Much of what was in the President’s SOU speech tonight we’ve heard before – there wasn’t a groundbreaking idea anywhere to be found. But the tone, always the tone, was one of magnanimity. Contrast this with Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats constant pounding of the President, and its a wonder to me why average citizens follow the left, as it is akin of following hatred.

The President is dead RIGHT on on the War on Terror. He must be supported. Arguing with the left on this is like taking candy from a baby – and conservatives don’t engage them nearly enough. If we don’t engage this enemy our cities will be burning within this decade. Jim Webb’s rebuttal was the usual classless claptrap.

It’s no wonder most Americans have tuned out.… Read More

On Monday I featured a letter from Assemblyman Chuck DeVore advocating Tom Bordonaro for Vice Chairman of the California Republican Party. Below, Tony Strickland weighs in on behalf of another candidate, Tom Del Becarro…

Dear California Republican Party Member, As you know, CRP elections are approaching. Please join me as well as seven past CRP Chairs, over forty past and present County Chairs and more than 1000 party activists around the State in endorsing Tom Del Beccaro for CRP Vice Chair. … Read More

Almost everyone has heard and commented about Assemblywoman Sally Lieber’s bill to ban spanking – but as a new father I couldn’t resist weighing in. First disclosure: my mother spanked me a few times as a child – and for those who have heard stories of my childhood, it’s good thing she did. Second disclosure: I am a new father of twin girls and I cannot imagine spanking either one of my daughters. But I surely do not need a Legislator to tell me how to raise my children. Let’s be clear: there is no excuse for and no punishment strong enough for abusing a child – but there is a bright line between abuse and a swat on the behind. (Another disclosure: for years I volunteered for FamiliesFirst – a non-profit foster care agency that dealt with severely abused children.) Lieber’s bill does nothing to address the problems of child abuse or child exploitation – it’s more pomp and fluff to make a do-nothing legislature feel like it’s doing something. Perhaps Leiber can explain why she supported legislation that allows landlords to rent apartments… Read More

Assemblywoman Sally Lieber is proposing legislation that would prohibit schools from admitting female students into the 6th grade unless the girl has received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Remember, Lieber is the same legislator who is grabbing headlines these days with her spanking legislation.

This HPV vaccine push is coming from the Planned Parenthood types who believe that most children become sexually active around 11 or 12. Certainly, there are those children who do starting having sex that young–but they are not the mainstream. Moreover, even if they are, we do not need the schools to be requiring this vaccine. This should be between the student, her parent(s) and her physician.

I’m sure that Lieber and others will argue that it is the norm to have schools require students be vaccinated, but these vaccines are generally for highly communicable diseases that have posed major threats to the public health in the past.… Read More

Prop 90 didn’t survive at the polls last November, but it did pass in San Diego County.Former SD City Councilman Fred Schnaubelt and the folks at Citizens for Private Property Rights are leveraging that local success into a San Diego area ballot measure:

Citizens for Private Property Rights

I was condemned in 1963 by the government. If you have ever had your property taken by the government you will never view government the same. It’s a life altering experience. I managed a family owned business in the path of the on-ramp to I-5 from Balboa in Pacific Beach. After 26 years in business, the government put our family business out of business. This is why I’m now in real estate, why I was elected to the San Diego City Council, and why I joined Citizens For Private Property Rights.

Some of you are concerned about the government’s efforts to outlaw the spanking of children, prohibit smoking not only in public buildings but in private, fine you for not wearing seatbelts or not using low-flow toilets, limit tasty foods with trans fats and prohibit coffee, eliminate free speech 90… Read More

He is an unlikely hero, just a councilman in the sleepy seaside city of Seal Beach. But today he is the best friend to property rights advocates everywhere.

In late 2006 the city of Seal Beach voted to ban third-story additions in one part of town. They did not do so based on health or safety or traffic or parking concerns, just based on aesthetics and because a small but powerful minority wanted them to. Freshman Councilman Ray Ybaben voted with the majority. It was a personal blow because I had been helpful to Ray very early in his campaign and thought he would make good pro-property rights decisions.

Interestingly the council passed this anti-home improvement ordinance on the eve of the 2006 General Election. They even went so far as to hold a special weekend council meeting to do the second reading of the ordinance prior to the election. Why? Because they feared that if they waited and Proposition 90 passed, they would be… Read More

When the California Medical Association hired Trial Lawyer and former Senator Joe Dunn, it looked like another "friendly" special interest buying into the "alligator theory." Please democrat legislators don’t eat me, but eat the others first.

But it was nice when Joe Dunn, now the newly minted Executive Vice President for the CMA briefed the Directors of the Los Angeles County Medical Assn. Dunn declared Arnold’s Health Plan is presently DOA last week.

First, contrary to what we heard about Speaker Nunez, Dunn says there are few legislators willing to "sponsor" the bill. And, Arnold has re-discovered how to get a whole lot a people across the spectrum mad at him at once. Arnold needlessly took on the public safety [cops] community which gave him hell over pension reform [ an idea he quickly abandoned…but the damage as done in the 2005 Initiatives].

Secondly, Arnold’s biggest prior booster the state Chamber is a rare display of fortitude loudly screamed against the employer mandate. The Hospital Association is ready to fight the 4% tax, the leftist California Nurses Assn are opposed. Blue… Read More

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore sent me his thoughts on the CRP Vice-Chairman’s race, asking that I share it with FR readers. I thought about it a bit, as the FR is not supporting a specific candidate between the three contenders – Tom Del Beccaro, Tom Bordonaro and Jalene Forbis. But I decided to go ahead and print DeVore’s piece, and I have invited the other candidates, if they have a similar ‘third party supporter’ who wants to e-mail something to get posted, they could do so as well. So, here is DeVore’s take: Why I support Tom Bordonaro for CRP Vice Chairman I have been attending California Republican Party… Read More