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

Mostly, I’ve taken to reading theCalifornia Majority Report only from time to time. It’s not the liberal bias (Admissions: I listen to NPR . I subscribe to and read Harpers, the New Yorker, and the Atlantic magazines. I drive a Volvo. Worse, I live in Curtis Park, which may be the most liberal neighborhood in Sacramento). it’s that the group of people who actually publish is fairly small. Go to the site right now if you don’t believe me. No one should have to look at a picture of Steve Maviglio in ski attirethat many times in such a limited space.

Anyway, Mr. Maviglio did publish something interesting this morning on the topic offollow-up polling done by Democracy Corps and Stan Greenberg in thewestern states minus California.

See the link here.… Read More

Late last week, I wrote a column about the BHP Billiton proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility that would be located 14 miles off of the Los Angeles/Ventura County coast (hereafter the proposed facility will be referred to as "Cabrillo Port"). Frankly, the issue caught my eye because of the high-profile enviro-actor-activists opposing the project, the Pierce Brosnan and Martin Sheen crowd. You know, the ones who are worth mega-millions and enjoy residing in lavish coastal estates? The same ones who feverishly work to prevent public access to the beach in front of their estates and ban others from having similar – or even more modest – homes themselves? I call them the “Hollywood Hypocrites”.

Anyway, the Cabrillo Port proposal has been described and debated in the papers and the blogosphere with increasing… Read More

Just a day after leading Democratic Party blogger Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of dailykos.com proclaimed US House Democrats are “united after all” regarding the supposed unity of the members of the Democratic Congressional new majority, the row that began last year between San Bernardino County’s lone Democratic Congressman Joe Baca and six-term Congressmember Loretta Sanchez of Orange County continues unabated. The fight has apparently now expanded to include Loretta’s younger sister, three-term Congressmember Linda Sanchez of Los Angeles County.

According to a news story reported earlier this week by the Washington, DC-based publication The Hill, Congressman Baca, who is… Read More

Late last week, I wrote a column about the BHP Billiton proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility that would be located 14 miles off of the Los Angeles/Ventura County coast (hereafter the proposed facility will be referred to as "Cabrillo Port"). Frankly, the issue caught my eye because of the high-profile enviro-actor-activists opposing the project, the Pierce Brosnan and Martin Sheen crowd. You know, the ones who are worth mega-millions and enjoy residing in lavish coastal estates? The same ones who feverishly work to prevent public access to the beach in front of their estates and ban others from having similar – or even more modest – homes themselves? I call them the “Hollywood Hypocrites”.

Anyway, the Cabrillo Port proposal has been described and debated in the papers and the blogosphere with increasing… Read More

Orange County Superior Court Judge Randell Wilkinson denied Plaintiff Jim Gilchrist’s request today to extend by 90 daysthe hearing in receivership of Minuteman Project Inc., currently scheduled for April 25. Gilchrist filed papers yesterday seeking an "ex parte" order and arguing that a delay was necessary to allow time for an "audit." Gilchrist claims he is the "sole director" of Minuteman in the face of substantial evidence to the contrary that others were also on the Board of Directors. The Judge rejected Gilchrist’s request out of hand within hours of receiving his attorney’s papers today, and without even requiring a hearing or an opposition paper filed by the Defendants. As a result, a receivership hearing is definitely scheduled for April 25, and Defendants Marvin L. Stewart, Deborah Courtenay Peterson and Barbara Coe all favor receiviership of Minuteman Project, Inc., assets pending trial on who actually should control the assets.… Read More

Sometimes a picture is truly worth a thousand words. Check out this photo of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and then try to guess what he is doing with (or to) that microphone. Hint: Go with your first guess.

Once you are done guessing, why don’t you check out the story on the Drudgereport.… Read More

In his column today, George Skelton joins the ranks of those who think a) religion should be seen and not heard (unless they agree with Skelton) and b) being a Catholic means being able to flout Catholic doctrine without consequence. Skelton’s column is a classic of this particular of genre of secular political outrage, hitting all the bases.

Skelton is upset that Cardinal Roger Mahoney pointed out that Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez’s support for legalizing assisted suicide "…he has allowed himself to get into this other direction, the culture of death."

Excuse me for pointing out the obvious, but making it easier for people to kill themselves is inextricably linked to death. Death is kind of the point of assisted suicide.

But this is just too much for Skelton: