Archive for January 2nd, 2013

Did California legislators vote their pocket book on raising taxes for the wealthy? Check their net worths

Wednesday, January 2, 2013 by:cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com (Carla Marinucci)
Comment
Comments

|
|

CA Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, a multi-millionaire who has repeatedly been ranked as one of the wealthiest lawmakers on Capitol Hill, is under attack for slamming the fiscal cliff tax bill — and failing to note his own personal tax stake in the measure.

Media Matters took up the charge against Issa today, arguing that the CA Republican, whose net worth was estimated in 2010 at $448 million, was a highly visible opponent of the bill, calling for its defeat the House floor on Tuesday night as the fiscal cliff deadline approached.

The watchdog group said House 2011 financial disclosure statements show Issa made nearly $15 million in earnings from investments last year. The
“vast majority of Issa’s income comes from investments — income that will be taxed at a higher rate under the legislation that just passed (capital gains taxes will be increased from 15 percent to 20 percent for families making over $450,000 a year,)” Media Matters noted.

The complaint of the liberal media watchdog group put a spotlight on whether members of the California delegation voted their pocketbook on the bill that raised taxes on the wealthiest and staved off a middle class tax hike.

The roll call shows nearly all California Democrats, including the richest legislators among them, voted for the bill pushed strongly by the White House and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

The one California Democratic exception: the Vice Chair of the House Democratic caucus, Rep. Xavier Becerra, who voted with Issa and the Republicans — and incidentally, has an estimated net worth of $1.5 million, according to a recent analysis by USA Today.

His statement on that vote echoed many of Issa’s complaints: “In the end, I could not support this short-term fix which may spawn additional long-term problems, putting off until later the tough decisions on taxes and our nation’s debt and deficits, while also ignoring the biggest deficit challenging America’s prosperity: a jobs deficit.”

But Issa,  the second wealthiest member of Congress this year, was joined in his opposition by GOP members of varying financial backgrounds. Among them: , GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, who – with a net worth of $299,000,  ranks as one at the bottom of the financial rankings of the House members, according to USA Today.

And conversely, some wealthy CA Republican legislators went with the Democrats. Among them were Rep. Gary Miller, with an estimated net worth about $46 million.

So here’s how CA legislators voted, along with a tracking of their estimated net worth, as reported by a recent USA Today analysis.

AYES: (Democrats unless otherwise noted)
US Senator Dianne Feinstein, net worth $69 million
US Sen. Barbara Boxer, $3.4 million
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, $101 million.
Rep. Gary Miller (Republican), $46 million
Rep. Jackie Speier, $12.5 million
Rep. David Dreier (Republican),  $8.4 million

Rep. Wally Herger (Republican) $7.5 million

Rep. John Garamendi, $6.9 million

Rep. Ken Calvert (Republican), $3.9 million

Rep. Jeff Denham (Republican), $3.2 million

Rep. Jim Costa, $3.6 million
Rep. Loretta Sanchez, $2.4 million

Rep. Susan Davis, $2.3 million

Rep. Sam Farr, $2.1 million

Rep. Judy Chu, $1.9 million

Rep. Anna Eshoo, $1.8 million

Rep. Brad Sherman, $1.7 million

Rep. Mike Thompson, $1.7 million

Rep. Elton Gallegly (Republican), $1.6 million
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, $1.5 million

Rep. Doris Matsui, $1.4 million

Rep. Brian Bilbray (Republican), $1.2 million

Rep. Howard Berman, $1.1 million

Rep. Henry Waxman, $1.1 million

Rep. Adam Schiff, $1 million

Rep. Maxine Waters, $1 million

Rep. Dennis Cardoza, $900,000

Rep. Mary Bono Mack (Republican)  $800,000

Rep. Bob Filner (Republican), $700,000

Rep. George Miller, $668,000

Rep. Mike Honda, $639,000

Rep. Lucille Roybal -Allard, $500,000

Rep. Karen Bass, $458,000

Rep. Barbara Lee, $392,000

Rep. Ed Royce (Republican), $345,000

Rep. Linda Sanchez, $218,000

Rep. Buck McKeon (Republican) $117,000

Rep. Lois Capps, $113,000

Rep. Dan Lungren (Republican), $36,000

Rep. Joe Baca, $24,500

Rep. Jerry McNerney, $9,000

Rep. Grace Napolitano, -$91,000

Rep. Laura Richardson, -$383,000

Voting NO (Republicans unless otherwise noted):

