A Vote Too Far

Orange County's Board of Supervisors may have crossed the line with this one.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously today to suspend a county contract with Planned Parenthood to provide health education for thousands of teens and preteens because the nonprofit organization offers abortions.

“I personally have a problem with government funding of an organization that provides abortion services,” said Supervisor John Moorlach, who placed the item on the agenda.

As it says in the opening graf, Planned Parenthood in Orange County does not provide abortion services. It provides health education for teenagers, including information on contraception and birth control. All this does is make kids in the area more susceptible to STDs. This is religious extremism that actually puts people at risk.

But alas, this is Orange County, some say. If they are so wedded to an extremist anti-choice ideology, then so be it. Except that's more true of the political class than the people who live there.

Despite testimony that the Planned Parenthood services under contract through the community health clincs is not funding abortions, and has been extensively audited, the Board of Supervisors voted to defund a contract that includes Planned Parenthood as one of 18 community clinics receiving funding under Propostion H [...]

Recent polling has shown that anti-choice activists in Orange County are now outnumbered over two to one by those who believe that abortion should be available without any restrictions, or with minor restrictions. (emphasis mine)

Two things jump out here. Planned Parenthood was receiving the funding via a voter-approved initiative. And then there's the part I bolded, that Orange County is strongly in favor of abortion rights. This is nothing new, by the way. The county has long been more socially liberal and economically conservative. Here's an article from June 2000 highlighting a survey showing the OC's tilt toward choice:

The county's libertarian bent also was evident on the subject of abortion. Sixty-five percent of those polled support abortion rights.

It seems to me that this vote could be a launching pad. The culture wars have played themselves out nationally, particularly in light of the economic crisis. South Dakota, one of the most conservative states in the country, couldn't pass an abortion ban in 2006 or 2008. The public supports abortion rights and even more strongly supports birth control and family planning (try 91%). This punitive measure by the OC Supes could be a rallying cry, starting a movement tailored to the libertarian thinking of the area, demanding that these lawmakers get their prying eyes out of their constituents' bedrooms. This is the kind of misstep that loses people elections. We'll see if anyone capitalizes.

Sen. Correa Really Doesn't Want To Vote For The Budget

It's clear that he doesn't. He probably thinks it will cost him his re-election in 2010. That may or may not be, but certainly it's his point of view. There is no other reason why the vote was rescheduled. And it's certainly why Dem leaders are offering him incentives:

In what some might call an amazing coincidence, a measure to give Orange County an extra slice of the state budget pie was included in Saturday's deficit-closing proposals, the fate of which rested heavily on the vote of an Orange County state senator.

The senator, Lou Correa of La Habra, was the only Democratic member of the upper house reported to be "noncommittal" on whether to support a $40 billion package of tax hikes, spending cuts and loans designed to close the gap in California's budget.

Correa's vote is vital because Senate Republican leader Dave Cogdill of Modesto said that for any Republicans to cast votes for the package - and three are needed to give it the 27-vote two-thirds majority it needs - all Democrats will have to vote aye. "I just don't think it gets out if he (Correa) doesn't go up on it," Cogdill said earlier this week.

Capitol sources, who asked not to be named while commenting on private negotiations, said language had been inserted in the massive 33-bill package that would give Orange County $35 million in additional property tax revenues in the coming fiscal year; $35 million in the 2010-11 fiscal year, and up to $50 million annually after that.

Further delays mean he's further away from saying yes to the whole thing. And of course, this is another perverse outcome of the Yacht Party's stranglehold on the budget process - Correa's marginal seat shouldn't really hold the key to whether or not this passes.

The Fires

Here in Southern California, if you sit outside for more than half a minute you're bound to see some pieces of ash falling on your head. The entire region is bathed in a film, the air quality is miserable, and the horizon is barely discernible. Two fires - one in the northern San Fernando Valley in Sylmar, another south in Orange and Riverside counties in the Chino Hills area - have devastated local communities, burning hundreds of homes to the ground, including an entire trailer park. Today, despite more favorable conditions, hundreds more homes have been burned and thousands evacuated.

More residents of Southern California were urged to leave their homes Sunday despite calming winds that allowed a major aerial attack on wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes and blanketed the region in smoke.

Fires burned in Los Angeles County, to the east in Riverside and Orange counties, and to the northwest in Santa Barbara County. More than 800 houses, mobile homes and apartments were destroyed by fires that have burned areas more than 34 square miles since breaking out Thursday.

