Thread: Governator crowns Maldonado next Lt. Governor of CA

Governor insists Maldonado is the next lieutenant governor

SACRAMENTO "â€

For those of you who do not know this guy, he Is Our WORST NIGHTMARE !!!! Very PRO- ILLEGAL and very dangerous not only for Californias Soverignty, but the entire United States.... You DO NOT want this guy "selected" or elected to anything !!!!!

Originally Posted by topsecret10

For those of you who do not know this guy, he Is Our WORST NIGHTMARE !!!! Very PRO- ILLEGAL

Of course he is, he made millions using illegal labor on his strawberry farm.

Originally Posted by Bowman

Originally Posted by topsecret10

For those of you who do not know this guy, he Is Our WORST NIGHTMARE !!!! Very PRO- ILLEGAL

Of course he is, he made millions using illegal labor on his strawberry farm.

Your are correct Bowman.... Vdare did a piece on this guy,and It was scary..... http://www.vdare.com/guzzardi/090605_take_over.htm

Here's your strawberries.... http://www.vdare.com/thom/090618_strawb ... _wrath.htm

Originally Posted by topsecret10

Here's your strawberries.... http://www.vdare.com/thom/090618_strawb ... _wrath.htm

http://www.vdare.com/letters/tl_061109.htm

California's 80-member Assembly on Thursday failed to confirm Sen. Abel Maldonado, the governor's nominee for lieutenant governor, on a 37-35 vote - four votes short of the required majority - but in an unexpected move, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he will swear in the Republican legislator anyway, citing the lack of a majority vote on either side.

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The governor's surprise maneuver - an extraordinary move even in dysfunctional Sacramento - could lead to an expensive legal fight between the Democratically led lower house and Republican governor who appointed Maldonado, a moderate from Santa Maria (Santa Barbara County).

Under state law, when a constitutional office is vacated, the governor is charged with nominating a replacement. Within 90 days, the Legislature must vote to confirm or reject the appointment. If lawmakers do nothing, the nominee automatically takes office.

Earlier Thursday, the Senate voted to confirm Maldonado. The governor's office said later that because the Assembly failed to get a majority to reject or confirm Maldonado, it's as if it didn't act. Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Amanda Fulkerson said Maldonado will be sworn in on or after Feb. 22, when the 90 days expire.

"I would like to thank my colleagues for their support today," Maldonado said in brief comments to reporters following the Assembly vote.

Democrats vehemently disagreed with the administration's interpretation, saying the law clearly states that if a nominee receives fewer than 40 votes in the Assembly, the nomination is refused. Speaking for the Democratic Caucus, Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Whittier (Los Angeles County), compared Schwarzenegger's administration to a "Third-World regime."

"The only possible explanation, rationale, is that he lost it," Calderon said of the governor. "Legal action is always an option, but this is so bizarre, you have to question the governor's state of mind if he is going to force us to spend money to challenge his nominee who did not get confirmed, simply because he's mad his nominee didn't get confirmed."

Seven Assembly members sat out Thursday's final vote.

Democrats relied on the 1988 Dan Lungren case to prove their point. In that instance, Gov. George Deukmejian attempted to appoint the Republican congressman to succeed state Treasurer Jesse Unruh, who died in 1987. The Assembly voted to confirm Lungren in February 1988 but the Senate voted 21-19 against the nomination the same day. Lungren then sought to take office, arguing that the state Constitution allowed confirmation by either house of the Legislature.

The state Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Lungren in June 1988, saying rejection by either house defeats a governor's nomination to a vacant office. Approval by both houses is required, the court said, unless the Legislature fails to vote within the 90 days. The court did not say whether a confirmation vote that fell short of a majority would be considered a rejection, though the court often defers to the Legislature's interpretation of its own rules.

Schwarzenegger's attorneys said the Lungren case isn't relevant because "it has nothing to say about the question here - when a majority isn't reached, does the vote count as a refusal." Assembly Democrats called that a flawed argument.

"By the governor's logic, the Legislature can pass a budget if it isn't affirmatively rejected by a two-thirds vote," said Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa.

Dan Maguire, a deputy legal affairs secretary for the administration, said a nomination is governed by different constitutional rules than "normal" bills.

Barbara O'Connor, a professor of communication at Cal State Sacramento and longtime Capitol observer, said the move is unprecedented.

"Both sides could be right, but who knows," she said.

O'Connor said the governor could also decide to renominate Maldonado for the post.

Schwarzenegger nominated Maldonado, 42, in November after Democrat John Garamendi was elected to Congress and vacated the seat. The nomination was largely seen as a reward for the moderate Republican, who provided crucial votes on major legislation last year, including the water overhaul package approved last month and tax increases that were part of the February budget plan.

Under the state Constitution, the lieutenant governor is the president of the Senate and casts the deciding vote in case of a tie. He or she also serves as the acting governor and on several state boards, including the California State Lands Commission and the UC and California State University systems.

The confirmation process has split Republicans and Democrats, with progressive Democrats supportive because they believe they could seize his vacant Senate seat in a special election, getting them one vote closer to the two-thirds majority needed to pass a budget. Conservative Republican activists, still angry at his vote for the tax increases included in the budget, urged a no vote.

Still, the vote in the Assembly largely came down to party lines Thursday, with only a handful of Democrats joining Republicans to support Maldonado.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... z0fKXcVpFv

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will renominate Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria (Santa Barbara County) to the post of lieutenant governor and said he will not pursue court action over the initial nomination.

The state Assembly did not have the 41 votes necessary to confirm Maldonado on Thursday, voting 37-35 in his favor. The governor argued afterward that because a majority of the 80-member body did not vote against the nomination, it is as if it took no action. He had said he would swear Maldonado in to the post and seek a court decision to back him.

But in a statement Friday, the governor changed his position.

"I believe the public good is not served by continued paralysis and protracted litigation because the Assembly Democrats cannot produce a simple majority to make a decision," Schwarzenegger said, adding he wanted to "avoid wasting time and energy."

Maldonado released his own statement Friday, saying, "I agree with the governor's interpretation of the Constitution, and furthermore, I agree that we cannot waste time and resources on a lawsuit sure to be brought by politicians trying to protect a seat they believe belongs to them."

E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.



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