LEGISLATURE RETURNS – TIME FOR SOME GOP SOLIDARITY AND UNITY
With the legislature reconvening today in the State Capitol, it means that Assembly Republicans will all be back together for the first time since Fabian Nunez abruptly (and unwisely) adjourned the Assembly before a final budget was put on the Governor’s desk. Today would be a good day for Assembly Republicans to hold a press conference to make some key points.
- We stand in solidarity with our Republican colleagues in the Senate — the reforms for which they are holding out are important, and we believe the Democrats should be listening to them.
- We do not support the Governor’s efforts to go into the districts of our Republican colleagues to pressure them to give up on these important reforms.
- We call on all Senators to reject the proposed budget as long as the tax-cut package negotiated by Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines is being held up by Don Perata.
- A strong statement that without that tax-cut package, there would not have been a budget passed out of the Assembly at all.
DO NOT MISS BOB NOVAK’S COLUMN TODAY
In his weekly column, renowned GOP analyst and pundit Bob Novak devotes an entire section to our California Republican Congressional Delegation. The issue? Pork barrel spending. California’s John Campbell, our FR Washington D.C. Beltway Correspondent, has been valiantly and bravely challenging the absolutely terrible status-quo on Capitol Hill that continues to push billions of dollars in outrageous and egregious pork spending at the federal level. While Campbell, a Californian, has emerged as one of the patriots in the House fighting this horrible ‘earmarking’ system that long-ago lost any credibility, one of the most passionate lard-defenders in Congress is another California Congressman, Jerry Lewis. Lewis recently scored a ZERO for voting against FIFTY different amendments on the floor to strip out egregious earmarks from spending bills (check out this video). This focus on this issue by Novak is part of a growing wave of GOP dissatisfaction for Republicans who are part of this horrible process. Republicans need to regain the majority in Congress, and GOPers who support this pork-system are a big stumbling block to getting there.
Once again, we invite any of our Congressmen to explain to FR readers why this pork-system is good for America. The silence is deafening from those who continue to vote for these shamelessly egregious earmarks…
Here’s what Novak has to say (read it online here):
California Split
The 19 Republicans on California’s House delegation are split on the question of earmarks and accusations of ethical transgressions.
The bitter division has produced harsh words between 15-term Rep. Jerry Lewis, the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee and a leading earmarks defender, and second-term Rep. John Campbell, an anti-earmarks reformer. Campbell no longer attends caucuses of the California House Republicans because they have become pep rallies for Lewis, whose personal transactions are under Justice Department scrutiny.
In addition to Lewis, California Republicans whose ethics have been challenged include Representatives Gary Miller and Ken Calvert. Lewis and his colleagues have spread the word back in California that Campbell stands alone on earmarks. In fact, other reformers in the delegation include Representatives Kevin McCarthy, Devin Nunes and Darrell Issa and others uneasy about ethical issues among their colleagues.
[Check out our special commentary on how all California Members of Congress voted on those 50 amendments to slash egregious pork spending – thanks to the "RePORK Card put together by the Club for Grwoth..]
UPDATE ON ASSEMBLY GOP LEGAL ACTION AGAINST EARLY RELEASE OF FELONS
We’ve asked FR friend Assembly Todd Spitzer to keep us apprised of the efforts of Assembly Republicans to block three judges from imposing arbitrary ‘caps’ on California’s prison population leading to the early release of thousands of dangerous felons… Here is the latest:
On Friday, a three judge panel considering releasing thousands of dangerous criminals from prison granted the Assembly Republicans’ motion to intervene in court. This ruling gives Assembly Republicans the right to act as full participants in upcoming proceedings.
Assembly Republicans will now have legal standing to argue in front of the judges, participate in discovery and ultimately defend bipartisan prison reforms passed by the Legislature earlier this year. Fifteen District Attorneys and 23 County Sheriffs followed suit and were also granted the ability to intervene.
The three-judge panel is getting set to act under a federal prison cap statute that has never been tested in any state in the nation. California will be the first. Assembly Republicans strenuously object to the idea that somehow releasing criminals is for the best interests of justice. The judges also have the authority to reach into our general fund and spend Californians’ tax dollars to benefit the same criminals we are trying to keep behind bars.
We passed AB 900 as a good faith effort to ward off early release. We will argue that Legislators acted responsibly to reduce prison overcrowding, improve prison healthcare and strengthen rehabilitations programs by passing the landmark legislation. Any early release would make a mockery of a system where sentences are expected to be fully served.
Now that we are full participants in the case, we will be represented pro bono by Steven Kaufhold of Akin, Gump, Struass, Hauer and Feld, LLP- one of the finest law firms in the nation. With help from Steve Baric and the California Republican Lawyers’ Association, our legal team will represent us in an effort to defend the public from the potential threat of criminals being released into our neighborhoods.
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