Tomorrow is President Barack Obama’s 50th birthday…

…and like any U.S. politician might, he’s turned it into a fundraising event spanning the entire nation.

He’s attending fundraisers in Chicago today, including a concert with Chicago natives Herbie Hancock and Jennifer Hudson and the Chicago rock band OK Go. Meanwhile, surrogates have fanned out to headline events today in cities from coast to coast: Robert Gibbs in Boston, David Plouffe in Tampa, David Axelrod in Los Angeles, and so on.

In Oakland, Democratic strategist and CNN commentator Donna Brazile is scheduled to join California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Oakland Mayor Jean Quan for a 5:30 p.m. event organized by the East Bay Young Democrats at The New Parish, 579 18th St. Tickets started at $25, but apparently have sold out.

The Republican National Committee is, of course, not amused.

“It’s time for the Obama Administration to focus on putting Americans back to work and protecting future generations, instead of worrying about his reelection,” RNC spokesman Ryan Mahoney said. “President Obama said he was going to pivot to job creation but instead of focusing on the millions of unemployed Americans, the first thing he does is a fundraiser to save his own job. The 2012 election will hinge on the economy and President Obama will need every penny earned to cover-up his failed leadership on everything from the debt ceiling to jobs. With Americans struggling with 9.2 percent unemployment, no amount of fundraising cash can erase this president’s leadership and economic failures.”

California Attorney General Kamala Harris – who already had joined friend-of-the-court briefs defending the constitutionality of last year’s federal healthcare reform law in the 6th, 4th and 11th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal – has now done so again in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

“Health care reform saves lives, and that is why I am determined to protect this law,” Harris said in her news release today, noting that the filing comes one week after the 6th Circuit became the first federal appeals court to uphold the law’s constitutionality.

Harris and nine other attorneys general argue in the new brief that the Constitution grants Congress broad powers to regulate interstate commerce, and that the decision to buy health insurance has a significant impact on interstate commerce because it allows the formation of risk pools, lowers health care costs nationally and reduces the cost of uncompensated care.

“The law strikes an appropriate, constitutional balance between federal and state authority over the health care system by creating federal requirements, backed by federal funding, to expand access to affordable coverage, while conferring considerable latitude to allow states to decide how best to design a system of federally-supported coverage that works well for their citizens,” the brief argues.

Joining California in this brief are Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, New York, Oregon and Vermont.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris today named a former Bay Area police officer as the first black director of the state Justice Department’s Division of Law Enforcement.

Larry Wallace will oversee the department’s $238 million budget, 437 special agents, 281 criminalists, and 693 non-sworn personnel. He most recently served as deputy chief of the bureau of investigations for the San Francisco District Attorney‘s office – Harris’ former domain – and also served for 10 years as a special agent with the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement in San Francisco. He began his law enforcement career serving from 1987 to 1994 with the Berkeley Police Department, where he was named Officer of the Year and awarded the Medal of Valor.

Harris also named Christopher Cunnie, a retired undersheriff of San Francisco, as a special advisor for labor and law enforcement. Cunnie for 17 years was a San Francisco Police Department patrol officer and from 1996 through 2004 served as president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association. Between that job and the undersheriff’s office, Cunnie was chief of investigations for the San Francisco District Attorney’s office and director of the San Francisco Emergency Communications Department.

In other appointments today, Harris named Wayne Quint, Jr., who retired from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department as a sergeant after 29 years of service, as Wallace’s assistant for external affairs. Quint for the past 12 years has served as president of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs; he also was the longest-serving president in the history of the California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations, which represents more than 40 public safety organizations and 80,000 peace officers statewide. The CCLEA, under Quint’s leadership, endorsed Harris’ Republican opponent, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, in last year’s election.

Jerry Szymanski, who spent 37 years with the Los Angeles Police Department and retired as a commander, will serve as Wallace’s assistant for evidence-based law enforcement. Szymanski led LAPD’s Narcotics, Commercial Crimes and Burglary-Auto Theft divisions, also served as second-in-command to deliver police services in the San Fernando Valley. He played a key role in LAPD’s implement measuring crime data and law enforcement results with COMPSTAT, an accountability process.

