Shhhh. The nation is in a record fiscal crisis: Gas and other energy prices are high. Illegal immigration still runs rampant. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan drag on. The economy is in doldrums. And, the federal government is in a record fiscal crisis. You probably already knew the first 4 of these 5 major problems facing America today. But you probably did not know the last one. That is because a bipartisan group of spenders, most of whom are in leadership of their respective parties, don’t want you to rain on their spending parade. But here are the facts:

This week we learned that the federal deficit for the first 8 months of this fiscal year has reached $317 billion. If you project that out for the rest of the year, that would lead us to a $476 billion for the full year. Nearly half a trillion dollars! That would make 2008 the largest deficit in the history of the nation easily eclipsing the prior record in 2004. This week, the appropriations committee released their spending plans for the next fiscal year, which begins October 1st. They have proposed to spend $72 billion more than last year for a 7.7% increase in non-entitlement spending. You … Read More

The Los Angeles Times seems to be containing itself in news coverage of the 55 page court challenge filed in San Francisco with the California Supreme Court by the National Council for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)and the ACLU last Friday. Only a small story on the event was published in the Saturday edition. Readers will recall that after the Times published a poll showing the Marriage Amendment was favored in California by 54% to 35% percentage, which also conveniently did not break-out the all important Hispanic swing-vote response, their poll analyzer Ms. Pickus called that a "small majority." The Times probably fears the marriage amendment on the ballot in Novemeber more for its potential to disturb Barrack Hussein Obama’s message in California than for its substance, although we can be sure they care about that too.

I took a look at the complainant NCLR’s website and note their slogan, "The audicity to fightfor justice," rings very sympathetically to the title of BHO’s own book, "The Audicity of Hope." Indeed, there is… Read More

My long-time friend and current client Floyd Brown is featured in a story today in the New York Times on his efforts to raise funds, produce commercials, and get the public focused on Barrack Hussein Obama’s awful record and policy positions. Floyd is no stranger to California. He served in Santa Barbara as Executive Director of the Reagan Ranch for four years a few years back, where I had the opportunity to work with him again when I was on the Board of Young America’s Foundation. Floyd also serves with me on the American Conservative Union Board, and with me and your publisher Jon Fleischmanas a Director of the annual "Western Conservative Political ActionConference," which will be held again October 10/11, 2008 in Newport Beach. (Information: www.westerncpac.com.)

Behind the scenes, Floyd has been meeting with Orange County conservative leaders over the last couple of months and assisting Assemblyman Chuck DeVore with the establishment of "Citizens for a Safe and Prosperous America," an issue advocacy committee, whose intent is to… Read More

Next Wednesday will be a busy one for the State Senate Rules Committee as they hold hearings, and votes, on a slew of pieces of proposed legislation. State Senator Jeff Denham will occupy a good portion of the committee’s time as he has introduced a great many of those bills himself. But this morning I wanted to highlight three of them – two great ideas, and one not-so-great idea.

First – the great ones – SCR 68 and SCR 69 are described thusly by the Senate Republican Caucus:

Conference Committee Membership: SCR 68 would change the budget conference committee membership that meets on a budget bill to 10 members (from 6 members). This measure would also establish a different procedure to appoint members to this committee. SCR 68 states that the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly will each appoint three members, and the minority party caucuses in each house will each appoint two … Read More

Next Wednesday will be a busy one for the State Senate Rules Committee as they hold hearings, and votes, on a slew of pieces of proposed legislation. State Senator Jeff Denham will occupy a good portion of the committee’s time as he has introduced a great many of those bills himself. But this morning I wanted to highlight three of them – two great ideas, and one not-so-great idea.

First – the great ones – SCR 68 and SCR 69 are described thusly by the Senate Republican Caucus:

Conference Committee Membership: SCR 68 would change the budget conference committee membership that meets on a budget bill to 10 members (from 6 members). This measure would also establish a different procedure to appoint members to this committee. SCR 68 states that the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly will each appoint three members, and the minority party caucuses in each house will each appoint two … Read More

The Sacramento City Council has relented to the legal prowess of Jon Coupal and Tim Biddle of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and decided that rather than just implement on their own votea new utility tax on mobile phones and new communication technologies, they will comply with the law and put the measure on the November ballot. Which is exactly what they did earier this week.

And that is where the "blue-smoke-and-mirrors" begins. Taxpayer Alert!!! The new proposed utililty tax in Sacramento isn’t a tax increase at all, according to the city! It actually lowers the utility tax on telephones from 7.5 percent to 7 percent. Yeah, on regular landline phones. Butthe new law will now add new technologies, such as text messaging and internet telephone services, to the taxable universe, resulting in $12 million more in tax revenue for the city. The city calls it the "Utility User Tax Reduction and Fairness Measure for Communications Services." LOL!

HJTA’s Biddle told the Sacramento Bee that while the city is "packaging it as a… Read More

On Tuesday, Governor Schwarzenegger delivered an address at the annual, massive 2008 BIO International Convention. The event is so large that it is attended by scientists and researchers from over 70 countries. You can watch the Governor’s remarks on video, courtesy of his website, here (Warning: if you watch the video, it opens with the Governor trying to make a joke after the defeat of the Lakers in the NBA finals. It falls so flat that it reinforces a stereotype — that scientists don’t watch or follow professional sports).

Since we are heading into the high-stakes season of state budget negotiations, it’s always interesting to listen to what the Governor says to look for his personal budget priorities. While enduring a few (too many) mentions of "global warming blah blah"… Read More

This just in from Tom Sawyer, the Governor’s Public Safety Liaison:

As the Governor’s Public Safety Liaison, I have the privilege of working with our local, state and federal law enforcement community to ensure that public safety remains our government’s top priority. With 36 years of experience in law enforcement, as a sheriff, California Highway Patrol officer and on the Board of Parole Hearings, I have devoted my career to ensuring that Californian’s are kept safe. Today, I was proud to see the Governor take a bold step in protecting California’s children from the dangers of internet child pornography. Today, Governor Schwarzenegger joined with the Attorney General and… Read More