We bought a ballpark with that money, remember?
Tuesdays’ election results continue to reverberate around the country. Here in San Diego city attorney Jan Goldsmith is asking the courts to help the City sidestep long term litigation over the legality of Proposition B by combining five lawsuits already filed over the initiative in advance of a court decision on the legality of the measure. At issue is the question of whether the city violated a state law that requires negotiations with labor unions in advance of requesting any initiative that would impact employee pay and benefits. The city has maintained that Proposition B was initiated by private citizens and is exempt from the provisions of the law.
Early morning reports on Twitter indicate that the San Diego Educational Association (teacher’s union) membership has voted to talk about contract concessions aimed at negating already announced layoffs for some 1534 teachers. The issue of concessions has divided the union, with more militant members being purged from the SDEA leadership in recent weeks. Here’s the story from KPBS. And yesterday 1000 students at Point Loma High walked out to protest teacher layoffs.
Nationally, the Wisconsin election that failed to recall Gov. Scott Walker has columnists and editorial page writers on the right in ecstasy, with the normally dour Charles Krauthammer declaring June 5th as being the beginning of the end for public employee unions. Which, in case you weren’t aware, has been a core component of a right wing strategy over the past decade that seeks nothing less than the complete destruction of the Democratic Party.
Never ending detention leads to upgrades at Gitmo…The Miami Herald fronts with a story this morning about the costs of running the“detention center” at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, calling the military facility the most expensive prison on earth. The facility is costing taxpayers $800,000 annually for each of the 171 captives. That’s more than 30 times the cost of keeping a captive on U.S. soil, according to the story.NBC News ran a story last night about recent upgrades to the facility, including a soccer field, access to cable TV and “enriching your life” classes for detainees. Both stories point to the failure of the Obama administration to dismantle the facility in the face of mounting legal and political pressures.
The human costs of empire…. Newspapers around the country are highlighting an Associated Press account that says military suicides are on the rise. The level of deaths by suicides exceeds American casualties on the Afghan battlefield by nearly a two to one ratio and has risen to nearly one death per day; 154 servicemen and women have died by their own hand so far this year.
Women get short shift in the media… From Raw Story we learn that, when it comes to women’s political issues, men are the preferred gender for reporters and talking heads in the mainstream media. Money quote: “It’s no secret that the political news cycle this election has been dominated by women’s issues: from the right’s War on Women to the re-ignition of the Mommy Wars to the right’s declaration that there’s really a war on conservative women, women’s votes are turning into as much of a political battleground as their bodies often have been.”
courtesy www.4thestate.net
Negativity on the national campaign trail reality checked… Andrew Sullivan, the conservative (sorta) columnist who manages to love President Obama tackled criticisms in the news media that the President’s campaign is overly negative. He cites Karl Rove’s (ironic, huh?) condemnation of the Obama campaign for “fear” based attack ads as an example of such criticism.
The reality, Sullivan finds, is that the Obama campaign strategy has been largely ositive, as compared to the Romeny campaign, which has been largely negative. Since the start of the general election campaign on April 11th , 63,793 presidential campaign ads have been broadcast. Here’s the breakdown he found, as it appeared in Business Week:
• Democratic presidential advertisers aired 35,936 ads. Of these, 70 percent (25,092) were positive and 30 percent (10,844) were negative.
• Republican presidential advertisers aired 27,857 ads. Of these, 27 percent (7,584) were positive and 73 percent (20,273) were negative.
No power from San Onofre this summer…. Both the UTSD and the LA Times front with stories about how the nuclear power plant at San Onofre will not be operating this summer, according to plant operator Edison International. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ordered the plant to stay offline until Edison can identify the exact cause of the mechanical problems at the facility and determine how to fix them.
Benefit concert to celebrate UFW 50th anniversary… Performing artist Kris Kristofferson will be headlining a benefit show for the United Farmer Workers Friday, June 15th (8pm) at the Spreckles Theater. Also appearing will be Mariachi Divas, along with MC Alex Reymundo. Local high school students affiliated with the Cesar Chavez Service Clubs will assist with this event. For more information or to buy tickets go towww.spreckels.net or call 619-235-9500 or purchase in person at the Spreckels theater
On This Day… In 632 the prophet Muhammad died. In 1953 The U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregated restaurants in Washington, DC. In 1968 The Rolling Stones released “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”
Do Something Fun… Check out the Saint Spyridon Church Greek Festival (3-Day Event)
Eat Fresh! Today’s Farmers’ Markets. Imperial Beach (Seacoast Dr. at Pier Plaza)
2 – 7 pm, Kearny Mesa (No. Island Credit Union pkg lot @ 5898 Copley) 10:30 am – 1:30 pm, La Mesa Village (Corner of Spring St. and University) 2 – 6 pm, Southeast San Diego (4981 Market St. West of Euclid Ave. Trolley Station) 2 – 6 pm
I read the Daily Fishwrap(s) so you don’t have to… Catch “the Starting Line” Monday thru Friday right here at San Diego Free Press (dot) org. Send your hate mail and ideas to DougPorter@SanDiegoFreePress.
Doug Porter
Latest posts by Doug Porter (see all)
- Last Call. Last Column. - December 14, 2018
- Which Presidential Candidate Will You Support in 2020? - December 13, 2018
- Mounting the Assault on Big Gay and Other Drivel From SDSU’s Minimum Wage Scrooge - December 12, 2018
From today’s Washington Post: Mitt Romney: We don’t need more cops, firefighters or teachers–When Republicans attack public workers, they often take care to exempt cops and firefighters, because they are culturally sympathetic figures, and muddle the message that government workers are parasites who are destroying the economic conditions of ordinary Americans.
But today Mitt Romney got a good deal more specific, claiming we do not need to hire more cops or firefighters specifically, which would, he said, cut against the interests of the American people. He also specificallly named teachers.
Romney made the comments in response to Obama’s presser today, at which the president claimed the “private sector is doing fine.” Per CNN:
Romney said of Obama, “he wants another stimulus, he wants to hire more government workers. He says we need more fireman, more policeman, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.”
Great minds think alike. I just posted the same update.
I am sorry, but to lump the people of California (or any other state for that matter) in with the type of people who walk around with giant pieces of cheese on their head is a very sorry stretch of the imagination. Other than Oakland Raider fans, we are nothing like the “people” of Wisconsin and to suggest they speak for the rest of the nation is just silly.