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Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bear Flag League, California, Politics, Proposition 73, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, Special Election 2005
California Special Election Watch: McCain Campaigns for Schwarzenegger Then Disses Him
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, listens to an audience question as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, points to the questioner in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Oct. 10, 2005. In a joint appearances in both Southern and Northern California, the Arizona senator and former presidential candidate urged California voters to support the four initiatives, Propostions 74, 75, 76, and 77, backed by Schwarzenegger on the special election ballot.But, then Senator McCain criticises California Governor Schwarzenegger for not having public townhall meetings.
Reuters has McCain chides Schwarzenegger over staged rallies.
Sen. John McCain joined Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday to promote the California governor’s November ballot initiatives, but afterward chided his carefully staged campaign events.
The Arizona Republican senator appeared with the governor before a crowd of about 150 invited women, who cheered wildly when Schwarzenegger arrived and frequently applauded as he touted the benefits of California initiatives on budget reform, teachers, and redistricting.
As at many of Schwarzenegger’s campaign events, outsiders were not allowed to attend what the governor’s office called a “town hall meeting” at a hotel near Oakland’s airport. Union protesters gathered outside the venue carrying signs.
At a subsequent news conference, McCain, a possible candidate for U.S. president in 2008, said he had always favored town hall meetings open to the public, adding that some especially noisy dissenters had occasionally been ejected.
“The benefit of an open town hall meeting is one that you get to hear a lot of different views, and two it has credibility,” said McCain.
At the Oakland event, the crowd appeared as enthusiastic as an audience at a game show, frequently nodding their head in agreement, applauding at all the right spots, and chanting “four more years” as Schwarzenegger arrived.
“Thank you, how huge of you to be stepping out,” one woman told Schwarzenegger. “You have other things to do.”
Such remarks prompted McCain to quip, “The governor is going to take you wherever he goes.”
Whatever…..McCain the Maverick (Gag me!) always has to one up the next guy.
This is a major reason he will NEVER be elected President.
Even the Daily Kos picked up on the DISS, McCain helps Arnold, then disses him.
Thanks John, but with friends like you………
Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Recovery Team, California Special Election, Bear Flag League, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, Proposition 73, John McCain
Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page
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Day By Day by Chris Muir
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Dentistry Today: Dentistry in Sweden Too Expensive?
Sveriges Radio International has Dental Care Too Expensive.
A new study reveals that half of low income earners here can’t afford to go to the dentist.
Conducted by Statistics Sweden for the Swedish Public Health Institute, the survey indicates that the risk of poor dental health is six times higher among low income earners, and 30 percent more than last year can’t afford needed care.
Dental care is not included in Sweden’s National Health Service.
Last month the newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported that common dental surgery can cost six times as much here as in some neighboring countries.
Flap is bewildered after doing some research into Swedish dentistry.
Here is a piece entitled Dentistry in Sweden which details a highly socialized system of dental healthcare – with wide participation by the government of Sweden. For example, the government provides free dental care for all children until the age of 19 through general taxation.
Stay tuned.
Update #1
The Local has Poor Swedes priced out of dentistry.
Many Swedes on low incomes are suffering from poor dental health because they cannot afford to go to the dentist, according to a new report commissioned by the Swedish National Institute of Public Health, which calls for increased state subsidies for dental treatment.
The reports authors call for increased state subsidies for dental check-ups. The National Insurance Administration currently pays 21 percent of the cost for a normal check-up, while the patient pays for the rest.
The report says that people with financial difficulties would be better able to afford dentistry if this subsidy was raised by a few percent.
And the poor folks in the UK cannot find a dentist to take them.Good grief…..
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Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bear Flag League, Politics, Proposition 73, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, Special Election 2005
California Special Election Watch: Schwarzenegger and McCain The Burbank Event
U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Ar) listens before formally endorsing California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) reform agenda during a news conference in Burbank, California, October 10, 2005. McCain has endorsed the four initiatives favored by the governor, which would curb the power of the Democrat-controlled Legislature and their allied public employee unions.The ASSociated Press has Schwarzenegger Enlists McCain.
In a brief appearance with the governor in a hotel conference room, the Arizona senator urged California voters to support the four initiatives backed by Schwarzenegger on the special election ballot.
