Just a sampling of some of the about 400 bills that were taken up in Assembly Appropriations yesterday that had been on the "Suspense file" and how they fared:

Those movingout of committee to our floor, in no particular order:

AB 2062 Ammo Bill- requires ID to buy ammunition and no mail sales, buyer must have a permit, fee required for background checks,etc. All Committee Republicans "No"

AB 2235 Handgun ban-would prohibit sale of any gun that doesn’t include technology that ID’s and only operates for the gun owner, biometric smart chip etc. All Reeps "No"

AB 2281 Dog Fight Spectators-raises penalties from a misdemeanor to a wobbler, a misdemeanor/felony for those that view dogfights All Reeps "Aye"

AB 2743 Marijuana Raids-would prohibitState agencies from helping Feds withmarijuana raids, arrests, orprosecutionsof supposed medical marijuana users Reeps "No"

AB 2784 DUI Ignition Interlock Devices-requires convicted DUI offenders to equip their cars with these systems Reeps "Aye"

AB 2083… Read More

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

Indian Gambling: Native American Indian Tribes have been allowed to hold legal gambling in many states for a long time. The original purpose of this was to give some economic activity to large numbers of full-blooded Indians living on reservations in remote areas with little economic opportunity. In many cases, such legal gambling has been successful in achieving the desired result.

However, now there is much abuse of this privilege. This abuse comes from the fact that there is absolutely huge money to be made from establishing one of these casinos, particularly if you can get it in or near an urban area. That gigantic profit opportunity comes from several factors. First of all, in most states, Indian casinos are a government-sanctioned monopoly, with little competition except from other Indian casinos. Secondly, they regulate themselves, by and large. So, unlike Nevada where the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) establishes and monitors minimum payouts, Indian casinos can pretty much pay out as little in winnings as they can get away with so their margins are much higher. And, of course, they are not subject… Read More

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the state’s biggest and second-largest school district in the nation with more than 700,000 students, known for incompetence and corruption, has yet again, come under investigation for spending an enormous amount of taxpayer dollars on questionable contracts – while the district, not to mention the state, is facing historic budget deficits. According to the L. A. Daily News, May 13, 2008, “With Los Angeles Unified facing spending cuts of as much as a half-billion dollars amid a statewide budget crunch, the district is coming under renewed scrutiny for its nearly $175 million in consulting contracts with outside firms covering everything from legal help to improving student achievement.” Taxpayers should be shocked to know that, “The LAUSD has dozens of multiyear professional-services consulting deals … Read More

The Los Angeles Times likes to remind us every so often that Al Gore "won" the popular vote in the 2000 Presidential election he lost. Rarely do they say that in "winning" Gore failed to get a majority of the national vote. Even rarer is a statement that Gore’s win was by a "small" margin. They also always fail to tell us that Bill Clinton never managed to win a majority of the national vote in his two winning presidential election campaigns.

But today’s spin from the Times is otherwise credibly led by none other than their Poll Directer, Susan Pinkus, who tells us the marriage amendment on the November ballot is "winning by a small margin." 54% to 35%. Thus stated, the Times poll director considers a 19 point lead "a small majority." And she warns this small majority "might not bode well" for the measure’s future. Such liberal wishful thinking! I just wish she could similarly explain my cholesterol levels to my doctor with the same elan. Perhaps she could waive her wand and change my high low-density lipoprotein level into something to cheer about! Perhaps I would have reason… Read More

Capitol Weekly broke the story that now L.A. Congresswomen Laura Richradson’s house is in Sacramento is in foreclosure. Richardson now denies that the house has been seized.

Well, which is it? The issue is relevant becasue of the possible use of equity as loan to her Congressional Campaign.

Now is the time for Richardson to release her records.… Read More

The 2008 presidential campaign is still months away from completion, but that’s no reason not to accelerate the level of speculation regarding the California 2010 election for governor. State Democrats have at least half a dozen viable potential candidates circling the field, who we will mock at another time. Republicans, on the other hand, seem to have been on a pretty clear glide path toward nominating Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

But the Poizner nomination may not be a foregone conclusion after all. State Senator Tom McClintock has decided that his future lies in Congress, but should he not win his primary next month, another campaign for governor could be in the offing. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina seems to have decided that her immediate future lies in President McCain’s Cabinet, but should Democrats win the White House, she may decide that statewide office holds some allure instead. And one prominent former Republican officeholder currently residing in the private sector has begun laying the groundwork for a campaign as well.

But the most intriguing potential challenger to Poizner might be former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Whitman… Read More

Well, we don’t have a happy ending to the Farm Bill follies. As we have written about, this Farm Bill before Congress is TERRIBLE public policy. It typifies everything that is wrong with our Congress. It takes BILLIONS of dollars and doles it out around the country to agricultural interests (from the family farm — many of which are huge) to big ag conglomerates. Anyways, the idea is that at the most basic level, this is the federal government taking from your pocket to place that money in someone else’s.

Is it shocking that such a bill would pass a Democrat-controlled Congress, no? Should it be shocking that a majority of REPUBLICANS voted for this dog with fleas? Yes. Is it really shocking. Unfortunately, no.

It is proof that Republicans in Congress don’t get it — that we lost Congress because we are no longer the party that stands for a limited federal government, lower taxes and returning the power to the people.

You can’t beat the Democrats by being 95% like them. This Farm Bill was an important vote because it helped to reinforce in my mind that our GOPers back there (well, the ones who voted for… Read More

If you haven’t already, be sure you check out the article on the main page today where former Assembly Speaker Fabian “Louis Vuitton” Nunez in essence accuses those of us who took issue with his lavish spending as being anti-Mexican — what a load of hooey. Anyways, here’s what Hector Barajas and Kevin Roberts of the State GOP have to say about it —

“There is little to be surprised by in Fabian Núñez’ outlandish statements that those who questioned his expenses were not looking out for the public’s best interest but rather was motivated by race.

In an interview with the Spanish-language program Voz y Voto on Univision, Núñez railed against the “anti-Mexican, anti-Latino” sentiment he claimed motivated the probe into his questionable expense reports. Even his spokesman, force-fed himself the racial Kool-Aid, stating, “You cannot deny there’s some overtly racial overtones to this.”

Let’s remember, as the representative of one of the poorest districts in California, the Los Angeles Times reported that Núñez spent more than $47,000 in airfare, more than $5,000 at… Read More