And Suzy Loftus, a prosecutor who specialized in domestic violence, elder abuse and firearms cases in the San Francisco District Attorney’s office and served on Harris’ executive staff there, is now a special assistant attorney general working on criminal law issues and public safety policy, as well as the office’s primary liaison to local, state and federal law enforcement offices.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris today announced she’s creating a Mortgage Fraud Strike Force staffed by state Department of Justice attorneys and investigators charged with the duty of “protecting innocent homeowners and bringing to justice those who defraud them,” according to her news release.

“Californians in search of the American dream all too often found a protracted personal and legal nightmare. Families are losing their homes, while those who perpetrated crimes and frauds against them walk free,” Harris said. “We will work to safeguard the homeowner at every step of the process – from origination of a loan to its securitization, and we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who take advantage of trusting California families. We are setting a high bar for other states and we insist that homeowners be protected, respected, and informed.”

Harris rolled out the new initiative in Los Angeles this afternoon, accompanied by LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and representatives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Center for Responsible Lending.

Harris’ news release says the strike force will work out of state Justice Department offices in San Francisco, Fresno, Los Angeles and Sacramento, with 25 attorneys and investigators broken into three teams. A consumer enforcement team will target scams in the consumer arena, including predatory lending, unfair business practices in originating loans, deceptive marketing, and loan modification and foreclosure consultant scams. A criminal enforcement team will prosecute criminal frauds associated with the epidemic of mortgage scams, including fraudulent investment and money laundering schemes related to mortgage lending or foreclosure relief. And corporate fraud team will target misconduct involving investments and securities tied to subprime mortgages, as well as false or fraudulent claims made to the state with respect to these securities.

There were foreclosure filings against 546,669 California homes in 2010; an estimated 2 million California homes will enter the foreclosure process from 2009 through 2012. The state Justice Department reports it has received thousands of complaints related to foreclosure scams, mortgage fraud, and mortgage servicing practices in the past year.

“The fingerprints of illegal activity are all over the foreclosure crisis,” said Paul Leonard, director of the Center for Responsible Lending’s California office. “The Attorney General’s effort marries the need to punish bad actors for the practices that brought our economy to the brink with the need to eliminate the scam artists who have since attempted to profit from it. Given the economic damage wreaked by foreclosures in California, this initiative is very welcome news.”

Homeowners who believe they’ve been scammed can file complaints through the Attorney General’s website.

Japan is suffering in the wake of the greatest natural disaster it has ever faced, and the need for charitable donations to support its recovery remains huge, but here are a few things to consider as you whip out your credit card.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., wrote today to the CEOs of the nation’s four biggest wireless companies, urging them to accelerate the delivery of mobile charitable donations for Japanese relief efforts. Mobile donations, which have grown more popular in recent years, can take 30 to 90 days to be sent to a relief organization while being collected through the wireless company’s billing process.

In past humanitarian crises, such as the earthquake in Haiti last year, mobile companies expedited donations to ensure that relief groups could start using the money immediately to help disaster victims. Concerns about the delay in remitting text donations to Japan were raised recently by Masaya Uchino, a third-year law student at University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco; Uchino created an online petition at Change.org to draw attention to the issue.

And California Attorney General Kamala Harris encouraged Californians to donate but warned them to beware of scams posing as charities to prey on the goodwill in times of tragedy. Harris advises everyone to:

1. Carefully review disaster-relief appeals before giving. In times of disaster, many “sound-alike” organizations and sham operations solicit donations.

2. Make sure the charity is registered in the Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts. Registration does not guarantee that a charity is effective, but it is an important indicator.

3. Ask what percentage of your donation will be used for charitable activities that directly help victims.

4. Avoid donating through e-mail solicitations. Clicking on an e-mail may lead you to a website that looks authentic but is established by identity thieves seeking to obtain money or personal information.

5. Only provide your credit card information once you have reviewed all information from a charity and verified its credibility. Ask the organization not to store your credit card information.

6. Do not give cash. Write checks payable to the charitable organization, not a solicitor.

7. Take action on your own rather than responding to solicitations. Seek out known organizations and give directly, either by calling the organization, using the organization’s official website, or mailing a check to the address listed on the organization’s website.