No deaths have been reported, but police brought in trained dogs Sunday morning to search the rubble of a mobile home park where nearly 500 homes were destroyed. No bodies had been found by midday.

"This has been a very tough few days for the people of Southern California," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said after touring damage.

Our best to the firefighters on the front lines.

A Tour Through the Fields of CA Republican Depravity

As the news comes in on the indictment of Series of Tubes Ted Stevens, it's instructive to take a look back at who the Yacht Party in California allows to speak for them as "leaders". First we have Sheriff Michael Carona, "America's Sheriff," who is apparently more than just a run-of-the-mill corrupt public official, but actually deeply vulgar, venal and unethical, even by the standards of the GOP - but also weirdly representative of a certain level of corruption in the OC.

His attorneys are asking a federal judge to prevent a future jury from hearing secretly recorded tapes of Carona snarling racial epithets, referring vulgarly to women and boasting of both sexual and political prowess.

"I mean, I've met millionaires, billionaires, and I've traveled on personal airplanes . . . drank great wine and, you know, had great booze and had some, you know, phenomenal [sex] along the way," Carona told his longtime patron, an auto auction magnate who was wearing a wire. "I'm the most lethal [expletive] in politics in Orange County."

The revelations have disappointed but not quite shocked Orange County, where the sensibility enshrined at Anaheim's Disneyland long has informed local politics, as well. Each invests heavily in an idealized, lavishly financed and fervently polished vision of Americana that few appear to accept as entirely real in the first place [...]

Before Carona's public disgrace, a superior court judge last year was sentenced to 27 months for possession of child pornography. The founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, located behind white wrought-iron curlicues in Costa Mesa, paid $425,000 to suppress an account of an alleged homosexual encounter. The Orange County Register reported that the Justice Department is investigating the county treasurer for allegedly diverting funds from a bankrupt trucking company to pay for Botox.

(the party affiliations of these officials have been strangely expunged. Thanks Washington Post!)

And this behavior is not limited to Orange County.

In San Bernardino, Bill Postmus was a young chair of the GOP who delivered a string of victories in the early part of the decade. Now he's taking a conveniently timed leave of absence:

Last week, Postmus announced that he's taking a leave of absence from his elected post as county assessor because of unspecified medical problems.

He's been under scrutiny lately. A former top aide faces six felony charges, and a district attorney's investigation is ongoing. The assessor's office also was the subject of a critical grand jury report released last month.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party, which as recently as two years ago held a five-figure registration advantage over Democrats in San Bernardino County, is clinging to a one-half percentage point lead.

Leaders are working to distance themselves from the party as it was under Postmus -- one critic said he ran it like a personal fiefdom focused on his own political goals. Fundraising, which slowed at the end of Postmus' three-year stint, has flatlined.

From what I hear, the indictment is imminent.

Then there's the bizarre case of Delecia Holt, a would-be challenger to Rep. Susan Davis.

(We could have a sidebar question about how Davis managed to be one of the only state Democrats to not get the Labor Fed endorsement, but snag the support of the progressive Jewish group J Street. But another time.)

Holt, who ended up not appearing on the ballot in June, may have been a phantom. She claimed support from the powerful Lincoln Club and $200,000 in contributions. But nothing materialized.

Holt, 46, ended up not filing to appear on the ballot. The Lincoln Club says she's not a member in either Orange County or San Diego. The District Attorney's Office is looking into her real estate dealings. She owes $32,000 in toll road penalties. Three nonprofits have complained about her use of their names for fundraisers in which they were not involved.

And the $216,000 she reported raising?

The Register wrote each of the 217 donors at the addresses listed on Holt's federal financial filings, inquiring about their donations. Not a single one responded that they had supported the would-be candidate.
The Register heard back from eight of the listed donors – all said they had not given Holt money, and six said they'd never heard of her.

"We aren't in a position to be giving money to anybody," said Vista's Jill Granquist, who is listed as having contributed $2,000, but whose financial straits led to losing her home to foreclosure in March. "I've never heard of her, but this makes me kind of curious."

I'll be fair and say that there are loony tune fringe candidates like this in every party. But given the sorry state of the GOP, what's sad is that a con artist like Holt feels right at home. It's almost sad to see how low these people have sunk. Except I then consider their agenda, and it's not sad at all.

Obama and The OC

The LA Times reports on a Barack Obama fundraiser in the heart of Nixonland.

On the Balboa Bay Club's wall of its most famous guests, there are photos of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford and, of course, the Duke.

There are no Democratic politicians. Securely tucked behind the Orange Curtain, Newport Beach is Republican-held territory.

