Veteran political columnist Dan Walters this morning in his Sacramento Bee column made mention of the “Washington Monument Strategy” — referring to putting forward the most politically unpopular cuts in order to make the case not to make cuts, or to make fewer cuts in spending. This strategy, used by liberals (of both parties, I might add), is nothing new…

During the 2008 budget battle, then Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee (now a State Senator) penned a… Read More

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Americans for Tax Reform has sent the following letter to all of the members of the California State Legislature…

Dear Legislator,

Now that California’s state legislature has convened for the 2012 session, please keep taxpayers in mind as you take up important policy issues this year. Tax hikes, excessive regulation, and irresponsible spending will impede economic growth in your state and encourage businesses to flee for states with business-friendly policies. Just ask your counterparts in Illinois; they can vouch for this.

There is never a good time for a tax increase, but siphoning money from the private sector is the last thing lawmakers should be doing amid this tepid and uncertain economic recovery. Imposing higher state taxes is even more egregious and unadvisable when put into the context of what has happened and what is scheduled to happen with federal tax policy.

While the media in your state has likely not yet reported on it and your constituents may not yet realize it, the fact is that the largest federal tax increase in U.S. history will hit individuals,… Read More

Due to a supposed staff error, Governor Brown’s proposed state budget was released yesterday, instead of next Tuesday. I was actually shocked when I read that general fund spending in the new budget is $92.5 billion. This actually represents a roughly $6 billion or so increase in the size of the state’s general fund… Yes, Jerry Brown is proposing that state government increases in size.

Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, the Vice Chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, said this of the Governor’s proposal, “The Governor’s proposed budget increases spending by a whopping 7% based on his rosy assumptions. The Legislature and Governor need to get real about reforming this perpetually-flawed budget process by examining every department and expenditures of government to ensure that taxpayer priorities are being met. I suggest performance-based or a zero-based budget, with a hard spending cap and a reserve as a very good start.”

Nielsen also said, “The last thing we want to do is stomp on California’s recovering economy by raising taxes. If the state cannot live within a 7.7%… Read More

Well, there were plenty of naysayers who said it couldn’t, even shouldn’t, be done, but it now appears all but certain that the Senate redistricting referendum will qualify for the ballot and the Redistricting Commission’s gerrymandered Senate plan will be on hold for 2012 and hopefully for good. With 13 counties representing almost 30,000 signatures left to count, the random sample is showing us with 490,357 valid signatures, exceeding the 95% threshold that triggers a full count and only 14,403 signature short of the 100% mark. My projection is that we will maintain or exceed our current validity rate in the remaining counties and finish at 511,000 or more.

After the full count is completed the referendum will appear on the November ballot, where voters will have a choice between the Commission’s lines and those adopted by the Court for the 2012 cycle. Given recent revelations, with more… Read More

As all following California politics know, Governor Jerry Brown, unsuccessful at getting Republican votes to either raise taxes by a vote of the legislature or get GOP votes to place tax increases on the ballot, is now spearheading an effort to place a massive tax increase measure on ballot for this November — seeking to get voters to increase state income taxes on the wealthy, and hike the sales tax for everyone. This is a terrible idea. Newly elected Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff says it well, and succinctly, in a column today in the FlashReport: “Higher taxes are not the answer. There is a better way. New taxes will only cripple the economic recovery now underway in California.”

The Governor and his political allies will have to spend several million dollars to get this initiative qualified for the ballot, and so the main stream media is now starting to report on who is dropping in the big bucks to advance the tax increases. Of course you would expect the state’s public employee unions to be helping. But I was a little taken off… Read More

There are many, many fallacies in the sometimes explicit but often IMPLICIT reasons given for paying out great government pensions. Here’s my selection for the top ten bogus excuses: 1. “Public employees deserve high pensions because they work for low wages.” FALSE. Perhaps true at one time, but not any more. In many instances, today’s government employee is earning 10%-30% more than their true private sector counterparts — and with far better job guarantees. BTW, the bogus union salary comparisons usually cherry pick the private sector — including in their “surveys” only the largest and wealthiest private sector employers — along with monopoly public utilities. 2. “Government employees should not have to save for retirement.” … Read More

Tonight maybe as many as 130,000 Iowans will gather in 1,714 precincts to hear from the candidates from the GOP nominees (or in almost every case, their surrogates), to debate among themselves, and ultimately to cast secret ballots for their candidate of choice. As this takes place, I find myself as a Republican activist and (at times) leader for nearly a quarter-century wondering what has happened to my party. I joined the Republican Party because I am a conservative. I’m a Republican because mine is a party that believes in God, and in moral absolutes. I am a Republican because my party believes in the principle of natural law, and in the genius of our United States Constitution — a vision for a limited role for government in order to maximize liberty, freedom, risk and reward for all Americans. I am a Republican because to study the advance of “progressivism” and the increasing size and scope of government in this country, at every level, we are facing a crisis of epic proportions, and I believe the GOP can put forward candidates who will fight to push back against the expansion – in the same dogmatic, obsessive ways that liberals seek to… Read More

Since December 21, The Real Clear Politics average of all recent polls of Iowa Caucus goers shows a very tight race between Mitt Romney (22.8%) and Ron Paul (21.5%) with Rick Santorum (16.3%) trending up into third place. What to draw from this?

Over this period, Romney and Paul have been fairly consistent in their tracking with Romney’s high-to-low at 19-25 and Paul’s at 20-22 (other than one 19, he reads 22-25). While Newt Gingrich (13.7%) shows an uptick from the freefall of last week (12-16), Rick Santorum (16.3%) is steadily trending up from 15-18.

Romney, Santorum, and Paul all draw from different ideologies and geographies in the state. Romney, the establishment favorite, who has been portrayed as a moderate, will need to draw heavily from moderate east Iowa. Santorum, who is an evangelical, is being propelled by the social conservatives that dominate the northwest of the state. And Paul depends on more libertarian non-establishment conservatives and young activists and will benefit from a strong turnout from college towns like Ames.

In 2008, the RCP average going into the Primary was Huckabee 34.4%, Romney 25.2%, McCain 13%, and Paul… Read More