| News
Item - "Recall Supporters Hold "Moving Day"
Rally at Capitol"
The
political conflict surrounding the recall took to the streets
around the Capitol Monday as recall supporters brought in moving
vans.
Driving
trucks with signs that read "Moving Day for Davis,"
and chanting, "Save us from Davis," supporters drove
up the Capitol Mall for a pro-recall demonstration.
Click
here to read the entire article at News10.Net
News
Item - "Donors Have Stake in Governor's Decisions"
Some
of the biggest contributors to Gov. Gray Davis' efforts to beat
back the recall effort are businesses and Indian tribes that
have a stake in gubernatorial decisions on legislation, compacts
and land acquisitions.
Despite
opposition from the state Department of Consumer Affairs, Davis
signed legislation sponsored by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz,
who heads a telecommunications, real estate and entertainment
group that has a major ownership interest in Los Angeles' Staples
Center.
Anschutz
and the various entities he controls donated $95,000 to Davis
in his first term and in July gave $50,000 to one of the governor's
political committees.
Click
here to read the entire Article in the L.A. Times
News
Item - "Core Democratic groups lean to Schwarzenegger"
When
Democratic leaders pressed for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante to run
for governor as a backup in case Gov. Gray Davis was recalled,
they envisioned sweeping support from the state's Latino households,
such as the Marsicals in Sacramento.
But
like many Latinos surveyed in the Mercury News/NBC11/Knight
Ridder Poll, Margie Marsical, a 66-year-old Democrat who voted
for Davis last fall, isn't buying either part of Bustamante's
``No on recall, yes on Bustamante'' message.
And
neither are her three daughters. They all plan to vote for the
recall and Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Click
here to read the entire Article in the San Jose Mercury
News
Item - "The Top 10 stupid recall tricks"
Usually,
it's safe to wait until after an election to analyze what happened,
but I'm convinced that Gov. Gray Davis - California's unloved,
unlovable and incompetent governor - is history, despite the
last-minute "puke politics" aimed at Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Few
polls have shown Davis within spitting distance of surviving,
although I'm waiting to see the ones released after a newspaper
with an anti-Schwarzenegger bent mysteriously published the
groping story right before the election.
Click
here to read the entire Article in the Orange County Register
News
Item - "The making of a revolt and a 2-man race
for guv"
Shawn
Steel, then the chairman of the California Republican Party,
was on his cell phone in a Washington, D.C., hotel. Melanie
Morgan, the feisty conservative host of a popular San Francisco
morning talk show, was in her studio. Between them, they struck
the match that lit the tinder that roared into a fire and became
the California Recall.
The date was Jan. 20, just three weeks after Gray Davis was
sworn in to a second term as governor. Steel and Morgan were
commiserating about the condition of the state and their general
disdain for the governor. Between weather and traffic reports,
they chatted about the budget deficit, about taxes, about sport
utility vehicles and their belief that Davis and other Democrats
had declared war on suburban mothers and their big cars.
Then,
suddenly, Steel floated an audacious idea. Some conservative
activists, he said, had been kicking it around since December:
Why not try to recall the governor?
Click
here to read the entire Article on Sacbee.Com
Media
Advisory - "Moving Day for Gray"
Moving
trucks will depart from a staging location in West Sacramento
and caravan to the State Capitol. They will then loop around
the State Capitol complex. At 12:00 Noon a press conference
will occur at the State Capitol Fountain – West Steps
of the Capitol Complex.
Click
here to read the entire Advisory
News
Item - "Appeals Court Reinstates California's Recall
Election for Oct. 7 "
A
federal appeals court Tuesday reinstated California's gubernatorial
recall election for Oct. 7. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
unanimously reversed three of its own judges and upheld a lower
court's decision to allow the election, for which absentee balloting
has already begun.
A
three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit, all appointed by Democrats,
had overturned the district court last week. The three said
the vote shouldn't be held until next spring to give six urban
counties more time to complete the switch from punch-card ballots
to electronic voting machines.
Click
here to read the entire story at Newsmax.Com
Press
Release - "Recall Court Verdict:
The People Win!"
The
Chairman of the Recall Gray Davis Committee The Honorable Howard
Kaloogian, released the following statement concerning the unanimous
decision by the 11-judge panel of the 9th District Court of
Appeals. The Recall Gray Davis Committee and Mr. Kaloogian joined
with Bill Simon and Californians for Grassroots Leadership Committee
in filing an Amicus Brief in the case.
Click
here to read the entire Press Release
Press
Release - "Recall Davis Ruling Challenged"
The
Honorable Howard Kaloogian, Chairman of the Recall Gray Davis
Committee, the Recall Gray Davis Committee, Bill Simon, 2002
Republican Gubernatorial Nominee and 2003 candidate for Governor
in the Recall Election, and the California Grassroots Leadership
Committee have filed an Amicus Brief calling for the vacating
of the three judge panel ruling that would delay the recall
election. The brief supports an en banc review of the case.
Click
here to read the entire press release
Click
here to view the Amicus Brief (PDF)
News
Story - "Federal judges refuse to postpone California
recall"
The
latest legal challenge to the California gubernatorial recall
fell short Friday, when a panel of three federal judges refused
to delay the October 7 election despite concerns about the possible
impact on minority voters in Monterey County.
