The Cunningham situation is developing rapidly… This should hold us over until we hear from Duane…

By ELLIOT SPAGAT

The Associated Press

SAN DIEGO

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham admitted taking $2.4 million in bribes as part of guilty pleas Monday in a case that grew from an investigation into the sale of his home to a wide-ranging conspiracy involving payments in cash, vacations and antiques.

Authorities said Cunningham steered defense contracts worth tens of millions of dollars… Read More

Today I focus on attorneys. You will see some of them have political practices, others are in criminal law. All of them are OC Power Brokers.

NOTE: Many of these attorneys have been the driving force behind electing judges and the district attorney now and in the past. I don’t want to politicize the bench unnecessarily but know that these are the players who got many of our respected jurists their jobs, both appointed and elected.

Tom Malcolm. A Jones Day partner and major Republican donor he is the Dean of the OC legal community and respected by ALL.

John Ramirez. A partner at Rutan & Tucker, he is among the top land use/initiative lawyers in CA. If you need to qualify an… Read More

Like many Republicans I know, I’ve spent the last few months puzzled and concerned about all of the allegations around Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham. I remember meeting Duke during his first campaign for Congress, and being ‘blown-away’ by this bigger than life persona and story (as a very decorated combat flying ace). With each story that has come out, my heart has said, "Duke will show ’em! He couldn’t have done what they said!" At the same time, after each story, the voice in my head starts to say, "Hmmm. Duke is being quiet, and the case against him is getting to be so bad that even a ‘magic bullet’ theory wouldn’t explain it all." Now with the news today that Duke has resigned his seat after pleading guilty to taking millions of dollars in bribes — I have two things to say: The first:… Read More

I am predisposed to be suspicious of anyone with the power to prosecute. It is the Jeffersonian in me that questions authority and especially authority that can use the vast resources of all the Federal Government to bring hurt on those suspected of [fill in alleged heinous crime here].

It is with that vain that I question the actions of the Federal Prosecutors in the case against Rep. Duke Cunningham.

I agree that Rep. Cunningham made serious errors in judgment. His crimes were so blatant that they include "OVERT ACTS" like illegally accepting over a million dollars in loans to buy a property and so ridiculous that he allowed a defense contractor to pay a $1000-plus repair bill for his Rolls Royce!

But someone needs to call attention to the Federal Prosecutors–the so called U. S.… Read More

FR Friend and political consulant Dave Gilliard provides this useful information to readers of the FR Blog:

SPECIAL ELECTION CALENDAR 1. Gov. must call a SPECIAL GENERAL ELECTION within 14 days of vacancy. The window would be Nov. 26- to Dec.10.

2 IF the SPECIAL GENERAL ELECTION is called within 180 days of a statewide election, (after Dec. 8), it can be consolidated. It is likely the Gov. will do this in order to save money.

3. THE SPECIAL PRIMARY is eight Tuesdays before the SPECIAL GENERAL, or APRIL 11.

SO, the dates would be: PRIMARY – April 11 RUN-OFF (GENERAL)… Read More

Unions spent tens of millions of dollars to prove to all Californians that they fight for regular people. Working class people like nurses, firefighters and teachers.

The city of Los Angeles’ Union of Engineers and Architects provedthe point bystaging a protest at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). I’m sure the sight of protesters and the watching cops warmed the hearts of the working people that had to get back to LA after spending Thanksgiving somewhere else. Read it here.

I’m sure the returning passengers couldn’t understand why the protesters had worked 17 months with out a contract. Poor devils.

The Daily News reminded us in an editorial that Los Angeles has the highest paid city workers in the nation. But the passengers, I’m sure remembered that the DWP in the city had a huge 28% increase over five years and that these fine fellows deserved a similiar raise as well.

Unions are our friends and proved it by jamming LAX… Read More

The Washington Post reports this morning that Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t the only governor facing a clemency decision, but the politics involved for Mark Warner of Virginia are much different. Warner is the current favorite of the centrist, "faith-based" Democrats lining up for the 2008 presidential primaries, who’s political success has been predicated on his ability to reach out to the culturally conservative swing voters who’ve been supporting Republicans in recent years.

Let’s assume that Warner, like Schwarzenegger, will not allow political motivations to influence his decision over a man’s life. But both governors are certainly aware of the political ramifications of their respective decisions. And Warner’s advisors must remember another southern governor who flew back to Arkansas from the campaign trail in 1992 to personally oversee the execution of a mentally retarded criminal.

But what’s most interesting about the debate in Virginia isn’t the political impact on… Read More

At first blush, the Great Crab Strike of November 2005 might sound like another organized labor stunt. But a quick review of the facts reveals a far more entrepreneurial story.

Although the season opened on Nov. 15, Bay Area crab fisherman have left their boats tied up while they haggled over prices with the largest company that processes their catch. In a great example of market forces at work, the independent crab fisherman, represented by the Crab Boat Owners Assocation of San Francisco, refused to catch any Dungeness crab until the processor, Pacific Seafood, an Oregon-based company, raised the per pound price it was willing to pay.

While there are other processors, Pacific Seafood has a near-monopoly on the market, and is using (abusing?) it’s power to dictate the price. At the official start of the season, the two sides were 35 cents apart on the per pound price of crab. The crab fisherman wanted $1.85 a pound, a dime increase over last year’s price. Pacific Seafood initially said… Read More