In less than two weeks, the California Republican Party Convention will take place in Indian Wells, in the Palm Springs area. At the convention, delegates will have an opportunity to take positions for or against ballot measures set to appear on the February 2008 ballot. I have authored a resolution to oppose what I call the Perata/Nunez Career Politican Term Limits Extension Act. (Will you support my resolution? Drop me a line.) I have signed the following letter to all CRP voting delegates:

The Federal Election Commission has established a new service that reveals total contributions to Presidential candidates generated by state, and even within a “first three” zip code, and you can click through to see actual donations by individuals within the zip codes! The generosity of Californians to Presidential candidates in both parties is most interesting.

Through the mid-year reports, Californians were responsible for a total of $37 million in contributions to all registered Presidential candidates, of a total of almost $296 million raised nationwide (about 12.5% of total contributions). Democrat candidates earned $23 million of this support, with Clinton and Obama essentially tied at $8.8 million; and Republicans drew $14 million, with Romney taking the cake with $5.4 million and Giuliani next in line with a little over $4.1 million.

The zip code contributions from California are fascinating. In coastal Orange County’s signature zip codes (926XX series, such as 92660 (Newport Beach)) contributions to Republican Presidential candidates for the first half of this year topped $2.4 million, and Democrats were just $800,000 from the same… Read More

In less than two weeks, the California Republican Party Convention will take place in Indian Wells, in the Palm Springs area. At the convention, delegates will have an opportunity to take positions for or against ballot measures set to appear on the February 2008 ballot. I have authored a resolution to oppose what I call the Perata/Nunez Career Politican Term Limits Extension Act. (Will you support my resolution? Drop me a line.) I have signed the following letter to all CRP voting delegates:

Where I live, instead of bringing mail to my house, the United States Postal Service has set up one of those pedestals with a box lock box with twelve slots where my incoming mail is deposited. So I have to walk about 100 feet from my front door to retrieve my mail. I am sure this is done so that the mail carrier can zip up in their truck and efficiently deal with mail delivery, and zoom off again. Of course, any efficiency in the process for me is offset by the fact that I typically only bother to check the box two or three times a week. Saturday I went to check my mail, and as I walked over, I realized it had been since Tuesday that I had done this last… Well, apparently three days of mail to the Fleischman household is about the limit for my mailbox, as I was greeted on Saturday with an empty box, except for one brown slip of paper, which indicated that because my box was full, all of my mail would have to be picked up at the local post office. Groan! So, I got in my car, and drove over to my local post office. Of course I was nervous heading over there because nothing good ever comes out of a trip to the post office. This trip, of course,… Read More

Where I live, instead of bringing mail to my house, the United States Postal Service has set up one of those pedestals with a box lock box with twelve slots where my incoming mail is deposited. So I have to walk about 100 feet from my front door to retrieve my mail. I am sure this is done so that the mail carrier can zip up in their truck and efficiently deal with mail delivery, and zoom off again. Of course, any efficiency in the process for me is offset by the fact that I typically only bother to check the box two or three times a week. Saturday I went to check my mail, and as I walked over, I realized it had been since Tuesday that I had done this last… Well, apparently three days of mail to the Fleischman household is about the limit for my mailbox, as I was greeted on Saturday with an empty box, except for one brown slip of paper, which indicated that because my box was full, all of my mail would have to be picked up at the local post office. Groan! So, I got in my car, and drove over to my local post office. Of course I was nervous heading over there because nothing good ever comes out of a trip to the post office. This trip, of course,… Read More

By a vote of43 to 32 of the Assembly today [43 Democrats voting "aye", all Republicans present plus one Demvoting"no"] a bill, AB 924,goes to the Governor, [if the Senatevotes to concur onthe amendments],that would place on the February ballot, a measure asking voters if they want to advise the President to withdraw from the "occupation" ofIraq.

Assemblyman Plescia, in his floor speech,made a strong point. He expects that those legislators voting for this measure would also be endorsing Cindy Sheehan for the Pelosi Congressional seat.

For the reasons I stated in my previous post, I call on our Governor to vetothis measure, oneharmful to our troops morale and to the prospects ofthe newly forming free Iraqi goverment. … Read More

The classic movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, has captivated our imaginations for two decades. Ferris lives out the dream of the ultimate sick day–one that few would dare to attempt. Most notably, while his day begins with innocent fun, it ends with a very expensive mistake–a classic Ferrari is totaled. It’s amazing how one day off could have such serious financial repercussions.

More than twenty years later in real life, we have a story of "hooky" that involves more people and a much greater financial loss. We’ll call it the San Jose City Auditors’ Months Off. This time, the loss is not a car–instead it’s hundreds of thousands of San Jose taxpayer dollars.

The San Jose City Auditor’s Office staff is staying home "sick" due to internal office turmoil over a sexual harassment lawsuit, and taxpayers are footing the bill. According to the San Jose Mercury News (July 20, 2007), "In the first month after [the] sexual harassment… Read More

Pete Wilson was protested yesterday by immigration and other liberal activists.

Uhh, just in case you’re wondering if this is a 1994 déjà vu, it wasn’t Pete himself that was protested as much as it was a bronze likeness of him, dedicated yesterday afternoon in downtown San Diego. The much anticipated statue unveiling was attended by some of the usual suspects…and I don’t mean Mayor Jerry Sanders, San Diego councilmembers, and members of the Board of Supervisors, although they were there as well.

The media seemed to be overly focused on the protesters who were decrying the dedication as unbecoming a "diverse, border city" to recognize Wilson.

Pete’s tenure as mayor is widely considered legendary, as he presided as a strong mayor years before the city charter mandated one, fostering a time in San Diego’s history when the city positively grew and prospered in ways unmatched before and — most certainly — since.… Read More