The
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and the Mexican American
Legal Defense and Educational Fund had filed suit, charging
that the county's plan to eliminate more than 100 polling places
and cut the number of bilingual poll workers would disenfranchise
Latino voters.
Read
the Story at CNN.Com
News
Story - "Federal panel OKs Oct. 7 recall vote"
A
panel of three federal judges said Friday it would not postpone
California's historic recall election based on lawsuits that
assert it might disenfranchise minority voters in Monterey County.
The
decision came the morning after the U.S. Justice Department
made a formal determination late Thursday that the county's
hurriedly assembled balloting plans for the election to unseat
Gov. Gray Davis did not constitute a violation of the federal
Voting Rights Act.
Read
the Story in the Sacramento Bee
News
Story - "Bustamante Betrays Davis; Issa Drops Out"
Lt.
Gov. Cruz Bustamante had vowed he would not enter the gubernatorial
recall race. On Thursday he did anyway.
"I
will not attempt to advance my career at the expense of the
people I was elected to serve," he promised in June. He
repeated that stand July 24 when he set the election date for
Oct. 7.
Now,
as the first prominent Democrat to enter the race, he has shattered
the effors of state and national Democrat leaders to keep the
party united behind Gov. Gray Davis.
Read
the Story in NewsMax.Com
News
Story - "Schwarzenegger Scrambles Recall Race"
The
announcement by Hollywood superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger that
he would run for governor of California set off a chain reaction
of political maneuvering today and set the stage for a tumultuous
two-month campaign to unseat Democratic incumbent Gray Davis.
Lt.
Gov. Cruz Bustamante confirmed today that he was breaking party
ranks to run for governor, urging voters to say "no on
the recall and yes to Bustamante."
Then
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) - who bankrolled the recall effort
and for weeks was the only declared candidate - choked back
tears as he announced that he had decided not to run.
Read
the Story in the Los Angeles Times
Press
Release - "History is Made !"
History
has been made by the people of California.
Secretary
of State Kevin Shelley, has announced that 1.3 million valid
recall signatures have been collected and he is now required
by law to instruct Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante to call
a special recall election which will be held within the next
60 to 80 days.
Recall
supporters will now celebrate the certification of the recall
ballot measure with a giant YES on RECALL” rally at the
State Capitol building in Sacramento this Saturday, July 26
from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM at the North Steps of Capitol
building (11th & L Streets).
Read
the Entire Press Release
News
Story - "Court Rules for Recall Proponents, Against
Secretary of State"
An
appeals court on Friday sided with a group seeking to recall
Gov. Gray Davis, ordering the secretary of state to direct counties
to verify petition signatures as they count them. The ruling
increased the likelihood that a recall election could be certified
by the middle of next week.
The
3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento said Secretary of
State Kevin Shelley, a Democrat, gave "erroneous"
instructions to county elections officials when he gave them
an extra 30-day period to verify signatures on recall petitions
rather than verify them immediately.
Read
the Story in the San Francisco Chronicle
Press
Release - "Kaloogian Wins Recall Lawsuit !"
The
California Third District Court of Appeal has ruled in favor
of The Recall Gray Davis Committee and its chairman, The Honorable
Howard Kaloogian, and ordered that the Secretary of State “maintain
a continuous count of verified signatures submitted up to, and
during, the current reporting period and to make that count
available to the public upon request.”
In
their ruling, the justices for the court concluded that directive
given by Secretary of State Shelley which allowed for a 30-day
delay for verification of recall signatures was “erroneous.”
Read
the Entire Press Release
News
Item - "Poll contains unleavened bad news for Davis,
tax advocates."
Gray
Davis, likely the first California governor to face a recall
election, desperately needs the state fiscal crisis to disappear,
but his popularity -- and credibility -- have plummeted to such
low levels that the more he tries to win public support for
his budget plan, the less backing his approach appears to be
garnering.
A new statewide Field Poll, released today, contains nothing
but bad news for Davis. His approval ratings are continuing
to sink, and Californians are spurning the new taxes he wants
to reduce the budget deficit.
Read
the Story in the Sacramento Bee
News
Item - "Ex-San Jose Mayor: It's Time to Drop Duplicitous,
Incompetent Governor."
If
Woody Allen was right, and 80 percent of success is just showing
up, then Gray Davis' other 20 percent has cost Californians
dearly. While his popularity crashes to unheard-of lows, the
state wallows in fiscal chaos. Yes, our Legislature is locked
in bipartisan inertia, but we have the same confidence in it
to resolve the budget woes that we would in teenage boys to
avoid girls and strong spirits. No, it is the governor whom
we trust to be prudent, if not wise.
In
this hope, we have been savagely disappointed. The only bastions
of support for this embattled governor are the usual Democratic
stalwarts: some public employees, labor unions and a few Indian
tribes, looking for two or three thousand more slot machines.
