When you’re wrong, I have always thought, admit it. So I am going to admit it. I was wrong, this year’s California primary actually meant something. Candidates came here spent money, and actually paid attention to Californians. I thought it wouldn’t happen, and I was wrong.

I mainly objected to moving the primary forward, and I thought that, once again, that would be a futile act. It had been every other time we moved it forward, and I thought this would be no different. In my opinion, California has really screwed up the presidential primary system in its effort to be relevant. I still believe that.

I think I was wrong because of circumstances unique to this primary. For the first time since 1952, no one on the ballot has been president or vice president (that is, in every presidential election since 1952, at least one of the candidates on the ballot was president or vice president when the general election started). That leaves the election wide open, and raises a lot of uncertainty. I think that factor, more than any other, is why California was relevant this year. It is also my opinion that California would still have… Read More

When you’re wrong, I have always thought, admit it. So I am going to admit it. I was wrong, this year’s California primary actually meant something. Candidates came here spent money, and actually paid attention to Californians. I thought it wouldn’t happen, and I was wrong.

I mainly objected to moving the primary forward, and I thought that, once again, that would be a futile act. It had been every other time we moved it forward, and I thought this would be no different. In my opinion, California has really screwed up the presidential primary system in its effort to be relevant. I still believe that.

I think I was wrong because of circumstances unique to this primary. For the first time since 1952, no one on the ballot has been president or vice president (that is, in every presidential election since 1952, at least one of the candidates on the ballot was president or vice president when the general election started). That leaves the election wide open, and raises a lot of uncertainty. I think that factor, more than any other, is why California was relevant this year. It is also my opinion that California would still have… Read More

You might have heard about Berkeley’s City Council’s recent vote to tell the Marines to close their recruiting station in the city. With this vote, they told the Marines that their recruiting office is not welcome in their city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as an uninvited and unwelcome intruders.

In response to this, Ihave introduced the “Semper Fi Act” in the House of Representatives. This act rescinds all of the funding contained in the FY 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Act for the City of Berkeley, CA and transfers those funds to the Marines for recruiting

During the meeting, the City Council also voted to give protest group Code Pink a parking space in front of the recruiting office once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week. According to the City Council agenda, they "Encourage all people to avoid cooperation with the Marine Corps recruiting station, and applaud residents and organizations such as Code Pink, that may volunteer to impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of any military recruiting office located in the City of Berkeley."

The Marine Corps has… Read More

I am at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. today and the report from the floor is no different from what viewers saw on FOX News in real time. John McCain re-established his bona fides with conservatives today in a talk that went into detail, sometimes almost excrutiating detail (immigration!) on his policy positions, and on his professed commitment to the conservative political philosophy.

McCain referred to Edmund Burke, "the Creator", and Ronald Reagan twice each during the speech to thunderous applause. This was a CPAC speech, on the record, and a promise from a great American to advance our core principles in the presidency.

And on issue after issue, McCain laid out his 24 year history of advancing our political philosophy. I was especially impressed with his stalward pro-life position, and his enthusiastic support for actually "winning" the war in Iraq, despite MSM opposition to both positions.

There is a lot going on here and I need a little shut-eye, but tomorrow I will have opportunities to enter the inner sanctums of the national conservartive movement and… Read More

Sometimes taxpayers vote to spend more money for better government, but actually get the opposite.For example, San Francisco residents voted to pay their Board of Supervisors $60,000 more a year to compensate the board for meeting on a nearly full-time schedule. The supervisors convinced San Francisco voters that full-time pay would allow them to devote even more time to the job. Voters approved the raise, thinking the supervisors would be more productive and improve the city.But, after six years, the only improvements that have been made are to the board members’ bank accounts. The San Francisco Chronicle (January 30, 2008) reported that "[e]ver since members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors persuaded voters to pay them like full-time government workers, the city’s lawmakers have been holding fewer meetings to debate and pass legislation." … Read More

For nearly a decade, Corona Mayor Jeff Miller has been working to build out the 91 freeway. He has been successful by targeting projects that use existing tax dollars, that fit on the existing pavement, and can be done with a minimum of permitting, regulatory backlog, etc.

Sounds like a good idea right?

Man is it ever.

These projects have added lanes now on both sides of the freeway cutting some commute times by half without disturbing any of the birds, pocket mice, and fairy shrimp that turn out herds of environmentalists to stall and stop other transportation projects all over California.

Now to the really interesting part.

Jeff not only serves as an elected official in Riverside County – he is a Chairman of the 91 Toll Road Advisory Committee for the ORANGE County Transportation Authority.

Last year he testified for ORANGE County in their pursuit of money from the flawed transportation bonds. And you know what happened? His testimony, bringing together Riverside and Orange County talked the state into spending another $20 million or so in ORANGE County.

Today, Jeff joined a legion of ORANGE County electeds in… Read More

Let me start off my commentary this morning with a congratulatory message for United States Senator John McCain. Senator, your win here in California was impressive, and your overall performance around the country gives you bragging rights to be able to say that in 2008, it was Super McCain Tuesday. Congrats on your big win! A lot of folks were working hard on the McCain efforts in the final push, and so I also want to congratulate all of them.

Tomorrow I will be devoting my column to sharing more thoughts with FR readers about a John McCain nomination, but for today, I want to devote the rest of my column to a very important victory — THE DEFEAT OF PROPOSITION 93!! As FR readers well know, since I have devoted so much ‘cyber ink’ to Proposition 93, it was a terrible measure constructed out of the hubris of now-retiring Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. The entire campaign to pass the measure, which contained a specific provision to allow dozens of termed-out California State Legislators to serve well beyond even the new terms articulated in 93, was constructed around what had been labeled, THE BIG LIE. Attorney General Jerry… Read More

Gov. Schwarzenegger today issued the following statement in recognition of President Ronald Reagan’s birthday: PROCLAMATION Ronald Reagan was a man who kept his word. Whether the promise was to protect swimmers as a young lifeguard or defend the Constitution of the United States as President, he always delivered. In 1966, Californians gave him a chance to govern a state facing challenges in education and infrastructure, skyrocketing taxes and deep social unrest. It was Reagan’s characteristic optimism and can-do attitude that helped meet those challenges, and eight years later, he left office as one of California’s greatest governors. As the 1970’s came to a close, our nation was… Read More