Eons ago I asked if Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca could be beat and promised to revisit the issue. See it here.

Since that time Baca’s run jail system has seen a week worth of riots and now they have spread to the youth facilities. See a sample here.

Baca has never been popular among most Republicans. While he nominally a registered Republican, he supports Democrats all the time, likes grabbing guns and sponsored a tax increase that failed last year.

His administration has bungled more than just the jail riots, there have been escapes and killings of witnesses while in Sheriff custody. There are whispers of corruption and clearly mismanagement is a big issue. Deputies are leaving. The early release progarms is a tragedy. Some LA papers may want Baca gone as well.

Usually, that is bad news for an… Read More

[Editor’s note: Probolsky, a regular contributor to this page, is the president of Probolsky Research, a prominent and respected political polling firm. – Flash] The Governor makes me proud every once in a while. Like a father that cries while spanking his son, it pains me to criticize the Governor when he all to often does something that upsets my conservative, limited government, pro-border security sensibilities.

But today’s Field Poll demonstrates a phenomenon that I have always claimed existed. That is that this governor will always, in the final stretch, win re-election. You can never count him out. He will raise the money he needs and his ability to develop a personal connection with the voters means he will win enough of them over to put him over the top.

Today’s Field Poll release shows the Governor about even with his Dem rivals Angelides… Read More

Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown wants to be California’s next top cop. Yet, after two terms in office, Brown has not done much to fundamentally change Oakland’s crime problems. Today, he finally announced that he was putting 115 more cops on the streets after a rash of violent crime, which City Council President and mayoral candidate Ignacio de la Fuente calls a “crisis.” (We have already ha… Read More

Since his forced-retirement from Congress in the ’90s, Brian Bilbray has been a federal lobbyist representing at least seven different clients since 1998 – including the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, the County of Los Angeles, San Diego Gas & Electric and more. According to the Center for Public Integrity, who publish information on registered lobbyists on the internet, Bilbray took in just over $700,000 in fees from his clients from 1998 to 2004 — last year’s numbers aren’t posted yet. Of these fees, a little over one-third has come from his immigration reform client, which becomes signficant as you read on. Answers.com defines a lobbyist as a person who solicits members of a legislature for the purpose of influencing legislation. Of course, the… Read More

Since his forced-retirement from Congress in the ’90s, Brian Bilbray has been a federal lobbyist representing at least seven different clients since 1998 – including the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, the County of Los Angeles, San Diego Gas & Electric and more. According to the Center for Public Integrity, who publish information on registered lobbyists on the internet, Bilbray took in just over $700,000 in fees from his clients from 1998 to 2004 — last year’s numbers aren’t posted yet. Of these fees, a little over one-third has come from his immigration reform client, which becomes signficant as you read on. Answers.com defines a lobbyist as a person who solicits members of a legislature for the purpose of influencing legislation. Of course, the… Read More

Last night, I made the two mile trip over to the campus at the University of California, Irvine. Why? Because FR friend Kristen Lucero, who is President of the UC Irvine College Republicans told me about an event they were hosting on campus. An excerpt from a Los Angeles Times article on the event described it this way:

Last night, I made the two mile trip over to the campus at the University of California, Irvine. Why? Because FR friend Kristen Lucero, who is President of the UC Irvine College Republicans told me about an event they were hosting on campus. An excerpt from a Los Angeles Times article on the event described it this way:

The caricatures, first printed in European newspapers, incited riots worldwide that led to dozens of deaths last month.

Organizers of the UCI forum, which drew about 250 people to an auditorium at the… Read More

Our Central Coast Correspondent, Amy Thoma, is on a little break right now. But I am sure that you will recall that she recently penned a column for the FR talking about a draconian, anti-freedom general plan amendment that has been proposed via initiative in the County of Monterey. This measure would take the balance that exists between allowing common-sense development and use of land by people against the need to preserve the natural beauty of the area and turn it on its head. Well, you can read all about it in Amy’s column.

I wanted to let you know that in the latest development, citing ‘fatal flaws’ the Monterey County Board of Supervisors by a 3-2 vote DECLINED to place this initiative onto the ballot. This is unusual given that there were enough signatures to qualify it, I think. So, the proponents have vowed to take the matter to court, and force the county to put the matter before the voters.

You can read the Monterey Herald’s take on the whole broo-haha… Read More