Ah,
and yes, we can't forget most of our columnists and editorial
writers. I understand the first few groups' allegiance, but
I can't fathom the lock step of the Fourth Estate for a man
so devoid of judgment, resolve and basic honesty. "A modest
man with much to be modest about,'' is how Churchill described
one of his opponents. If that were the limit of this governor's
attributes, we could consider ourselves lucky.
Read
the Story in the San Jose Mercury News
News
Item - "Davis Recall Backers Sue Calif. Official"
One
of the Republican groups trying to oust Democratic Gov. Gray
Davis sued the secretary of state Thursday, accusing him of
trying to delay a special recall election.
The
lawsuit by The Recall Gray Davis Committee asks a judge to order
Secretary of State Kevin Shelley - a Democrat - to have counties
verify signatures as they get them, rather than waiting from
month to month as Shelley has told them they can do.
Read
the Story in the San Jose Mercury News
Click
here to view the legal filing in PDF format
News
Item - "Greasing Gray with Fat Checks"
As
the Gray Davis recall moves into overdrive and the noxious consultant
Chris Lehane--who helped Clinton formulate his creepy Monica
Lewinsky strategy--prepares to launch an assault on the truth
unlike anything we've witnessed in a California election, a
phrase keeps circling inside my head.
Follow
the money.
Most
political junkies know by now that Lehane and the rest of Davis'
advisors plan to paint the recall as right-wingers stealing
an election from liberals. Lehane is said by some to be the
most negative campaigner in the United States, a guy who will
shimmy so low to win that Davis---the most vicious campaigner
California has seen in modern times---imported Lehane from Back
East.
Read
the Story at JillStewart.Net
News
Item - "Recall foes put tactics online - Petition
workers complain of intimidation"
Opponents
of the move to recall Gov. Gray Davis are asking their supporters
to intimidate signature gatherers and complain of harassment
at stores where recall petitions are circulating, stepping up
the political battle taking place in front of Wal-Marts and
Home Depots across California.
In
an e-mail message and Internet posting titled "How to Advocate
Against the Recall," Davis supporters were told, "It
is OK to stand in front of their table or approach potential
signers before they do, or otherwise inhibit their activity."
The memo instructs people to say they are "offended by
being harassed" and file complaints with managers of stores.
Read
the Story in the San Francisco Chronicle.
News
Item - "Incompetence, Unpopularity and Murpurs
of Corruption - Why Gray Davis is to Blame for the Recall"
It's
never happened before but this fall, or no later than next spring,
Gov. Gray Davis seems destined to face a recall election that
could well end his governorship.
Davis
supporters loudly proclaim this is an unjustified right-wing
coup to undo last year's election results. They are right about
the right-wing part, but wrong about justification. In fact,
this recall is exactly what the Progressive reformers had in
mind when they added direct democracy, including recall of public
officials, to our Constitution 90 years ago.
Read
the Story in the San Francisco Chronicle.
News
Item - "Internet Puts the 'e' in Recall"
"We
live in a remarkable moment when technology is turning the impossible
into the commonplace. Just as computers and the Internet have
transformed the way we shop, communicate and work, it is a matter
of time before these innovations transform the way we govern
ourselves"
Who
was that techno-enthusiast? California Gov. Gray Davis, writing
in a newspaper article he co-authored with New York Gov. George
Pataki in 2000. The governors were hopeful that citizens could
be empowered to vote electronically one day.
But
when the power of a technology is unleashed, its effects are
unpredictable. Davis is finding that out as the technology he
championed — and defended against taxation and other burdens
— is being harnessed in an effort to remove him from office.
Read
the Story in the Los Angeles Times.
News
Item - "Gray Davis Recall Movement is on a Roll"
Buoyed
by the financial backing of Rep. Darrell Issa (R.-Calif.) the
drive to get 897,000 signatures to put a question on the California
ballot to recall Gov. Gray Davis (D.) now looks like it will
succeed.
Longtime
California Democratic strategist Bob Mulholland recently told
reporters that because Issa "has indicated he’ll
put $2 million in . . . he’ll get the signatures."
Dave
Gilliard, who is working with Issa’s "Rescue California"
petition campaign, sent a memo to financial backers of the drive
indicating that 587,000 signatures had been turned into county
registrars of voters as of June 6th. Of those, more than 164,000
had been collected, processed, and submitted by "Rescue
California," which Issa launched last month by contributing
$500,000 in seed money. Additional petitions were submitted
petitions by RecallGrayDavis.com, and by supporters of House
Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R.-Cal.).
Read
the Story in Human Events Online.
News
Item - "California Steamin'"
California
is still one of the best places in America to build a successful
small business. All you have to do is start with a successful
large one.
That’s
the joke making the rounds these days on the left coast, where
a $38 billion budget gap and other evidence of awful governance
is fueling a populist revolt to toss Governor Gray Davis out
of office.
A
state-wide poll released last week found that, given the opportunity,
more than half of California voters would oust Mr. Davis, whom
they only re-elected last year. If organizers of a recall effort
obtain the 900,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot,
a special election could be held as early as this fall.
Read
the Story in the Wall Street Journal.
News
Item - "Retaliation Alleged on Opposition to Recall"
Californians
seeking the ouster of Gov. Gray Davis barraged some of the state's
biggest corporations this week with hundreds of e-mails to protest
the companies' involvement in a group that opposes the recall
campaign.
