and January at shopping centers throughout Anaheim, Santa Ana, Buena Park, Westminster and Garden Grove, where paid petitioners begged, cajoled, lied and committed forgery to get so-called Republican converts. Petition circulators were paid as much as $7 for each GOP registration.

The moral of the story is, Always Read What You're Signing!

I wonder if any of these folks are people that have contributed to Phil's campaign. Right now Phil is leading the pack in terms of contributions from the OC. That's right, he's even beating that Republican Schwarzenegger.

New Poll Out

2006-03-31T13:58:00.000-08:00

The Wall Street Journal/Zogby has a new Battleground 2006 poll out today. Click on California and see the results:

If the Election were held today,
ANGELIDES: 45.5%
Schwarzenegger: 40.7%

Phil would be our next Governor.

Happy Ceasar Chavez Day!

2006-03-31T13:28:00.000-08:00

Today is the day that California honors the late labor leader, Cesar Chavez, by providing a day of vacation for state workers. (It should be a day off for farm workers.) Chavez was a founder of the United Farm Workers, the union that has consistently fought for better working conditions and more fair wages for the people that, almost literally, put food on your
table.

For more than three decades Cesar led the first successful farm workers union in American history, achieving dignity, respect, fair wages, medical coverage, pension benefits, and humane living conditions, as well as countless other rights and protections for hundreds of thousands of farm workers. Against previously insurmountable odds, he led successful strikes and boycotts that resulted in the first industry-wide labor contracts in the history of American agriculture. His union's efforts brought about the passage of the groundbreaking 1975 California Agricultural Labor Relations Act to protect farm workers. Today, it remains the only law in the nation that protects the farm workers' right to unionize. (Source)

What's this got to do with my support for Phil? Well, Phil's spending tomorrow down in LA participating in a march to celebrate the 79th anniversary of Cesar Chavez's birth.

The other thing that this has to do with my support for Phil, is that Dolores Huerta, a co-founder of UFW with Cesar Chavez, is a Phil supporter!

New Blog on the Block

2006-03-30T17:00:00.000-08:00

This blog will chronicle my support of Phil Angelides and point out the ridiculousness of those other two guys running for Governor.

For example, Phil just released a new plan today to help recruit for California the best and most qualified teachers. We face a teacher shortage in this state, Phil's got a plan to help remedy that problem.

Here are the highlights:

Restore and restructure California's teaching fellowship program to attract bright young people and mid-career adults to teaching.
Roll back Arnold Schwarzenegger's college fee increases on teacher training.
Identify the pay and incentives California needs to attract and retain talented teachers.
Restore funding for teacher support and learning.
Double the number of public school counselors to support teachers in the classroom.
Expand homeownership assistance for teachers.

Read the details here.