Water wars boil, and a rich guy buys a mobile mansion

Good morning. On behalf of The Sacramento Bee’s editorial board, welcome to The Take, your opinion-politics newsletter. Please sign up for it here.

We open with John Garamendi’s vision of water legislation (it’s not happy), shift to mansion mobile homes, cursed airport lines, toxic substances, and Ron Nehring’s dim view of Donald Trump.

Take that

Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, called from Washington warning that House Republicans are about to inundate Democrats with their solution to California’s water woes.

Judging from maneuvers by Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield and other San Joaquin Valley Republicans, he’s right. They attached their bills to increase Delta water deliveries and weaken environmental protections to appropriations bills.

“My constituents can’t and won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Water is not a luxury,” McCarthy said on the floor.

Garamendi said critics of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s water bill, and his version, both of which would protect the Endangered Species Act and Delta, “are about to learn a lesson about practical politics.”

California Democrats who have yet to sign onto the Feinstein-Garamendi proposal include Doris Matsui of Sacramento, Ami Bera of Elk Grove, Jerry McNerney of Stockton, Mike Thompson of St. Helena and Jared Huffman of San Rafael.

Garamendi’s glass-half-empty vision: The Republicans attach their bill to legislation to keep the government operating. In September, just before the election, President Barack Obama faces a choice: Keep the government open, or damage the Delta, though he didn’t use the word damage.

Take a guess at what Obama would do?

Take a number: $5.3 million

Columnist and deputy editorial page editor Shawn Hubler wrote about the mobile home mansion tax break last week. On Tuesday, Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang told Shawn that a Malibu beachfront “trailer” sold for $5.3 million, a record. Records show the owner is David Stapf, the president of CBS Television Studios. State law allows mobile home owners to get away with paying a mere “in lieu” vehicle license fee, rather than property tax, if their structure was built before 1980. Sure enough, the Paradise Cove triple-wide was built in 1976, qualifying it as a “vehicle,” not a mansion. Not a bad deal, given the beamed ceilings, two fireplaces, hardwood floors, master suite, boutique dressing room and gazebo. The lucky owner’s tax bill on the trailer: $29. Estimated property tax if it were a regular house: $42,000. Annoyance to fellow taxpayers: Incalculable.

Our take

Editorial: Passengers shouldn’t have to wait hours just to board a terrorist-free plane.

Endorsement: Judge Nelson Brooks has a reputation for being deliberative and hardworking, and for displaying proper judicial temperament.

Jim Mayer: Proposition 50 will make the Legislature more responsive.

Jon Fleischman: Proposition 50 will do nothing about corruption in the Legislature.

Their take

The San Francisco Chronicle urges Congress to approve the Toxic Substances Control Act, saying it will allow the Environmental Protection Act to do its job and is a victory for Sen. Barbara Boxer.

The L.A. Times supports Sen. Tony Mendoza’s SB 1101 to restrict elected officials’ ability to vote on contracts that benefit family members.

The Miami Herald details how Miami-Dade County Judge Steven Leifman emerges as a national expert in the treatment and mistreatment of mentally ill people who get swept into the criminal justice system.

The Raleigh News & Observer says Donald Trump bows to the NRA.

The Chicago Sun-Times traces a gun stolen from an ex-Chicago cop that was used to shoot three Chicago cops.

Syndicates’ take

Dana Milbank: What tax tricks doesn’t Donald Trump want us to see?

David Brooks: Why is Hillary Clinton disliked?

Ruben Navarrette: Some truth for today’s graduates.

Kathleen Parker: If Donald Trump were so concerned about the Clintons’ alleged role in Vince Foster’s death, why, then, did Trump contribute to Clinton campaigns and causes?

Tweet of the day

Ron Nehring (@RonNehring), Sen. Ted Cruz’s California campaign manager: “Investigation by Ken Starr, no friend of the Clintons, found Vince Foster’s death was a suicide. Trump peddles another conspiracy theory.”

We’re guessing Nehring is not hopping aboard Trump’s train quite yet.

This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 5:31 AM with the headline "Water wars boil, and a rich guy buys a mobile mansion."