FR friend Timm Herdt is an outstanding political writer over at the Ventura County Star. His column today is about the loss of Abel Maldonado and Kieth Richman in their primaries, and posits that this could be viewed as a failure by Governor Schwarzenegger to bring his moderate imprantur to his party. It’s posted on the main page, but I thought I’d highlight it here.

The column starts out:

Yesterday, I went to the opening of the Victory 06 HQ in Whittier. This is one big building. It is in the first floor of the building that previously housed Richard Nixon’s Law office. (I hear there are no more wires).

Most interesting the previous occupant was cited by the city for running a strip joint and lost the liqour license. When cleaning the building they found a box of feather boas used by well you know.

25,000 sqaure feat. Arnold should be visiting this site soon, they can pack them in. Read about it here.

Of cousre they have to staff it with volunteers for the 40 phone stations. That is the real challenge.… Read More

Rick Caruso, a friend and supporter of Gov. Schwarzenegger and a former member of the LA Police Commission, has abandoned plans to build a Grove-like mall on the same property as the Golden Gate Fields racetrack. Caruso, president and CEO of Caruso Affiliated, has spent more than a year working with community groups to help mold the plans for his project to fit the needs of the community, as he has done with other projects in Southern California. Of course, the Bay Area has its own special needs. Caruso told me that the Albany project was the first time that any community group had requested a dog park as part of a development.

But, the reality is that no amount of negotiating and accomodating will satisfy the Bay Area community groups who just don’t… Read More

I love local Government. That is where the fun is. Check this out courtesy of the Rio Hondo Community College Board here in LA County.

The Board President wants to discuss the Superintendent’s evaluation. She attacks him for ordering her to book a ocean view room for a conference in Hawaii and he tells her to…..

Better than a soap opera. Read it here.And stuff like this makes local government everything the Founders intended. Right?… Read More

Eminent domain reform taking place in many states has Iowa now as a bellwether of what regular folks think of what EmDo has morphed into.

An eminent domainreform bill, passed overwhelminglyby the Iowa legislature this spring, was vetoed by Democratpresidential hopeful, Governor Tom "No Chance" Vilsack (pictured) in June. This bipartisan effort in response toKelo vs. New London that OK’d taking private property for other private use, with the ‘public use’ fig leaf justification being more tax dollars for the government. Iowa’s House passed it by 89-5 and their Senate by 43-6.

Nice career move Guv. This ignited a prairie fire that culminated in their legislature reconvening from adjournment for the year [they would’ve been out for six months, ahem] for consideration… Read More

This blog entry falls squarely into the category of, "You’ve GOT to be kidding me, right?

A great resource on the internet to find out what is really going on Inside the Beltway is Human Events Online (I actually subscribe to the print edition). There are a lot of great feature columns on the site, one of which is the Taxpayer Rip-Off Of The Week.

Well, this week’s highlighted rip-off is yet another example of the "Earmarker in Chief" Congressman Jerry Lewis (so dubbed by the Wall Street Journal), who is Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Lewis is a California Republican, and a moderate who clearly has a difference of opinion from this publisher on the proper scope and role of the federal government, as demonstrated by this column below…

After you read it, you’ll be scratching your head, and asking how a Republican could support such a boondoggle earmark. But before you throw all of… Read More

Two California Republican Congressional Representative voted against protecting marriage. A total of 27 Republican voted no while 34 Dems voted the right way. LA County based Congressman David Dreier and Congressman Mary Bono voted with Barney Frank, Maxine Waters and others that want to undermine traditional marriage in the states. As we can see courts have invalidated several marriage laws and the Supreme Court can do the same thing. I agree with critics that we shouldn’t have to pass these types of amendments. There right we shouldn’t have too, unfortunately activist liberal judges make it a necessity. To find out what other liberals Dreier and Bono voted with click here.Good news is that Newest Congressman Brian Bilbray voted yes on the amendment.… Read More

Just hearing the word conflict gives government watchdogs a warm fuzzy feeling and the media just can’t help themselves from writing a story ANY time someone suggests a conflict exists.

Few people, even those engaged in the business of government and politics and public policy can cite what, under the law, actually constitutes a conflict. Thus every time someone lobes an accusation of conflict, it becomes news.

Not being a member of the State Bar I cannot offer legal advise, but I do know that there is NO law that would put a political consultant who is not on the government payroll in the position of having a legal conflict.

So you can imagine my frustration when I read a story in the LA Times today with an Internet link that reads: Conflict of Interest for Gov.’s Aide?

Folks, I will let you in on a little secret. I use the same technique in political direct mail. The devise: framing the damning accusation as a question. This way you are not making an… Read More