There are lots of jokes about politicians being less than honest. There are lots of jokes about politicians not being too bright. A councilman in Hawthorne has managed to combine them all in a real life drama. He lives in a house owned by a developer, and then votes to help the developer on a land issue. Duh! See the story here.… Read More

Report from the Battlefront What to expect from California College Republicans in the coming year

By Ryan Clumpner, Chairman, California College Republicans

A week and a half ago, the California College Republicans (CCR) convened to hold the first competitive leadership elections since 2004. Uncontested elections are a sign of organizational unity and CCR has flourished for the past few years. However, like any healthy organization, competition was inevitable and this year the process brought fresh vitality and a renewed interest in the direction of the organization. CCR emerged from the decisive election united and committed to an aggressive agenda for the coming year. [Their new Executive Board is pictured.]

College Republicans face some… Read More

“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.” — John Quincy Adams

Standing Alone: Following the crowd is not leading, and sometimes, leading can be quite a lonely experience. I did not seek this job in Congress just to have it, and to only take actions and votes that are "safe." I took it to be a force for moving America more towards the principles of personal freedom, less intrusive government, and to help preserve America’s role as the greatest source of liberty in the world.

This week, we in Congress voted on a bill called "10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act" (HR 362). This bill is not the tipping point upon which our freedoms rest. But, it is certainly not fiscally responsible. And if we don’t start to say "no" to new spending no matter how attractive it may seem, we will never control our deficit and further reduce tax rates.

The vote on this bill, though, ended up being 389-22, which means that the vast majority of both Democrats and Republicans… Read More

Report from the Battlefront What to expect from California College Republicans in the coming year

By Ryan Clumpner, Chairman, California College Republicans

A week and a half ago, the California College Republicans (CCR) convened to hold the first competitive leadership elections since 2004. Uncontested elections are a sign of organizational unity and CCR has flourished for the past few years. However, like any healthy organization, competition was inevitable and this year the process brought fresh vitality and a renewed interest in the direction of the organization. CCR emerged from the decisive election united and committed to an aggressive agenda for the coming year. [Their new Executive Board is pictured.]

College Republicans face some… Read More

Every once in a long while a tide shift occurs in government that shifts power. In the form of a vote on firefighter’s raises, such a tide shift happened in the City of San Diego Tuesday afternoon.

At stake was actually much more than a raise firefighter union leaders wanted. At stake was who is in charge: the public employee union leaderswho, with the labor funded city council of now-disgraced Mayor Dick Murphy, drove San Diego to the verge of bankruptcy OR Republican Mayor Sanders and the reformers.

The vote on labor’s desiredraises was 4 to 4, a deadlock which ment no action (who besides the City of San Diego would have an even number of councilmembers?). Then the Mayor’s proposal to instead simply fix the firefighter’s ailing healthcare plan passed 6 to 2.

For more insight into this glorious revolution see today’s www.redcountysandiego.com.… Read More

Next year, conservative icon Tom McClintock will reach the limit of his allowable service in the State Senate under the term limits approved by California voters in 1990. McClintock’s 19th State Senate District, which is centered in Ventura County, stretches from Santa Barbara down to Los Angeles County (and even includes the Channel Islands), is favorable to a Republican candidate. As just about every FR reader knows, former Assemblyman Tony Strickland (pictured to the left), fresh off of the statewide campaign trail in 2006 where he failed in his bid to become California’s next Controller, is now running an aggressive campaign to succeed McClintock. The Assembly District that Tony represented for six years is fully within the Senate seat, and is currently (and conveniently) occupied by his wife, Audra, who is in the middle of her second two-year term… Read More

Next year, conservative icon Tom McClintock will reach the limit of his allowable service in the State Senate under the term limits approved by California voters in 1990. McClintock’s 19th State Senate District, which is centered in Ventura County, stretches from Santa Barbara down to Los Angeles County (and even includes the Channel Islands), is favorable to a Republican candidate. As just about every FR reader knows, former Assemblyman Tony Strickland (pictured to the left), fresh off of the statewide campaign trail in 2006 where he failed in his bid to become California’s next Controller, is now running an aggressive campaign to succeed McClintock. The Assembly District that Tony represented for six years is fully within the Senate seat, and is currently (and conveniently) occupied by his wife, Audra, who is in the middle of her second two-year term… Read More

As readers who saw Jon’s commentary yesterday know, Disney is circulating a ballot-box zoning initiative designed to prevent SunCal Companies from developing a condominium project within the Anaheim Resort District [full disclosure: I’m a member of the consulting team for SunCal’s project].

Disney has hired petition circulators to gather the 20,000 signatures necessary to place their initiative on the February 2008 ballot. During the last two weeks they’ve been posted at several shopping centers in Anaheim. On several occasion I drove around Anaheim visiting these shopping centers and getting pitched by these signature gatherers.

Interestingly, I never say Disney circulators at any of the several supermarkets, like Gigante, Northgate Markets or Jax Markets, that cater to Anaheim’s working-class Latinos. That can be explained, in part, by the sales pitch invariably used by the circulators to entice Anaheim residents to sign the petitions:… Read More