The Governor’s Veto of SB 815 today, which would have rolled back a significant source of savings in the Workers’ Compensation system, was a necessary veto to preserve the economic gains made in his historic signing of SB 899 in 2004. SB 899 is the Governor’s (and Chuck Poochigian’s) greatest public policy achievement to date – Workers’ Compensation reforms that have saved California businesses over $15 billion in two plus years.This can be considered the single greatest tax cut in California history, as Workers Compensation is essentially a payroll tax on employers.

It’s not just business that has saved money. State, County, Local and School Governments and Districts have also saved billions of dollars in their self funded Workers’ Compensation pools, freeing up taxpayer money for more productive purposes. I am one that has done much criticizing of this Administration, but this veto of SB 815 is time to acknowledge, again, the importance of these significant reforms.… Read More

On the premise that President Bush is incredibly unpopular in this state, Phil Angelides’ campaign has spent millions of dollars in a to-date failed effort tomake the Governorand the President seem like one and the same.

I can do you one better, let’s tie every Democrat running for any office this year to a prominent politician even more unpopular than the President.

WHO? You might ask.

Why, Phil Angelides.

Mattier and Ross, in yesterday’s SF Chron, report findings of a Dem survey on the bonds that has the President’s approval rating in the state at a predictable 38%.

However, noteworthy in the survey that has Arnold running 20 points ahead of Angelides, 55-35, is that Angelides’ approval rating is a downright pathetic 29%.

To be the Democrats’ nominee for Governor, and for your approval to be 9-points below the President in a state with 1.3 million more Democrats than Republicans, 7 weeks before the Election…That’s got… Read More

NEED MORE REASONS TO REJECT THE BONDS? You will hear plenty between now and election day about why it is important for Californians to REJECT efforts by the Governor, liberals in the legislature, and special interest groups to get voters to approve tens of billions of dollars of bonded indebtedness. We have already talked plenty here in this site about the big-picture, and the idea that by approving this borrowing, we are letting the Governor and the Legislature off of the hook. Right now, California taxpayers are sending a record amount of funds to Sacramento — the most recent state budget was well in excess of $100 billion! There is more than enough money going into the coffers of state government to pay for a significant infrastructure investment program on a pay-as-you-go basis. But sometimes the devil is in the details, too. That is why I would like to encourage all FlashReport readers who see this in time to participate in a virtual press conference taking place today, from 10:30am – 11am. At this press event,… Read More

NEED MORE REASONS TO REJECT THE BONDS? You will hear plenty between now and election day about why it is important for Californians to REJECT efforts by the Governor, liberals in the legislature, and special interest groups to get voters to approve tens of billions of dollars of bonded indebtedness. We have already talked plenty here in this site about the big-picture, and the idea that by approving this borrowing, we are letting the Governor and the Legislature off of the hook. Right now, California taxpayers are sending a record amount of funds to Sacramento — the most recent state budget was well in excess of $100 billion! There is more than enough money going into the coffers of state government to pay for a significant infrastructure investment program on a pay-as-you-go basis. But sometimes the devil is in the details, too. That is why I would like to encourage all FlashReport readers who see this in time to participate in a virtual press conference taking place today, from 10:30am – 11am. At this press event,… Read More

I am happy to report that the new House Republican strategy to address illegal immigration is picking up steam. Last week the conference unveiled a series of bills focused on border security and enforcement that we will be taking up over the next few weeks. Most of these proposals were included in the broader House bill we already passed, but by breaking them up we will be able to send them to the Senate and hopefully circumvent the current stale mate with them over the guest worker issue. This strategy will take the focus off of “comprehensive” plans and force the Senate to evaluate each piece of border security for their individual merit. So far, it looks like it is working. Last week, the House passed a bill to create 700 miles of border fence. This leaves the Senate with no choice but to take up the bill, and they are expected to hold a vote later this week. In the mean time, the House is scheduled to vote on three bills focused on border security and enforcement priorities: H.R. 6089 – Combines the Dangerous Alien Detention Act and the State and … Read More

POMBO LOOKS OUT FOR STATE’S RIGHTS – WITH THE DOER ACT! Right now, there is no federal law that bans drilling for oil off of the coastline of the United States. There are two temporary bans — one that is passed annually by Congress, and another which is even more tenuous, an "executive order" of the President which the Chief Executive can undo with the stroke of a pen. There are many who believe that drilling for oil offshore is a bad idea, and some that think it is a good idea. California Congressman Richard Pombo has been pushing hard to pass legislation that simply makes the issue of whether such oil drilling should happen off of the coast a state’s rights issue rather than a decision made by politicians in Washington, D.C.

The political reality is that the California legislature would never approve such drilling on its own coastline, but that doesn’t mean that other coastal state governments might choose to… Read More

The Long Beach Press-Telegram has an article detailing what County Supervisors get in LA County. Of course we lead they way. I like the $2,200 they get to spend on plants myself. See the article here.… Read More

Conventional wisdom suggests that politics at the upper echelons, is a rich man’s game. And you can find plenty of examples including our own governor.

However, having money does not necessarily mean you have political acumen. Warren Buffett is a fine example of this. Back in 2003 during the heat of the Recall Election battle, Schwarzenegger announced that Billionaire Warren Buffett would be a key economic adviser.

Buffett’s first act as adviser: tell the media that taxes were too low in California.

Flash forward to September 25th, 2006 and the Governor has pulled Buffet into a day-long fund raising effort starting in San Francisco, in LA for lunch and Orange County for an evening reception.

I hope the Join Arnold folks haven’t forgotten that Buffett is so rich that he tends to say things that us little people just don’t understand and that perhaps he should keep he public… Read More