If my sources are correct (and they usually are), the problem in this year’s budget is that the Governor is insisting on more spending than the Legislative Republicans want. Fabian Nunez has told Mike Villines that the Assembly Dems want a deal, so that the budget doesn’t foul up the terms limits initiative. He has asked Villines to prevail upon the Republican Governor to reduce his demands for more spending. Villines has declined the invitation, saying that the Dems have to convince the Governor (or perhaps his Democrat wife) that more spending is not in the state’s interest.

None of this is necessary. If the Legislative Democrats truly wish to pass a budget with less spending, they can do it without the Governor’s agreement. The only reason the big five has ever been necessary is to preserve Democrat spending in the budget from the Governor’s line item veto. If there is less spending in the budget, no Governor agreement is necessary. Sure., he could veto the budget, but then he would have to demand a budget with more spending. This Governor won’t do that. He won’t do it because he would then be solely responsible for… Read More

The Los Angeles Times reported on the 7th that Orange County prosecutors plan to file a civil case against former Capistrano Unified School District Superintendent James Fleming, and other officials alleging that trustees, including Crystal Kochendorfer and Marlene Draper, illegally conducted public business in secret, including approving millions of dollars in construction cost overruns for the new district headquarters. The report was based on recently unsealed grand jury transcripts.

I suspect the grand jury may not yet have completed all its work on this sad tale of political corruption at CUSD, and more witnesses may be called before a case is actually filed. Having served as counsel to the prior CUSD recall campaign, I can tell you there really is a lot of evidence of misdoing to collect. The Times reported the OC District Attorney’s "looming complaint " will allege that district officials, among other matters, violated the state open-meeting law, Brown Act.

I successfully brought a private-attorney general Brown Act case against the CUSD last year on similar charges for my client Ron… Read More

AB 1634 is the bill that requires pet owners to rip off (ok neuter or spay) thier pets you know whats. The supporters of this bill have set up a fake Republicans for AB 1634 web site that illegally uses the GOP trademark of an elephant with stars.

Both this site and the official AB 1634 site used the same private registrant company. You can clearly see the illegal use of the trademarked GOP elephant logo. See here. Only official GOP chartered groups may use the logo.

This site is set up by an "S. L. Reeves." No word on if the elephant still has his??.… Read More

This just in from Tony Krvaric….

I’m at city council chambers:

Donna Frye announced she will NOT vote for the override. Vote will come down 4-4, essentially NOT overriding the Mayor’s Veto. Newsflash! Will e-mail you as soon as the final vote is done.

Tony

12:42 am Update:

Final vote will come at 2 PM. They recessed for lunch, but Donna Frye already went on record (TV) that she’s changing her vote to NO, i.e. NOT voting for the override of the veto.

Tony… Read More

The nomination process is overand the nominees for CRA’s Who’s Your GOP Nanny are…..

State Senator Tom Harman; State Senator Abel Maldonado; Assemblyman Bill Emmerson; Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia; Assemblywoman Shirley Horton.

You can cast a vote for one here.The winner will be announced at the California Republican Convention in September. Good luck. Keep reading FR as these nominees compete for your vote, by promoting the nanny state.

There were several honorable mentions as well. For a previous post on this award click here.… Read More

UPDATE: Two more departures – political director Rob Jesmer and deputy campaign manager Reed Galen.

This morning, the top two figures in the McCain for President campaign, Campaign Manager Terry Nelson (pictured) and John Weaver, abruptly and unexpectedly — quit.

Senator McCain’s longtime advisor Rick Davis is stepping up to fill the role, begging the question of whether McCain’s campaign is (rather quickly) transitioning from a major nationwide effort that had him topping the polls for some time, to one of those pained campaigns where the esteemed U.S. Senator runs around America running for President, when everyone knows he is not a factor.

Momentum is important for a campaign — more positive things beget more positive things. The reverse is also true — bad news can quickly… Read More

In place of our regular daily commentary, we feature the following special guest commentary from Republican Assemblyman Guy Houston. Houston, who serves as Vice-Chairman of the Assembly’s Local Government Committee, is an important voice in the debate over the future of ACA 8, the "Trojan Horse" faux-Eminent Domain "reform" measure put forth by the League of Cities as a blocking-maneuver to prevent a real reform measure that would have protections for all property owners against abusive government takings. In Houston’s commentary, just see how many kinds of property are NOT protected from "Kelo" type government action? Without any further introduction, here is Houston’s piece:

Republican Opposition Can Stop Misleading Eminent Domain “Reform”… Read More

I am at John Wayne Airport here in Orange County with my wife and her dad, Eugene. Eugene is 67 years old, and while he doesn’t look a day over 50, he is a far cry from 21.

That said, we were all dumbfounded when our server, upon Eugene ordering a Heinekin, was told he had to present his drivers license. Seriously? At first, we thought he was kidding. But, um… No.

So here is our special message to Airport Director Alan Murphy, a good guy… Are you kidding? I can understand the wobblers… But asking senior citizens to show ID when ordering a beer is out of line.

P.S. I am sure fault ultimately lies with a union official or a trial lawyer!… Read More