Republican Senator Roy Ashburn has been a ‘point person’ of sorts for Senate Republicans on redistricting reform, but a controversial proposal that he introduced yesterday, Senate Constitutional Amendment 9, on term-limits, redistricting reform, and bans on fundraising is not legislation that is supported by the Senate Republican Caucus — nor Assembly Republicans for that matter. Specifically, Ashburn’s bill seems to be seeking a ‘middle ground’ to try to achieve sort of compromise. But Ashburn gives away too much to try to move something forward… ALL THREE aspects of Senator Ashburn’s proposed constitutional amendment are flawed… First and foremost, and probably most egregious, is that Ashburn’s proposal includes virtually the same end-run on voter-approved term limits that Speaker Fabian Nunez has been championing himself. According to what I read, this proposal by the Bakersfield Senator would allow for "termed out" legislators to serve at least one more term in the… Read More

I was thinking about it, and the idea that realtor groups are asking the state government to bring in more regulation into the private transactions between a buyer and seller of a home could come back to haunt them.

Next year, maybe some Democrat will introduce legislation to lower home costs by requiring that realtor commissions be cut in half.

When the realtors look around for help, everyone will remember that this year, they think government mandates on home sales are okay.

Tsk. Tsk.… Read More

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez needs to decide whether or not he’s a Catholic, because he cannot sponsor and support legislation to legalize assisted suicide and be a Catholic at the same time.

That may sound harsh to secular ears, but it is true nonetheless.

Nunez isn’t unique. American politics is replete with politicians — usually, but not always. liberal Democrats — who like to call themselves Catholics while they publicly and unashamedely flout core Church teachings.

The Assembly Speaker is in the news because Cardinal Roger Mahoney called him out for sponsoring AB 374 to legalize assisted suicide.

I’ve never been a fan of Cardinal Mahoney, and his condemnation of Nunez rings a bit hollow considering his tolerance for heterodoxy within the Los Angeles Archdiocese and how he has chummed it up with pro-choice, pro-gay "marriage" "Catholic" politicians for years — not to mention allowing the molestation scandal to fester in his last… Read More

Duncan D. Hunter, son of Congressman Duncan Hunter, is placing his likely-to-be campaign in absentia for dad’s seat in the capable hands of Gilliard Blanning Wysocki & Associates.

In case you missed the absentia part, Duncan D. announced last week he is being reactivated by the Marines and deployed to the Middle East. He plans to campaign for the seat while gone.

For those who ask how one canrun a competitive campaign for Congress while serving in Iraq, the response is simple— you may need a better understanding of this staunchly conservative, pro-military East SD County District.

As far as the legality of running while on active duty, which caused some blog-fodder last week (see the Hatch Act), Duncan D. continues to say that this has all been checked out with the Marine Corps and DoD. New Hunter consultant Dave Gilliard also says, "We have checked out all the rules and we will be OK."

As far as other potential candidates, the list could be long — and I believe shorter if Duncan D. does run (sounds like he’s running!) — but no formal announcements at… Read More

Anemic Numbers on FEC Finance Reports highlight freshman’s weakness in the 11th CD’s population base.

In the latest filings with the FEC, congressman Jerry McNerney raised a total of $347,192.52 and reported a cash on hand total of $296,893.16. The amazing part about this is the total raised from San Joaquin County. Less than $4000 in itemized contributions were received from San Joaquin County. Stockton, by far, is the largest community in the 11th district and turned in $3550 to the McNerney fundraising effort. With another $850 from the rural portion of San Joaquin, that brings his total haul for San Joaquin County to $4400. Other San Joaquin communities did not even appear on the report including Tracy, Manteca, Lodi and Ripon.

Meanwhile, Stockton was eclipsed by such notable 11th district communities as Kew Gardens, NY ($4600), Tucson, AZ ($4600), Belvedere, CA ($4000), as well as the typical McNerney influx from Berkeley, Palo Alto, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi came in $1450 ahead of Stockton with $5000 from her PAC to the Future (Haven’t seen any Syrian donations… Read More

There are a lot of issues that come up in the State Capitol, and, where the significant legislation is concerned, you can usually see a breakdown occurring on partisan lines. This is because there are distinct differences between the philosophies of the parties, and when bills seek in increase the size and scope of the government, Democrats support them and Republicans oppose them. Similarly, when legislation shrinks government, it is often hard to get a Democrat to support it. There are some pieces of legislation, though that will divide Democrats or Republicans, and clearly Senate Bill 670 authored by State Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), and advocated by state realtors, is one of those bills. Senator Correa’s bill seek to ban a type of ‘transfer cost’ that is starting to become more prevalent in home sales. The very short version of what happens is this — a home builder places this transfer cost (or fee) on the original deed, requiring that some small percentage of the purchase price (typically one percent or less) be paid to the builder at the time of sale, and perhaps what is most unusual, and disturbing to most, is that… Read More

There are a lot of issues that come up in the State Capitol, and, where the significant legislation is concerned, you can usually see a breakdown occurring on partisan lines. This is because there are distinct differences between the philosophies of the parties, and when bills seek in increase the size and scope of the government, Democrats support them and Republicans oppose them. Similarly, when legislation shrinks government, it is often hard to get a Democrat to support it. There are some pieces of legislation, though that will divide Democrats or Republicans, and clearly Senate Bill 670 authored by State Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), and advocated by state realtors, is one of those bills. Senator Correa’s bill seek to ban a type of ‘transfer cost’ that is starting to become more prevalent in home sales. The very short version of what happens is this — a home builder places this transfer cost (or fee) on the original deed, requiring that some small percentage of the purchase price (typically one percent or less) be paid to the builder at the time of sale, and perhaps what is most unusual, and disturbing to most, is that… Read More

There Oughta Be a Law… For the least several weeks I’ve been diligently following the Anna Nicole Smith tragedy. Nightly watching the Nancy Grace hard news updates, pouring over the tabloids, just waiting for the story to meet the litmus test that would allow me to write about it on these pages — some semblance oftie-in to California politics.

At last, with the California Medical Board entering the fray, my opportunity is here.

It seems that every one of the 11 medications found in Anna Nicole’s room at the time of her death was prescribed by the same California physician. The State Medical Board promises an investigation…and right they should!

There oughta be a law, and if there already is one, there oughta be another. Perhaps even a handful.

We need to lead the way on this. California has more celebrities than any other state, we undoubtedly fill more celebrity drug prescriptions than most other countries… Read More