Day: March 24, 2010

Meg Whitman, the former eBay executive turned Mitt Romney-esque candidate for the Republican nomination for governor of California, has been spending lavishly on her campaign — $358,439 a day, $14,935 an hour, $249 a minute, almost all of which is her own money — and it is paying off, at least for now.

According to the latest Field Poll, she is ahead of her Republican opponent and against the only Democrat in the race, Attorney General (and former governor) Jerry Brown, who is running unopposed in the primary and has not been actively campaigning:

Brown … now trails the former eBay Inc. chief executive by 43 percent to 46 percent in a two-way matchup.

Eleven percent of those polled, a random sample of 748 likely general-election voters, said they were undecided. And Whitman’s lead was within the statistical margin of error.

…Whitman also widened her advantage over her rival for the Republican nomination, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, 63 percent to 14 percent. In January, she led Poizner 45 percent to 15 percent. The percentage of undecided Republican voters shrank from 38 percent to 23 percent.

Brown, not surprisingly, still holds a better-than three-to-one lead (69 percent to 20 percent) over Whitman among Democrats. But Whitman’s lead among Republicans is even grater [sic], 77 percent to 13 percent. Independents split in Whitman’s favor, 50 percent to 36 percent for Brown.

Whitman also holds huge leads over Brown among the roughly one-third of likely California voters who identify with the Tea Party movement. She scored better among middle-aged and older voters, while Brown was favored by younger voters. Both male and female voters preferred Whitman by small margins.

By comparison, Brown led Whitman last October 50 percent to 29 percent, but saw his lead shrink to 10 percentage points, 46 percent to 36 percent, in January.

One factor to consider, however, is that Republican registration has dropped [PDF] to 30.8 percent, while Democratic registration is up 44.6 percent and Independents (called “Decline to State” in California) now represent 20.2 percent of the electorate.

A new Harris poll demonstrates again that the mission of right-wing media outlets, particularly Fox News, is not to inform their audience but is rather to spread disinformation:

• 67 percent of Republicans (and 40 percent of Americans overall) believe that Obama is a socialist.
• 57 percent of Republicans (32 percent overall) believe that Obama is a Muslim
• 45 percent of Republicans (25 percent overall) agree with the Birthers in their belief that Obama was “not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president”
• 38 percent of Republicans (20 percent overall) say that Obama is “doing many of the things that Hitler did”
• Scariest of all, 24 percent of Republicans (14 percent overall) say that Obama “may be the Antichrist.”

Similarly, in August, a NBC News/Wall St. Journal (which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who also owns Fox News) poll found that Fox viewers were far more easily duped about health-care reform than people who got their news from non-propaganda outlets:

• 72 percent [of Fox viewers] believe undocumented residents will be covered
• 79 percent believe they will lead to a government takeover
• 69 percent believe abortions will be covered
• 75 percent believe there will be “death panels”

Business Week:

Let’s call it the “Boehner Tax” on indoor tanning salons. The 10 percent surcharge goes into effect in July.

Other changes include:

Insurers who offer dependant coverage for children must continue to make that coverage available for children under 26 if they aren’t married, the legislation says.

In 2014, employers with more than 50 employees will be required to provide health coverage and most people will be required to have health insurance, Harris said in his report.

A tax on high-cost “Cadillac” policies won’t go into effect until 2018. The insurance industry also faces about $60 billion in additional fees under the health bill through 2018, and more beyond, though it was able to postpone the levy until 2014.

Los Angeles Times:

Supporters of a ballot proposition that would legalize and tax marijuana in California appear to have more than enough signatures to place the initiative on the ballot in November.

The fact that marijuana is legally available to any Californian with a prescription — which is just about any adult who wants one — represents a change from past debates over legalization, when pot was denounced as a gateway drug and could only be obtained from the drug underground.

LAT: “The 10-page California initiative would allow anyone 21 or older to possess, share and transport up to an ounce for personal use and to grow up to 25 square feet per residence or parcel. It would allow local governments, but not the state, to authorize the cultivation, transportation and sale of marijuana and to impose taxes to raise revenues.”