Rep. Darrell Issa, $448 million
Rep. John Campbell, $20 million

Rep. Xavier Becerra (Democrat), $1.6 million

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, $375,000

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, $299,000

Rep. Devin Nunes, $258,000 
Rep. Tom McClintock, $64,000

Rep. Duncan Hunter, $0

Not voting: Rep. Pete Stark, Democrat, $3.9 million; Rep. Lynn Woolsey, Democrat, $490,000; Rep. Jerry Lewis, Republican, $195,ooo 

Bottom line: the fiscal cliff bill, HR 8, passed 257-167, with 85 Republicans joining 172 Democrats on the aye vote. Just 16 Democrats joined the 151 Republicans in the no vote.
The vote allowed income taxes to rise on the highest-earning Americans — the first bump in income taxes in two decades.

How will Al Jazeera’s acquisition of SF-based Current TV affect stars Granholm and Newsom? (VIDEO)

Wednesday, January 2, 2013 by:cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com (Carla Marinucci)
Comment
Comments

|
|

Al Jazeera’s reported acquistion of San Francisco-based Current TV — a development broken this afternoon in a New York Times blog — has the potential of changing the media universe not only for viewers, but also for the Bay Area political pundits who star on the cable network founded by former Vice President Al Gore.

The progressive cable TV network, from its South of Market studios, has made former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm a popular star of its daily show, “The War Room.”

“War Room” has not only showcased Granholm’s lively and often fiery commentary on major issues and interviews with major newsmakers, but has turned her into a favorite on Sunday talk shows.

But former San Francisco Mayor and current California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who stars in The “Gavin Newsom Show,” has also gained attention in communications circles with his once weekly offering in which he has conversations with tech leaders, innovators and political insiders.

And the deal has huge implications, according to the Times piece today by Brian Stelter:
“If the deal is completed, Current will provide the pan-Arab news giant with something it has sought for years: a pathway into American living rooms. Current is available in about 60 million of the 100 million homes in the United States with cable or satellite service.”

The Times story suggests that the new entity, “potentially called Al Jazeera America,” will include roughly 60 percent programming produced in the United States “while the remaining 40 percent will come from Al Jazeera English,” a move that would put the Qatar-financed enterprise “into closer competition with CNN and other news channels in the United States.”

Now comes a hint as to what’s ahead for the SF-based crew, according to the Times:
“Al Jazeera may absorb some Current TV staff members, according to the people, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. But Current’s schedule of shows will most likely be dissolved in the spring.”

If so, watch what’s ahead for both Newsom and Granholm. The Current hosts have gained a following with their prominence on the network, becoming increasingly favored spokespeople for Democratic causes.

Granholm delivered a barn-burner of a speech at the Democratic National Convention last summer, and, like Newsom, has become something of a regular on Sunday talk shows like “Meet the Press.”

Here’s a clip from a recent Granholm show:

And here’s the California Lt. Gov. working the star role in his own show, where he often weighs in on major issues like gun control:

We’ll follow where they, and the Current TV crowd based in SF, goes from here, and update with more reports.

Himes rails against GOP House leadership on Sandy

Wednesday, January 2, 2013 by:David McCumber, Washington Bureau Chief
Comment
Comments(3)

|
|

Here’s a video of U.S. Rep. Jim Himes’ speech on the House floor Wednesday morning condemning the House’s Republican leadership for refusing to bring the Superstorm Sandy relief bill to the floor for a vote.

Obama urges action on Sandy; Boehner to meet with Northeast Republicans

Wednesday, January 2, 2013 by:david.mccumber@hearstdc.com (David McCumber, Washington Bureau Chief)
Comment
Comments

|
|

President Barack Obama Wednesday urged the House to take up the Sandy relief bill immediately.

“When tragedy strikes, Americans come together to support those in need. I urge (House Republicans) to do the same.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie sounded a similar note, saying, “When American citizens are in need we come to their aid. That tradition was abandoned in the House last night.”

