California Insider

The Senate Office of Research has prepared a side-by-side comparison of the health plans proposed by Senate Leader Don Perata, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's a very helpful document. You can download it here.

The state Senate has rejected the governor's re-appointment of CTA lobbyist Joe Nunez to the state board of education. Nunez has the votes of most of the Democrats in the Senate but couldn't get enough Republicans to get over the hump. In addition to working for the CTA, Nunez was chairman of the labor coalition that led the opposition to Schwarzenegger's 2005 reforms. But the governor reappointed him anyway because the two were in sync on high standards and expectations for all kids.

NOTE: An earlier version of this item suggested that Nunez fell short for a lack of Democratic votes. That was not the case.

Bill Saracino says Schwarzenegger's idea of a "post-partisan" era is just another way of saying a "post-Republican era."

But in reality the peace Schwarzenegger envisions in Sacramento is a phony peace, a peace as artificial as the governor’s tan. As one who ardently supported Schwarzenegger in 2003, it pains me that it is becoming clear that this emperor is wearing no clothes. Those in the state who actually do revere Friedman, Reagan, and other mainstream Republican leaders have a duty to point out this fact. This doesn’t make us obstructionists. It makes us realists.