I just left a lunhctime meeting of the Coronado Republican Womens Federated club on Coronado Island in San Diego. It was a great meeting with a very informed and influential guest speaker…me! :-)

They wanted me to carry forth a message to our state legislators — hold the line, and don’t give in to pressure to raise any taxes!

Amen!… Read More

Sacramento Democrats are a consistent bunch. Their play sheet only has two songs — "Spend More" and "Tax More." That it. And they keep playing their two-song greatest hits album over and over again.

Last week we had Democrat Senate President Pro-Tem Don Perata pledging a long summer budget stalemate until Republicans agree to $5 BILLION in new taxes. Now, on the Assembly side, Fabian "Louis Vuitton" Nunez is calling for a massive 6% increase on tax on oil in California — as if the prices of gasoline in America aren’t high enough? Nunez plan will only serve to increase reliance on foreign oil, as he seeks to make it more expensive to pump oil out of the ground here in the Golden State. Well, there is a silver lining to every cloud, they say. And in this case, it is simply this — Sacramento Democrats are setting up a great debate for the Spring, presenting the stark contrast between Republicans and Democrats. You see, while the Democrats want to increase taxes on working Californians (who do you think will get hit the hardest if gas prices increase?), Republicans have vowed to block… Read More

Update: After 2 3/4 hours and 42 speeches debating this bill, the predicted outcome is official, the bill, AB 9 XXX, a tax increase [requiring 2/3’s,54 votes] was defeated45-30, no Republicans present voted for it,all Dems present but onevoting "aye."

AB 9 of the 3rd Extraordinary session is being introduced by Chuck Calderon for Speaker Nunez. This is the bill to raise taxes on oil produced within Califonia. [Thereby increasing dependence on imported oil if you believe as I do that taxing something causes there to be less of that product or activity.] 43 Democrats are coauthoring the bill. Thankfully it requires a 2/3 vote to pass so we all know going into this debate that the bill will fail and that it will cost Californians tens of thousands of dollars to process and run this bill through committee and on our floor. Since this is ostensibly a bill to help fund education, how many teacherscould be paid instead of the costfor this bit of theater for this sure-to-failbill? Not to mention the tone-deaf attitude of this legislature toward record fuel prices… Read More

[Cross-posted from OC Blog]

If you haven’t yet read Saturday’s "Capitol Watchdog" column by the OC Register’s Brian Joseph, then you ought to.

Brian delves into the twilight zone of how taxpayer-funded governmental associations like the League of Cities engage in campaign spending out of the public eye and on-the-clock.

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore has introduced legislation to force the League O’ Cities and its kindred associations to disclose the sources of their political spending.

Yesterday evening, Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle e-mail out Brian Joseph’s article, accompanied by this intriguing and forceful commentary zeroing in on the… Read More

The great thing about a Congressional District opening up only once in 28 years is that when the County GOP holds a candidate debate in East County, several people show up that few times in their lives have ever stepped foot east of I-15. Well, okay, unless they were first on a plane leaving San Diego County. Last night, 257 folks hit El Cajon’s Crystal Ballroom for the Republican Party of San Diego’s monthly meeting. Tony Krvaric and Co. had the vision to move the proceedings to East County for perhaps the first and last time until Congressman Duncan Hunter’s current 52nd District seat is vacated by the next incumbent. Whether that will be another quarter of a century or more remains to be seen, but Hunter’s son Duncan D. Hunter, Santee Councilman Brian Jones and County Board of Ed President Bob Watkins are all hoping to at get at least a first term under their respective belts. After State GOP Chairman Ron Nehring effectively rah-rahed the crowd, and Bob Ilko gave a heartfelt unity speech about his decision to not seek San Diego’s 5th District city council seat (in deference to Carl DeMaio), the… Read More

My friend Floyd Brown (of Willie Horton ad fame) and I have established an independent expenditure committee that will be involved in California and nationally in the presidential election. The name of the group is National Campaign Fund. We hired Adam Geller, a noted nationwide pollster based in Princeton, New Jersey, through my firm Landslide Communications, to conduct a statewide poll of voter attitudes towards the presidential candidates in California, as a start to our activities. A power point presentation on the poll results is attached.

The poll was conducted February 26-27 and has a 4.38 % margin of confidence.

The poll includes a lot of detail on issues, but herein I am including just the report on perceptions of candidates.

According to our poll as of the end of February, in California, Hillary Clintonhas a 55/42 favorable to unfavorable ratio; Obama 64/31; and McCain 50/41.

In matchups, Hillary beats McCain 50/40; Obama beats McCain 51/36.

The message that works best against Obama in California is taxes. After the push questions, Obama’s lead over McCain is cut by a third – 5… Read More

Several days ago, I posted about how LA-based public affairs powerhouse consulting firm Cerrell Associates is fighting the completion of the 241 toll road on behalf of one client — the California State Parks Association (CSPA) — while serving as media and public relations consultants to the pro-241 Southern California Association of Government (SCAG) to the tune of $250,000.

Besides the obvious question of a conflict of interest, it occurred to me at the time how this triangle creates an odd situation regarding media inquiries to SCAG about the 241.

After all, SCAG’s website lists a Mr. Jeff Lustgarten at Cerrell Associates as their contact for media inquiries. So if you are member of the media contacting SCAG about why they support completing the 241, you contact the PR agency that is trying to convince the public that… Read More

In light of the Second District Court of Appeals decision last week, I feel it is my duty to publicly confess to my blog boss a deep, dark secret. Jon, when you hired me, I failed to disclose that I am the product of a “cloistered” education that failed to provide “interaction with people outside the family.” Astonishing, I know.

You see, I am a California homeschool graduate. My parents began homeschooling my brother and me when we arrived in California back in 1992. And as a homeschool graduate, I am deeply offended and troubled by Justice H. Walt Croskey’s opinion of those who are home educated. We are not “cloistered,” nor do we lack “interaction with people outside the family.” In fact, we are some of the most active citizens in our communities. While I was still homeschooling, I somehow managed to become the Orange County Republican Party’s volunteer of the month and a delegate to the Republican National Convention. Many of my homeschool friends have gone on to attend prestigious universities and lead… Read More