Six years, a group of conservative Californians who were concerned about the future of the Golden State came together and formed the Family Action Political Action Committee. Centered in Orange County, the Family Action PAC, over three election cycles of active giving, has combined two very important components which have allowed them to maximize their impact — a sharp focus on supporting those candidates who are fiscally and socially conservative (you can read their mission statement here) combined with a politically sophisticated process of giving in order to make sure that their dollars are going to candidates in primary and general elections who have a higher probability of success. The PAC has also been an early giver of funds in some instances, helping conservative candidates to gain credibility as they gear up a campaign. I’ve been closely associated with many of the leaders of the Family Action PAC for many years (actually, for a lot longer than the PAC has been around) and have been blessed to attend a number of their events. Last… Read More

The news this morning (posted on the FR main page) about the County and City of San Diego "tag teaming" the Chargers to keep them in San Diego referred to a Joint Powers Agreement….

UnionTrib story North County Times story

As a result of this news, some may believe that all of the cities in the county may have a say in a JPA. I’ve received a couple of emails from folks asking me as a La Mesa councilman to oppose any such deal.

I’m at a loss as to how anyone could manipulate a possible county-wide JPA. City of San Diegans are the only residents that will have any input on a Chargers’ stadium in that city, with National City, Chula Vista and others being in the same boat if their overtures are successful (National City is dead in the water, regardless of the press attention). That is, unless the Spanos’ are brain-dead and try something really stupid. And, I would just love to see the County Supes even suggest that… Read More

First the Governor gets passage of AB 32. Now Pasadena has decided to endorse the Kyoto Treaty. See article here. Republicans on the City Council joined the effort. Pasadena joins California cities like Santa Cruz, West Hollywood and Berkeley. See list here.(surprise bankrupt San Diego is on the list) in this growing trend. Of course the City of Pasadena’s first step, hire a bureaucrat. Wonder if he walks to work?

If you are looking for free market, scientific info on the environment may I suggest the Committee for A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT)I’ve been associated with them for almost 15 years now. Great group.… Read More

Remember the Reagan Years. They were some good times. Republican tried to appoint fellow Republicans to make a difference. Lynne Cheney was appointed chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The left went crazy. She wanted the endowment not to focus on politicallly correct junk.

California has a California Council for the Humanities. Their mission is much different. They want to "foster understanding" and "Breakdown barriers". in other words: Dont waste time on English, philosophy, language, artand literature we got to connect people and make everything inclusive.

Since that’s the mission maybe the Governor’s appointment makes sense. He announce that he was appointing Democrat Curtis Shepard as a board member. Mr. Shepard who I think I met one at UCLA, was a writer for the The Parent ‘Hood TV series. But most likely he was appointed because of these parts of his bio.

"He currently serves as director of government relations for the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center"… Shepard previously…… Read More

I grew up in Arcadia – GO APACHES (for notable alums, see third row-middle – and see third row, second from left)! Anyways, Arcadia has proven fertile ground for the need for some sort of post-Kelo, eminent domain reform.

Last year, Rusnak (a Mercedes dealer) put a methophorical tax revenue gun to the City’s head, demanding that either the City find them more land, or they’d take their dealership elsewhere. Ignoring for a moment the fact that if their existing lot wasn’t sufficient, perhaps Rusnak shouldn’t have moved there in the first place, the City’s response was to very openly go to neighboring properties – a longtime restaurant, an Elks Lodge, etc – and threaten eminent domain action.

Now, a public outcry, a Council election which resulted in the seating of more property rights favoring Councilmembers, and a backing down by the City later, and… Read More

As demonstrated by opinion poll after opinion poll, Americans believe that economic mobility – presumably upward – is not simply possible for themselves and their children but also probable. I believe that this firmly held belief is one of the key cultural cords that gives most Americans ‘buy in’ into the system and thus a strong tool for holding a very diverse population together.

In years past, and now, the Democrat Party has attempted to use class warfare as a wedge against the GOP. This strategy ignores one of the basic truths in this nation: if you walk down the street of most places and ask people what class they are, they will invariably say ‘middle class". These are the folks for whom the American Dream is alive and well. These are the folks with a positive outlook on life – who believe with hard work and luck they can get ahead. These are generally not folks who are going to be susceptible to economic or class demagoguery – they want to get rich themselves. And as for the much smaller percentages who identify themselves as upper class or lower class, they already tend to loath the middle class and are fairly… Read More

Do you have a spare dollar? Would you like to purchase your very own television station? Well, based on legislation that is sitting on Governor Schwarzenegger’s desk right now (Assembly Bill 523), the Coast Community College District Board of Trustees can literally sell this significant public asset for "less than market value" (this is pulled directly from the language of the bill). Current state law requires that if the district wants to sell off an asset, the must sell it to the highest bidder. This is to make sure that there are no gifts of public funds, and that taxpayers are always be well represented when such sales occur. I’ve already written quite a bit about this legislation, which you can read here. To sum up the situation in one paragraph: Coast Community College District owns the KOCE Public Television Station. Annually, the station is losing… Read More

INTRODUCING TED GAINES! One of today’s exclusive FR column comes to you from future Assemblyman Ted Gaines of Roseville, in Placer County. Gaines looks to be a rising star who will bring solid conservative leadership to our Assembly Caucus when he arrives in December. If you blinked at all over the last two years, you probably missed the race to replace termed out Republican Assemblyman Tim Leslie in the 4th AD. That’s because for the last two years, conservative Placer County Supervisor Ted Gaines has been working tirelessly on his campaign for the Assembly. That hard work paid off, as Ted earned the endorsements of local Republican leaders like Congressman John Doolittle, Senator Dave Cox, former Senator Rico Oller, and incumbent Assemblyman Leslie, as well as the CRA, YRFC, and the local central committees in the district. As a result, Ted received a whopping 80.6% of the vote in the Republican primary this… Read More