links for 2009-02-22

Former McCain lawyer Ben Sheffner notes on his blog, Copyrights & Campaigns, that a federal court in Los Angeles declined to dismiss Jackson Browne's lawsuit against McCain, filed last summer over the use of the song "Running on Empty" in a web video from the Ohio Republican Party.
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Jackson Brown is a has been moron. Just don't buy his crap songs.

"I don’t have any party buying me clothes," said Schweitzer, referring to the more than $150,000 that the Republican Party shelled out for the Palin family's wardrobe last year. "My wife buys my clothes at Costco."
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Montana's Democrat Governor sounds like a moron. No tourism dollars from me, Gov. while you are in office.

Holding signs reading "Stimulate Business, Not Government," "Families Against Porkulus" and "Say No To Generational Theft," protesters opposed to the $787 billion stimulus package have been mobilizing across the country.

It started last Monday in Seattle, then moved Tuesday to Denver, where President Obama signed the stimulus bill into law. That was followed by another one in Mesa, Ariz., where Obama unveiled a mortgage rescue plan.

Another protest was planned for Saturday outside the office of Rep. Dennis Moore in Overland Park, Kan. The Democrat voted for the stimulus. His office didn't return calls seeking comment.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen today announced the proposition numbers for the seven measures appearing on the May 19, 2009, Statewide Special Election ballot and invited interested Californians to submit arguments to be included in the Official Voter Information Guide.
The next regular statewide election was scheduled for June 8, 2010. However, the Legislature and the Governor this week called a special election in 88 days and approved six measures for that ballot. A seventh legislative measure, which had qualified in 2008 for the next statewide ballot, will also be included.

You have until Monday — as in, the day after the day after tomorrow — to submit ballot arguments for or against the five propositions on the May 19 state special election ballot. These are the ones made necessary by this week's state budget agreement.

Rep. Darrell Issa fired a shot across the GOP bow Friday night at state Sen. Abel Maldonado, who cast the deciding vote in favor of a budget deal raising taxes.

Starting out by lampooning the Obama administration for appointing Democrats with tax problems to administrative posts, Issa poked fun at Maldonado in a speech at the opening dinner for the California Republican Party's three-day spring convention in Sacramento.

"Do you think Abel will have to pay those taxes now that he is an honorary Democrat?" Issa said. "He is going to go back to private life and discover that yes he does."
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Abel Maldonado's political career is over.

Former Hewlett Packard CEO and Republican National Committee "Victory 2008" chairwoman Carly Fiorina said she isn't ready yet to declare whether or not she will run against Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in 2010.

And in a remarkable speech to Republican Party activists in Sacramento, the corporate chairwoman who was forced out with a $42 million golden parachute, said her party "can never defend greed and excess."

Federal water managers said Friday that they plan to cut off water, at least temporarily, to thousands of California farms as a result of the deepening drought gripping the state.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials said parched reservoirs and patchy rainfall this year were forcing them to completely stop surface water deliveries for at least a two-week period beginning March 1. Authorities said they haven't had to take such a drastic move for more than 15 years.

The situation could improve slightly if more rain falls over the next few weeks, and officials will know by mid-March if they can release more irrigation supplies to growers.

Farmers in the nation's No. 1 agriculture state predicted it would cause consumers to pay more for their fruits and vegetables, which would have to be grown using expensive well water.