Spring Cleaning

House Republican leaders moved swiftly to pressure two of their conference members under federal investigation to step down from key committee posts this week. Yesterday saw Rep. John Doolittle of California step down from his Appropriations Committee assignment after word leaked that his Virginia home had been raided by FBI agents seeking documents linking him with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Similarly, Rep. Rick Renzi of Arizona stepped down from the Intelligence Committee after it was revealed that the FBI had raided a business tied to his wife as part of an ongoing probe into his official actions.

House Republicans were often slow in the last Congress to… Read More

The San Gabriel Valley Lincoln club meeting this morning offered more intrigue than I could have imagined in the 60th AD GOP race. Two candidates showed up. Larry Dick and Curt Hagman. You can see my last post on this race here. I asked both to say a few words. At the end of the meeting, one of our Lincoln Club members told me he was a potential candidate, but hasn’t decided yet. NO, I’m not hearing voices in my head. See post here. It was none other than La Habra Heights Councilman Stan Carroll. I pretty sure he has been elected at least two times to the council. Stan is a professor at Rio Hondo College and a formerprosecutor in San Bernardino. Did I … Read More

Tom Harman’s misguided attempt to promote "Community Service" was unanimously passed by committee. (Wyland, Maldonado voted yes with the Democrats) The bill has changed since Harman wanted to conscript California’s youth into so-called "community service". As a side note why call it service? Service sounds like they want to do it. At least change it to community work.

Conservatives on several grounds opposed the original bill. See here. This bill is still bad and will do nothing to help kidsmeet state standardsin math or reading. But, what legislator cares about that?

Now the bill only forces local school districts to offer elective classes in community service. See how much Republicans support local control?

The legislative analysis says that such activities should be non-partisan and “non-sectarian”.

There was some discussion of that in committee but no real resolution. Can a student counsel a homosexual student about changing their life? Can someone volunteer at a church homeless shelter? Church Youth Group? What… Read More

Hunter’s Son May Not Scare Off Others By David M. Drucker Roll Call Staff April 19, 2007 Duncan D. Hunter (R) has his father’s name, and the status of being an Iraq War combat veteran, which leads many political observers to believe that he is Rep. Duncan Hunter’s (R) heir apparent in California’s 52nd district * except that he might not be. … Read More

Will Secretary of State Debra Bowen weigh in on the Trung Nguyen appeal?

On May 2, 2007, the Court of Appeals in Orange County will decide whether to take up the writ filed by ersatz Orange County Supervisor Trung Nguyen. The issue at hand — do the paper ballots created by electronic voting machines have to be recounted as part of an overall recount?

In the 2006 election, then State Senator Debra Bowen ran on the issue of electronic voting. She sponsored a bill, Senate Bill 370, which among other things, mandated that paper ballots created by electronic voting machines “shall” be counted “for any full recount”.

A recent Orange County election for Supervisor was decided by seven votes on election day. The candidate who lost, then-Garden Grove Councilwoman Janet Nguyen, requested a recount, as I certainly would have done. As part of her recount strategy, Janet Nguyen had the paper ballots recounted manually looking for errors. Then, mid-recount, seeing that she had picked up enough votes to probably be in the lead, her campaign made a tactical decision to switch counting methods and requested that the remaining ballots — the… Read More

Will Secretary of State Debra Bowen weigh in on the Trung Nguyen appeal?

On May 2, 2007, the Court of Appeals in Orange County will decide whether to take up the writ filed by ersatz Orange County Supervisor Trung Nguyen. The issue at hand — do the paper ballots created by electronic voting machines have to be recounted as part of an overall recount?

In the 2006 election, then State Senator Debra Bowen ran on the issue of electronic voting. She sponsored a bill, Senate Bill 370, which among other things, mandated that paper ballots created by electronic voting machines “shall” be counted “for any full recount”.

A recent Orange County election for Supervisor was decided by seven votes on election day. The candidate who lost, then-Garden Grove Councilwoman Janet Nguyen, requested a recount, as I certainly would have done. As part of her recount strategy, Janet Nguyen had the paper ballots recounted manually looking for errors. Then, mid-recount, seeing that she had picked up enough votes to probably be in the lead, her campaign made a tactical decision to switch counting methods and requested that the remaining ballots — the… Read More

From today’s WSJ Political Diary E-mail:

Corruption and the House GOP

During last year’s GOP House leadership elections, North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx pointedly asked a question of every candidate: Would a Member be allowed to hold a position of trust if he or she was under criminal investigation? John Boehner, the Ohio Republican who eventually became Minority Leader, answered that it would be unwise to prejudge such cases. His message, according to one source who was present: "We have to be careful… Read More

Susan Davis over at Roll Call is reporting that Congressman John Doolittle is going to be resigning from the powerful House Appriations Committee. Here is an excerpt: