In Homer’s The Odyssey, the Greek’s laid seige to the ancient city of Troy for a decade. Finally, the Greeks ended their seige, and sailed away in the boats, leaving only a very large wooden horse outside of the massive walled city — seemingly a tribute to the Trojans who had held them at bay for ten years. The Trojans brought this horse into their city, where they began revelry and celebration at the broken seige of their city. In the early morning hours, while the celebrants slept, Greek soldiers who had been secreted away in a hidden compartment of the wooden horse snuck out and open the large gates allowing the Greeks in, who then conquered, sacked and burned Troy.

This story becomes important because in the battle for property rights in California, the League of California Cities has… Read More

I had the good fortune of attending the Rod Stewart concert in San Jose last night. He put on a 2 ½ hour show with no opening act (except for some bagpipes wondering around the crowd beforehand), and it was spectacular!!! There aren’t a lot of 60-somethings who could pull off “If You Want My Body,” and “Tonight I’m Yours,” but he did!

When he sang “Young Hearts Beat Free Tonight”, I had to kick myself for being a terminal political junkie, because the song made me think of Senator Harman’s bill, SB 126, which will require that the next set of health education content standards developed by the State Board of Education include instruction on child abuse prevention. The song talks about a young couple who run away together “’cause there ain’t no point in talking when there’s nobody listenin’”, and how their lives turn out very difficult. It made me think of all the children who are victims of various forms of neglect and abuse, and how the lifelong ramifications of that abuse can… Read More

In Homer’s The Odyssey, the Greek’s laid seige to the ancient city of Troy for a decade. Finally, the Greeks ended their seige, and sailed away in the boats, leaving only a very large wooden horse outside of the massive walled city — seemingly a tribute to the Trojans who had held them at bay for ten years. The Trojans brought this horse into their city, where they began revelry and celebration at the broken seige of their city. In the early morning hours, while the celebrants slept, Greek soldiers who had been secreted away in a hidden compartment of the wooden horse snuck out and open the large gates allowing the Greeks in, who then conquered, sacked and burned Troy.

This story becomes important because in the battle for property rights in California, the League of California Cities has… Read More

Today Governor Schwarzenegger will sign legislation that was put on his desk, without the vote of a single Republican in the State Assembly, to move the date of the Presidential primary to Tuesday, February 5, 2007. The merits, pro and con, to moving the date of the primary up have been discussed pretty thoroughly here on this website, and in many other public forums. While I can think of a few reasons to veto this legislation, the one that comes most readily to mind is one that doesn’t seem to factor into the Governor’s bill-signing methodology — and that is backing up the other players on what is supposed to be his Republican team. I have had an opportunity to speak with many Republican members of the Assembly, to talk about their concerns. Some are concerned about playing into the hands of the Democrats on their plot to try and extend their terms in office. Others are concerned about the national implications of furthering in a large way a shift to a ‘national primary’ — precluding tier two candidates from having a real shot. Others are unhappy with the additional costs of creating an extra,… Read More

Today Governor Schwarzenegger will sign legislation that was put on his desk, without the vote of a single Republican in the State Assembly, to move the date of the Presidential primary to Tuesday, February 5, 2007. The merits, pro and con, to moving the date of the primary up have been discussed pretty thoroughly here on this website, and in many other public forums. While I can think of a few reasons to veto this legislation, the one that comes most readily to mind is one that doesn’t seem to factor into the Governor’s bill-signing methodology — and that is backing up the other players on what is supposed to be his Republican team. I have had an opportunity to speak with many Republican members of the Assembly, to talk about their concerns. Some are concerned about playing into the hands of the Democrats on their plot to try and extend their terms in office. Others are concerned about the national implications of furthering in a large way a shift to a ‘national primary’ — precluding tier two candidates from having a real shot. Others are unhappy with the additional costs of creating an extra,… Read More

The Secretary of State’s office has released the off-year Report of Registration, which shows nearly one million fewer registered voters this year than two years ago. 22 million people in California are eligible to vote, but only 15,682,358, or 69%, were registered to vote as of Feb. 10. Registration totals for the six qualified political parties and those not affiliating with any political party follow:

· Democratic – 6,667,437 or 42.52%

· Republican – 5,362,473 or 34.19%

· American Independent – 313,461 or 2%

· Green – 138,861 or 0.89%

· Libertarian – 83,420 or 0.53%

· Peace and Freedom – 58,264 or 0.37%

· Decline to State – 2,953,414 or 18.83%

·Others– 105,028 or 0.67%

… Read More

Assemblymen Jose Solorio and Chuck DeVore have teamed up on a piece of legislation that helps school districts teach students English.

Solorio (D – Santa Ana) is the author and DeVore (R – Irvine) is a co-author of AB 1177. I remember when kids who spoke another language in the home took ESL classes (English as a Second Language). Now the varnacular is English Learners (EL). Regardless of the label, Solorio’s legislation would provide state funds for school districts that have more than 50% EL students to go above and beyond to make sure they learn English before they graduate 8th grade.

I like the legislation for several reasons beyond the fact that it aims to teach English to kids. 1) it is a pilot program, 2) it includes a provision for independent review and 3) it sunsets in 2015.… Read More

From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary…

Term Limits vs. Perk Limits

California’s legislature is getting ready to water down the state’s 16-year-old term limit law by allowing members to serve up to 14 years in either house and by "grandfathering" in the existing Assembly and Senate leadership, allowing members, in effect, to restart the clock on their service.

Term-limit advocates can’t do anything to block this incumbent-protection scheme from being placed before voters on February’s primary ballot. But they believe they can defeat the proposal partly by promoting a countermeasure to stir up old populist resentment of legislative perks. The measure would strip away a legislator’s cherished tax-free $153-a-day allowances for lodging and meal expenses incurred while the legislature is in session. The per diems add up to more… Read More