Californians who believe they or others have been victimized by fraudulent charitable solicitation can contact the Attorney General’s Registrar of Charitable Trusts.

Scams also can be reported to the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721, the Disaster Fraud Fax at 225-334-4707 or the Disaster Fraud e-mail at disaster@leo.gov. The NCDF was created in 2005 in response to a lot of fraud associated with federal disaster relief programs after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma; its mission has expanded to include suspected fraud related to any natural or man-made disaster. To date, the U.S. Justice Department has charged more than 1,300 defendants across the nation for disaster fraud related to the three hurricanes, the Gulf Coast oil spill and other disasters.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris apparently will be joining President Barack Obama during his visit to the Bay Area tomorrow.

Harris had been scheduled to join former San Francisco Mayor and former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown to headline a $500-a-head fundraiser late tomorrow afternoon for the Alameda County Democratic Party, to be held at the Downtown Oakland office of Bell Investment Advisors.

But county party executive director Michael Colbruno just sent out a message that the event must be postponed:

I received notice from Attorney General Kamala Harris yesterday that she’s been asked to join President Obama during his visit to the Bay Area on Thursday. Therefore, she will have to reschedule the event scheduled for the same day. She asked that I let everyone know that she is extremely sorry for the late notice and for any inconvenience that it may cause, but that she will keep her commitment. Her office is working with me on scheduling a new time and I will send it to you as soon as it is confirmed.

Not surprising, given that Harris worked hard on Obama’s presidential campaign, and he in turn came out to support her campaign for attorney general last year.

It’s not clear whether she’ll take part in the meeting the President is scheduled to have with high-tech executives, or if she’ll be meeting with him at some other time and place.

State Sen. Tom Harman, who while seeking the GOP nomination for attorney general less than a year ago said California should join with states suing to overturn the health care reforms passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama, today blasted Attorney General Kamala Harris for helping to file a brief in the law’s defense.

Harman, R-Huntington Beach, issued a news release a few hours after Harris announced that she and eight other Democratic attorneys general were filing a friend of the court brief with the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals:

“The time for California to involve itself in the legal proceedings surrounding Obamacare has long passed and it is now a matter for the U.S. Supreme Court. Certainly filing a brief in support of a program universally disliked by voters and estimated to cost Californians billions of additional tax dollars at a time when we are facing multi-billion dollar deficits and record unemployment sends a mixed message.

“The Attorney General’s time and resources would be better spent focusing on the most pressing issues facing Californians – promoting private sector jobs and stimulating the economy. Spearheading efforts to put a lid on frivolous lawsuits and regulations that threaten our small businesses would be of more benefit to the average Californian than supporting a program that is certain to add hundreds of billions of dollars to our tax burden.

“California is currently facing a $28 billion dollar deficit. Our taxes are among the highest in the nation. The federal health plan stands to only exacerbate these problems. As details have emerged about the federal law, national opposition to it has grown to such a point that the new Congress is actively trying to repeal and replace it.

“I would urge the Attorney General to use her department’s resources to tackle California’s immediate concerns.”

Harman finished a distant third in last June’s GOP primary to relatively more moderate Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, who had not ruled out joining a lawsuit challenging the law; he said he would do so if directed by the new governor and Legislature. Cooley then lost November’s general election to Harris by less than one percentage point.

Add Alameda County Assistant District Attorney Sharmin Eshraghi Bock to the list of people considering throwing their hats in to the ring to succeed state Attorney General-elect Kamala Harris as San Francisco District Attorney.

“A lot of people from the community are encouraging me to run and I’m seriously considering it,” she told me late yesterday, confirming a rumor I’d heard.

Bock, 48, has been a prosecutor for 21 years and is a nationally-recognized expert in human trafficking who created and leads the Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit in Alameda County, prosecuting complex human trafficking cases with a focus on sexually exploited minors. She is also directs a H.E.A.T. Watch program, providing communities, prosecutors, and police departments with the blueprint that has made Alameda County a role model in combating these crimes.

Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, D-Alameda, earlier this year named Bock the 16th Assembly District’s Woman of the Year; she and others from districts around the state were honored at a March 8 ceremony at the State Capitol.

