The article below runs in Roll Call magazine. While it would certainly seem that Jerry Lewis, our Californian who heads up the House Appropriations (spending) Committee, is willing to ‘game’ the system to help his staff, it more importantly illustrates the problem with this earmarking system in Congress. We need a solution, and fast. Of course, Lewis’ PR problems would be much less if his track record as Chairman of the House ‘Spending’ Committee was one of fiscal conservatism. Instead, he is part of a House Leadership that has presided over unprecented growth in the federal government, while giving lip-service to the idea of a limited federal government.

Pay Cut Let Lewis Aide Dodge Ban By Paul Kane… Read More

Phil Angelides might want to think about taking a family vacation to shore up votes on the home-team, as he starts to plummet so low in public opinion polls that he might not even get a majority vote at a family reunion. Who would have thought that in a state with a plurality of Democrat voters that a nominee of the party of Barbara Boxer would be suffering a double-digit deficit to a Republican Governor? Well, it isn’t rocket science. Phil Angelides is his own worst enemy. We are talking about someone who has embraced just about every form of higher taxes possible, and who has views on everything from the environment to illegal immigration that put him so far out to the left that he makes Arnold’s Uncle, Ted Kennedy, look moderate. But as much as we would all like to give Phil Angelides full credit for his deficit in public polling, we can only give him credit for being an ultra-left wing radical who has all of the charisma of a Certified Public Accountant (sorry if I have offended any of my CPA friends). Much of the credit for the Governor’s now 13 point lead (there are lots of polls, with varying leads, but that’s the latest… Read More

Senator Tom Harman narrowly won (by less than 300 votes) his Special Election contest earlier this year against Dana Point Councilwoman Diane Harkey (a Probolsky client).

Now it seems that he is trying to reach out to the community by hiring some known quantities like Councilman Mark Leyes and Cynthia Determan, a former Morrow staffer.

I have been an outspoken critic of the Senator in the past, given his electoral success has come at the expense of the GOP Primary process twice (he was first elected in the one ‘open primary’ that was later deemed illegal) and this last time won in a Special winner-take-all Election.

But I am keeping an open mind with my new Senator and his staff choices seem to indicate that he is too. Leyes is a well known conservative leader in his city and countywide. I also credit Duane Dichiara of Coronado Communications (his consultants) with helping Senator Harman reach out to parts of the party that have not traditionally been supportive of the Senator.

I… Read More

As someone who strongly supported Arnold Schwarzenegger for Governor in the 2003 special recall election, and as someone who has endorsed and supports Schwarzenegger for re-election this year, I was extremely frustrated to read this quote attributed to the Governor today in several major newspapers, when he was questioned by opponents of illegal immigration at a campaign stop yesterday in La Mesa in San Diego County:

While I certainly am ‘mad’ at the federal government for not securing our borders, why in Earth would I NOT get mad at "anyone" trying to come into this country, if they are coming here in violation of the law? Such a statement has as its natural extention that there is no moral relevence between those who legally immigrate into America, following our nation’s laws, versus those who sneak/smuggle/trespass into America by flaunting or ignoring our laws.

Let me be… Read More

Congressmen Devin Nunes, representing California’s 21st District, is stepping up to the plate on an energy bill that would service to provide great supply and a solid movement toward energy independence. An article in the Wall Street Journal today explains the program and frankly, its got a creative touch to it not often seen in new legislation. The measure creates an "Energy Independence Trust Fund" to receive oil and gas royalties from the oil companies once the energy is pulled out of the ground. Of course, Congress being what it is, there has to be ironclad rules against stealing (Congress calls this "borrowing") the cash out of this fund.

Its time now for Nunes and other young, articulate and energetic Members of Congress to step up on the immigration issue and develop a lasting solution that deals with the lack of federal government infrastructure to handle either a guest worker or deportation program.

The full article appears below: Congress Talks Up Alternative… Read More

As someone who strongly supported Arnold Schwarzenegger for Governor in the 2003 special recall election, and as someone who has endorsed and supports Schwarzenegger for re-election this year, I was extremely frustrated to read this quote attributed to the Governor today in several major newspapers, when he was questioned by opponents of illegal immigration at a campaign stop yesterday in La Mesa in San Diego County:

While I certainly am ‘mad’ at the federal government for not securing our borders, why in Earth would I NOT get mad at "anyone" trying to come into this country, if they are coming here in violation of the law? Such a statement has as its natural extention that there is no moral relevence between those who legally immigrate into America, following our nation’s laws, versus those who sneak/smuggle/trespass into America by flaunting or ignoring our laws.

Let me… Read More

Takes One to Know One

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made his clearest statement yet that he isn’t going to use illegal immigration as a campaign issue this year. He told a Spanish language newspaper that his support for the anti-illegal immigrant Proposition 187 back in 1994 was "wrong" and refused to repeat his earlier praise of the Minutemen, a group of private citizens who have set themselves up as guardians of the U.S.-Mexico border.

San Jose State political scientist Larry Gerston said the governor is trying to appeal to centrists without alienating his conservative base. "Where are the conservatives going to go? They’re either going to Arnold Schwarzenegger or they’re going to sit it out. You weigh that against accommodating votes not only… Read More

I am sure if you are reading this, than you already read my commentary this morning where I take the Governor to task (as a supporter of his) for what he said at a campaign stop in La Mesa yesterday, "Never get mad at anyone that is trying to come to this country. I understand people wanting to be part of this state."

Over on his weblog, Sacramento Bee reporter Dan Weintraub had some thoughts after reading what I had to say:

My take is that illegal immigration, in and of itself, is a victimless crime. If people come here to work, which most illegal immigrants do, they are going to engage in a voluntary exchange of their labor for someone else’s money. They are not stealing, and, as a group, they are helping our economy, even if a few people at the lower end of the wage scale see their wages bid down. Illegal immigrants are also not harming legal immigrants or anyone