Hundreds
of e-mails and phone calls have been sent to Bechtel, ChevronTexaco,
Safeway and Southern California Edison, among others, to protest
their association with the California Business Roundtable.
"I've
gotten besieged with e-mails," said Doug Kline, spokesman
for Sempra Energy in San Diego, who estimated he had received
100 electronic messages since Wednesday. "Most of them
say something like we can't believe you've opposed the recall
of Gray Davis. He's hurting small businesses."
Read
the Story in the L.A. Times.
News
Item - "McClintock Testing Waters for Governor"
State
Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, said Wednesday he might
run for governor if the effort to recall Gov. Gray Davis qualifies
for the ballot.
He
said his decision to run in a recall election would be based
partly on how many other Republicans entered the race.
"It
is a decision that can't be made until the field begins to materialize,"
McClintock said in an interview. "The recall election is
a different sort of beast from a primary or a general election.
Different combinations of candidates produce different outcomes,
so a decision like that can't be made without a lot more knowledge."
Read
the Story in the L.A. Daily News.
News
Item - "51% Want Davis Out, Poll Shows"
A majority of likely California voters support removing Gray
Davis from office, according to a new statewide poll that will
boost the campaign to oust the beleaguered governor.
The
first public survey taken since the rapidly accelerating recall
effort received a major cash infusion shows that 51 percent
would boot Davis while only 43 percent want to keep him.
Read
the Story in the Contra Costa Times.
News
Item - "Recall Picks up Steam: Davis' Opponnents
Believe Momemtum is on Their Side"
Mike
Todd says there is something "viral" about the work
collecting signatures to oust Gov. Gray Davis from office.
It
spreads and multiplies on Internet chat rooms and conservative
talk radio, outside the sliding doors of Target and Wal-Mart,
in strip mall parking lots and offices, until it becomes a force
in itself.
"I
don't want to sound esoteric here," said Todd, standing
outside a Target store near Fashion Gal Plus and the Bible House,
"but there is almost a revolution going on."
Read
the Story in the San Francisco Chronicle.
News
Item - "Time Magazine: The Fight of His Life"
Just
a few weeks after it started to get noticed, the campaign to
recall California Governor Gray Davis has gone from being a
nettlesome political problem to a real threat to his survival.
Organizers of the recall say they have collected more than 500,000
of the 900,000 signatures necessary to qualify for a recall
election. "The odds of the recall qualifying have increased
to the point of near certainty," says Republican consultant
Dan Schnur. And a Democrat strategist acknowledged: "Several
people around [Davis] are of the assumption that they have to
prepare as if it is going to qualify."
Read
the Story in Time Magazine Online.
News
Item - "Gov. Train Wreck"
This could be the summer of Gray Davis' discontent. Even as
a recall campaign picks up speed against the California governor,
things continue to go badly for him and the state he has misgoverned:
On
Wednesday, a Stage 1 Power Alert was declared by state power
authorities. It was the first since last July 10; only two were
declared in all of 2002. But if temperatures rise, the governor
could be in for a long, hot summer of blackouts.
On
Friday, the Associated Press reported, "Richard Katz, one
of Gov. Gray Davis' top advisers, has earned hundreds of thousands
of dollars in consulting fees the last two years from clients
that have had business before the governor's office on issues
that Katz handles, state records show." The governor doesn't
need an ethics scandal now.
Read
the Editorial in the Orange County Register.
News
Item - "Opponents of Gray Davis Step Up Recall
Efforts"
Opponents
of Governor Gray Davis turned up the heat on their effort to
have him recalled, as they began collecting signatures at new
drive-through petition centers.
They
have a considerable distance to go, needing to collect 897,000
valid signatures by September 2. At this point, recall supporters
have acquired less than 10 percent what they'll need.
Those
stopping by to sign the petitions felt strongly that the governor
has to go. "I'm a teacher and I've been disappointed in
the support we've gotten from the governor and I'm very supportive
of what's been going on here," said Diane Evans.
Read
the Article on Sacramento's News 10 .Net.
News
Item - "Davis' plan: 1975 New York bond program"
A
New York City bond program, the model for Gov. Gray Davis' plan
to finance part of the state's budget deficit, has been overtaken
by the city's recent financial problems and may require the
sale of new bonds to pay off the old ones.
So,
as New York taxpayers are still paying off the debt run up the
city's famous bout with insolvency nearly 30 years ago, they
may be on the hook for another 10 years before they pay off
the remaining obligation.
That
experience has New York financial experts wondering about the
wisdom of the 1975 bond program and Davis' plan to mimic it
to solve a big part of California's $38.2 billion deficit.
Read
the Article by Tom Chorneau in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
News
Item - "Dan Walters: Will Davis ever learn why
he's the most unpopular governor?"
Daddy
Gray is taking my T-bird away. My Lexus, my Ford Focus, you
name it.
If
Gov. Gray Davis' budget passes, the warranty expires on the
all- important automotive portion of the California Dream. Davis
wants to increase the already staggering state sales tax and
triple the vehicle license fee.