“I have campaigned for reform efforts all over the country,” McCain said. “What happens in California has significant effect in states like mine that are nearby. It’s just a reality.”
McCain said he supported the proposal that would take the power to draw district boundaries away from legislators and give it to a panel of retired judges.
“We need more competitive races,” said McCain, known nationally for his efforts to retool the campaign-finance system. “We need the voice of moderation.”
Now read LA Times reporter Bob Salladay’s “pool report” on Schwarzenegger’s visit to a nurses’ conference with John McCain after their joint appearance in Burbank this morning via Dan Weintraub of the Sacramento Bee.
Pool Report
After the Sen. John McCain press conference at the Burbank Airport Hilton, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger moved to the Festival Room next door, where about 100 nurses were having lunch.
It was the annual convention of GSG Associates Inc., a Pasadena company. GSG Associates is a statewide group of registered nurses who review workers’ compensation claims looking for cost containment for businesses. Website:
www.gsga.net has more on this subject.
When Schwarzenegger entered the crowded room, the nurses applauded and cheered. The governor then looked around and asked where McCain was. The senator walked in amid more cheers and applause.
Schwarzenegger told the utilization review nurses that he “just wanted to drop by” their luncheon. “What they did with the recall is change the governor, but they did not change the system, the broken system,” Schwarzenegger said.
“You all are doing a great job. I just think the world of what nurses do,” Schwarzenegger said. He said in the past 10 years he has had a heart operation, a hip “replacement” and work on his shoulder.
“This is what happens when you are the Terminator,” he said. “They switch body parts on you.” He added to more applause: “Let me tell you, after the heart surgery, the doctors went home but the nurses stayed.”
“I know they will make you think all the nurses hate me. It’s obviously not true. … But I feel very comfortable here.”
McCain then spoke, saying “Americans are not happy today” and want reforms made to the political system. Approving Schwarzenegger’s agenda would “send a message around America that reform is on the way.” He said America has an urgent shortage of nurses.
After finishing to more applause, Schwarzenegger made his way through the crowd shaking hands with the nurses.
Schwarzenegger was confronted toward the end of the line by Paul Krekorian, the president of the Burbank Board of Education, who had slipped into the room. Krekorian asked the governor why he “broke his promise” to protect education funding under Proposition 98.
Schwarzenegger, looking intensely at Krekorian, responded that Proposition 76 would create a payment schedule to return the money to schools but that there is “no money in the budget” now. Krekorian said there was plenty of money but it is given away in corporate tax loopholes.
Schwarzenegger said he had asked Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez to find money in the budget to return the $2 billion “owed” to schools. “He couldn’t find it. We can’t spend what we don’t have,” Schwarzenegger said, before walking away.
But, certainly they will show all of the union protestors on the nightly television news.
An interesting contrast between pool reporting and the spin the MSM editors place on the reporting. For example, this piece drawn from the ASSociated Press in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Flap looks forward to Sallady’s piece tomorrow morning in the Los Angeles Times.
Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Recovery Team, California Special Election, Bear Flag League, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, Proposition 73, John McCain
Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page
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Richard Lugar: Bloggers NOT Journalists
Sen Richard Lugar, R-Ind., addresses the general assembly of the Inter American Press Association in Indianapolis, Monday, Oct. 10, 2005.Editor and Publisher has Shield Law Sponsor Lugar: Bloggers ‘Probably Not’ Considered Journos.
Bloggers would “probably not” be considered journalists under the proposed federal shield law, the bill’s co-sponsor, U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R.-Ind.), told the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) Monday afternoon.
Lugar emphasized, however, that debate is not yet closed on how to define a journalist under the proposed law.
“As to who is a reporter, this will be a subject of debate as this bill goes farther along,” he said in response to a question from Washington Post Deputy Managing Editor Milton Coleman. “Are bloggers journalists or some of the commercial businesses that you here would probably not consider real journalists? Probably not, but how do you determine who will be included in this bill?”
And who is pushing for a federal shield law……… the MSM – not the blogosphere.
California has a Shield Law but it is uncertain whether it would apply to bloggers with a broad brush, Apple v. Does.
