For those who do not know, after my interest in politics, two other areas of passion for me include travel and wine. I consider myself to be a wine ‘enthusiast’ — having a modest collection of my own. I’ve been a member of the Free the Grapes organization for many years. These are the folks fighting make sure that all Americans, regardless of which state they call home, have the ability to order wine directly from wineries and wine producers. You see, going back to the days of Prohibition, there are a lot of states that have prohibitions on the direct-shipping of wine to consumers or to businesses. Many states have what they call a ‘3-Tier’ shipping system, which means that states require wine shipments to go through a distributor, and then on to the consumer. This is an antiquated system that is really government regulation that forces wine consumers to spend more on their wines, as this… Read More

According to the Alliance of Western Milk Producers, Governor Schwarzenegger has asked dairyman Dennis Leonardi to resign his position on the Northern California Water Resources Board because he sells his milk to Humboldt Creamery, which has a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NDPES) permit. There is a state law disallows any board member from receiving more than 10% of their income from an organization that holds an NPDES. Leonardi’s business does not hold the permit–the creamery he sells his milk to holds the permit. I do not believe that this is a new law that was enacted after Leonardi was appointed so the question is: what changed between when Leonardi was appointed and now? The Alliance, which calls this situation a "travesty," believes that the governor’s office is interpreting the law too… Read More

We’re now making an effort to keep a closer eye on Gubernatorial appointments, with a specific eye on political party registration. Yesterday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced twelve appointments (read more detail here). If you are keeping score, they are: 7 Democrats, 3 Republicans, and 2 Decline-to-State.

DEMOCRATS: 7 Cleotha Adams, 49, of Marysville, has been appointed to the Corrections Standards Authority. Adams is a Democrat.

Carol Biondi, 62, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the Corrections Standards Authority. Biondi is a Democrat.

Robyn Boyer, 57, of… Read More

Matt Rexroad (pictured to the left) is someone that I hold in high regard. I’ve known Matt for over a decade. His political acumen is pretty sharp. He is a friend. I thought a recent commentary that he wrote was very interesting.

Former Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian is one of the ten thousand Republicans vying to replace the disgraced Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham in Congress. At his firm’s Cal Races website, Rexroad says:

Steve Cooley is one gutsy guy. This Los Angeles DA took on "Tookie" Williams. (See my previous post here.) And today he took on the San Gabriel Valley Lincoln Club with some of his thoughts about justice. Several items to report on: He spoke about the progress in implementing Prop. 69 and the DNA testing that require. Cooley was excited about the prospect of solving cold and hot cases with the database being formed. Cooley also talked about EscapingJustice.com his site that has pressured Mexico and the US to do more about killers hiding in Mexico. Cooley also said that despite changes in Workman’s Compensation law it is impossible to “prosecute” a solution to Workman’s Comp Fraud. Thank you legislature. … Read More

JESSICA’ LAW PROPONENTS TURN IN SIGNATURES Consultant and FR Friend released the news today that legilslative dynamic duo George and Sharon Runner today turned in over 600,000 signatures to qualify the tough-on-sexual-predator Jessica’s Law measure for the ballot.

Assemblywoman Runner had this to say:

"California families have waited too long for this day to come. I lookforward to November when Californians will vote to make our neighborhoodssafer for our children and grandchildren. It is unfortunate our Legislature refused to act on Jessica’s Law, but the people have a history of showinggreat aptitude to act when the Legislature refuses good public policy. The yare doing just that by qualifying the Jessica’s Law initiative."

IS DR. PHIL OUT OF THE RACE?… Read More

Orange County’s Coastal State Senate 35th District is in the midst of a Special Election. There are two candidates vying for the open seat, vacated when the incumbent, John Campbell, was elected in a special election to Congress.

Since the beginning of the year, the momentum in the race has all been for Dana Point Councilwoman Diane Harkey (you can click her ad on this site to find out more about her). Her opponent, Assemblyman Tom Harmon has been relatively quiet, though presumably his name identification from having represented a good chunk of this district would be pretty high.

Harkey, who is quite affluent herself, has been raising money and putting out mail pieces the old fashioned way – where the campaign produces and mails them out.

Harmon, who has less cash-on-hand is resorting to what is probably legal but a shady practice — pumping out taxpayer-paid-for mail right in the midst of a special election (see the attachment).

I think that this will backfire on Harmon, who can’t campaign as a conservative Republican in a closely-watched primary while using confiscated tax dollars to fund his campaign. California… Read More

The two leading candidates in the 59th Assembly District primary faced off Thursday night at a forum hosted by the San Bernardino County Republican Central Committee in Rancho Cucamonga.

Anthony Adams (pictured left) of Hesperia in San Bernardino County’s High Desert and Chris Lancaster (pictured below left) of LaVerne in Los Angeles County each took questions submitted by committee members on subjects ranging from taxes to the Second Amendment to abortion and property rights. The forum was cordial, with neither candidate directly attacking the other or making any major gaffes (it’s still early, right?). Both Lancaster and Adams said they were pleased with the way the event was conducted.

Meanwhile, the other High Desert candidates, Susan Slater and… Read More