“Sharmin has been an invaluable asset to my district, the state, and nation in bringing domestic commercial sexual exploitation of minors to a level of national discussion,” Swanson said at the time, noting he’d worked closely with Bock on his legislation to increase penalties for human traffickers and put money toward aiding child victims. “Ms. Bock’s outspoken advocacy on behalf of child victims has taken the discussion to an unprecedented intellectual level, bringing state and federal law enforcement, lawyers, policymakers, and the public to the table to discuss the underground crime and its severe impact on our communities.”

California Women Lawyers last year bestowed upon Bock its top honor, the annual Fay Stender Award, given to a woman attorney who has demonstrated her commitment to under represented or disadvantaged people

Bock, an equestrian, also cofounded Paddock Cakes, a business that makes and sells horse treats; a portion of the business’ proceeds goes toward funding a safe house she hopes to establish with a therapeutic riding program for young human trafficking victims.

Bock earned an undergraduate degree from Occidental College in Los Angeles in 1984 and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. in 1988.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom or his successor will appoint someone to fill Harris’ post as district attorney. Newsom has said that if she resigns before him, he’ll heed her recommendation for her successor.

The Chronicle has reported that others who’ve expressed interest in the appointment include attorney Bill Fazio, San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Paul Henderson, Police Commissioner and former prosecutor Jim Hammer, and David Onek, a senior fellow at the U.C. Berkeley Center for Criminal Justice. Other possibilities included Board of Supervisors President David Chiu and San Francisco Superior Court Presiding Judge Katherine Feinstein, daughter of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

UPDATE @ 11:38 A.M. FRIDAY: The Chronicle’s Marisa Lagos reports Katherine Feinstein might not be eligible for appointment to this job.

Last night on KQED’s “This Week in Northern California,” Lisa talked about the new citizens’ redistricting commission; I talked about the prison overcrowding case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court; and the Chronicle’s Marisa Lagos talked about Kamala Harris clinching the election for state Attorney General:

Republican nominee and Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley has conceded the race for state attorney general to Democratic nominee and San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris.

“While the margin is extremely narrow and ballots are still being counted, my campaign believes that we cannot make up the current gap in the vote count for Attorney General. Therefore, I am formally conceding the race and congratulate Ms. Harris on becoming California’s next Attorney General.

“We started this campaign late but we won an exceptionally tough Republican primary by a decisive margin. In the general election, we emerged as California’s top Republican vote getter and carried 39 out of the state’s 58 counties. We also cut by more than half the margin of loss by the GOP ticket in heavily Democratic Los Angeles County. It was gratifying to have received the votes of over 4 million Californians.

“It is unfortunate that someone who is a non-partisan non-politician could not overcome the increasingly partisan tendencies of the state, even for an office that by its nature necessitates a non-partisan approach.

“I take great pride in the fact that I received the endorsement of every law enforcement organization in this race as well as that of every major daily newspaper in California but one. I was particularly gratified to receive the support of so many fellow district attorneys. While my campaign team tells me that endorsements do not necessarily win elections – and the results confirm that – it still means a great deal to me on a personal level.

“I thank my supporters and my campaign team for all they did and the sacrifices they made during this past year. We had many old friends – and made many new ones across the state – who stepped up to help our campaign. My campaign team did an exceptional job guiding someone who had never previously thought of running for statewide office through two very difficult elections.

“I will complete my third term and finish my career as a professional prosecutor in the office where it began over 37 years ago. I take great satisfaction in being able to still work with the tremendous professionals who do such an outstanding job in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. I look forward to continuing to serve the people of Los Angeles County as District Attorney with the same commitment and enthusiasm I have always demonstrated.

“The campaign was a fascinating and very positive experience. I advocated for the issues in which I believed in and proposed reforms California needs during these difficult times. I will continue to do the same as District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles.”

“District Attorney Harris thanks District Attorney Cooley for a spirited campaign and looks forward to working together on the critical public safety challenges facing California,” Harris campaign manager Brian Brokaw said in an e-mailed statement. “The counties continue to tabulate votes, and District Attorney Harris believes it is only appropriate to wait until all the votes are counted before making a public declaration. She will be holding a press conference on Tuesday, November 30, the deadline for counties to report final counts to the Secretary of State.”