• Acting Board of Equalization Member Barbara Alby and BOE Staff Member for Michelle Steel have teamed up to file legal action challenging State Senator George Runner’s inclusion of "Taxpayer Advocate" as part of his ballot title.  They charge they they are all taxpayer advocates, but that Runner’s full time job is legislating.  Runner has been hired on a part-time basis by Americans for Prosperity’s California branch to do some work — with a job title of Taxpayer Advocate…  We’ll see what a judge says…
• Steve Poizner is now calling on The Force to help him out in his campaign for Governor.
• Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Proposition 14, which we have dubbed the "Make it easier to raise taxes" measure — which was specifically written to reduce the number of solid, anti-tax conservatives in the legislature — isn’t doing nearly as well in the polls as people have said — coming in at just 56%.  Hopefully the voters will get a chance to understand that this measure is part of the same terrible February, 2009 budget deal that have brought everyone higher taxes in a recession.  Proposition 14 is the latest effort to present a "reform" that doesn’t solve the problem — which is that the wrong party has been in charge of the legislature for too long.  Reject Proposition 14, and elect more legislators who will oppose higher taxes — that is the road map we need to follow.  More legislators who see the Sacramento special interests and their constituents will only make things worse.

• Also in front of a judge will Assistant Attorney General John Eastman.  Eastman, since leaving his position as Dean at Chapman University’s School of Law, it now primarily employed by South Dakota, representing that state on a matter before the United States Supreme Court — and he has been sworn in as an Assistant Attorney General.  Secretary of State Debra Bowen disallowed Eastman’s use of this title, basically saying that it was misleading because a reasonable person would assume that Eastman an Assistant Attorney General here in California.  We’ll see what a judge says in pretty short order.
• With a full court press on to suspend AB 32, the draconian regulations that create a California one-man-assault on man-carbon emissions, despite the controversy in the very science being thrown out there to justify such policies — the rhetoric from the pro-regulation side has been that these policies create, not kill jobs.  We need to look no further than the City of Los Angeles, where the Council is close to approving a massive increase in the Department of Water and Power’s fee structure, to pursue this environmental agenda, to understand how these regulations do, in fact, hurt the economy.  Many businesses in California right now are teetering on the edge of viability.  Hiking up their power bills now will put more people out of work .
• Over on the San Francisco Chronicle’s vaunted Politics Blog, my fellow Jewish soul-mate, reporter Carla Marinucci "schools" ersatz U.S. Senator Carly Fiorina, a Catholic, on the traditions of Passover.  Apparently Fiorina, in a Passover greetings message, talked about "breaking bread" — when, of course, on Passover Jews only eat unleavened break (called "matzoh") — to symbolize that in their haste to leave Egypt, the Jews had not time to allow for bread to rise.  Why do I bring this up?  Like Carly, it provides me with a great segway to wish you all a Happy Passover.
• Just before the start of Passover, Meg Whitman got her fill of leavened bread — and a milk shake.
• In what is a hopeful, positive sign for the future – Fullerton City Councilman Shawn Nelson, who is a candidate for County Supervisor (to succeed now-Assemblyman Chris Norby) today announced that he will not seek the endorsement or support from public employee unions.  Wouldn’t it be swell if all candidates for public office would decline political support from the unions with whom they would have to negotiate employee salaries if they are elected?  Good for you, Shawn.  I hope this will serve as a guide for other candidates.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.