It
was convertible weather in San Francisco Thursday morning, and
a gorgeous metallic turquoise Thunderbird sparkled in the middle
of the showroom of S&C Ford. There were no customers to
appreciate it because of the bad economy. The bad times could
get worse. Ray Siotto, president of San Francisco's S&C
Ford, ran the numbers.
Read
the Article by Rob Morse in the San Francisco Chronicle.
News
Item - "Will Davis ever learn why he's the most
unpopular governor?"
Does
Gray Davis ever lie awake at night wondering why he's the most
disliked and mistrusted California governor in recorded history
and is facing a potential recall election?
And if he does, does he have the intellectual honesty to admit
to himself that his own passivity and penchant for taking what
he considers to be the easy way out of problems are at the root
of his poor public standing? Or does he really believe the propaganda
his minions disgorge about his being the victim of wretched
fate and the shortcomings of others?
If Davis does have an objective sense of his own shortcomings,
he appears not to have learned any lessons from it because his
latest response to the state's budget crisis exhibits the same
characteristics that got him into trouble in the first place.
Read
the Article by Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee.
News
Item - "Davis budget pushes problems into the future"
The
revised budget Gov. Gray Davis proposed Wednesday represents
a risky leap into the world of deficit financing, relying on
an off-the-books $11 billion loan and a prayer that the economy
will revive to bail out the state.
It's bad enough that Davis is proposing to pay for our recent
consumption of government services over the next five years,
a move that might be unavoidable now that the hole is too deep
to crawl out of without a ladder. But the governor is compounding
that problem by declining to offer a plan that rids the state
of its multibillion-dollar structural deficit.
Read
the Article by Daniel Weintraub in the Sacramento Bee.
News
Item - "California Plan for Extra Bonds a Temporary
Fix"
California
is like a homeowner who has fallen behind on paying bills and
wants to catch up by taking out a home-equity loan.
By
floating bonds to raise more money, the state may temporarily
solve its issue but won't fix the real problem: It spends too
much in comparison to the taxes it currently collects.
Gov.
Gray Davis is expected to announce today a plan to pay for some
of the state budget deficit by issuing $10 billion in bonds
paid with a temporary increase in the sales tax.
Read
the Article by David Sylvester in the San Jose Mercury News.
News
Item - "Budget Revision has Taxes, Loans"
Gov.
Gray Davis will release a state budget revision today that would
push more than $10 billion of the deficit into the future, raise
taxes for smokers, shoppers and high earners, and all but guarantee
a tripling of the vehicle license fee, sources said Tuesday.
Read
the Article by Alexa Bluth in the Sacramento Bee.
News
Item - "Why California's Gov. Davis may be facing
historic recall"
History
happened last week, but if you didn't have your radio tuned
to a select few talk hosts in California – you heard nothing
about it!
Last
Monday, May 5, the combined efforts of the state's two main
recall organizations announced the collection of over 100,000
signatures – well over 10 percent of those needed to recall
Gov. Gray Davis. Since California's creation of a "Constitutional
Recall" in 1911, this is the first time a recall campaign
aimed at a statewide elected official has reached even 10 percent
of the needed signatures, elevating it to a historical event.
Read
the Article by Eric Hogue in World Net Daily.
News
Item - "Davis Dilemma"
As
off-the-wall as it may sound, it's the Democrats who are giving
Gov. Gray Davis the biggest fits when it comes to the recall
movement.
Believe
it or not, polls are finding that 30 percent of members of Davis'
own party are ready to put the recall on the ballot.
Read
the Article by Matier and Ross in the S.F. Chronicle.
News
Item - "Davis Recall Grows"
The
effort launched last year to recall Gov. Gray Davis has fallen
into the "and yet" category.
Nearly
every political professional in the state dismisses the campaign
-- being mounted by an anti-tax crusader and a political consultant
whose candidate lost to Davis last year.
But
they always add, "... and yet."
Read
the Article by Rick Orlov in the L.A. Daily News.
News
Item - "From the Wall Street Journal"
If
the government of California were a company, it'd be American
Airlines. It's nearly broke, and everyone is mad at the CEO.
American decided to let its chief go, and soon California voters
may be able to do the political equivalent and recall Governor
Gray Davis.
The state budget deficit is at an estimated $35 billion and
growing by $21 million a day. Yet a paralyzed California legislature
has so delayed solutions that the state will have to borrow
at least $10 billion this summer just to pay off short-term
debts and meet cash flow. ''There's a potential for a dramatic
downgrading of state bonds,'' admits Democratic Assemblyman
Gene Millin of San Francisco. The state comptroller may soon
have to issue IOUs to vendors.
Read
the Complete Article.
News
Item - "Hounding Gray"
Donald
LaCombe has a serious case of buyer’s remorse.
For
LaCombe, a 32-year-old father and vending-machine operator,
the “purchase” was his November 2002 vote that helped
return Governor Gray Davis to office.
“I
thought he was the least of two evils,” LaCombe said recently.
“I regret the decision.”
