The Chamber broke a tradition of non-partisanship dating back more than 100 years when it endorsed Schwarzenegger in the 2003 recall election. For this, they were rewarded handsomely by the Schwarzenegger administration and were given unprecedented access and influence over our State government, to the detriment of almost everyone else – especially small business. The “job killer” label they put on any legislation they didn’t like, for example, for many years virtually guaranteed a Schwarzenegger veto.

According to several news reports, complaints have now been filed with the California Fair Political Practices Commission that say the Chamber didn’t even fund this ad through its own political action committee- since that would have been subject to disclosure regulations, and instead paid for it through their membership dues, to the tune of more than one million dollars! They also noted that Republican candidate Meg Whitman’s campaign manager, former Gov. Pete Wilson, is on the chamber’s board.

The man responsible for turning the California Chamber of Commerce into this overtly partisan political organization is apparently their President and CEO: Allan Zaremberg, He was the Master of Ceremonies at the Republican Primary Gubernatorial Debate in Orange County last month, touting his take on “the importance of a business-friendly governor to California”.

He is also the head of the “California State Protocol Foundation” – a shadowy “non profit organization” has paid for millions of dollars’ worth of Schwarzenegger’s overseas travel and other bills racked up by his office, including the use of private jets. This group claims these payments allow the Governor to meet with foreign dignitaries, “thereby supporting business opportunities between California and their countries” but what they have really done is turn what should have been public interest trade missions into luxury junkets with blatant cronyism. More than anything, this organization has corrupted and perverted California’s international trade and economic development programs, and it is almost unbelievable that they have gotten away with it.

The ad now being run by the California Chamber is stunning in its dishonesty. For example, they attack Brown for having been against Proposition 13, the property tax initiative, not mentioning that they were also opposed to it at the time. The theme of the ad is “enough is enough” and that may very well be the way many in California feel about the California Chamber of Commerce.

Let’s hope the next Governor- who ever he or she is, from whatever party, will stop this bullying and political manipulation by the California Chamber of Commerce. The rest of us – especially small business, deserve a seat at the table on California business issues for a change. It seems to me that members of the California Chamber of Commerce should not only resign from this organization, they should also demand a full refund of their membership fees for as many years as they have been members. Regardless of their political party, I’m sure they didn’t sign on for this garbage.

ON MAY 19th Californians will go to the polls to vote on six ballot measures that are as important as they are confusing. If these measures fail, America’s biggest state will enter a full-blown financial crisis… A good outcome is no longer possible. California now has the worst bond rating among the 50 states. Income-tax receipts are coming in far below expectations. On May 11th Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor, sent a letter to the legislature warning it that, by his latest estimates, the state will face a budget gap of $15.4 billion if the ballot measures pass, $21.3 billion if they fail. Prisoners will have to be released, firefighters fired, and other services cut or eliminated. One way or the other, on May 20th Californians will have to begin discussing how to fix their broken state.

Only a minority of Californians bother to vote, and those voters tend to be older, whiter and richer than the state’s younger, browner and poorer population… Those voters, moreover, have over time “self-sorted” themselves into highly partisan districts: loony left in Berkeley or Santa Monica, for instance; rabid right in Orange County or parts of the Central Valley. Politicians have done the rest by gerrymandering bizarre boundaries around their supporters. The result is that elections are won during the Republican or Democratic primaries, rather than in run-offs between the two parties.
Representative democracy is only one half of California’s peculiar governance system. The other half, direct democracy, fails just as badly. California is one of 24 states that allow referendums, recalls and voter initiatives. But it is the only state that does not allow its legislature to override successful initiatives (called “propositions”) and has no sunset clauses that let them expire. It also uses initiatives far more, and more irresponsibly, than any other state.

The event could cost more than $3 million between GE and other private sponsors, according to participants in the planning of the conference, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the arrangements. That would make it an expensive example of a technique Schwarzenegger has embraced to bring the glitzy style he appreciates to ceremonial state functions: getting corporations and wealthy supporters to pay for them. The governor’s aides say the practice saves taxpayers money.

