This guest blog post is authored by Emily Ekins, who is the Director of Polling for the Reason Foundation… For our politicos, note that the jump below in the first graph goes to a new statewide survey with new polling numbers on Propositions 30, 32 and 38.

Poll Finds Californians Are More Ready for Wisconsin-Like Reforms Than You Might Think

No one is going to mistake Gov. Jerry Brown for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, but our new Reason-Rupe telephone poll of likely voters in California finds emerging signs that even California’s Democratic-leaning electorate has grown weary of the state’s tax increases and may be ready for some Wisconsin-like reforms.

Adjusted for inflation, California’s government spending increased 42 percent per capita from 2000 to 2010, but the Reason-Rupe poll finds that just 14 percent of likely voters believe California’s government spending over that decade improved the quality of life in the state. In fact, 52 percent tell… Read More

This morning I will join other elected officials, community leaders and Amazon.com representatives at an opening ceremony for the company’s new San Bernardino fulfillment center.

As an elected member of the State Board of Equalization, I have the unique privilege of working with job creators like Amazon. I want to help these companies succeed in our state in the face of many tax and regulatory obstacles.

In my remarks, I will applaud Amazon’s decision to voluntarily invest in California, bringing thousands of jobs to our state. I will stress that working cooperatively with job creators like Amazon is the most effective way to rebuild California’s economy.

The new Amazon fulfillment center in San Bernardino lies just outside the boundaries of my current Board of Equalization district. However, in 2014 the district I currently represent will be reshaped by redistricting to include both Amazon’s new San… Read More

First there was “global warming.” Then it became “climate change” when warm temperatures cooled.

But in California, the California Environmental Protection Agency is promoting global warming again.

“State releases plan to deal with extreme heat caused by global warming,” the CalEPA press release stated. “In the wake of the hottest July ever recorded in the United States, California state agencies today released a plan to deal with extreme heat caused by global warming,” the CalEPA warned.

The hottest July ever recorded in the U.S.? What about California? It wasn’t that hot in our state in July.

“Every year people in California succumb to extreme heat,” said California Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Matt Rodriquez, who chairs the state’s Climate Action Team, the press release reported.

Demonstrative of an agency looking for a problem to solve, the CalEPA’s proposed plan states:

“Some of the proposed recommendations in this draft document… Read More

I posted this on another website I blog for during the presidential election (roadtothewhitehouse2012.com). I don’t usually comment on national politics here, because that is not what my role in this blog is usually about, but I liked this article, and wanted to share it with as many people as possible. Enjoy.

I have to say that, after this second debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, that President Obama has nothing on Sir Mix-a-Lot. You remember him? He had a famous rap song in the 1990’s “Baby Got Back”, talking about what he appreciates about women. In a way, like Sir Mix-a-Lot, President Obama, in his debate performance, showed that he likes big buts… “I believe in free enterprise as the greatest job creator in history, but…..” “I believe in the second amendment, but…..” “I believe in curbing illegal immigration, but….” “I believe in a balanced budget, but…..” “I believe in developing new energy sources, but…” “My policies have grown this economy, but…..” “I believe in… Read More

The Proposition 37 campaign has released a new television commercial today, that hopefully nails it with voters. I have seen a lot of misguided and terrible ballot measures over the years, but I have trouble thinking of one as lame as this one. While at first glance you think, “Sure I want truth in labeling” for what I buy — you quickly realize that this measure, carefully crafted by both self-interested business interests and trial lawyers — really doesn’t do that at all. If you want to “wonk up” on the myriad of ways this measure sucks, everything you want to know (and don’t want to know) is here. Anyways, here is there latest ad…

… Read More

President Obama is not happy these days, and it’s showing. In the second debate with Mitt Romney last night, Mr. Obama’s bitter, condescending, and generally negative delivery underscores this is a man who has lost control.

After his disastrous performance in the first debate, I told Politico that Mr. Obama was in a tough spot. He would be under pressure to be aggressive to please his base and show them not all is lost, but he risked coming across as angry. And he did.

ROMNEY ANSWERED THE QUESTIONS, OBAMA WENT INTO RHEARSED POINTS. In the town hall format candidates must balance their key message points against a need to respond to the question posed to them by a member of the audience. Mr. Romney’s responses actually answered the questions while Mr. Obama used each question as an excuse to tell a rehearsed story and repeat planned talking points. The intense debate preparation Mr. Obama went through down in Williamsburg was no doubt a great deal of rehearsal delivering scripted responses that were probably tested with focus groups as well.

CNN’S CANDY CROWLEY BLOWS IT WITH ON THE SPOT FACT CHECK. One of Mr. Obama’s most important failures… Read More

For the second time in two weeks I had the opportunity to appear in-studio at KCAL-9 television in Los Angeles for some post-debate analysis. Last week I did post-Veep debate “spin” with Obama supporter Kerman Maddox, moderated by KCAL’s ace political reporter Dave Bryan. Well, tonight we returned back to the studio to give some post-Presidential debate entertainment to KCAL viewers. You can see an eight-minute “highlights” clip below (our full exchange was over twenty minutes). If this weren’t enough, KCAL has invited us back one last time next Monday night for more of the same… … Read More

Barack Obama’s popularity among European political elites is understandable given their similar views on both domestic and foreign policy and an unfortunate common interest in subjugating America’s role in the world to global institutions like the United Nations.

When I spoke at conferences in Germany and Switzerland in the years immediately following the invasion of Iraq and the removal of Saddam Hussein from power, the anti-American sentiment among European political and some business leaders was overwhelming.

It was no wonder, then, that Europeans would greet Mr. Obama with cheers – literally – as he campaigned for President in 2008. After all, Mr. Obama was given his chance against presumptive nominee Sen. Hillary Clinton as a result of Clinton’s vote in favor of authorizing the Iraq invasion.

Fast forward four years, however, and the zeal for Mr. Obama has diminished. No doubt most Europeans would still favor Mr. Obama over Republican Mitt Romney, but the enthusiasm for Mr. Obama is no longer there.

This was obvious at the 10th International Political Communications Conference hosted by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin this… Read More