Today Governor Schwarzenegger will introduce what has been described as a major proposal to deal with the challenge of millions of Californians not having health insurance.

That said, Governor Schwarzenegger made it clear that he does not think the solution to this challenge is to require that businesses pay more. Specifically, the Governor said, "I want everyone to have healthcare, but we have to make sure that the businesses in California stay competitive compared to Arizona, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico. As you know, the Governors come into our state and are hustling business into their states because it’s cheaper to do business. We want to make sure it’s cheap and keep it under control and stimulate the economy and get everyone to work."

This is a direct quote from an interview that the Governor had with former Presidential Chief-of-Staff Leon Panetta in an interview for Panetta’s lecture series on October 18th of 2004. At the time, Californians were being asked to vote on Proposition 72, a… Read More

I’m blogging live from the San Jose Technology Museum. I am sitting next to former California Republican Party Chairman Mike Schroeder and his wife, Susan, in the third row – where we have a great view for the proceedings. Nearby is Jim Richarsdson, Poizner’s new Chief of Staff, Larry Greenfield who is Director of the California Republican Jewish Coalition.

The crowd looks to be several hunded here for Poizner’s big day. At work are Tim Clark who heads up Poizner’s transition team (he and Wayne Johnson were lead consultants for the campaign), and Robert Molner, Mike Richman and Jennifer Kerns, other key aides to Pozner. Helping out at the event is also Catherine Brinkman, President of the California Young Republicans. They are all smiling – broadly – as they should be on this big day for Team Poizner.

Being here in Santa Clara County, on hand is the leadership of the local GOP, including Chairman Keen Butcher and Treasurer Steve Moore. Also on hand is Linda Boyd, Chairman of the Los Angeles County GOP Linda Boyd with her husband, former CRP Treasurer Doug Boyd. Intersestingly, Butcher and Boyd are locked in a… Read More

Liberalism is based on two precepts – taxes and large social welfare programs. This proposal contains the offensive aspects of both because it combines a new tax to finance a new social welfare program that benefits illegal aliens. When Republican legislators are past the disbelief that this proposal has been made by a Republican Governor, they should rally to oppose it. Like most liberal programs, this one will eventually hurt the most the very people it perports to help.

You can be sure there will be a lot of praise of this proposal by the liberal Democrats in the legislature. Expansion of government is their favorite pasttime.

I’m sure you will hear more from others, but that is my first response. You can read about how the Governor wants to expand a government healthcare bureaucracy at www.gov.ca.gov.… Read More

After two straight collapses, the San Joaquin GOP is now at a crossroads. After what could be described charitably as civil war over the last two cycles, it is time for the members of the Central Committee to put their animosities aside and realize who they are actually supposed to be fighting. Now, after losing Richard Pombo’s seat in Congress and the Podesto campaign for Senate district 5 in 2004, it is the hope of many that unity of purpose within the local GOP will win out and revitalize a committee into a modern party apparatus modeled after such successful programs as San Diego. With a much stronger base of local elected officials and legislators along with a top tier donor base in the county that begins with GOP heavyweight Alex Spanos, it is entirely within the realm of possibility that the county GOP can once again be a determining force in winning elections (the way it was in 2002) rather quickly if the right decisions are made.

The genesis of this civil war began with a race for Stockton city council that pitted the two rival factions against each other. Almost three years later the committee is a shell, broke and with no hope of funding unless… Read More

Today’s Guest Commentary is penned by Jeff Miller, the Chairman of the Riverside County Republican Party. Miller flew up to Sacramento on Friday and attended the inauguration of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has written this piece, after reflected on the Governor’s remarks…

Remember the Californian Dream that needed so much protecting just three months ago? That dream where solitary visionaries, like Disney, DeMille, Hewlett and Packard, and Jobs & Wozniak, could work through the night in a garage and create sensational things that could best be summed up by B.C. Forbes who long ago stated, “The purpose of capitalism is… Read More

Everyone who paid attention to the race in the 11th congressional district remembers Jerry McNerney’s 55 position changes on his Project Vote Smart questionnaire. That spirit of ethical convenience continues now after Contra Costa Times reporter Lisa Vorderbrueggen reported on her blog that McNerney has said he joined the congressional "Progressive Caucus."

McNerney’s… Read More

Today’s Guest Commentary is penned by Jeff Miller, the Chairman of the Riverside County Republican Party. Miller flew up to Sacramento on Friday and attended the inauguration of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has written this piece, after reflected on the Governor’s remarks…

Remember the Californian Dream that needed so much protecting just three months ago?

That dream where solitary visionaries, like Disney, DeMille, Hewlett and Packard, and Jobs & Wozniak, could work through the night in a garage and create sensational things that could best be summed up by B.C. Forbes who long ago stated, “The purpose of capitalism is not to create a pile of wealth, but a pile of happiness.”… Read More

When a newspaper makes an error that causes you heartburn, your resulting choice is really not much of one,is it? If the reporter or editor concurs that a mistake has indeed been made, and thus agrees to run a printed correction or retraction, you know that it will not get nearly the "play" the original offering did, with only the most avid news readers actually seeing such apologetic tidbits.

Alternatively, you could write a letter-to-the-editor, correcting the mistake in greater detail and noting the actual facts. Other than making you feel better, perhaps, this too has its shortcomings. By appearance anything other than the paper’s admission of error will simply look like your differing opinion. As well, how many readers of the original piece will actually get to the letters section of the editorial page?

You could sue. Uh-huh. Moving on, then…

It’s a catch-22, with the print news media in most cases in a much stronger position than those they cover.

So, it’s nice to see a newspaper, even after a fairly egregious and blatant error, taking action to own up, retract and apologize, while displaying the… Read More