But Barack Obama may be hoping to change that.

On Sunday, the Democratic Illinois senator brought his campaign to the center of Republican power and did what he has done better than any other presidential candidate -- raise money.

Obama would leave with $1.2 million, an organizer estimated. With this infusion, he may exceed the amount GOP candidate John McCain has raised in Orange County.

I think this is laying it on a bit thick. Even in the most Republican bastions in the country there are 3-4 Democrats for every 10 citizens, and some of them are wealthy. So rounding up some donors for the guy who's favored to become the next President of the United States doesn't seem to me to be that difficult. What's notable here is the resistance to McCain. Orange County was one of the better regions for Mitt Romney in the primary, although McCain won there for the most part. In addition, there are demographic shifts in Orange County that may not reveal themselves in big donors, but is starting to catch at the grassroots level.

I don't think a $1.2 million dollar fundraiser is as indicative of an overall shift in the voting public, but in the fall, we'll see some better gauges, particularly in CA-46 and the campaign of Debbie Cook, to note whether or not the Orange Curtain is opening a peek.

OC Follies

Looks like the same county poohbahs who under-invested in their own fire safety over-invested in soon-to-be-worthless structured investment vehicles, basically a bundling of subprime mortgage debt that is about to go bust.

Twenty percent, or $460 million, of the county's $2.3 billion Extended Fund is invested in so-called SIVs that may face credit-rating cuts, said Treasurer Chriss Street. In all of its funds, the county holds a total of $837 million of SIV debt, including $152 million in its $3.5 billion of money-market funds that isn't under ratings review, said his spokesman, Keith Rodenhuis.

It's what Atrios has taken to calling "Big Shitpile," sold to municipal governments as low-risk but soon to be a de facto bailout for mortgage brokers - and crushing to these same municipal governments, who won't be able to provide services out of them.

Plus, we have a top Republican activist about to turn himself in on pedophilia charges:

Jeffrey Ray Nielsen—the well-connected Orange County conservative activist who claimed the so-called liberal media, specifically the Weekly, was out to get him by publishing a series of exposés on his pedophile activities—is expected to finally admit tomorrow that he used two boys for sex since 1994, according to law-enforcement sources.

A legal representative for Nielsen, who has extensive personal ties to Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and Orange County Republican Party boss Scott Baugh, told prosecutors early last week that Nielsen would plead guilty to two felony counts: committing lewd acts on a child under 15 years old and committing lewd acts on a child under 14 years old.

He's getting off easy, he'll probably serve 3 years instead of the 30 years he faced if convicted of all the counts in current trials.

PLUS, Hank Asher, a top business associate to Rudy Giuliani, was named in the bribery investigation of Sheriff Michael Carona. He's got the double-whammy, shady ties to America's Mayor AND America's Sheriff!

Asher, identified by the initials H.A. in Overt Act 59 of a federal grand jury indictment against Orange County sheriff Michael Carona, had handed the diamond-encrusted Cartier baubles to the wives of the sheriff and his deputy, and with that, assured himself a place in a federal indictment that was looming.

Asher is not charged with any crime in the indictment. But his expensive gifts are clearly part of the corruption investigation.

The OC! Not exactly like the TV show.

CA-42: Caught In The Wildfires

My column at Capitol Weekly about Ron Shepston's experiences during the Southern California wildfires is up here. It's really a pretty amazing story.

As the flames closed in, and evacuation was recommended, Ron and his family packed up. One of his neighbors, a 37-year retired battalion chief with the Orange County Fire Authority named Mike, had plenty of experience with fighting fires, and with the limited official resources, he thought he could help protect the community if the fire engulfed the canyon. The problem was that his body was beaten from years of service. After escorting his family to safer ground, Ron told Mike he was willing to help. “I’ll be your legs,” he said.

Ignoring a mandatory evacuation, Ron and Mike went to work, setting up hoses, hooking into hydrants, watering down wood structures, and clearing fuel away from danger. They also provided assistance to federal, state and local firefighters about prime lookout spots to view the progress of the fire, and the local terrain. This lasted for 10 days, a non-stop firefighting effort in an attempt to protect the community. “I could hear the roar of the flames on the ridge,” Ron said, “There were flames rising 100 feet.”

Go throw me a bone and read the whole thing. There's some discussion of Orange County's failure to protect its residents by gutting firefighting operations, as well as the stark contrast between a leader like Shepston and Gary Miller, who has yet to make even one public statement about the fires. This will be an issue in the campaign.