California Roundup: Issa Rising, Charney Sinking, Republicans Standing, Bond Bellyaching, and Latin Dancing
* Darrel Issa says it's their turn to cry: The Vista Republican famously bankrolled the recall of Gray Davis, then wept while conceding that Arnold Schwarzenegger -- not Issa himself -- would be the man to cash that check. But things may be looking up for the car alarm king who has never been convicted of auto theft. As ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Issa stands to gain subpoena power should the Republicans get control of the House of Representatives this November. Issa tells the National Review that he's going to "take on everybody that the president hires and relies upon; the people who tell him that everything is fine." Issa will be speaking at the California Republican convention this weekend.
* Dov Charney suffers for our sins: Los Angeles-based American Apparel -- moth-eaten icon of sweatless manufacturing and hippie capitalism -- says it may soon be out of business. Which proves that even if you hire illegal aliens it's still too expensive to run a clothing factory in California.
* Republicans are still standing on the budget: The special election of San Luis Obispo's Sam Blakeslee to the state Senate puts a no-new-taxer into office and leaves the GOP with a fiscal-conservative minority large enough to continue blocking this year's budget. (Budgets and tax increases in the Golden State must be approved by a two-thirds vote rather than a straight majority.)
* Bill Lockyer says stop hurting our feelings: As California's credit rating sinks under the weight of reality, Treasurer Lockyer believes he has found the solution -- don't let bond dealers and derivatives traders say bad things about the state. Buried far down in Nathaniel Popper's L.A. Times story is the detail that after a months-long investigation Lockyer turned up "no evidence that the swaps market has made the state's borrowing more costly." Maybe people think the state is a bad credit risk because it is in fact a bad credit risk.
* Meg Whitman says hasta la vista, Jerry: Republican candidate for governor works to draw off Latino voters from Democrat Jerry Brown -- whose lead among Latinos is apparently smaller than it needs to be.