In a joint statement, Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, “The fact that days continue to go by while people suffer, families are out of their homes and men and women remain jobless and struggling during these harsh winter months is a dereliction of duty. … the continued inaction and indifference by the House of Representatives is inexcusable.”

In response to the howls of outrage, Speaker John Boehner said he will meet Wednesday afternoon with Republican representatives from the affected states — which rules out Connecticut. But no votes have been scheduled in the House for Wednesday.  The 113th Congress is sworn in Thursday at noon. If the House does not act before then on the $60 billion aid package the Senate has already passed, the process will have to begin from scratch, potentially delaying aid a month or more.

New York City Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler said of the refusal to take up the bill, “It is the most disgraceful action that I’ve seen in the House in the 20 years I’ve been here.”

Even if Boehner were to reverse field late Wednesday and allow a vote in the House, damage to the Republican brand in the Northeast has been dramatic.

The precise reasons why Boehner pulled the bill Tuesday night are unknown. He was in the midst of a dispute with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who split with Boehner Tuesday to announce his opposition to the fiscal cliff bill. At one point Tuesday night Boehner referred those with questions about the Sandy decision to Cantor’s office, but Cantor quickly said his office had nothing to do with it, and it was a unilateral decision by Boehner.

Barney Frank’s one-liners

Wednesday, January 2, 2013 by:cmpreovolos@hearst.com (Chris Preovolos)
Comment
Comments

|
|

It’s Barney Frank’s last day on the job as the 112th Congress comes to an end with the Democrat not seeking re-election.

Frank, first elected to the House in 1979, has long been known for cracking wise; he once complained he couldn’t get all the way through the Starr report because there was “too much heterosexual sex” in it.

In honor of the congressman’s last day here’s a look a some of his one-liners going back to the Reagan administration:

Nancy Pelosi rips Reps for refusing Sandy aid

Wednesday, January 2, 2013 by:Carolyn Lochhead
Comment
Comments

|
|

House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, after supplying the majority of votes (172 to 85 from Republicans) for the fiscal cliff package late on New Year’s Day, took to the floor of the House Wednesday to chastise Republican leaders for refusing to bring up the Senate’s $60 billion disaster aid package for Hurricane Sandy victims.

Looking a bit weary after a late night of political theatrics, Pelosi said denying a vote on the aid package is a betrayal of “real civility.”

If the House refuses to vote, a new aid package will have to be developed in the next Congress. Pelosi urged the House to vote while the Senate is still in session.

“Everyone who heard about this last night, said, ‘Don’t tell me that,” the San Francisco Democrat said. “Don’t tell me the House is not taking up the bill.”

“Much has been said about need for more civility in politics and government,” Pelosi said, including “how we speak to each to each other,” how members should try to “curb our enthusiasm” in debates, including questioning the motivation of others. But she said “real civility” is about how Congress treats people after a disaster, “the time when people feel the most helpless, when they see whether the government is there for them or not.”

Saying victims were hit by the power of “earth, wind and fire,” Pelosi said refusing to vote on the Senate bill is “just plain wrong.”

Republicans complained that the aid package includes extraneous pork, including $2 million for roof repairs at the Smithsonian and $150 million for fisheries in Mississippi and Alaska.

But Republicans from the storm-ravaged states were furious with their own leaders. Rep. Peter King, R-NY, said, “The conduct of the Republican leadership was disgraceful; it was indefensible; and it was immoral…We have a moral obligation—as Republicans, as Democrats, as Americans…We cannot believe that this cruel knife in the back was delivered to our region…Don’t walk out in the dark of night and ignore us.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a potential GOP presidential contender, blasted House Republicans in a string of tweets. A small sample: “We have been waiting six times longer than the victims of Katrina & there’s no end in site;” “66 days and counting. Shame on you. Shame on Congress.”

This just in from Speaker Boehner and majority whip Eric Cantor, R-VA: They will get “critical aid” to hurricane victims as “the first priority in the new Congress,” promising a House vote Friday on adding funds to the National Flood Insurance Program and on Jan. 15, the “first full legislative day of the 113th Congress, the House will consider the remaining supplemental request for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.”

