Steinberg makes pledge, Chiang raises money, Ohman draws cartoons
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 a contrite Darrell Steinberg’s promise, move to John Chiang’s money, criticize the nation’s dumb restriction on marijuana research and California’s penny-wise foolishness to help poor people buy healthy food, and conclude with a Jack Ohman take on our apocalyptically humorous presidential campaign. And the campaign is just getting started.
Take that
Imagine our surprise when The Bee’s Ryan Lillis reported that Darrell Steinberg, the leading candidate for mayor, represents the Metropolitan Water District. And we hate surprises.
We don’t quibble with Steinberg’s right to practice law. Nor do we question MWD Director Jeffrey Kightlinger’s right to hire Steinberg. But we do care about the rights of voters to know what conflicts of interest the next mayor might have.
“I could have handled this better,” Steinberg told The Take. “I acknowledge it. I do understand the optics.”
Steinberg entered into the $10,000-a-month contract last year before announcing his candidacy. He didn’t think to disclose it or sever it after he entered the mayoral race. Not smart. But at this point, we’re more interested in what he would do if he becomes mayor. So we asked. Here’s his pledge:
He expects to put in 75 hours a week as mayor and is not sure whether he’d keep a law practice. But if he remains with his firm, Greenberg Traurig, he would, at a minimum, admit on his annual financial disclosure forms any outside income from a client who pays him $10,000 or more. Steinberg said he “will go a step further” by disclosing clients before he signs on to represent them. Fine. We still hate surprises.
Take a number: $398,900
Treasurer John Chiang announced May 17 that he intends to run for governor. The point was to show he has an ability to raise money. As of Thursday, he had raised $398,900. In that same period, the other announced candidate, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, raised $301,000 into various committees.
Chiang has some catching up to do. Newsom has $8 million in various accounts to Chiang’s $3.2 million. Of course, both would be left in the dust in the money race if billionaire Tom Steyer or the very wealthy former Controller Steve Westly jump in.
Our take
Editorial: If young Silas Hurd teaches us anything, it’s that marijuana should not be on the federal government’s list of the most dangerous drugs.
Editorial: Here’s some low-hanging fruit in the fight to improve public health and provide jobs.
Bill Whalen: If he fails to topple Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders could have one legitimate complaint – confused voters.
John Feinblatt and Shannon Watts of Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action explain why they’re endorsing Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary.
John McGinness, former Sacramento County sheriff, praises a bill from Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas to grant emergency room doctors more flexibility in dealing with severely mentally ill patients.
Their take
The East Bay Express laments the death of Sen. Mark Leno’s SB 1286, which would have mandated the release of substantiated complaints of civil rights violations or excessive force.
The Los Angeles Times writes that America shrugs at the murder-suicide by Mainak Sarkar of professor William Klug in a small office at UCLA.
Charles C. Cooke (@CharlesCCooke) asks in The National Review what law, specifically, would have prevented the UCLA shooting? It’s a rhetorical question.
The Miami Herald writes that Donald Trump should know that his words do matter, as the PGA moves the Trump National Doral to Mexico City.
Syndicates’ take
Charles Krauthammer: Lovable Bernie Sanders whacks Israel.
Trudy Rubin: Critical battle against Islamic State in Syria.
Dana Milbank: Donald Trump’s philanthropy fell short of promises.
Nicholas Kristof: We rescued banks because they were too big to fail. Now let’s help children who are too small to fail.
And finally...
As American experiences the most catastrophically amusing and apocalyptically humorous presidential campaign since 2012, I thought it would be good time for readers to review a few cartoons before informing themselves about actual issues that face our country, such as the petroleum reserves stored in Donald Trump’s physics-defying, orange inflatable plastic bouffant. – Jack Ohman @JACKOHMAN
This story was originally published June 3, 2016 at 5:31 AM with the headline "Steinberg makes pledge, Chiang raises money, Ohman draws cartoons."