Government watchdog groups argue that it may compromise the administration’s independence from corporate interests. Schwarzenegger’s phone call with Immelt was arranged by a GE executive, formerly an advisor to the governor, who oversees the company’s lobbyists in Sacramento.

“It’s a governmental conference, with governmental officials,” said Robert Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles. “If GE is paying for it, the question is what does GE expect for their contribution? And they are certainly going to expect good will.” A spokesman for General Electric said the size and nature of the company’s contribution have not been finalized, and administration officials said there is no budget yet. Schwarzenegger’s office has accepted millions of dollars in private gifts for things such as state dinners, international travel and ornaments on state Christmas trees.

The cross-border conference, held each year in one of the 10 participating U.S. and Mexican states, is an important event for Schwarzenegger because it is the first to be hosted in California in eight years, and the only one while he is governor. “We are going to take this important annual event to a whole new level,” Schwarzenegger said last month in a statement announcing the partnership…

The bulk of private support received by Schwarzenegger’s office has come from the California Protocol Foundation, a nonprofit group affiliated with the California Chamber of Commerce that does not disclose the names of its donors or the details of specific expenditures.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday encouraged lawmakers — especially those from small towns — to do more globe-trotting on the dime of special interests. Speaking at a forum on global economics held by the nonprofit Milken Institute, the governor suggested lawmakers would be more willing to embrace his plans to privatize the building of roads, schools, high-speed rail systems and other public works if they could see how effectively it has worked in other countries.

“Some of them come from those little towns, you know what I am saying, they come from those little towns and they don’t have that vision yet of an airport or of a highway that maybe has 10 lanes or of putting a highway on top of a highway,” Schwarzenegger said. “They look at you and say, ‘We don’t have that in my town. What are you talking about?’

“So they are kind of shocked when you say certain things. So I like them to travel around.” Such travel is typically paid for by a combination of special interests with business before the Legislature and foreign governments.

It usually involves stays at luxury resorts, high-end dining and the option of bringing a spouse along. Schwarzenegger has jetted around the world on “trade missions” paid for by donors whose identity is not disclosed. Campaign finance reformers are troubled by the ethical issues raised by such trips. Schwarzenegger said he is not.

“I am always against when the media beats up” on lawmakers “for traveling around because someone else is paying for their trips,” he said. “I mean, so what. If they were to take the money from the taxpayers,” then the media “would complain about using tax dollars to travel around the world and live in luxury and all this stuff.

California first lady Maria Shriver, a member of the Kennedy clan, endorsed Democratic Sen. Barack Obama for U.S. president on Sunday, days after her husband, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, backed Republican John McCain.

“I thought, if Barack Obama were a state, he’d be California,” Shriver told the crowd jamming an Obama rally at the University of California at Los Angeles. “I mean think about it. Diverse. Open. Smart. Independent. Bucks tradition. Innovative. Inspiring. Dreamer. Leader.”

Obama, an Illinois senator, is running neck and neck with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton days before Super Tuesday, in which California and more than 20 other states hold primaries and caucuses to nominate Democratic and Republican candidates for the November presidential election.

On the Republican side, front-runner McCain’s closest rival is former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Shriver was flanked at the rally by her cousin Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy and television talk-show star Oprah Winfrey. Caroline Kennedy and Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, the brother of the slain president, have also backed Obama.

Faced with what his staff now estimates as a $14 billion budget hole, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has decided to seek across-the-board cuts to state operations. The administration last month asked departments to prepare hypothetical budgets based on 10 percent reductions for the fiscal year beginning July 1 in case such a move was sought. But now, as the fiscal outlook has worsened, the Republican governor has decided to go forward, according to advocates for social services and local government the governor has summoned in recent days for budget discussions. “Our goal is to be able to spread this as equitably as possible,” said Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer, who would not say what percentage cut the governor will seek or whether it would apply to current year spending.

Schwarzenegger is planning to ask the Legislature for a 10 percent across-the-board reduction in state spending next year, according to sources who have met with the governor this month. The 10 percent figure is a target for all departments, intended to impact every sector of state government equally, the governor told social service advocates this week. Schwarzenegger remained resistant to new tax increases, however, insisting that not enough support exists among legislators and voters.