GOVERNOR: CALL THE LEGISLATORS BACK TO SACRAMENTO Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger should use his powers to call an immeidate, emergency session of the state legislature to deal with the fact that we have no state budget. It is pretty outrageous that we have 120 legislators that are paid a full-time wage and yet, without a deal worked out on the state’s annual spending plan, and the constitutional deadline for passing a budget now over a month behind us, our legislators are not even in the Capitol? That is outrageous. FR readers should call their Senator and Assemblymembers, and urge them to go back to Sacramento, and to each individually call for the legislature to return to session.

BILL LEONARD ON THE BUDGET I was emailing with State Board of Equalization Member Bill Leonard, an acknowledged expert on state finances and the budget — he shared these sobering thoughts with me (and said I could pass them along to you):… Read More

Not only have Democrats opposed GOP efforts during this current budget negotiation process to ensure that vital services are still provided for Medi-Cal recipients, but apparently Democrats have amassed quite a record of opposing Republican efforts to make sure that honest policy disagreements in a budget negotiation that (like with this year) can become protracted, do NOT put Medi-Cal recipients at risk:

“As we seek further negotiations with Legislative leaders, Senate Republicans want to make sure that hospitals and nursing homes receive the necessary funding to keep their doors open,” said Senator Dick Ackerman (R-Irvine). “Health care for those in need should not be interrupted while the Legislature works towards a balanced budget.”

Check out all of the details on the strong GOP track record to avoid this situation here.

Democrats are more interested in "using" these folks as a tool to pressure legislators to pass a big, fat budget. Critical reforms are needed for this year’s budget, and we… Read More

Alameda County is working on a project that would shock most taxpayers…not because of the project itself, but because the project wasn’t completed years ago. The County has hired the former County Fire Chief to ensure that our public safety officials and first responders county-wide can communicate with one another during a crisis. In a post 9/11 world, I think most people in Alameda Co. assume that our firefighters, police and county sheriffs can all get on the same radio frequency and coordinate emergency responses. Unbelievably, that is not the case, and well-placed sources who wish to remain anonymous (for now) say Assemblywoman Hayashi is part of the problem.

In order for this new communications system to be implemented, each city within Alameda Co. must have a city council vote in favor of joining the JPA (Joint Powers Agreement) that will institute the new communications capability. So far, only eleven of the fourteen cities in Alameda Co. have joined. Why the hold outs? According to my sources, Hayashi has informed certain city council members in these hold out cities that they will not receive Democratic Party support in their next race if they vote… Read More

What an incredible past few days for California political news. First, the fundraising disclosure reports were unveiled, state budget deliberations ongoing, and a surprise development in a targeted Congressional seat.

In what clearly was the harshest week for freshman Democratic Congressman Jerry McNerney (CD 11), McNerney learned that he continues to frustrate his strongest base of supporters: the far-left grassroots activists and liberal internet denizens who last November helped the political neophyte topple 7-term incumbent GOP Congressman Richard Pombo in one of the nation’s most shocking Republican Party defeats.

Earlier, McNerney angered his supporters and donors when he voted against Congressman James McGovern’s proposal to order an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. On Democratic Party-affiliated websites, former supporters and campaigners for McNerney blasted the frosh lawmaker for “voting with Bush enablers on Iraq.”… Read More

Over the last two weeks, the state has been locked in a fight to keep the bad guys in prison, over the insistence of several liberal federal judges to let them go. Two months ago, the Legislature approved a prison reform package in an attempt to alleviate the so-called overcrowding problem, but to no avail. Judges Henderson and Karlton decided to take over the prison system, and run it their way.

Here’s a suggestion for the Governor, his staff and the Department of Corrections. Tell the federal judges to go pound sand in a particularly uncomfortable place.

Prisons are a unique state function. There are some federal prisons, but, by and large, the corrections system is a state function. More importantly, the federal government’s intervention, through the courts, is constitutionally dubious. While federal judges have tried to interfere in the state operation of prison’s by way of the eighth amendment, the argument that our current prison system constitutes cruel and unusual punishment is absurd on its face. So, why not tell the federal courts to get out of our prison administration forever.

First, policy wise, it is a great… Read More

What an incredible past few days for California political news. First, the fundraising disclosure reports were unveiled, state budget deliberations ongoing, and a surprise development in a targeted Congressional seat.

In what clearly was the harshest week for freshman Democratic Congressman Jerry McNerney (CD 11), McNerney learned that he continues to frustrate his strongest base of supporters: the far-left grassroots activists and liberal internet denizens who last November helped the political neophyte topple 7-term incumbent GOP Congressman Richard Pombo in one of the nation’s most shocking Republican Party defeats.

Earlier, McNerney angered his supporters and donors when he voted against Congressman James McGovern’s proposal to order an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. On Democratic Party-affiliated websites, former supporters and campaigners for McNerney blasted the frosh lawmaker for “voting with Bush enablers on Iraq.”… Read More

From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary…

Affirmative Action for the Electoral College

Howard Dean, the Democratic National Committee chairman, knows a trap when he sees one. The Democratic state legislature in North Carolina was on a fast track to pass a bill that would have ended the practice of apportioning all that state’s Electoral College votes to the statewide winner. Instead, the winner of each of its 13 Congressional districts would win one electoral vote, while the remaining two (representing the state’s two U.S. Senate seats) would go to the statewide winner. In 2004, under the proposed formula, John Kerry would… Read More

Explosive news from talk show host Roger Hedgecock today…

Firefighter Heroes Battle Gay Sexual Harassment

The Pulitzer Prize winning San Diego Union-Tribune gushed about the "diverse display" present at this year’s San Diego Gay Pride Parade, bragging that "politicians and firefighters joined bikers and drag queens" and "fans yelled ‘heroes’ when members of the San Diego Fire Departmentpassed by…".

Reality, is another story all together—a hideously distasteful display of sexual harassment that was actively suppressed by the media covering this event. Instead they reported on the event with the same enthusiasm that older generations of Americans lavish on the hometown Fourth of July parade.

According to the four firefighters who rode their San Diego Fire-Rescue truck last month in San Diego’s Gay Pride Parade this is what really happened:

The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department’s self-professed lesbian Fire Chief ordered Engine 5 (through the chain of command) to participate in the Parade. Capt. John Ghiotto and his crew, consisting of –Engineer Jason… Read More