• There are a lot of publications worth reading — but none is as enlightening, and as filled with works of gravitas as the Claremont Review of Books.  The CRB, which is published by the Claremont Institute, is a “must read” for those serious about public policy in America, and in California.  Don’t take my word for it — today we feature a staggeringly insightful article, The Tao of Jerry Brown, from Claremont scholar William Voegeli that appears in the latest addition of CRB (reprinted with permission, of course).
• My first thought when I heard the news about Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver separating was to make light of it — Schwarzenegger, of course, would make jokes at the most awkward of times while Governor.  But then, after thinking about it, I realized that there is nothing funny about a couple having marital problems.  The entire Schwarzenegger family is in my prayers.
• Last week our friends over at Randle Communications rolled out the announcement that longtime Sacramento television news reporter Kevin Riggs would be joining their PR firm.  Riggs has been a fixture at KCRA in Sacramento for years — and his departure from the airwaves is a big hit to the Capitol press corps.  That said, it’s a big coup for Randle, and it will be fun for all of us to see Kevin get his “sea legs” on this side of the camera.
• By the time you read this, the California Teachers Association will have ordered the Democrat legislators under their control to kill Senator Bob Huff’s SB 355, which would allow school districts in California to base layoffs on teacher performance rather than longevity of employment.  Such a logical idea, that puts the interests of students first, is anathema to union bosses.
• If the Claremont Review of Books is the publication to get serious about major political and policy issues, the perfect companion to it, online, is the Pacific Research Institute’s CalWatchdog website.  There you can get your daily dose of substantive reporting and opining on what’s going on in the State Capitol and in state government.  We link a lot of their stuff on the FlashReport — but not all of it.  Bookmark it.  Read it.
• Yesterday I spent some time on the phone with a reporter from People Magazine.  As you might guess, they were calling me to see if I had any remarkable insights into the “Arnold & Maria Marital Problems” story – which I didn’t.  But just to feed my stereotype of the publication, the reporter couldn’t resist asking me if I had any knowledge of Schwarzenegger fooling around on his wife.  Totally lame.
• It’s getting harder and harder to figure out which Supervisors in San Bernardino County have NOT been indicted.  Yesterday former Supervisor Paul Biane was indicted (while on vacation, no less).  Last week Supervisor Neil Derry was indicted.  Of course for some time we have read about the misfortune of former Supervisor and Assessor Bill Postmus, who was indicted.  This doesn’t include numerous former staff members of County politicians who have also been indicted.  It’s a pretty sad commentary, really.  ’nuff said.
• Earlier in the week I read where Texas Governor Rick Perry is actively lobbying to try and get businesses in the tiny Los Angeles County city of Vernon to relocate to Texas.  Speaker John “Big Papi” Perez has targeted this pro-business, industrial area for extinction.  Lord knows the place needs serious political reforms.  That said, consigning Vernon businesses to being part of the County of LA (or worse yet, the City of LA) is its own death sentence.  Maybe Governor Perry is on to something here.
• When the California Republican Party convention took place in mid-March, the MSM pummeled us for even talking about adopting a caucus system to mitigate the negative impacts of Proposition 14.  A month later, that is exactly the course undertaken by the California Democrat Party.  Reinforcing our stereotype of the liberal press, no such microscope was applied to the party of Obama.
• For four years I served on the California Republican Party Board of Directors.  During that time I became friends with Paul Bruno, who was Central Coast Vice Chairman, and then Budget Committee Chairman.  Paul and I are very different people, in personality and in temperament.  I came to respect Paul for his commitment, his loyalty, and his wit.  There are a lot of things I do not miss about being on the CRP Board.  One of the things I do miss is hanging out with my unexpected friend, Paul.
• Today Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, will announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Presidency.  His challenge will be to try and convince GOP primary voters, like me, why our first choice for our nation’s leader should be a guy that cheated on his sick wife, dumped her, then married the woman with which he was having an affair.  It seems like most of the GOP candidates have some flaw or problem to overcome — but Gingrich seems to make all of the others seem relatively flawless.
• As the hordes of “Tax The Rich” fanatics have descended on the Capitol this week, they do so with a backdrop of state revenues being up, and a lot more money being available than expected that could fund K-12 education.  I am shocked, shocked to see that the minor inconvenience of more revenues coming into the state has done nothing to curb the enthusiasm of these lefties to wage class warfare.  Given the generous pensions of many public employees, they should be worried that “taxing the rich” might hit closer to home than they would care to admit.
• Some people whom I hold in high regard have met in a small-group setting with Gingrich, where he addresses his — “previous personal failings” — in a direct fashion.  He apparently expresses regret, and contrition.  While I remain cynical, it is worth noting that my friends were moved by what they heard from Gingrich.
• One has to assume that Ron Paul has invested a lot of his personal savings into gold, which has performed very well these past years.  I wonder if it has even crossed his mind that if he parted with just one doubloon he probably could buy a wardrobe that would make him look slightly more squared away.  I guess they don’t have Men’s Wearhouse in Texas…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 at 9:01 am and is filed under Blog Posts.