It would seem that the more that a microscope is applied to the dealings of Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, the more it shows a pattern — that absolute power does corrupt absolutely. One can probably figure that at some point Nunez was, well, like the rest of us. You know, work hard and don’t take anything for granted? But at some point, or maybe slowly over time, the big gavel of being the Assembly Speaker has gone to the man’s head.

CHARITY-GATE Just after weeks of articles and investigative reports into the lavish and expensive expenditures from Nunez’ campaign coffers that appear to be supporting a lifestyle otherwise unattainable for a public servant, now the Los Angeles Times has revealed a startling and disturbing pattern… Read More

First off – a big Thank You to the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Yesterday I posted about my real concerns in receiving a grade of "B" from their legislative report card and I included a letter I had sent Jon Coupal. (you can read it a few posts below this one – just scroll down)

They responded immediately and are going to put an asterisk by my grade on their website and provide a more detailed explanation as to how excused absences can effect a legislator’s grade (in my case adversely – but I actually think it improved a couple of Democrats’ scores). They are also going to explain this in their upcomingnewsletter.

Today, Cal-Tax – another fine organization committed to protecting the taxpayer – gave me a perfect 100% on their legislative vote record.

I don’t normally use this space to crow about rankings I receive from interest groups, but as much as I was concerned yesterday about HJTA’s low ranking of me – because they counted votes I missed due to illness and recovering from surgery… Read More

A couple legislative races in California appear to be over before the filing deadline. On the other side of the aisle they have a couple races that fall into this category.

One of them is San Francisco County Supervisor Tom Ammiano. At the last reporting period he had $151,067 in the bank and most every major endorsement in the city he could want.

He is the only candidate to file a statement of intent to tun for the seat. The people in San Francisco tell me that some groups would like to find someone to run against him but they realize that it is a losing cause in the end.

This guy is the classic urban liberal that is active in every major issue in his city. With the voting history of this part of the state he is actually a good it for the district. Senator Migden and Assemblyman Leno don’t seem to agree on much lately — except that Ammiano should be in the Assembly.

You may not know him now but you will when he… Read More

Steve Maviglio, spokeshole for CA Assembly Speaker Fabian “Louis Vuitton” Nunez, must be auditioning for a new job. He knows his boss’ career is dying with Prop 93’s February defeat, which is why he unleashed this attack on the California Nurses Association for contributing to my wife’s campaign. Once again, Democrats attack hardworking, middle-class Californians and demonstrate how out-of-touch they are with their own union constituency. (You can read Jon’s excellent commentary this morning for the complete rundown on Nunez’s problems.)

Nunez is targeting the California Nurses Association because they had the audacity to question the Speaker’s rich and famous lifestyle paid for with their campaign contributions. Last month, the LA Times (hardly a member of the vast right-wing conspiracy), uncovered that Nunez was scamming campaign contributions from union members to pay for his… Read More

The read of the afternoon is over at Capitol Weekly (www.capitolweekly.net) where ace political writer Anthony York has written about the potential role that GOP Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner may be taking in opposition to Prop. 93, the Fabian Nunez Career Politician Term Limits Weakening Initiative.

Not only has Poizner signed the official argument against 93 on the ballot, but word is swirling far and wide that Poizner’s opposition to 93 may come with access to the Commish’s VERY deep pockets. Literally almost a billionaire, Poizner could deliver a fatal blow to Nunez’ Christmas present to himself without breaking a sweat.

Taking on the liberal legislative leaders in Sacramento is a courageous act, and we know that Poizner is up for the challenge. We sure hope that this "swirling rumor" becomes a reality. Poizner would be doing a huge favor to the people of California. Go for it!… Read More

The complete political spectrum is dining at Spattaro Restaurant close to the State Capitol. The forces of good are gathered in the light of day, on the patio (that would be me, and Kevin Spillane and Bob Adney from the pro-Term Limits crew. In the darkness of the depths of the restauarant would be the other group, which for ID purposes we’ll call Evil*. Speaker Nunez, Steve Maviglio, Darry Sragow et al.

* this label is a convenient identifier, not a statement of moral assessment.… Read More

I went to Sacramento to protect Proposition 13 and fight against tax increases. I take that commitment very seriously – and I’m proud of my record.

Soimagine my surprise when I read yesterday that on the newly released Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association legislative report card I received an embarrassing (and pathetic) 78.4 score, which is a grade of "B". Which also was the worst score of any Republican in either house.

I was stunned – and very, very concerned.

I love the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. They do great work and are one of the most important organizations in California. To be the worst Republican on their report card……yikes.

HJTA is so important to me – and this score was so inconsistent with my voting record over 13 years we started researching how this anomaly happened. We found what I believe is a scoring system that – while good intentioned – punishes you if you’re not available to vote – even if you’re sick, in my case, absent because you are recovering from… Read More

Los Angeles County has elections for school boards, city councils and water districts coming up on Tuesday, November 6. These are really important elections, especially mine. LA County has made some endorsements, including me. See the complete list here.… Read More