According to the first draft of the Free Flow of Information Act of 2005, the “covered person” protected by the bill’s terms includes “any entity that disseminates information by print, broadcast, cable, satellite, mechanical, photographic, electronic, or other means and that publishes a newspaper, book, magazine, or other periodical in print or electronic form; operates a radio or television station (or network of such stations), cable system, or satellite carrier, or channel or programming service for any such station, network, system, or carrier; or operates a news agency or wire service.” The legislation also covers employees, contractors or other persons who “gathers, edits, photographs, records, prepares, or disseminates news or information for any such entity.”
Sounds like bloggers to Flap.
A key reason some journalists oppose the popular federal shield proposal is fear that giving Congress the power to define who is and isn’t a journalist could lead effectively to the licensing of journalists.
Flap’s sense is that any definition will be constructed and thereby construed to include the blogosphere. In fact, the MSM will welcome our inclusion because it confers on journalism extra rights and privileges.
In other remarks about the legislation at IAPA’s 61st General Assembly, Lugar acknowledged that the legislation could amount to a “privilege” for reporters over other Americans.
“I think, very frankly, you can make a case that this is a special boon for reporters, and certainly for their role in freedom of the press,” he said. “At the end of the day what we will come out with says there is something privileged about being a reporter, and being able to report on something without being thrown into jail.”
Stay Tuned.
Technorati Tags: Richard Lugar, federal shield law, bloggers, blogosphere
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Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bear Flag League, California, Politics, Proposition 73, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, Special Election 2005
California Special Election Watch: California Teachers Association ROPE-A-DOPE
On Flap previously, California Special Election Watch: It is the TURNOUT Stupid
George Skelton, Sacramento Leftie columnist from the Los Angeles Times is FINALLY getting it.
The public employee unions have been saturating the California television airwaves and cable with ads – spending tens of millions of dollars exacted from union member’s paychecks.
In the meantime, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has conserved his resources for targeted media in Republican base areas. His message focusing on conservative evangelical households which will turn out to vote for Proposition 73.
Four weeks to go before November 8 election day.
Schwarzenegger has Rope-A-Doped the Unions.
Will he win?
Dan Weintraub of the Sacramento Bee gives further evidence, CTA seeking $40 million loan.
A sworn declaration in a lawsuit over the CTA’s recent members’ dues surcharge says the union already has spent the entire amount it expected to generate over three years from the $60 fee to fight the governor’s initiatives and is negotiating for a $40 million line of credit. You can read the affidavit here.
More Rope-A-Dope…….
Will the Governor score a knock-out when all of the California Teachers realize their union bosses have spent all of their money and want to borrow more?
Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Recovery Team, California Special Election, Bear Flag League, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, Proposition 73
Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page
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Harriet Miers Watch: Eating Their Young
Michelle Malkin has MIERS: BEWARE.
Flap compares this to eating your YOUNG.
If those disappointed by the Miers nomination want to assure that a Michael Luttig or a Michael McConnell never get nominated much less through the Senate, they will pursue tactics that will diminish the Senate majority so that the constitutional option is off the table.
Flap has Harriet Miers Watch: Conservatives Vs. Conservatives
Some of the Washington pundits (albiet elitist or not) should CHILL.
Technorati Tags: Supreme Court, George Bush, Harriet Miers
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Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bear Flag League, Politics, Proposition 73, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, Proposition 78, Special Election 2005
California Special Election Watch: It is the TURNOUT Stupid
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks about proposition 76, a state spending cap measure, from an empty parking structure Monday, Oct. 3, 2005, at the Sherman Oaks Galleria on a campaign stop in Los Angeles.George Skelton, Sacramento Leftie columnist from the Los Angeles Times is FINALLY getting it.
The public employee unions have been saturating the California television airwaves and cable with ads – spending tens of millions of dollars exacted from union member’s paychecks.
In the meantime, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has conserved his resources for targeted media in Republican base areas. His message focusing on conservative evangelical households which will turn out to vote for Proposition 73.
Four weeks to go before November 8 election day.
Schwarzenegger has Rope-A-Doped the Unions.
Will he win?
Schwarzengger has already won.
Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Recovery Team, California Special Election, Bear Flag League, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, Proposition 73
Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page