There were a couple of positive legislative developments in Washington this week. First, there was the passage of the arcanely named tax reconciliation bill. This bill extends the 2003 tax cuts.

These tax cuts include the 15% tax rate on capital gains and dividend income and an extension of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) exemption. The AMT exemption had already expired and the 15% capital gains and dividend rate was scheduled to expire in 2008. The legislation which passed in the House (244-185) and the Senate (54-44) this week extends the AMT exemption for the current year (2006) only and extends the capital gains and dividend rate through the 2010 tax year. The bill included about 30 other assorted tax provisions which are narrower in their focus.

Now, I would have preferred to, and the House could have passed a permanent extension of the 15% rate, but the Senate would not have done so. Therefore, a 2 year extension was the best that we could get. This is policy by incrementalism. Republicans have not been particularly good at this in the past. But it works. We have the tax rates through 2010 and we can always try again next year for permanence. Furthermore,… Read More

Maybe I owe FlashReport’s readers an apology. Somehow I hadn’t noticed that San Jacinto Councilman Jim Ayres’ Assembly campaign website contained inaccurate information about the candidate’s military record. If I had noticed, I could have pointed it outbefore the L.A. Times came alongwith today’s headline: "Candidate’s Military Record Embellished".

I have to admit I had heard that thismight be coming. I get a lot of calls from opposing campaigns telling me this or that about one of the other candidates. The 65th Assembly District Republican Primary has been no exception.

Today’s L.A. Times makes this hand wringing irrelevant with the following statement: "…On his website … Ayres said he was awarded a Southwest Asia Service Medal for valor and a Cold War medal."

… Read More

Due to a morning meeting, and the massive amount of news stories I had to format on the main page, there is no commentary today! I’ll try to swing back and post something later, and if I do, I will link it to the weblog.

Have a great day!

Jon

PS: Spend time on the main page, as I have some commentary under the stories, and have highlighted a few at the top. Of course, you wouldn’t want to miss my column in today’s Capitol Weekly, would you?

Care to read comments, or make your own about today’s Daily Commentary?

Just click here to go to the FR Weblog, where this Commentary has its own blog post, and where you can read and make comments.… Read More

The top story in the Washington Post today is about how support for the President and Congress are losing support from conservatives in a big way. Two of the main reasons are out-of-control spending, and failure to deal with the illegal immigration issue. If you figure that any Republican, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, needs conservatives to turn out in November, what is the GOP campaign going to be to conservatives who want SPENDING cuts (note, that is different than tax cuts) and strong action on the illegal immigration issue? It is no surprise that the House Appropriations Committee yesterday passed out language ending the legislative prohibition on offshore drilling for natural gas (not for petroleum). With gas prices rising, and with increasing concern about dependence on gas from the middle-east, constituents of Members of Congress from all around are calling on Congress to do something. The $100 tax credit … Read More

I was recently talking to seasoned Orange County political consultant Matt Holder, and he shared with me a theory concerning the recent, narrow loss of Diane Harkey to Assemblyman Tom Harman in the special election in the 35th State Senate election.

Harkey’s consultant, Scott Hart, had pointed out that Tom Harman had seen an unusually high margin of victory from asian foreign-language voters in the district — primarily Vietnamese voters — by a a very dramatic margin.

Holder’s theory is this — Harkey was depriving of an opportunity to purchase an official ballot statement for the voter guide produced and distributed by the Registrar of Voters because she was spending too much of her personal money (dumb law). Harman did have a statement, however, and it was sent to these households translated into the language of choice preferred by each voter.

Did that make the difference? It was a factor said well-respected pollster Adam Probolsky (who writes for this site). Probolsky suggested as well not to underestimate the impact of Harman’s ballot title — and that his being an elected State Legislature would have had a… Read More

Democratic candidate for Long Beach mayor says he’s an expert on the Roman Empire and Long Beach is having the same problems. See article here.He doesn’t nean the Huns, or the corruption of government and morals. He means the middle class is leaving. Really? What can he really do about, when is supported by the people that call more government programs? At least the Huns won’t come a knocking.… Read More

House chairman disputes report of probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top Republican lawmaker disputed a report on Thursday that identified him as the latest target in a series of federal investigations of members of Congress.

The Los Angeles Times quoted sources as saying authorities had begun an investigation of California Rep. Jerry Lewis’ relationship with a lobbyist linked to convicted former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

Lewis said he had no knowledge of an investigation and denied wrongdoing in the awarding of contracts as the powerful chairman of the House of Representatives Appropriations… Read More

Things are getting ugly in Orange County lately.

In the 5th Supervisor District, former Assemblywoman Pat Bates (full disclosure: I do some consulting work for Pat) and Laguna Niguel Mayor Cassie DeYoung are squaring off for this open seat. DeYoung has access to a ship-load of personal wealth, and has probably spent $1.5 million thus far.

DeYoung has hit Pat with a series of negative mailers focusing on her sponsorship of a matricula consular bill — which Pat wound up being on of only 7 Republicans to vote against due to Democrat machinations. The mailers — here, here and here — depict Pat’s image on a matricula consular card.

Pat responded by taking the DeYoung campaign to court, and yesterday the judge agreed to slap a… Read More