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So says the latest Field Poll.

• Prop. 1A (Rainy Day Budget Stabilization Fund)

This proposition, which would establish a “rainy day” budget reserve and limit state spending, is
trailing by nine points – 49% No, 40% Yes and 11% undecided.

• Prop. 1B (Education Funding)

Prop. 1B, the measure that would provide supplemental funding to local schools and community
colleges, is also behind by nine points – 49% No vs. 40% Yes, with 11% undecided.

• Prop. 1C (Lottery Modernization)

The measure receiving the least support is Prop. 1C. It calls for modernizing the state lottery and
borrowing against its future proceeds. Likely voters are opposing it 59% to 32%.

• Prop. 1D (Children’s Services Funding)

This measure would transfer early childhood development monies out of the California Children and
Families Program to the state general fund. Voters divide 49% No, 40% Yes, with 11% undecided.

• Prop. 1E (Mental Health Funding)

Prop. 1E would temporarily transfer funds currently allocated to mental health programs under the
Mental Health Services Act to the state general fund. Currently 51% are voting No and 40% Yes.

No big surprise here.

But, Governor Schwarzenegger and the Democrat dominated California Legislature will have to make up the budget shortfalls that result from these electral decisions.

Will there be another attempt to run around the Proposition 13 restriction to pass tax increases by a 2/3′rds vote of the Legislature?

Stay tuned……

For the second time in five years of polling the GOP tops the Democrats in the generic congressional ballot.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 41% would vote for their district’s Republican candidate while 38% would choose the Democrat. Thirty-one percent (31%) of conservative Democrats said they would vote for their district’s Republican candidate.

Overall, the GOP gained two points this week, while the Democrats lost a point in support. Still, it’s important to note that the GOP’s improved position comes primarily from falling Democratic support. Democrats are currently at their lowest level of support in the past year while Republicans are at the high water mark.

Over the past year, Democratic support has ranged from a low of 38% to a high of 50%. In that same time period, Republicans have been preferred by 34% to 41% of voters nationwide.

During calendar 2009, Democratic support has ranged from 38% to 42% and the Republican range has been from 35% to 41%.

With political pundits heralding the death of the Republican Party and the American economy in the tank, there appears to be hope for Republicans who are in the wilderness.

Was the Arlen Specter switch to the Democrat Party yesterday, the low for the GOP?

• Despite Reports, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Was Not Waterboarded 183 Times
  The New York Times reported last week that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, was waterboarded 183 times in one month by CIA interrogators. The "183 times" was widely circulated by news outlets throughout the world.

  It was shocking. And it was highly misleading. The number is a vast inflation, according to information from a U.S. official and the testimony of the terrorists themselves.

  A U.S. official with knowledge of the interrogation program told FOX News that the much-cited figure represents the number of times water was poured onto Mohammed's face — not the number of times the CIA applied the simulated-drowning technique on the terror suspect. According to a 2007 Red Cross report, he was subjected a total of "five sessions of ill-treatment."

  "The water was poured 183 times — there were 183 pours," the official explained, adding that "each pour was a matter of seconds."

  (tags: terrorism torture Waterboarding)
• FAA Memo: Feds Knew NYC Flyover Would Cause Panic
  Threatened Federal Sanctions Against NYPD, Secret Service, FBI & Mayor's Office If Secret Ever Got Out
  Furious Obama Apologizes: "It Will Never Happen Again"
  (tags: barack_obama)
• National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Cornyn: re Specter's Switch – "Height of political self-preservation"
  National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman (D-TX) John Coryn blasts away at Specter:

  “Senator Specter’s decision today represents the height of political self-preservation. While this presents a short-term disappointment, voters next year will have a clear choice to cast their ballots for a potentially unbridled Democrat super-majority versus the system of checks-and-balances that Americans deserve.”

  (tags: ArlenSpecter john_cornyn)
• What's the Consequence for Louis Caldera? Olbermann Wants Him Gone
  The usually quite wise Jon Henke writes, "Yes, the New York City flyover was a very bad idea. But it's hard to believe Obama had anything to do with that. Not everything is political."

  No, but a key test of Obama is whether he holds the person who authorized it accountable, which at this point appears to be White House Military Office director Louis Caldera. Such an astonishingly stupid idea — having a government airliner mimicking the 9/11 flight path, followed by a fighter jet, without warning the public, all in order to update a stock photo — warrants a lot more in response than "I'm sorry." The egregious judgment deserves a period of unpaid administrative leave at minimum; and outright dismissal is probably warranted.

  The only types who are calling for Caldera to be fired are right-wing maniacs like . . . uh, Keith Olbermann. Okay, so Olbermann's a maniac, but even broken clocks can be right twice a day.

  (tags: louis_caldera Keith_Olbermann)