A California Republican

I am not a state lawyer. I don’t know all the particulars. But I do know that when someone elects you to the office of Attorney General in California, you ahve an obligation to represent the people - which includes representing ballot propositions that have passed and are now suffering legal challenges.

A few weeks ago, Jerry Brown said that he was going to recommend to the courts that they uphold Prop. 8 because it was the will of the people. He said that he had an obligation to defend ballot propositions that passed against legal challenges.

Imagine my lack of shock having learned that he’s not going to do that. In fact, he’s going to tell the court that Prop. 8 should be invalidated. Brown states that “Proposition 8 must be invalidated because the amendment process cannot be used to extinguish fundamental constitutional rights without compelling justification.” However, that’s not what he said he was going to say.

And that’s not what the job description of Attorney General of the State of California tells him to say.

However, this is what a Governor would do.

Jerry Brown has been running for Governor since he left that office a while ago. He’s made a run on lawsuits that sue cities and counties for not considering carbon emissions in their planning documents. He has made a history out of challenging things to keep his name in the papers, and bring what he considers the “majority” of Californian’s to his side. He’s hoping to win their votes in the next election for Governor.

But in the meantime, he’s the AG. He’s not acting like the AG. So how am I, a California voter, supposed to have any confidence that as Governor, he’s going to act like a Governor and not like someone running for the next highest office? I cannot.

So here’s my advice - stick to the job you have. And do a good job at it rather than trying to use it as a stepping stone to the Governor-ship.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”

In case you missed it: Controller John Chiang laid out a nightmare scenario today of the state’s resorting to IOUs or costly and uncertain emergency loans if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators don’t agree on steps to close the state budget deficit quickly.

And while Schwarzenegger and legislators negotiate on health and welfare spending cuts to help close a yawning state budget deficit, the liberal California Budget Project is warning that those “safety net” services are feeling intense pressure from worsening economic conditions.

Those negotiations, meanwhile, could be looking up. Schwarzenegger said he and the Democrats made “some great progress” Sunday.

“It could easily be that before Christmas Eve or Christmas Day that we have an agreement, that the legislators can be brought back between Christmas and New Year’s to vote on it,” Schwarzenegger said.

Later today, the union representing 13,000 state engineers and other construction professionals filed a lawsuit seeking to block Schwarzenegger’s executive order on twice-monthly furloughs, pay cuts and layoffs.

Meanwhile, former Senate leader Don Perata has transferred another $400,000 to his legal defense fund from a campaign account he created to advocate for ballot measures .

The latest transfer means the Oakland Democrat has now taken a total of $1.9 million raised in an account earmarked for ballot campaigns and used it to shore up the legal fund he created to fight an FBI corruption probe.

Cartoonist Rex Babin sees who’s getting lumps of coal from Schwarzenegger this year.