As
if to atone for his sins, LaCombe has joined the Recall Gray
Davis movement (www.recallgraydavis.com) and volunteered to
collect some of the 897,158 signatures of registered voters
needed to qualify the recall for a statewide ballot by September
2. (Organizers say they’re aiming for 1.2 million signatures
to ensure the measure qualifies.)
Read
the Article in the Sacramento News and Review.
News
Item - "As Foes Press Recall Bid, Davis Again Raises
Funds"
With
opponents pushing for an election to recall him from office,
Gov. Gray Davis has resumed campaign fund-raising, an effort
that has mired him in controversy for years.
Davis
has invited capital lobbyists and other supporters to a $5,000-a-ticket
golf tournament May 23 in Carmel. It will be his first fund-raising
event since he was reelected in November, Davis campaign spokesman
Roger Salazar said.
Read
the Article in the Los Angeles Times.
Press
Release - "100,000 Signature Mark Reached"
The
Recall Gray Davis Committee announced today that over 100,000
signatures have already been collected for the Recall Gray Davis
campaign. The surge above the 100,000 signature mark came after
the Chairman of the Recall Gray Davis Committee, The Honorable
Howard Kaloogian, appeared on talk radio stations throughout
the state last week to rally listeners to collect 50,000 signatures
in the last week alone.
The
100,000 signature mark is significant because this will trigger
the official beginning of the count of valid recall signatures
by the County Election offices.
Read
the Press Release.
News
Item - "Davis Approval Ratings Reach Record Low"
Gov.
Gray Davis' approval rating has reached the lowest point of
any California governor in the past 55 years, and nearly half
of voters now say they would throw him out of office if a recall
effort makes the ballot.
Those
are the results from a stinging California Field Poll released
Monday in which nearly two-thirds of the California voters surveyed
said they disapprove of the way Davis is handling his job.
Read
the story by Margaret Talev in the Sacramento Bee.
Read
the story by John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Read
the story by Mike Zapler in the San Jose Mercury News.
News
Item - "Californians brace for higher taxes"
Californians
pay some form of state tax almost every day, but today's income-tax
deadline magnifies that obligation and has some concerned that
the burden will increase next year.
"I
think Gov. Davis and group are looking for any excuse to raise
taxes, and that worries me to no end," Chino Hills resident
Jack Ritoli, a telecommunications executive, said Monday.
Read
the story by David Drucker in the Inland Daily Bulletin.
Press
Release - "New Poll States: Gray Davis in Jeopardy
of Being Recalled"
A
new poll commissioned by a respected Democratic pollster finds
that Gray Davis is in serious jeopardy of being recalled.
According
to the poll, 36% of Santa Clara County voters already support
a recall effort against Governor Davis. Only 46% oppose a recall
at this time – before the recall proponents have even
begun their advertising efforts to explain why a recall is the
appropriate course of action.
This
is an astounding figure given the fact that this is the heartland
of support for Davis in past elections. In the 2002 Gubernatorial
race for example, Davis won Santa Clara County by 55.4% with
his Republican challenger only receiving 32%.
Read
the Press Release.
News
Item - "With all of Davis' problems, recall not
so far-fetched"
There's
a clumsiness about Gray Davis that makes you wonder how he ever
got elected governor of media-obsessed California. But he's
actually a shrewd politician, although his biggest campaign
asset may have been his timing.
Davis took over the governorship in an era when self-destructive
California Republicans decided they'd rather lose elections
than nominate someone moderate enough to appeal to the entire
state. So even though his popularity tanked in his first term,
he limped to re-election victory last November.
Davis
and his advisers knew they had ducked political disaster, but
now they would have four years to push their agenda. Not so
fast. The governor now is being threatened by a recall attempt.
Read
the story by Jim Boren in the Fresno Bee.
News
Item - "Davis' weakness is evident as fellow Democrats
turn on him"
Davis
finds himself in a political box. He's a lame-duck, very unpopular
and charm-free governor who faces a budget crisis of historic
proportions and has virtually no friends or firm allies even
within his own party.
The
extent of Davis' political isolation has been demonstrated in
recent weeks by the willingness of high-ranking Democrats to
openly criticize his budget policies.
State
Treasurer Phil Angelides has made a series of speeches that
fell just short of accusing Davis of betraying party principles
by cutting school spending. "If we're not willing to fight
for the education of our children, Democrats, what are we willing
to fight for?" Angelides declared to delegates' cheers
at a recent state Democratic convention.
Read
the story by Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee.
News
Item - "Official Opens Door for Start of Davis Recall
Drive"
A state official Tuesday approved the legal format of a petition
to recall Gov. Gray Davis and set a Sept. 2 deadline for supporters
to gather nearly 900,000 signatures to qualify their proposal
for the ballot.
By
doing so, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley cleared the way for
the 160-day signature drive to begin.
Read
the story by Michael Finnegan in the Los Angeles Times.
News
Item - "Davis recall effort receives go-ahead"
After weeks of delay, the campaign to recall Gov. Gray Davis
began in earnest Tuesday, when backers received the go-ahead
to start collecting nearly 900,000 voter signatures required
to place the issue on a ballot.
Having twice in the last month rejected sample petitions because
of technical errors, the California secretary of state's office
told the activist spearheading the effort that his third submission
met state requirements.
