[Welcome, Digby readers!]

Below is a great, in-depth report by Al Jazeera on the failure of the richest state in the United States and how the government cuts deal a lethal body blow to Californians, particularly the working class and those below poverty. The rabid, right-wing is truly holding the state hostage with Da Governator leading the assault on the most vulnerable.

Part One

SEIU may be linked to ultimatum on withholding stimulus funds

Reporting from Sacramento -- Officials in the governor's office say a politically powerful union may have had inappropriate influence over the Obama administration's decision to withhold billions of dollars in federal stimulus money from California if the state does not reverse a scheduled wage cut for the labor group's workers.

The officials say they are particularly troubled that the Service Employees International Union, which lobbied the federal government to step in, was included in a conference call in which state and federal officials reviewed the wage cut and the terms of the stimulus package.

POTENTIAL SCHWARZENEGGER RECALL? GREAT HEALTHCARE OPPORTUNITY??

In a season of wild stories, here’s the next one: Governor Arnold is facing a recall, just as his state is falling apart and some crucial healthcare bills are waiting to be signed. This new threat to his term opens a window of opportunity to push some of those bills through.

California Health Bills Heading to Governor's Desk Need Your Help

Getting The Word Out About Single Payer

Oh, Joy.

Josephine Roque - All Headline News Staff Writer
Los Angeles, CA (AHN) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's re-election team will be employing a database that features personal buying habits and voter records to track possible supporters. Strategists think consumer information can reflect a voter's politics more than a party label.
"It's not where they live, it's how they live," said Josh Ginsberg, the Schwarzenegger campaign's deputy political director.
The idea uses techniques pioneered by businesses looking for new customers.
The 2004 Bush campaign had also used publicly available data to know voters' favorite vacation spots, religious leanings, music, magazines and cars.

My Hot Blooded self is pretty amused by this:

Staffers working for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides discovered an audio file on Schwarzenegger's campaign web site that features California's celebrity governor comparing a colleague, Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, to a bodybuilder he once knew in some rather stereotypical remarks.
“I mean Cuban, Puerto Rican, they are all very hot. They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it.”
At the request of Schwarzenegger’s office the California Highway Patrol is investigating whether the private taped conversation of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from state computers was illegally downloaded.