Our state legislators will take up an important bill this morning dealing with your tax dollars and those who seek to use their position to unlawfully benefit themselves.

The California Assembly Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security will be discussing Assembly Bill 1858, introduced by Assemblyman (and longtime FR friend) Kevin Jeffries, which if enacted would require any public employee who is hired after January 1, 2009 and convicted of a felony involving the abuse of his/her position to forfeit the government contributions made into the their pension plan, but would not affect the personal contributions made by the employee.

This common sense bill is in fact an extension of current law which maintains the same stipulation for elected officials. In spite of this, the bill seems headed for failure in committee today at the hands of union opposition.

Assembly Democrats have an opportunity to support good public policy and emphasize the integrity of public offices and stand against those who would steal from the California taxpayer.

Or, they have another opportunity to demonstrate the prevailing theory around the Capitol —… Read More

Congress has been a place of little activity of any note for about the last month. I have told you that I expected this to be an unproductive year given the looming and very unpredictable election. But we are underperforming even my low expectations. It has been unexpectedly difficult to find agreement on the expiring Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Farm Bill and No Child left Behind Reauthorization, not to mention take on the housing crisis, energy, budget, etc. The continuing Clinton/Obama battle is, I think, making consensus on things even among Democrats difficult, not to mention Republicans and the President.

So, since there’s no real news, here are some tidbits of thoughts and occurrences from the past month:

A few weeks ago, the House went into "secret session" to discuss the implications of passing or not passing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (referenced above). When in "secret session" the House is swept for "bugs" and there obviously are no spectators and C- Span is turned off. Interestingly, the session is recorded and held as a classified document for 50 years or until Congress … Read More

FR friend Jeff Flint, over at his Red County/Placer website has a blog post that spells out a potential scenario where Tom McClintock may not have the valid signatures necessary to be a candidate for Congress in the 4th District.

Never mind that the post reminds you of a theory that might be advanced by Mel Gibson’s character in the movie Conspiracy Theory, stranger things have and will take place in the world of politics.

It’s worth checking out, for sure. … Read More

So the Governor wants to raise revenues? What a schmuck.

When he was campaigning for Propositions 57 and 58, the Economic Recovery Bonds, he promised that we would never be in a deficit situation again.

I found this old clip of him at you tube…

He was groveling for votes and making all kinds of promises. He screwed it up. He allowed government to grow in the face of a predictable downturn in the economy and revenues. Now, he wants the people, already reeling from a housing and energy price crisis, to fork over more money. And for what? What is better now than five years ago?

Nothing. Not roads. Not education. Not public safety. Not health care.

Governor, you’ve got a lot of gall coming to the people now with your hand out.… Read More

Progressives may have created California’s direct democracy process, but it’s been conservatives who have perfected the use of it. Whether its landmark property tax reform or recalling an inept governor, limited government’s biggest victories have been through initiatives, referendums and recalls.

Ironically, today’s progressives thwart the direct democracy process with unconstitutional bureaucratic impediments to signature gathering. Most notable of these restrictions is a residency requirement for signature gatherers. Petitions require a massive amount of signatures in a short window of time. As someone who is actively involved in these campaigns, I know that in some cases it would be impossible to gather enough signatures without using out-of-town signature gatherers. Case in point, a San Clemente referendum to overturn a city ordinance banning second story additions. The City of San Clemente … Read More

Desert Taxpayers for Truth Launches Web & Video…

Desert Taxpayers for Truth (DTFT), a non-profit watchdog group from the Coachella Valley launched its website today: www.TaxpayersForTruth.com and announced the start of a series of TV spots that will educate voters about elected officials and their voting records.

The first video – a :60 barn-burner that out lines dubious disability claims, tax hikes and attacks on public safety — will begin airing tomorrow throughout the Coachella Valley and Riverside County.

You can view the videos from the website or on YouTube. Or tune in to most any TV station in Riverside County..

Word is this is just the start…and since DTFT is my client (yes, that’s a disclaimer) I might have an idea of what’s coming… Read More

Progressives may have created California’s direct democracy process, but it’s been conservatives who have perfected the use of it. Whether its landmark property tax reform or recalling an inept governor, limited government’s biggest victories have been through initiatives, referendums and recalls.

Ironically, today’s progressives thwart the direct democracy process with unconstitutional bureaucratic impediments to signature gathering. Most notable of these restrictions is a residency requirement for signature gatherers. Petitions require a massive amount of signatures in a short window of time. As someone who is actively involved in these campaigns, I know that in some cases it would be impossible to gather enough signatures without using out-of-town signature gatherers. Case in point, a San Clemente referendum to overturn a city ordinance banning second story additions. The City of San Clemente … Read More

The East Bay Express has done a number of stories exposing Don Perata’s personal use of campaign funds. If you need a refresher, look no further than right here to get a reminder of how Don Perata outdoes even Fabian "Louis Vuitton" Nunez when it comes to living the "high life" on the backs of one’s campaign donors (we won’t even get into the tactics allegedly used to "extract" money from those doing business before legislature). Yesterday, the EBE’s Paul Gammon, on their blog, proclaimed Don Perata to be the "Hypocrite of the Year" for his moxie in attacking Senator Jeff Denham for allegedly "living large" of of campaign contributions. As Gammon says in his post, … Read More