The last-minute frenzy surrounding the infrastructure bond negotiations looks depressingly familar to anyone who’s ever watched the state legislature flounder its way to the deadline for passing a state budget every year. Months of posturing, preening, and procrasination, followed by a panicked rush in the last hours to fulfill their actual responsibility and negotiating out an agreement. Endless pledges to stand on principle no matter what, before finally compromising or letting others do it on their behalf.

Yawn.

Like a college student pulling all-nighters before his finals, these people are congenitally incapable of getting their work done before their backs are up against the wall. Instead of spending the semester hanging out at beer bashes and fraternity parties, though, legislators instead spend their spring term holding hearings in which they ignore witnesses, talk past each other, and generally behave as if they would have an allergic reaction to any type of productive negotiation and compromise.

Such is life in a state capitol dominated by special interests. Before actually engaging in reasonable discussion, there is… Read More

FIRE ROB REINER The rallying cry is growing – Fire Rob Reiner! As we have written about several times on this site, Rob Reiner is an embarrassment to us all. Not only that, but his political philosophy is at the extreme left end of the Democrat Party. This is clearly not someone that we would want in any position of public trust, and now we know why. As head of the Prop. 10 Spending Commission for California, millions of taxpayer dollars were used to buy commercials supporting state-run preschool as an idea, while he was paying signature gatherers to help him qualify his initiative to tax wealthy Californians to create a state-run, centralized pre-school bureaucracy. A lot has been written on all of this. Well, State Senate Republicans have now penned a letter to the Governor, asking that Reiner be replaced (Reiner’s term has expired, and with the stroike of a pen, he is off of this influencial commission). You can do something about it, too. There is an on-line petition set up at www.firereiner.com where you,… Read More

FIRE ROB REINER The rallying cry is growing – Fire Rob Reiner! As we have written about several times on this site, Rob Reiner is an embarrassment to us all. Not only that, but his political philosophy is at the extreme left end of the Democrat Party. This is clearly not someone that we would want in any position of public trust, and now we know why. As head of the Prop. 10 Spending Commission for California, millions of taxpayer dollars were used to buy commercials supporting state-run preschool as an idea, while he was paying signature gatherers to help him qualify his initiative to tax wealthy Californians to create a state-run, centralized pre-school bureaucracy. A lot has been written on all of this. Well, State Senate Republicans have now penned a letter to the Governor, asking that Reiner be replaced (Reiner’s term has expired, and with the stroike of a pen, he is off of this influencial commission). You can do something about it, too. There is an on-line petition set up at www.firereiner.com where you,… Read More

San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano introduced a resolution on Tuesday calling on Cardinal William Levada, the former archbishop of San Francisco, to reverse a rule that prevents the church’s charity organization from placing children awaiting adoptions with same-sex couples.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: "As a gay Catholic," Ammiano said, referring to himself, "Cardinal Levada is everything that is wrong with the Catholic Church.

"If this cardinal would put the kind of energy into ending sexual abuse and homophobia in the church as he puts into persecuting same-sex couples …" Ammiano said, adding, "I think there’s a reason that the office he represents now was once called the Office of the Inquisition."

In San Francisco, everyone is a radical and no one has to… Read More

Lee Baca has a problem. Did he break the law, by giving ID cards to campaign supporters? It sure looks that way. See here.So here is the big question. Will any of the candidates for Sheriff have the money to exploit this and his other failings? He could go down if the dollars are there. See my previous post here.… Read More

Missed this article in the am – but it’s certainly significant. It’s by veteran columnists Phil Matier and Andrew Ross…

FBI jumpstarts Perata probe; police academy class scrubbed — no funds – Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross – San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday, March 15, 2006 Theeeeey’re back! After months of relative quiet, the Justice Department has… Read More

FYI for inquiring minds. The State GOP has hired crack political operative Kathy Tavoularis as its ne Statewide Field Coordinator for the Victory ’06 program.

Victory ’06 is the coordinated Get-Out-The-Vote political effort of the whole Republican Team – from the Governor’s political operation to the Congressional, legislative and state and local GOP committee efforts.

Cathy will be teamed up once again with her old boss, Bill Christiansen, who is the Victory ’06 State Director.

Both are former Executive Directors of the Orange County Republican Party.

Congratulations, Kathy!!… Read More

I’m sure that we could put together a top-ten list of reasons why Elton Gallegly is running for re-election. Instead..we’ll just say that one of the top reasons would be the telephone call from WH uber-strategist (and Deputy CoS) Karl Rove.

Makes you wonder if Michael Tenenbaum was a Gore supporter in ’00… Just kiddin’. I think his candle just blew out.

(I dedicate the Elton song title to Joe Justin.)… Read More