Read
the story by Margaret Talev in the Sacramento Bee.
News
Item - "Interview on MSNBC's Buchanan & Press"
Howard Kaloogian, state chair of the Recall Gray Davis Committee
was featured on MSNBC's Buchanan & Press a short while ago
to discuss the recall effort. Video and the transcript from
that segment are now available.
Click
here for more information.
News
Item - "College Students March on the Capitol"
The Recall Gray Davis Committee joined 10,000 community college
students at a rally at the State Capitol to protest the planned
massive budget cuts to community colleges. The cuts are proposed
by Governor Gray Davis in a sinister attempt to bail himself
out of the budget mess he created.
Click
here for more information.
News Item - "Davis
Recall Churns Quickly into a Perfect Storm"
From here in the southern desert to the Oregon border, California
is feeling faint tremors of a possible political earthquake.
A state tradition from the early 20th-century, plebiscitary
democracy, is being fueled by the synergism of two late 20th-century
developments, talk radio and the Internet. The result may be
the recall of Gov. Gray Davis, who last November won re-election
with just 47 percent of the vote.
California
is stewing in its own juices. Hiram Johnson, governor from 1911
to 1917, helped institutionalize such populist devices as the
initiative, referendum and recall. Eight decades later Silicon
Valley helped democratize the personal computer.
Read
the Story by George Will in the Sacramento Bee
News
Item - "The Davis E-Call Campaign"
The early shenanigans are beginning to appear in the "Davis
E-Call Campaign" in Sacramento and Northern California.
This past week, the governor, his major campaign donors, the
newly added "re-campaign consultants" and the secretary
of state seem to have positioned themselves to delay this recall
as much as they can.
If
this recall is so weak and financially broke, why are so many
so fearful inside of Gov. Davis' camp – including the
governor himself? Could it be that the state known for technology
has stumbled upon a new realm of political reality – the
"Davis E-Call Campaign"?
Read
the Story by Eric Hogue in World Net Daily
News
Item - "Davis Recall Still Possible, Despite Dread
of Pooh-Bahs"
Conventional wisdom says that the lack of a broad-based coalition
and the absence of professional signature gatherers should doom
this recall to the political ashbin reserved for cranks and
crackpots.
But
the people behind this movement aren't giving up just yet. And
Davis would be wise not to dismiss them any time soon.
Read
the Story by Dan Weintraub in the Sacramento Bee
Press
Release - "Over 50,000 Sign Up Online to Distribute Petitions"
The Honorable Howard Kaloogian, Chairman of the Recall Gray
Davis Committee , today announced that the Recall Gray Davis
Committee has signed up over 50,000 Californians to sign and
distribute Recall Gray Davis petitions.
Read
the Press Release
News
Item - "Return Fire"
California's
recall battle has experienced its first return fire. Since the
start of this grassroots recall effort, on the morning of Feb.
4, 2003, the daily Sacramento conversation has been laced with
skeptic parody. But that rhetoric has now changed with the first
return fire from Gov. Gray Davis.
Read
the story by Eric Hogue in World Net Daily
News
Item - "Californians Start Movement to Recall Davis"
The
talk at the California Republican Party convention here last
week centered around the move to recall Democratic Gov. Gray
Davis and elect a replacement using a unique provision in California
law. Four months after he was re-elected by an unimpressive
margin of 47% to 42% over Republican Bill Simon, Davis is sporting
a disapproval rating of 72%.
His
surge in unpopularity derives from his misstatement of the state’s
deficit. Before the November election, Davis said it was $25
billion and could be serviced. After the election, he announced
it was actually $34.6 billion and required increasing taxes.
Read
the story by John Gizzi in Human Events Online
News
Item - "Schools See Red Over Gray Davis"
This
has been the week that people roused themselves to protest the
budget cuts that are hitting schools the hardest. At every turn,
school districts are faced with cuts that can only be described
as devastating. This is particularly true in the state's 59
basic aid districts -- where enough property taxes are collected
to pay for school programs without additional aid from the state.
Now,
those are considered wealthy districts and Gov. Gray Davis wants
to raid them to help pay the state's $30 billion budget deficit.
Read
the story by Mark Simon in the San Francisco Chronicle
News
Item - "California Recall Effort Gaining Momentum for Success"
An
effort in California to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis has
reached a critical stage, as the secretary of state prepares
to review the official recall petition.
Past
California governors have been subject to unsuccessful recall
efforts, but this time may be different. Three-quarters of Californians
say Davis is doing a lousy job.
Read
the story by Christine Hall in Cybercast News Service
News
Item - "New Poll Shows Voters in 'Sour Mood'"
Only
33 percent of the state's residents are happy with the job Davis
is doing as governor, down from 52 percent just three months
ago, the survey by the Public Policy Institute of California
showed. Bush's approval rating has slipped to 51 percent, his
lowest number in the state since May 2001 and down from a 76
percent favorable rating a year ago.
"If
you thought the voters were cranky (before), now they're really
in a sour mood," said Mark Baldassare, the poll's director.
"These are numbers I haven't seen since 1994," when
California was mired in a deep recession.
