Shots fired

In an legislative session post-mortem, Speaker Nunez this morning had some strong words regarding the Governor's staff. Here is the angry response from Rob Stutzman, Schwarzenegger's communications director: "The Speaker's bizarre personal attack upon the governor's staff sadly diminishes his office and his status as a leader in our state. He potentially slandered Legal Affairs Secretary Peter Siggins, a distinguished attorney who throughout his career has served Democrats and Republicans alike with integrity and unquestionable character. The Speaker owes Mr. Siggins an apology. Also his attack upon the California Supreme Court is equally stunning and reckless. The Speaker also misled the press regarding several facts involving final hour negotiations over the Governor's solar roof initiative and a minimum wage increase. Our office will be happy to provide email exchanges between our outstanding staff and the distinguished legislative staff that, for example, demonstrate that indexing for minimum wage was not a negotiable item for the Democrats, contradicting the Speaker's claim. As the Governor has stated today, there are accomplishments that were achieved during this legislative session through bi-partisan cooperation. But today we saw the Speaker's true colors -- a petty, embittered partisan who will sacrifice the truth in order to score political tallies." The starter's gun has gone off. The campaign has officially begun.