Am I the only one that finds irony in the fact that the Governor today is praising the introduction of a Senate Resolution for the United States to cozy up to a global table at the United Nations to discuss global warming — when it is so cold here? It was almost hard to find the Governor’s release praising this resolution amidst all of the others declaring emergencies around the state due to the severe frost conditions.

I just found it a bit ironic.… Read More

Board of Equalization Member Bill Leonard in his weekly e-mail newsletter asks this rather obvious question…. Leonard served as a California State Senator for many years. We may never hear Senator Perata publicly claim credit for sinking the CTA boss in his confirmation vote for the State Board of Education. But with Republican Senators Denham and Maldonado giving their ‘aye’ votes for the head of the successful union-led effort to sink the 2005 special election reform measures, the only place that Nunez need look for answers is in the office of the President Pro-Tem:

From the Leonard Letter:

***Missing Senators*** The mainstream press has again missed a political story. Governor Schwarzenegger’s appointee to the State Board of Education, Joe Nunez, was on a deadline to be confirmed to that board by the Senate. The vote was scheduled by the Senate leadership with only days to go. Republican Senators… Read More

Several weeks ago I penned a piece on some areas of focus that members of the state party should ask candidates for statewide office. See it here.I believe there is a great need to reform what we do. These items are not ideological, but mechanical. When liberals took over the state party they claimed that they would be inclusive (didn’t happen) and that they would focus on the basics. Let’s look at one area that needs change. Voter registration this last cycle shifted from a bounty system that paid professionals and local activist groups could participate in to one statewid vendor. This year the party spent over 2.2 million dollars on voter registration. Their program was to hire a vendor to pay people by the hour in only 13 California … Read More

According to an article in Roll Call todayfrom Washington, D.C., senior "Democratic Members" of both Houses of Congress have told the press that their ethics reforms in the new Congress will stop with the current lobbyist reforms and that new 527 committee reforms will not be considered. If that is the situation, and in light of a Federal Court’s decision in Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC and John McCain, which emasculated late election regulation of 527’s speech in Federal elections, the only thingthat can now stop unlimited corporate and union issues advocacy during Federal elections in the 2008 cycle is if the U.S. Supreme Court reverses the Wisconsin Right to Life decision. Legal observers note that Justice Alito, who replaces Justice O’Connor in the prior divided decision upholding regulation of 527s per the McCain, Feingold law, may be more inclined to see the case as a First Amendment infringement and uphold the lower court.… Read More

Last November, the Democrats took a majority in Congress, and I don’t have enough space in this column to talk about all of the reasons why that is terrible news for America. I will simply say that if you consider the ideological perspective of Nancy Pelosi, the newly minted Speaker of the House of Representatives, you would see that she has a vision of a much larger role for the federal government than was ever envisioned by our nation’s founding fathers. Or to put it more succinctly, the freedom, liberty and property of all of the people of this great nation are imperiled by her view of a larger and more invasive role of the federal government. Needless to say, it should be a top priority for all Americans who believe in a truly limited role for our national government to rally together to ensure that the reign of Pelosi lasts precisely two years, and no more. Right? Herein lies the big challenge ahead in doing just that. Nancy Pelosi and the Party of Clinton did not achieve a majority in Congress because they were just better campaigners than the Republicans — in a very large measure, Democrats gained control of Congress because… Read More

If you ever have to stay in Long Beach, may I suggest the Hyatt of Marriott hotels? They are non-union. The others are unionized. The Long Beach City Council decided that letting employees decide if a hotel is unionized isn’t good enough.

They passed an ordinance forcing unions on the hotels, because they are on city owned property. The Mayor vetoed the ordinance and the override vote.

Last November, the Democrats took a majority in Congress, and I don’t have enough space in this column to talk about all of the reasons why that is terrible news for America. I will simply say that if you consider the ideological perspective of Nancy Pelosi, the newly minted Speaker of the House of Representatives, you would see that she has a vision of a much larger role for the federal government than was ever envisioned by our nation’s founding fathers. Or to put it more succinctly, the freedom, liberty and property of all of the people of this great nation are imperiled by her view of a larger and more invasive role of the federal government. Needless to say, it should be a top priority for all Americans who believe in a truly limited role for our national government to rally together to ensure that the reign of Pelosi lasts precisely two years, and no more. Right? Herein lies the big challenge ahead in doing just that. Nancy Pelosi and the Party of Clinton did not achieve a majority in Congress because they were just better campaigners than the Republicans — in a very large measure, Democrats gained control of Congress because… Read More

SUNDAY SAN DIEGO

A couple of weeks ago, the SD Reader’s cover story by Matt Potter, entitled "San Diego’s Bad Behavior in the Spotlight," was an insightful piece about some of the best political catfights and other donnybrooks in the area during 2006.

Most interesting was that significant portions of thearticle focused on how blogging impacted the political landscape throughout the year. First, a section on former Orange County Register editorial writer Chris Reed’s hiring by the San Diego Union-Tribune to pen America’s Finest Blog. Reed’s penchant to go after SD City Attorney Mike Aguirre resulted in Big Mike deciding he needed to blog back, and thus started The Aguirre Report.

Life has not been the same since.

Some excerpts from the "Mike vs. Chris," portion of Potter’s Reader story, in which a blogger actually gets equal billing with the colorful… Read More