Read
the story by John Wildermuth in The San Francisco Chronicle
Press
Release - "Recall Gray Davis Rally to Draw Attendees from
Throughout State"
Californians
from every corner of the state and from various political parties
are expected to attend the Recall Gray Davis Rally this Saturday,
February 22nd from 10:30 AM to 12:00 Noon on the north steps
(L Street side) of the State Capitol.
Read
the Press Release
Press
Release - "Libertarians & American Independents Join
Republicans and Others in Recall Gray Davis Effort"
The
Chairman of the Recall Gray Davis Committee, The Honorable Howard
Kaloogian (California State Assemblymember 1994 – 2000),
announced today additional endorsements in the effort to recall
Governor Gray Davis.
Read
the Press Release
News
Item - "Gray Davis Recall Effort Gains Steam"
Californians
fed up with Democratic Gov. Gray Davis are taking to the Internet
to express their disgust, as the website dedicated to an effort
to recall the governor collects thousands of supporters' names.
Read
the story in WorldNet Daily
Press
Release - "California Uproar!"
Former
Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian, Statewide Chair of the Recall
Gray Davis Committee, announced today that, “In the first
96 hours since the Recall Gray Davis effort was launched, over
10,000 Californians have signed up to join the recall campaign
at the official recall website, www.RecallGrayDavis.com.”
Read
the Press Release
News
Item - "Summer Could Bring Recall Vote"
One
legacy of early 20th century political reformer Hiram Johnson
is the recall election.
In
a recall, voters decide whether to throw out an elected official.
It's been tried 118 times in 90 years against state officials.
It has succeeded exactly four times - two of them in the 1990s
in Orange County, when Assembly members Paul Horcher and Doris
Allen were tossed from office in the wake of a fight over the
speakership.
Democratic
Gov. Culbert Olson faced five recall drives, including three
his first year in office, and the ugly campaigns helped seal
his 1942 defeat at the hands of Earl Warren.
Govs.
Pat Brown, Ronald Reagan, Jerry Brown, Pete Wilson all faced
recall attempts. In all, there have been 32 recall drives against
California governors.
Read
the story in the Orange County Register
News
Item - "Total Recall"
This
week Nativo Lopez lost his job as a Santa Ana, Calif., school
board member. A recall effort spurred by charges of financial
mismanagement and ignoring the law limiting bilingual education
won the support of 71% of voters. If the taxpayer group People's
Advocate has its way the next recall initiative to face Californians
will target Gov. Gray Davis, who the group says has mismanaged
the state's budget, which now has a deficit larger than that
of all other states combined.
Read
the story by John Fund in the Wall Street Journal
News
Item - "Time to hit the political redial button..."
Former
California Republican Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian has announced
he will try to unite the various forces working to remove Gov.
Gray Davis, a Democrat, from office. Kaloogian tied his announcement
to the opening of the RecallGrayDavis.com Web site Wednesday
morning. "I am starting this recall drive after determining
that there must be a broad-based and multi-party effort that
will have the credibility to qualify the recall for the ballot.
As it stands right now, we need leadership to unite the various
splinter recall efforts that have been sprouting up over the
past several weeks," Kaloogian said.
For the next several weeks the effort will focus on organizing
and recruiting the volunteers needed to collect the close to
900,000 valid signatures required on petitions to qualify the
recall effort for a special election ballot.
Read
the full UPI story
News
Item - "Davis Target of California Recall Effort"
A
move is under way to oust California Gov. Gray Davis and hold
a special election this summer that, if successful, would change
the face of the 2004 electoral map.
Read
the full story by Ralph Hallow in the Washington Times
News
Item - "Would You Lend a Few Billion Bucks to These People?"
Daniel
Weintraub in the Sacramento Bee talks about the fiscal crisis
in California, and points out the possible solution...
"Two
organizations are forming to recall Davis from office. If they
join forces, they might launch a credible drive to collect the
900,000 signatures it would take to put the question on the
ballot. No such effort has ever been successful in California.
But the state is due for an Internet-driven political earthquake.
There is at least a small chance that this will be that temblor."
Read
the story by Dan Weintraub in the Sacramento Bee
Press
Release - "Legislator to Lead Davis Recall Effort"
Former
State Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian announced today that he is
leading an effort to recall Governor Gray Davis from office.
Read
the Press Release
Read
Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian's Biography
News
Items - "Gray Davis Looks to Tax the Internet"
Because
Gray Davis went on an out-of-control spending binge he now is
raising YOUR taxes to bail himself out. His latest proposal
is to tax the Internet!
Read
the story by Ann Marimow in the San Jose Mercury News
Read
the story in NewsMax
News
Item - "Largest State Budget Crisis in Nation's History"
Read
the latest column from Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters
on Gov. Davis' mishandling of the growing budget crisis.
News
Item - "Davis First Failure - California Energy Crisis"
The
first indications Davis should have been recalled began with
the crippling state energy crisis that have led to higher energy
prices and tax increases to pay for.
Read
the story by Patrick Hoge in the San Francisco Chronicle
Read
the story from Knight-Ridder News Service by Lance Izumi
Read
the story by Jonathan Wilcox in CalNews.Com
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