For those of you outside of Los Angeles and Orange County or irregular listeners of the John & Ken Show, yesterday a proverbial hornets’ nest was stirred when a member of the law enforcement community tipped off John & Ken (audio here and… Read More

This just in from State Senator Tom Harman…

MORE UNIFIED THAN EVER BEFORE By State Senator Tom Harman Last week, in a futile attempt to break the resolve of the Republicans in the State Senate, Don Perata, the President Pro Tem, locked all of the members in the Senate chambers for the night. Believe me, 30 hours without sleep is not fun. Senate Republicans were outraged and angry at this childish and stupid maneuver by Perata. In my opinion, this tactic actually strengthened or better unified our caucus, more… Read More

This just in from Republican State Senator Sam Aanestad, on the current budget situation…

They’re Not Listening, But I Am by Senator Sam Aanestad I find it confusing that the Majority Party is suddenly angered over Senate Republican demands for a truly balanced budget. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. We have been repeating the same line as a unified caucus since we passed the previous budget. … Read More

Filing for the many seats up in Los Angeles County still has two weeks before it finishes. Earlier I mentioned that former Democratic Assemblyman Ed Chavez is running for Mt Sac. Community College. See here.

That latest filings have a Gary W. Lawson taking out papers to run for the same office. But wait, He also took out papers for Walnut Valley Unified School District Board. But wait he took out papers to run for Walnut Valley Water District.

Pick an office already! See latest filing here… Read More

Sometimes watching the goings-on in Congress truly makes you think of that colloquial expression, "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."

That is certainly the case when we look at the whole issue surrounding the egregious earmark of Charles Rangel, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee (pictured left). The earmark in question is to shell out $2 million dollars to go towards the creation of a center for public policy at the City College of New York. Now, there may be some debate in Congress about whether $2 million to go towards a building at a college is "egregious" or not. Certainly in the current paradigm that is Congress, where members routinely are sending home pork to their districts, this earmark unfortunately doesn’t really stick out. EXCEPT… Now, get this. It falls under the category of "you simply couldn’t… Read More

Sometimes watching the goings-on in Congress truly makes you think of that colloquial expression, "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."

That is certainly the case when we look at the whole issue surrounding the egregious earmark of Charles Rangel, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee (pictured left). The earmark in question is to shell out $2 million dollars to go towards the creation of a center for public policy at the City College of New York. Now, there may be some debate in Congress about whether $2 million to go towards a building at a college is "egregious" or not. Certainly in the current paradigm that is Congress, where members routinely are sending home pork to their districts, this earmark unfortunately doesn’t really stick out. EXCEPT… Now, get this. It falls under the category of "you simply couldn’t… Read More

Some timely commentary from the Chairman of the State Senate Republican Caucus…

Time To Live Within Our Means Senator George Runner The Senate Republicans budget proposal has accomplished what some believed to be impossible: We have cut spending while leaving K-12 education and public safety alone. We went after people… Read More

Word from the Senate is that the session called for 9 a.m. this morning has been delayed, subject to the "Call of the Chair" — which means what?

It means that perhaps Senate President Don Perata is starting to realize that his immature budget antics aren’t moving the debate anywhere.

What is needed here is an acknowledgement that the Assembly-passed budget is DOA, and a reopening of the negotiations. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines should come back into town, and everyone should reopen budget negotiations, this time with the knowledge that there is a GOP line in the sand – no deficit spending.

Oh well, trying to suggest a logical course of action to Don Perata is a bit of a challenge — especially when he would rather be name calling than negotiating.… Read More