My friend Sean Walsh has a personal boycott against the city of Berkeley. He won’t shop or eat in Berkeley, refusing to have any of his hard-earned dollars go to that insane city government.

After the Berkeley City Council’s vote yesterday, I may have to join his boycott. The City Council unanimously voted to put a measure on the ballot in November that allows Berkeley voters to vote on impeaching President Bush. Of course, the vote is meaningless and cost city taxpayers $10,000, but that didn’t deter the committed leftists on the Berkeley City Council. It’s no surprise that Cindy Sheehan was there urging the City Council on in their wackiness.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the ballot measure… Read More

I got ahold of these last night but didn’t have an opportunity to post them until early this morning. From the godfather of fiscal prudence:

"Here is the great paradox of the budget before us: despite a 23 percent increase in revenues in the last three years, we’re running the biggest deficit in California’s history.

"Let’s review the numbers.

"Income: $94.4 billion

"Spending: $101.3 billion

"Deficit: $6.9 billion

"We’ve enjoyed astounding 23 percent revenue growth these past three years – thanks in large part to the Governor’s determination to roll back the… Read More

Ever since Former Long Beach Mayor Bev O’Neil got arounf the two-term limit imposed by voters by sucessfully waging a write in campaign, others were bound to try to keep office the same way. Councilwoman Jackie kell tries the same thing and came up short. Now the recount has begun and guees what some wrote her name in , but didn’t fill in the bubble. See story here.Of course this amy go to court as the recount continues. I guess some of Kell’s voters didn’t do well on their school exams.… Read More

Here’s another roundup on the June Primary, this time with an emphasis on those who helped make victories possible in a number of key races – specifically those who were the lead strategists and pollsters and ground teams. Complete results are available here.

On the Assembly side, kudos go to JohnsonClarkAssociates (who by the way won 11 of 12 contests in which they were involved statewide) for helping Anthony Adams,formerDistrict Director for San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Postmus,to a solid win in the 59th A.D. The 59th isan evenly split L.A. County/San Bernardino County seat that’s being vacated by termed-out Dennis Mountjoy. High-fives are also in order for Drew Mercy for managing the ground campaign. Mercy has a strong track record, having also been the ground guy for Sharon Runner’s lopsided victory over former Assemblyman Phil Wyman for the 36th A.D. in 2002 as well as having served as on-site manager for Assemblymember Guy Houston’s re-election in 2004. Congrats also go to general consultant Steve Presson for his… Read More

As promised, here’s the list of Republican Senators’ votes on Assembly Bill 1801 (Laird), the Budget Act of 2006:

Ayes

Dick Ackerman (R – Tustin) Roy Ashburn (R – Bakersfield)

Jeff Denham (R – Merced)

Bob Dutton (R – Rancho Cucamonga)

Chuck Poochigian (R – Fresno) * 5 TOTAL

Noes

Sam Aanestad (R- Nevada City)

Jim Battin (R – Palm… Read More

The Strickland (for controller) Campaign has released the results of a new statewide poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies (POS) showing Strickland leading Democrat Chiang by 3-points.

There is no runaway victory waiting for Strickland but this does mean that if the election were held today, one of the down-ballot GOP candidates would win.

Conventional wisdom says that the Governor AND McClintock AND McPherson AND Poizner must win for a candidate like Strickland to have a shot. While that scenario is exciting to think about, I believe Strickland’s campaign is unique in that he has better name ID than most other statewide candidates (Schwarzenegger and McClintock excluded) and Strickland has an excellent ballot title: Taxpayer Organization President

When looking only at voters most likely to turn-out in November, the POS poll shows Strickland’s lead grows to 31% over Chiang’s 23%.

Don’t get me wrong, I have not drank the kool aid, I know a statewide win for a Republican is a huge up-hill battle. But to start with an advantage shows Strickland may be able to rally Democrat votes if he has the resources to wage a… Read More

Here’s an email that Assemblyman DeVore sent out to constituents and supporters (as I am both a constituent and a supporter, I thankfully receive these):

A Big Government Budget Last night the California Legislature approved the budget for 2006-07. Compared with the approved budget from the current year, it grows government by $11.3 billion – $90 billion to $101.3 billion in the General Fund, $131 billion overall including even more State employees than the record number under former Gov. Gray Davis. I voted “no” as did 23 of the 31 Republicans in the Assembly, with only 8, the minimum needed, voting to approve the budget. Last year, by contrast, almost… Read More

After much effort to gather the more than 1 million signatures necessary, the Protect Our Homes initiative has qualified overwhelmingly. Voters swept this measure onto the ballot to protect farms, small businesses and homes from landgrabbers. Enough signatures were verified at a high validity rate to easily allow Secretary of State Bruce McPherson to declare its eligibility.

Conservative heroine Assemblywoman Mimi Walters led the charge to qualify this initiative in response to the Kelo v. New London, CT Supreme Court decision of last June. In a 5-4 decision in that case, the court tacitly allowed the taking of private property, homes, farms, small businesses, even church properties for other private uses, under the premise that higher property taxes or sales taxes generated from the new use than the existing owner’s use are in the ‘public good’. This ‘public use’ justification to allow takings is a blatant abuse of the Founders intent.

This initiative became necessary after the legislature’s unwillingness to place real reform on the ballot via the much more direct legislative route, a 2/3 vote of both houses.… Read More