Pelosi response: “Though it is good news that Republicans have announced their intention to bring up partial legislation covering $9 billion in Hurricane Sandy relief this Friday, it still leaves more than 80 percent of the region’s emergency needs unmet. Once again, the Republican leadership of the House has committed to putting forward another Sandy relief aid package in mid-January. We only hope that a large number of House Republicans join the large majority of Democrats in passing this critical legislation.”

Outrage over House GOP walking away from Sandy relief

Wednesday, January 2, 2013 by:david.mccumber@hearstdc.com (David McCumber, Washington Bureau Chief)
Comment
Comments

|
|

Wave after wave of outrage rolled through the House of Representatives, first Tuesday night then Wednesday morning, like the waves crashing against the ruined beaches of Long Island Sound.

The House GOP leadership’s decision not to bring the Senate-passed Sandy supplemental relief aid bill to the floor Tuesday night stunned and angered Northeast legislators on both sides of the aisle. One after the other, they stepped up to podium to fulminate against Speaker John Boehner’s decision.

Some of the loudest protests came from Republicans.

Peter King, the powerful 10-term Congressman from New York, said the conduct of his party’s leadership was “disgraceful, immoral.”

“I was chasing the Speaker all over the House floor (Tuesday night) … He just decided to sneak off in the dead of night,” he raged Wednesday morning.

“”These Republicans have no problem finding New York when they’re out raising millions of dollars. They’re in New York filling their pockets with money from New Yorkers. I’m saying anyone from New York or New Jersey who contributes one penny to Congressional Republicans is out of their mind. Because what they did last night was put a knife in the back of New Yorkers and New Jerseyans. It is an absolute disgrace.”

Inexplicably, the House had time to listen to speaker after speaker decrying the decision not to bring the bill to the floor, but no time to take up the bill.

Boehner would only say through an aide, “The speaker is committed to getting this bill passed this month.”

Government sources said starting over on the bill in the 113th Congress Thursday could delay aid to the region for weeks.

A sample of comments on the floor Wednesday:

Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.: “A shocking display of neglect.”

Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.: “An act of spiteful indifference that will go down in history as a low point. Shame on this House,”

Frank LaBiondo, R-New Jersey: This is a disaster on top of a disaster. … we demand nothing less than we have given the rest of the country.”

Gregory Meeks-D-N.Y.: “Walk with me, Mr. Speaker. See the American people who are suffering. We make jokes about the Senate. Well, the Senate stood up and passed the bill.”

Bill Pascrell, D-N.J.: “We need to take the gloves off, Jersey-style.”

The protests on the floor of the House continued unabated through the morning Wednesday.

Some New Year’s Resolutions for prominent politicians

Wednesday, January 2, 2013 by:richard.dunham@chron.com (Richard Dunham)
Comment
Comments

|
|

Happy 2013, everyone!

While I’ll be celebrating New Year’s Day with my annual open house (you’re invited), our elected officials are nursing a case of fiscal-cliff hangover.

Here are some New Year’s Resolutions for the powerful and dysfunctional:

President Obama: Invite the other children over to your house more often.

John Boehner: Smoke more. Worry less.

Harry Reid: Pass a budget. Heck, pass anything!

Hillary Clinton: Rest up.

Joe Biden: Rest up.

Mitt Romney: Look for a job.

Rick Perry: Decide which job to look for.

John Kerry: Practice your French.

Ashley Judd: Buy a comfortable pair of running shoes.

Mitch McConnell: Watch all of Ashley Judd’s movies.

Marco Rubio: Buy a good road map of Iowa.

Chris Christie: Buy a good road map of New Hampshire.

Paul Ryan: Buy a good road map of South Carolina.

Jan Brewer: Buy a good road map of Arizona.

Joaquin Castro: Practice the phrase, “no, that’s my brother.”

Julian Castro: Practice the phrase, “no, I’m not a congressman.”

Mark Sanford: Hike the Appalachian Trail again. No, really.

Jenny Sanford: Make sure Mark never gets elected to anything ever again.

Jim DeMint: Make a million dollars.

Dick Armey: Make eight million dollars.

Connie Mack and Mary Bono Mack: Spend more time with the family.

George H.W. Bush: Get well soon! (From all of us.)