A "NO" VOTE IS CALLED FOR ON ACA 8
The League of Cities and the pro-eminent domain redevelopment industry have been lobbying very hard for the passage of Democrat Assemblyman Hector De LaTorre’s proposed constitutional amendment (ACA 8) that would put a faux (fake) eminent domain reform measure on the ballot. Their bill would NOT COME CLOSE to offering ALL private property owners the protections that they deserve against governments coming in and TAKING their property for economic gain (we’re not 
talking about a ‘taking’ to widen a highway, but the idea that some city planner sees a different use for the land with more economic benefit to the city, and just taking it…). ACA 8 will NEVER be amended to pass muster — because there are two diametrically opposed interests here. Property rights advocates want and demand legislation to END the proactive of governments being able to forcibly take someone’s private property from them (except in cases of true public need, such as the highway expansion example), and frankly this puts the lucrative redevelopment industry out of business. Anyways, as a constitutional amendment, ACA 8 would ultimately take a two-third vote of both houses. So far, in committee, every Republican has voted NO on this bill. This morning, the bill goes before the powerful Appropriations Committee. It is critical that once again, if this bill moves forward, it does so on a party-line vote, with all Republicans voting no.
I will close by saying that the Coalition to Protect Private Property Rights, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the California Farm Bureau and others have raised enough capital to place a REAL EMINENT DOMAIN REFORM measure on the ballot next year — and are currently gathering signatures. Everyone who is concerned about protecting private property owners from being the victim of unfair government ‘takings’ should be supporting that measure. If the League gets ACA 8 on the ballot, it would make it that much harder to pass real reform.
SUSAN KENNEDY – GO WORK FOR HILLARY
A couple of days ago, a rumor was swirling around that Governor Schwarzenegger’s Chief of Staff, Susan Kennedy, was going to be exiting "stage left" to go take a senior position with the campaign of Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign. It turns out that this rumor was not true — and was put to 
bed with an official statement from Aaron McLear, the Governor’s Press Secretary. I am sure that McLear, a Republican and former political staffer for the Republican National Committee, must have enjoyed explaining THIS distinction… Apparently the rumor came about because Kennedy was with a group of people and pronounced that the only two people in politics she WOULD work for are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hillary Clinton. Frankly, when I heard this, it made my blood boil all over again.
The Republican Party worked hard to elect and re-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger. Our Republican Governor having a Chief of Staff who isn’t repulsed by what Hillary Clinton stands for is problematic, let alone the opposite — admiration for her. We’ve picked up a lot of new readers lately who weren’t around when I spent quite a bit of time being critical of the Governor’s hire of Ms. Kennedy (the Gov. called me before he made the announcement, and I made the case that there are millions of Republicans in California, and that he should confine his search for a new Chief of Staff to one of them — ahh, to no avail.) Kennedy’s qualifications were so far from what we needed that it boggled the mind that she would be in consideration… Deputy Chief of Staff to the recently disgraced and recalled Democrat Governor Gray Davis… Former Executive Director of the California Democratic Party (under former CDP Chairman Phil Angelides no less)… Former senior staff with the California Abortion Rights Action League… Former senior staffer for ultra-liberal Senator Dianne Feinstein… I could go on… But we all get the point.
Is Kennedy smart? Yes. Is she a good people person? Yes. Does she have a good sense of humor? Yes. To be honest, my concerns are not personal, I find Ms. Kennedy to be quite 
charming.
But these qualities don’t matter because Susan Kennedy is a liberal who clearly would like to see Hillary Clinton as our next President.
So, I would like to again urge Ms. Kennedy to reconsider and, in fact, take a position with Clinton’s campaign. And if she isn’t willing to go, then hopefully the Governor will decide that it is time, once again, to have a Republican Chief of Staff. In this latest budget debate, the Governor clearly sided with the Democrats. Is it any wonder? As Morton Blackwell from the Leadership Institute says, as he stresses the importance of hiring staff members who agree with you on policy, you are your staff. It’s time for a change.
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