You have to wonder what they are sprinkling in the Wheaties over at the Sacramento Bee. The editorial board there never ceases to amaze me. In the Bee’s lead editorial today, they have the moxie to start it by saying, "With one vote, California Senate Republicans on Thursday added $3.4 billion to the state’s $15.2 billion deficit for 2008-09…"

Right.

Read on and what you really have is yet another liberal editorial whining because Republicans have refused to sign on with the issuance of yet another $6.9 BILLION (yes, with a "B") of bonds.

What kind of screwy math do they use over there at the Bee? By their convoluted logic, the state’s entire overspending problem could just be solved by passing one big, fat bond measure, and shoving the burden for our state’s irresponsible overspending to our children and theirs.

The main premise of the editorial is that if the legislature doesn’t borrow billions for building more prisons (didn’t we already do that?) then some judge will simply order those billions straight out of the… Read More

Today Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced that several more ballot measures have qualified for November, including the Protect Marriage Constitutional Amendment.

Already qualified are:

Human Rights For Poultry More Bonds 1: Children’s Hospitals More Bonds 2: The Superduper Speedy Train (for those actually can use it) Parental Notification before a minor has abortion surgery Sentencing of Non-Violent Offenders Safe Neighborhoods (anti-gang) "Renewable" (Code for More Costly) Energy Requirements

Coming soon is the likely qualification of the Common Cause/Schwarzenegger redistricting measure…

(h/t to Shane G. at the SacBee)… Read More

A: A cartoon like this in your local paper –a pretty clear sign you’ve been able to get your message out.

… Read More

OK, just to be clear, this is not internet gambling, just a chance for political prognosticators to dazzles us with their brilliance. Winner does, however, get dinner at Mikuni…

Pick your winner and post in comments (I threw SD 3 for the entertainment of the many who have suffered from a Migden tirade).

Although I am doing a number of SoCal races, I will leave to my fellow bloggers to post a competition there!

CD 4: McClintock/Ose/Terbolizard/Jones

SD 3: Leno/Midgen/Nation SD 12: Denham/Perata (recall)

AD 3: Logue/Horne AD 10: Sander/Hegyi/Sieglock AD 15: Llyod/Kamena/Rau/Wilson

Placer Board of Supervisors: Kranz/Houston

El Dorado Board of Supervisor District 1: Dorr/Knight/Norris/Frentzen El Dorado Board of Supervisor District 2: Nutting/Michelin/Teresi/Dean/ Turnboo/Smiley

Mayor of Sacramento: Fargo/Johnson/Daniel/Eldredge/Jones/Padilla/Strand.

Tie Breaker #1: % Statewide Turnout by party Tie Breaker #2: % of Denham win over recall… Read More

I got an email today from my friend Tim Rosales letting me know that Marcia Tookey passed away.

I didn’t know Marcia Tookey for the entire time she was active in politics. You see, by the late date of my birth in 1970 she was already an established volunteer in Los Angeles, during the glory days. She was a tireless organizer of precincts, and more important she had a working knowledge of the county of LA as a whole, almost quite literally precinct by precinct. She knew where the phone banks could be found, where you couldn’t walk, and who was reliable or not.She was one of the handfull of people who remembered the organizational methods of the previous years, and was willing to teach them. Her lessons made a huge difference in my professional life.

Marciaknew the details that made the difference between a GOTV program that works and one that doesn’t. In 2000 I was field director for victory 2000 and (before campaign finance "reform") we had established some two dozen staffed local offices in LA for various party programs, including the traditional election day push. Like a fool, I had centralized the printing of the election day… Read More

A multi million dollar campaign for Fresno County Supervisor between Debbie Poochigian and Clovis Council member Nathan Magsig has been full of fireworks for several weeks now, but on the final weekend a negative mail piece designedby former Assemblyman Mike Briggs and funded by SEIUis causing quite a stir in this hotly contested battle.

At issue here are two recently formed Independent Expenditure Committees, the "Friends of the Valley PAC" and "Citizens for Representative Government". "Friends of the Valley" is so new it doesn’t even have an FPPC number. It funded the hit piece on Chuck and Debbie Poochigian, with major funding by the SEIU, a close ally of Supervisor Bob Waterston. Waterston is vacating the seat under a cloud of ethics allegations, and has vowed to remain neutral in the race. But there is no question he knows what SEIU is doing. SEIU leaders have also hinted thatthat Mike Briggs firm, Creative Campaigns, did the work on the hit piece for SEIU. Briggs is closely aligned with Nathan Magsig.

"Citizens For Representative Government", formed on May 9th, received major funding from… Read More

Jim Lacy has been getting the same mail I have.

These Taxpayer Protection Committee people are all over the place. I got a piece of mail at home yesterday from the California Taxpayer Protection Committee supporting Frank Sieferman, Jr. for Woodland City Council.

This piece of mail follows an automated call for Sieferman as well as another piece of mail to the good people of Woodland telling them all of the great things he is going to do for the taxpayers of my city.

For those of you that don’t know, Frank Sieferman, Jr is a former County Supervisor that I was forced to run against and beat in 2006.

Sieferman was a member of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors when he voted to use eminent domain to seize 17,000 acre Conaway Ranch so that the government could do exactly what the private owner was doing with it. This seizure was one of the reasons that Prop 98 is on the ballot on Tuesday.

Sieferman supported John Kerry for President, redecorated his office during tough budget times, accepted and supported pay raises while in office, opposed the parental consent measure on the ballot, and supported a gay pride resolution on several… Read More

Proposition 98 on the June 3 ballot is a much needed reform to protectfamilies from losing their homes to government eminent domain power. We all need to vote "Yes" on Proposition 98. For this reason, I do not understand why I received a mailing from the "Faith, Family and Freedom Association," a "nonpartisan voter guide that stands for mainstream American family values" that endorses a number of candidates for local office, but is entirely silent on support or opposition for Proposition 98.

What is going on here! I recently reported another outfit calledthe "California Taxpayer Protection Committee" did essentially the same thing,claiming to be an anti-tax group but failing to give any information on the Juneballot initiative sponsored by the HowardJarvis Taxpayers Association.

Karen England, a respected conservative lobbyist in Sacramento, signed a letter in the "Family" mailing requesting signatures on the "Save Our Kids" initiative included in the mailing. That is a good thing. But the failure to even mention Proposition 98 in the mailing is… Read More