Capitol Alert

OAKLAND -- Gov. Jerry Brown this afternoon offered a biblical foundation for his November ballot measure to raise taxes, saying the wealthiest Californians have been blessed with an increasing share of the population's income and can afford to pay more.

"For those who've been blessed the most, it's only right, and I think the way to go to say, 'Give some back temporarily, for the next seven years, until our economy finally gets back,' " Brown said at a news conference in Oakland, where he accepted a $1 million contribution to his tax campaign from the influential California Nurses Association.

Later, the Democratic governor invoked the New Testament explicitly.

"Those who we're asking to pay more, I think they can," he said. "And I think it says in the New Testament, 'For those whom much is given, much will be asked,' and that's what we're doing today."

Brown's Proposition 30 proposes to impose income tax increases on Californians earning more than $250,000 a year. The measure also proposes to raise the statewide sales tax, affecting far more than the state's wealthiest class.

OAKLAND - Gov. Jerry Brown defended the state's construction and oversight of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge this afternoon, saying he's been told that a Bee investigation raising questions about the bridge's structural integrity "borders on malpractice."

"From all the reports the Bee investigation is not very credible, and all our engineers that work with Caltrans, all the people that I've asked to look into it, they feel that the Bee story is baseless, it borders on malpractice," the Democratic governor told reporters at a press conference in Oakland.

Asked if he shared his advisers' view, Brown said, "Look, I'm not an engineer. I'm just communicating what I've heard. So, we've got The Bee, and they're kind of amateurs, and then we have seismic engineers. If I thought there was a problem, I'd let you know."

The remarks were Brown's first about a Bee investigation into state oversight of the bridge's construction. His administration previously criticized the reporting and called publicly for a retraction, which the newspaper denied.

In a story in May, outside experts said construction and testing issues uncovered by The Bee's Charles Piller raised questions about the ability of the bridge to withstand a severe earthquake.

"Our story examined concerns raised by insiders at Caltrans," Bee Executive Editor Joyce Terhaar said in a statement in June. "Our information was vetted by internationally known experts and supported by Caltrans' own documents. The point of the story remains solid after our review - independent experts do not believe existing tests support Caltrans' views."

The $6.5 billion structure is scheduled to open next year.

UPDATED at 3:36 p.m. with the California Nurses Association contribution.

Civil rights lawyer Molly Munger has dropped another $5 million into her November tax initiative rivaling Gov. Jerry Brown's, on top of the $7.8 million she contributed in the first half of the year.

The contribution, reported Wednesday, reloads Munger's effort after its balance fell to just $130,235 at the end of June. The campaign spent $8.2 million in the first half of the year.

Munger's Proposition 38, supported by the California State PTA, would raise income taxes on all but California's lowest earners. Brown's Proposition 30, which leads the fellow Democrat's measure in polls, would raise the state sales tax and income taxes on California's highest earners.

Meanwhile, the California Nurses Association upped the ante this afternoon, announcing at a news conference in Oakland that it would endorse Brown's measure and then presenting him with a giant $1 million check.

Brown's campaign had $5 million on hand at the end of June. A separate campaign account to support the governor's initiative ended June with a balance of $1.6 million. That campaign committee's contributors include labor unions and state lawmakers.

Up next for former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the bodybuilder turned governor: Think tank.

Schwarzenegger and the University of Southern California this morning announced the formation of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy, which they said will focus on a wide range of policy areas, including education, energy and the environment, financial and economic policy, health and political reform.

Schwarzenegger will chair a board of advisers composed of a number of political heavyweights, including Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico, Henry Cisneros, the former San Antonio mayor and secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton administration and George Shultz, the former U.S. secretary of state.

Schwarzenegger will be the inaugural Governor Downey Professor of State and Global Policy at USC, named after former Gov. John Downey, a co-founder of USC.

"One of the great lessons I learned as governor of California was that the best solutions to common problems could only be found when each side was willing to engage thoughtfully and respectfully with each other," Schwarzenegger said in a prepared statement. "This institute is dedicated to promoting a new era of post-partisanship, where solutions are the result of intelligent and civil discussion between people with deeply held principles who understand the need to work through their disagreements to achieve real solutions. Knowing USC's reputation as one of the nation's leading policy schools, I could think of no better home for this institute."

Editor's note, 11:39 a.m.: This post has been updated to correct the name of the university in the second paragraph.

Rep. Dan Lungren is looking to tap into the patriotic sentiments of the Olympics as he seeks another term in Congress, airing a new campaign ad during coverage of the London games.

"It goes back to growing up. We were taught the American dream. We were taught that this country is exceptional," Lungren says over the soaring swells of violins amid images of children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Gold River Republican goes on to cite quotations attributed to Presidents Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln, closing by telling viewers: "Those revolutionary ideas live now just as much as they did then."

The ad comes as Lungren is gearing up for a November rematch with Elk Grove Democrat Ami Bera in the newly drawn 7th Congressional District. A close registration split in the Sacramento County seat has made the race a top target again this year. Many analysts believe this year's contest will be closer than in 2010, when Lungren won by seven percentage points.

A sense that you've seen the plaid shirt and country backdrop in the ads many times before doesn't necessarily mean you've been tuning in to too many hours of Olympics coverage. Campaign adviser Rob Stutzman confirmed that the the footage for the spot came from the same taping that was used for one of Lungren's 2010 ads.

Dan Walters looks at California's reliance on income taxes, using Facebook's recent IPO as an example.

Have a question you'd like Dan to answer? Post it on our Facebook page.

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

VIDEO: Dan Walters, in today's report, says that Facebook's drop since its initial public offering illustrates the problems inherent in California's reliance on income taxes.

Democrat Barack Obama or Republican Mitt Romney?

The first 2,500 fans -- and/or political junkies -- going through the gates at tonight's Sacramento River Cats game get their choice of either an Obama or a Romney bobblehead wobblehead. The game starts at 7:05 p.m. at West Sacramento's Raley Field.

No telling when folks will start lining up for that kind of swag. They'll even get to see Secretary of State Debra Bowen throw out the first pitch. (For the record, the Cats are playing the Memphis Redbirds.)

The last time Raley Field held such an election was back in August 2010, when Republican Meg Whitman's backers depleted supplies of her likeness before Gov. Jerry Brown's supporters exhausted his.

The latest Public Policy Institute of California's survey, which asked Californians about their views on the environment and energy policy, found majority support across political lines for requiring automakers to improve the fuel efficiency of new vehicles sold in the United States, with Democrats most in favor at 93 percent, followed by 83 percent of independents and 68 percent of Republicans.

Californians remain divided over allowing more oil drilling off the state's coast, however. David Siders has more on the PPIC poll results at Capitol Alert, including views on climate change and the upcoming presidential election. Pollsters also asked about how Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature are doing.

Meanwhile, New America Foundation fellow Joe Mathews will be mixing it up today at the Sacramento Press Club luncheon with Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California. It seems they disagree on the effects of the new top-two primary system and the latest redistricting. The RSVP deadline has passed, but you can read more about the event at this link.

Editor's note, 11:42 a.m.: Ah, what a difference one letter makes. The Sacramento River Cats will be giving away Obama and Romney wobbleheads, not bobbleheads, as a previous version of this post said. Capitol Alert regrets the error.

PHOTO: 2012 presidential wobbleheads Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.