Congressman Dreier has many talents. As Chair of the powerful Rules committee and frequent TV and radio guest, heis well known in political circles. Some don’t know that he frequently has courted Hollywood. There was a rumor a couple years ago thathe was a candidate to become head of theMPAA. It went to former Congressman Glickman instead.

Roll Call has a fascinating look at the night two years ago, whenRepublicans in DCsold out taxpayers by passing a Medicare Prescription drug bill that will cost us billions upon billions of dollars. You can read it here. It is a good read by the way.

One tidbit focuses on Dreier’s attempts toget Rep. Nick Smith to vote "yes".

"A Republican staffer told the ethics panel that Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.) offered to find Smith’s daughter a job as an actress in Hollywood. Dreier denied making such a promise."

Nothing came from the accusation. Dreier denied it and Smith later wouldn’t talk about… Read More

The Fresno Zoo, once a treasure in the community, is now leading the news on a daily basis around here. Talk shows are overheated with opinions, local TV news is leading with the story, and tempers are flaring. You see, for years and years and years the Fresno Zoo (known as the Chafee Zoo locally), has been run by the City of Fresno. As such, and in common with most enterprises run by government, this has resulted in millions of dollars in deferred maintenance, an institutional culture of mediocrity, financial problems and finally, a very poor Zoo.

In 2004 a local measure was qualified for the ballot, Measure Z, which would increase sales taxes in the County and direct the money to the Zoo, under a new organizational structure. Expected to provide over $100 million in funding over eight years, the Zoo would presumably be upgraded and operated more efficiently, thus becoming a centerpiece of learning and entertainment in the region. Measure Z passed overwhelmingly, facing no real opposition (the Lincoln Club quietly recommended a "No"… Read More

The Campbell campaign (Gilliard Blanning Wysocki & Assoc.) created a very impactful mail piece that hit mail boxes today.

It simply highlighs American Independent candidate Jim Gilchrist’s own words. Generally when you see a consultant use the words of an opponent against them it can be assumed that they are taking them out of context or that the opponent said these things a long time ago. That is not the case here. Gilchrist is so over his head in this campaign for U. S. Congress, that he sticks his foot in his mouth every time he goes on record.

EXAMPLE OF GILCHRIST QUOTES:

"I don’t like these capitalist pigs." According to the mailer this is quote he gave to the OC Weekly, in Feb. 2005. I don’t care what the context is on this one. The 48th CD has more ‘capitalist pigs’ than just about any Congressional District in the country. Not a smart think to say.

"I’m for taxing the ultra-rich more" "Estate tax? Bring that thing… Read More

Some people really know how to spoil a good time. I was at one of San Bernardino County Supervisor Paul Biane’s signature first-class fundraisers November 2nd in Rancho Cucamonga, sipping Biane Brothers wine and anticipating later hearing Paul’s announcement for re-election next June. Read about it here.Then the keynote speaker, Hugh Hewitt, took a detour from his characteristically rousing speech and spent a full five minutes describing to the hushed audience a potential bird flu pandemic that could kill millions of people. He discussedthe possibility that the new avian influenza "H5N1" strain in Southeast Asia could become communicable among humans in the future, and noted that in Asiapeople in their prime who’ve contracted the virus from bird sources are dying at a 50-percent rate. By contrast, most influenza bugs are generally only life threatening to the very young and elderly, as well as those with compromised immune… Read More

MY CALCULATOR DOESN’T HAVE ENOUGH DIGITS $100,000,000,000.00 (I think that is a $100 Billion). This is the figure I have heard bantered around for a massive ‘infrastructure’ bond measure for California. I need help from some financial experts now. My understanding is that a bond is, in essence, a loan. We float bonds out there for immediate cash. Then, like with any other kind of loan, we make incremental payments on the loan over a period of time (like with a home loan, you typical spread the payments over 30 years). Of course, the interest on the loan adds up considerably, so that by the time you have paid off the principle borrowed (in this case, supposedly that "MEGO" – My Eyes Glaze Over – number above) you also have paid out a huge amount in interest as well. I have no clue what the annual payments would be on an additional $100 billion in bonded indebtedness would be for California taxpayers.… Read More

Props to Carla Marinucci, a very capable political reporter over at the San Francisco Chronicle. While I don’t agree with Carla on all things, I love her reporting.

I took a trip over to the San Francisco Chronicle Elections 2005 blog, and she has sent in a post from China, where she is traveling with the Governor. The best thing about the SFC’s Blog is that it is a forum for their reporters to pass along the kind of information that would bore the average newspaper readering (diminishing as they are), but is of real interest to we political hacks.

While the big stories that ‘everyone’ wants to read are about the reception the Governor and Maria are receiving, the content of the various gubernatorial guests, or even the VIPs with whom the Governor and First Lady will meet — count on Carla to give us the run down on who is traveling with the Gov. from his government and political staff!

Check… Read More

Ending any speculation that he might enter the race himself, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore announced today that he was supporting Dana Point Councilwoman Diane Harkey for the 35th State Senate seat.… Read More

The Democratic victory dance is now entering its sixth day, and like the riots sweeping France’s cities and suburbs, this anger masked as celebration shows no sign of ebbing. The question that preoccupies Sacramento at the moment, now that Schwarzenegger has adopted a conciliatory approach in the aftermath of last week’s election results, is whether the Democratic legislative leadership will accept the governor’s olive branch, or wrap it around his neck.

The original Democratic response, coming from Democrats and all, seemed to contradict itself. Senator Perata, who shows an occasional and fleeting willingness to separate himself from the public employee unions, talked of peace. Assembly Speaker Nunez, better attuned to their wishes, hinted of continued war. A smart bettor would take war and give the points.

In this arena, warfare usually means passing bills designed to embarrass the governor. So rather than cooperation and compromise, the instinct of many of Schwarzenegger’s foes will be to move legislation to his desk… Read More