Understand first that I write these blog posts between meetings and other business commitments as part of my day job, which is President and owner of a thriving insurance brokerage business. So let me apologize in advance for deficiencies in spelling and content. In my previous post on the Governor’s Health Insurance proposal, I pointed out the economic and legal reasons why its dead on arrival. At the end of the blog, I also point out why, if the Governor’s proposal were implemented and was successful, the health care system in California would collapse.

Health care affordability is at the core of what I help employers do every day.

So what steps should be taken now to make health insurance more accessible and affordable? Here are a few ideas:

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

REPUBLICAN SENATORS: CAN THEY STAND TOGETHER? Today, Senate President Don Perata will bring up the confirmation vote for Joe Nunez to the State Board of Education. Nunez is one of the top public employee labor union hacks in the state, and actually served as Chairman of the organized union-led effort to sink all of the meaningful and importance reforms that the Governor brought to the voters in the special election of 2005. If you look up Joe Nunez in the dictionary, you will see that he is a total union political hack. Senator Jim Battin penned a post on this site urging his colleagues to vote no. Voting against his confirmation, which under state law takes a 2/3 vote, should be one of the easiest votes that a Republican in the Senate has ever cast.

But it isn’t just an easy "no" vote, it is an important one. At stake is the… Read More

REPUBLICAN SENATORS: CAN THEY STAND TOGETHER? Today, Senate President Don Perata will bring up the confirmation vote for Joe Nunez to the State Board of Education. Nunez is one of the top public employee labor union hacks in the state, and actually served as Chairman of the organized union-led effort to sink all of the meaningful and importance reforms that the Governor brought to the voters in the special election of 2005. If you look up Joe Nunez in the dictionary, you will see that he is a total union political hack. Senator Jim Battin penned a post on this site urging his colleagues to vote no. Voting against his confirmation, which under state law takes a 2/3 vote, should be one of the easiest votes that a Republican in the Senate has ever cast.

But it isn’t just an easy "no" vote, it is an important one. At stake is the… Read More

CTA political hack Joe Nunez, who championed the public employee union led effort in 2005 to sink the needed reforms on the special election ballot failed to achieve the two-thirds vote necessary to be confirmed in his appointment to the State Board of Education. Nunez needed 27 votes and he only got 25… But while Senator Dick Ackerman and almost all of the Senate Republican Caucus get credit for opposing the nomination, unfortunately two Republicans spurned the group decision made by the GOP Senators, and voted FOR Nunez’ confirmation – Senator Jeff Denham and Senator Abel Maldonado. However, two Democrat Senators were absent, and today was the deadline for Nunez to be confirmed.

So the good news is that a professional union political hack is off of the State Board of Education.

But the tragic news is that Denham and Maldonado, who both knew how big of a vote this

I spoke with Senate Leader Dick Ackerman who had this to say, "The education of California students will be in better hands now that Nunez is off of the board."

Ackerman is to be commended for his leadership on this issue.

Denham and Maldonado,… Read More

When Republicans lost their majority, Buck McKeon lost his Chairmanship of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. He has decided to go back to his old place on the House Armed Services Committee. See article here.… Read More

I just got the regular emailupdate from the Sacramento Bee. The headline reads:

Senate GOP rejects governor’s education appointee

I open the article and find a description of the rejection of Joe Nunez.

One paragraph caught my eye.You can see the whole article here.

"The Senate voted 25-11 on the confirmation of teachers’ union activist Joe Nunez, but with minority Republicans opposed, fell two votes short of the required two-thirds majority."Now that is interesting because several hours earlier. Jon posted on FlashReport a description of the defeat and pointed out that "Republican" SenatorsDenham and Maldonado voted FOR Nunez. See Jon’s post here. The post explain that two Dems were absent for the vote.

So which is it? The Sacramento Bee makes GOP Senators… Read More

I thought it representative of some hard work that the Assembly Republicans put out individual statements from 27 of their members in reaction to the Governor’s State of the State Address. I thought you might want to see what everyone had to say…. At least with what I am sure were some tight length restrictions…

Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines, Clovis “With a strong vision for California’s future, Governor Schwarzenegger tonight proposed bold solutions to the serious problems facing our state. Assembly Republicans are especially pleased by the governor’s renewed commitment to paying down our state’s long-term debt and fixing our broken redistricting system once and for all. Those are the centrist views of California’s hardworking families.

“True bipartisanship is not when one party compromises their principles to another for the sake of public relations, it’s when we put the people of California first. Californians want us to work together, and we must do it responsibly as adults. We look forward to… Read More

The Orange County Board of Supervisors is solidly in the hands of a conservative majority and there is a vacancy that will be filled by Special Election on Feb. 6. But regardless of that outcome the next two years should be filled with votes that broadly shrink the size of county government and put the county’s future financial health back on track by reforming pension and health care benefits for county employees.

Each of the present supervisors has conservative credentials:

Chairman Chris Norby is a nationally known leader on the issue of redevelopment reform; vice chairman Moorlach not only predicted the county’s bankruptcy but more importantly lead the county’s investments as Treasurer and conservative Tax Collector for over a decade; Pat Bates had a solid voting record in the State Assembly and never wavered on her principles in face of a massive assault by her campaign opponent who seemingly sold out to every special interest there is; and Bill Campbell built a remarkably successful business before serving in the State Assembly and now on the Board and knows the meaning of paying wages and how harmful the actions of government can be on… Read More