It seems like nothing makes a liberal more happy and excited than using the coercive powers of government to modify human behavior. Never mind that our Republic was founded on the notions of individual liberty and personal freedom… Democrats in Sacramento are constantly passing bills (hundreds of them each year) that place restrictions, impose fees, provide incentives – all geared towards shifting decision-making away from the individual, and over to the collective – in this case state government.

This election cycle, liberal Democrat Mike Davis of Los Angeles has introduced a classic case of what I call “social engineering” legislation. His bill, AB 2829 would mandate that every large grocery store or pharmacy charge a 25 cent tax on every plastic bag issued to a customer. Davis doesn’t hide his motive – he wants people to stop using plastic bags, and he is going to try to use the coercive power of the government to achieve his goal.

Of course, even though it would smack each shopper with substantial increased costs, this legislation is not called a “tax… Read More

Remember back in the mid-1990s, when everyone and their mother wanted a piece of the booming communications industry?

Well, the City of Alameda was part of that crowd. But now after a decade, the City’s venture in providing cable TV and Internet services to its residents may come to an end.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle (March 25th), officials from the city-owned Alameda Power & Telecom laid out the options for the public in a presentations to the city’s public utilities board. Unfortunately, none of the options is likely to recover the $85 million the city spent to launch and operate the service.

And, if that isn’t enough, Alameda, which has a general fund budget of $80 million this year, is due to make a $33 million balloon payment next year on the original construction bond for the telecom system.

Girish Balachandran, the utility’s general manager, confirmed that a consultant has been hired to identify and contact parties interested in buying… Read More

A serious firestorm is brewing in greater LA over remarks made by Rev. Eric Lee made in front of Jewish philanthropist Daphna Ziman [Arden Realty] .

On April 4th Ziman was to be honored by receiving the Tom Bradley Distinguished Citizen Award by the black fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi. After Ms. Ziman receive her award for her support of black foster children, she was followed by keynote speaker Rev. Lee.

Tom Bradley a pleasant if ineffective mayor of Los Angeles earmarked a milestone in LA politics by fusing the Jewish westside with Southside blacks into a dominating political force. Bradley was a 30 year cop who came up clean during some sordid years of LAPD before Chief Parker clearned house in the 1950’s. That once optomistic and youthful coalition now lies in tatters. How ironic the recepient of the Bradley award was insulted by an extended irrational anti Semetic attack.

Rev. Lee is President of the Greater Los Angeles Southern Christain Leadership Conference, an organization co-founded by Martin Luther King. Soon after Lee thanked Jesus for the Obama candidacy, he launched into an extended rant againsty Jews.

Looking directly at Daphna… Read More

San Diego City Councilman Scott Peters, while running for city attorney, voting for a 24 percent council pay hike and then reversing himself in the wake of public outcry, thus ensuring that his campaign opponents will not only refer to him as an out-of-control tax-and-spender, but now also a flip-flopper…

Proof that attorneys are no smarter than the rest of us.… Read More

A serious firestorm is brewing in greater LA over remarks made by Rev. Eric Lee made in front of Jewish philanthropist Daphna Ziman [Arden Realty] .

On April 4th Ziman was to be honored by receiving the Tom Bradley Distinguished Citizen Award by the black fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi. After Ms. Ziman receive her award for her support of black foster children, she was followed by keynote speaker Rev. Lee.

Tom Bradley a pleasant if ineffective mayor of Los Angeles earmarked a milestone in LA politics by fusing the Jewish westside with Southside blacks into a dominating political force. Bradley was a 30 year cop who came up clean during some sordid years of LAPD before Chief Parker clearned house in the 1950’s. That once optomistic and youthful coalition now lies in tatters. How ironic the recepient of the Bradley award was insulted by an extended irrational anti Semetic attack.

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

Voters in the 4th Congressional District got their first look at the two contenders for the open seat at a debate in Rocklin this evening. Doug Ose and Tom McClintock faced off in an almost two hour debate. The event, hosted by the Placer County Lincoln Club, was packed with almost 500 people in attendance. Gary Dietrich, political report for local KFBK radio, served as the moderator.

Upon entering the room I noticed that there were lots of people with Ose for Congress stickers on their lapels but as soon as the debate started, it was clear that McClintock was the crowd favorite. Each candidate was given a four minute opening statement with the first turn going to Ose. He immediately launched into his campaign theme of being the only candidate “born and raised in Northern California.”

In his opening statement, McClintock set the tone for the evening by making it clear that this primary race is a battle between two factions in… Read More

I know the title of this blog may seem a bit incendiary, but after what I witnessed in the Assembly Public Safety Committee yesterday, I believe it is merited. Yesterday morning the committee passed, on a party-line vote, AB 2943, Assemblywoman Sally Lieber’s ban on spanking. AB 2943 will make it a misdemeanor for a parent to spank their child with a stick or switch. But many parents use a wooden spoon or stick to spank because they believe that the hand is an instrument of love, not punishment.

During the hearing we heard the usual arguments that parents who use corporal punishment are abusers. But the most shocking part of the hearing came when the California Teachers Association testified in favor of the bill as one of Lieber’s two main witnesses. This goes far beyond simply sending in a letter of support. To actually attend a hearing and testify in favor of the bill proves how far the CTA is willing to go in controlling the lives of not only their students, but parents as well.

The CTA lobbyist’s testimony mirrored their letter of… Read More

This time of year everyone is getting a little on edge. TV spots are being produced, mail is being designed, money needs to come in, and candidates are flipping out.

I have two things that are really sending me over the edge today.

The first is reporters that call and ask for the biography of my client. This makes me question that value of websites and the reporters ability to type in a google search. They can go just as easily to the candidate website and find the bio as I can — but they ask me to do it. The worst part is that I actually do it for them.

The second is candidate questionnaires. For people working on races this cycle we have filled out hundreds of them. My observation is this — if your organization can’t create an electronic copy to send around you are probably not much of an organization. The questions aren’t some big secret.

I called someone today asking about a questionnaire. The message that I got in return was that the PAC Chair did not use e-mail so the staff could not send me one electronically. If you want to set a rule that you will not… Read More