Which Davis is Lying?

Sharon Davis, on Aug. 21, telling blog readers "how to spot The Big Lie" that makes "conservatives so successful":

Conservatives say Gray Davis was slow in responding to the energy crisis. The truth is: The basis for the energy crisis is based in a flawed deregulation plan devised by Pete Wilson and his cronies.

Gray Davis, on Aug. 26, telling radio listeners about his response to the energy crisis:

[Davis] said he had delayed action because of his reluctance to pass on sharply higher electricity rates to California consumers.

"I knew instinctively that was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what to do."

Comments

[Brady]

That's what happens when you get your wife to make a "pity blog".

[joe]

Neither of the statements contradicts the other. The fact that Pete Wilson and his cronies pushed through the plan does not contradict the assertion that Gray Davis didn't know what to do. Sharon dumps a big (though accurate)non-sequitor, but never says that her husband wasn't slow in dealing with the crisis.

[Matt Welch]

Joe -- Sharon lists the accusation that Gray was slow in responding to the energy crisis as one of the "big lie[s]" conservatives are spreading in California. Meanwhile Gray admits that he delayed action on the energy crisis. Maybe there is some important difference between "slow" and "delay."

[Mike]

He delayed promptly.

[Ryan]

Who was Lt. Governor at the time deregulation was hammered out?

Who presided over the "experiment" of deregulation in San Diego county before it was implemented fully across the state and assured other Californians that the bugs in the system had been fixed?

Which governor finally approved new power plant building(announced as 11 and I think it dwindled to 3) when the energy crisis was already in full bloom?

I am actually heartened a bit for Davis taking a little responsbility for these issues but it took the prospect of losing his job in disgrace to make it happen.

[joe]

Fair enough, Matt. Serves me right for only reading your summary.

[Kevin Carson]

So by not acting to pass increase power costs on to consumers, he left consumers with artificially low prices at the same time that wholesale costs were rising. The steep rise in wholesale costs following deregulation, in turn, reflected years of previous cartelization of supply. And Davis is surprised that there were shortages? Still more incredible, this is blamed on the "free market"?

This falls into the same category as people who are surprised that disarming the public leads to increased predatory crime.

[Kevin Carson]

As an afterthought, the perfect rejoinder to Davis' "I didn't know what to do" remark is,

"Why I expect you to DIE, Mr. Davis!"

[Anonymous]

So Which Davis is Dying?

[Lefty]

De-caf, Kevin. The hard stuff'll mess you up.

[Stmack]

Davis was not "slow to react. The decision to do nothing aka "delay" was probably made very quickly.

[Warren]

The "big lie" is using the word "deregulation" in regards to California energy policy.

[chris]

In a more general sense, the "Sharon Davis" weblog has become a daily fascination for me. Why, that former flight attendant sounds ~exactly~ like a paid political consultant! (How remarkable!)

"When it comes to protecting a woman's right to choose and other issues of particular concern to women, it makes a huge difference who is in the corner office in the State Capitol.

"With strong Democratic leadership in the Legislature and the Governor's office, California is now the most pro-choice State in the nation. And no matter what happens in Washington, a woman's reproductive freedom is protected in California.

"As you may know, President Bill Clinton signed the Family Leave Act several years ago. In California, we took it a step further. My husband is the first Governor in America to sign a law that provides paid family leave. "

Thanks for sharing those intimate thoughts, Sharon. I already feel as if I knew you personally.

[chris]

"Imagine an election where my husband could receive 49 percent of the vote to stay in office, but lose the election to someone who only gets 15 percent of the vote. That is exactly what could happen on October 7th. The conservatives who organized and funded this recall effort are hoping for just this type of outcome. Attempting to change the outcome of elections is becoming the normal course of business for the conservatives. "

I mean, it's like you're hanging out in their living room.

[R.C. Dean]

I think they are both lying. Which is remarkable, considering that they contradict each other.

[Don]

"The "big lie" is using the word "deregulation" in regards to California energy policy."

Now, ain't that the truth.

Of course, she said: "flawed deregulation plan". If she means it wasn't really deregulation, then she is being accurate. Somehow I don't think that's what she means.

[dave]

Chris,

You are so right, the August 18th edition, called A Wife's Observations sounds more like a press release than the private, or even public, observations of an individual. Truly amazing and actually kinda creepy in a typically Davis way.

[Kevin Carson]

Lefty,

You've never seen me mad until you take away my caffeine.

[nm156]

He's a politico. By definition, and training, that makes him a liar. And he's stupid, too. How else to explain the wife's blog?

[Kevin Carson]

P.J. O'Rourke ought to review this blog. I just about ruptured myself laughing when he skewered "It Takes a Village."

You think Sharon's using Hillary's ghost writer for her blog?

[hiigaran]

Sharon Davis' blog is actually being written by Arianna Huffington's cat.

[nm156]

Kevin, first Bush would have to pretend that he knows what a book is.

[Kevin Carson]

Yeah, it's about as authentic a personal expression as Hillary's committee-authored book.

At least Bush doesn't pretend (at least yet) that he's capable of writing a book.

[Chris]

I liked this statement from her:

The truth is: The governor cannot pass a budget without two-thirds majority of the legislature

I believe what is true is the governor cannot
pass a tax increase with 2/3. A budget can
be passed with 1/2. So, unless the governor
assumes he has to increase taxes every year,
this is wrong.

[Mike Coyle]

Sharon said, "The basis for the energy crisis is based in a flawed deregulation plan devised by Pete Wilson and his cronies."

The lie - actually the plan was devised by Steve Peace, then a member of the state senate, now Grayouts Director of the Department of Finance.

Chris - The budget must be passed by 2/3, but up until this year that meant that only a lone Republican in the assembly needed to vote for it and that Republican was replaced by the Electorate