Last week lame duck Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines appeared on the low-profile internet television program Central Valley Talk hosted by former GOP Assemblyman Mike Briggs.
There seems something poetic about this appearance. By way of a little history lesson for FlashReport leaders, in 2001, Briggs rather infamously broke ranks with Republican legislators to vote with Democrats for a Gray Davis penned budget that increased taxes on Californians, according to then-Senate Republican Leader Jim Brulte. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, Briggs broke rank with his Republican colleagues after securing “millions in goodies” for his district.
Since articles about the departure of Villines as leader have hinted that the GOPer who orchestrated a terrible budget deal at the center of which were massive sales, income and car tax increases may look to running for public office again in the future. In fact, the Fresno Bee reported that he floated the idea of running for Insurance Commissioner at a breakfast yesterday.
Mike Briggs, after his alliance with Democrats, figured that he would try that route, too. As an incumbent Assemblyman in 2002, Briggs jumped into an open Republican primary for Congress. Guess what happened? OK, you don’t have to guess, here are the vote results straight from the Secretary of State’s website:
Devin Nunes 21,438 37.1%
Greg Ingles 258 0.4%
Jim Patterson 19,099 33.0%
Mike Briggs 14,864 25.7%
Nathan Short 436 0.7%
Richard Morgan 369 0.6%
Tom Wright 1,413 2.5%
**There is more – click the link**
May 13th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Rules of politics. Never trust an attorney at anything. Never give a politican money when he is promising you something. When you hear “no new taxes” vote against him he is lying. When he takes pictures with the governor vote against him….if he goes to country clubs, plays golf he is a RINO. If he wants to spend more time with his family….he is cooked voted against him.
May 13th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Earth to Jon… Earth to Jon… from your comments I surmise you are against closing the budget shortfall with targeted cuts and tax increases. So, what is your prescription? How do you propose to close an approximate $24 billion budget shortfall? What, specifically, would you cut? Inquiring minds want to know.
May 15th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Bob, here are a few items to start with:
1) any increase received by K-12 in the last 10 years as enrollment is actually down in that time.
2) roll back the increases in salary and pensions for state workers in the last 10 years, including the huge increase for the CCPOA.
3) lay off state cubicle workers