Bleary eyed this morning, I missed OC Register Political Reporter Martin Wisckol’s Buzz column this morning, and it was virtually all devoted to the strong-start of the candidacy of Dana Point Mayor Diane Harkey’s campaign to succeed Mimi Walters as the Assemblywoman in the 73rd District (mostly southern Orange County and some of northern San Diego County).

Wisckol’s column begins:

She wants to replace Assemblywoman Mimi Walters, who’ll be termed out next year (unless voters are charmed into extending term limits in the February election). Harkey, currently mayor of Dana Point, comes to the table with these assets:… Read More

But Will They Vote for Him in Vicksburg and Richmond?

Skeptics of a Fred Thompson presidential bid say he would face a daunting task of having to raise $1.5 million a week in order to build a $50 million campaign kitty by the end of the year. Some believe that with so many key GOP fundraisers already locked up, it’s unlikely Mr. Thompson would have the table stakes to get into the presidential game.

But Mr. Thompson has some free media cards to play so long as he is a non-candidate. On May 4, he will travel to Orange County, California to speak at the prestigious Lincoln Club, the political dinner group that has traditionally hosted GOP presidential candidates in what is often called… Read More

The Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge is very straight forward. It reads:

Such a simple pledge make the contrast between the Republican and Democrat Parties as clear as it can be. A look at our California Congressional delegation shows that every single Republican has signed this pledge, and that not one Democrat has done so.

Today at 11 a.m., Grover Norquist, the President of Americans for Tax Reform, along with State Senator Tom McClintock and other legislative Republicans will be holding a press conference where they will announce that enough State Legislators have signed the ATR Taxpayer Protection Pledge to guarantee that there are not the required 2/3 votes in either the State Senate or the State Assembly to pass a tax increase.

At the press event, it will be announced… Read More

The Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge is very straight forward. It reads:

Such a simple pledge make the contrast between the Republican and Democrat Parties as clear as it can be. A look at our California Congressional delegation shows that every single Republican has signed this pledge, and that not one Democrat has done so.

Today at 11 a.m., Grover Norquist, the President of Americans for Tax Reform, along with State Senator Tom McClintock and other legislative Republicans will be holding a press conference where they will announce that enough State Legislators have signed the ATR Taxpayer Protection Pledge to guarantee that there are not the required 2/3 votes in either the State Senate or the State Assembly to pass a tax increase.

At the press event, it will be announced… Read More

In light of all the latest in the scandal-ridden world the public sees that is the political arena, I thought I would share this campaign poster I ran across at a school campus the other day. The name has of course been left off to protect the…candidate.

Yes, politicians are role models. Young people watch what those that are in charge say and do and ‘learn’ that is how business is done. Like this current early primary/term limit deception isn’t fooling anyone I talk to. This poster reminds me of a statement back in the mid 90’s that, if memory serves, I think Clinton apologist [now Congressman] Rahm Emanuel was saying on one of the Sunday AM news shows in defending the latest Clinton deception then, when he said, "Well, the President has kept all the campaign promises that he intended to." Oh. Thanks Rahm.

At least this candidate for school secretary has tossed in a disclaimer with this head-fake tohis/her schoolmatecolleagues, "You’re not going to Disneyland!"… Read More

Assemblyman Lloyd Levine’s (D- S.F. Valley) bill to initiate a state-sponsored Gubernatorial Debate Commission chosen by the Secretary of State, and three state-sponsored Gubernatorial debates, AB 970,will be heard in the Assembly Elections Committee on April 17. Here is a recent email from Assemblyman Levine explaining his bill: First of all, the brief background on the bill: I came up with the idea watching the farce that supposedly passed for a gubernatorial debate last fall between Angelides and Schwarzenegger. For those of you who don’t remember or didn’t see it, the debate was on a Saturday night at 6:00 at the same time as a World Series game, and a relatively important college football game (although I can’t remember which two teams, I think one of them was Cal). The questions and format really weren’t conducive to eliciting any useful information for the voters. I also got tired of, over the years, watching one candidate or the other trying to manipulate the format to their advantage. I figured I would try to do something about it, and if nothing else stimulate some debate on the subject of debates.

I knew that I… Read More

On Monday, April 17,a hearing will be held in the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee in Sacramento on Assemblyman Lloyd Levine’s (D-SF Valley) legislation to establish state-sponsored candidate debates for the office of Governor.

Levine’s legislation, which appears below in its entirety, would require the California Secretary of State to establish a "Gubernatorial Debate Commission" to hold three debates and establish rules and formats for each debate. Currently, such debates are sponsored in California by private charities and news media outlets according to rules of nonpartisanship established by the Internal Revenue Service. Levine’s bill would add a series of three "state-sponsored" debates managed according to published rules established by a Commission of uncertain composition appointed by the Secretary of State.

AB 970, as introduced, Levine. Election campaigns: candidates’ debates. Existing law encourages every candidate for public office in this state to subscribe to the Code of Fair Campaign Practices, which generally provides that a candidate will pledge to… Read More

Today, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Governor Schwarzenegger is planning on doling out hefty, substantive salary adjustments (they are too large, in my opinion, to simply characterize them as ‘raises’) — his Chief of Staff, former California Democratic Party Executive Director Susan Kennedy, could end up making $225,000 annually. There will be a healthy discussion, I am sure ,as to whether these raises are a good idea or not. I can certainly see both sides of the argument — with talent attraction and retention on one side, and cost to taxpayers as well as symbolism being on the other. I would simply suggest on this quiet Saturday morning that what is most egregious is the backdrop of a massive state bureaucracy that is vastly larger than it needs to or should be, with entire agencies and departments that, frankly, should be eliminated. Just as an exercise, I went to the State of California website, and clicked down the state agency/department list a random number of times. When I stopped, I looked at the list. It took me about one second to find something to eliminate, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Cut it. Let… Read More