With the controversy swirling around the sensitive document posted on the Wikileaks website, I couldn’t help but wonder where the California GOP Wikileaks page is. These are questions that I would like to see the documentation around. 1.How much did Whitman consultant Mike Murphy net? For that matter what did all of the Whitman team net? 2.What expenditures of funds did the Whitman team NOT fund? When you spend the kind of millions she did you have to wonder what was rejected. 3.What were the results of the promised Whitman lie dictator test about her illegal alien maid? While we are on that topic, what consultants knew about themaid issue and when? And who gave the order to fire her instead of hire the best immigration attorney in town and ask if she wanted a villa in her home country with a view of the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean ? For the record when I met with Meg Whitman she didn’t offer me a sandwich either. See Question… Read More

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Redistricting can produce some strange outcomes.

For example, after a court drawn redistricting map took effect in 1992 three sitting members of the Assembly ended up running against each other in Orange County.

In a closed Republican primary in June 1992 sitting Republican Assemblymembers Tom Mays (Huntington Beach), Doris Allen (Cypress) and Nolan Frizzelle (Fountain Valley) all ran against each other for the 67th Assembly District.

After public employee unions spent more than $70,000 in the race, the people of California were stuck with Doris Allen as the winner. That alone could be the subject of a book.

So 20 years latter, why is this story relevant today? Because it is likely to happen again.

Section 2d6e of Article XXI of… Read More

The California Fair Political Practices Commission is proposing a number of new regulations on political campaign speech that it will consider at a public hearing in Sacramento at their headquarters on January 28, 2011. Written comments must be received no later than 5;00 pm on January 26, 2011.

Among the new areas of proposed regulation:

-addition of the words "Paid for by" on mass mailing candidate/committee identification statements;

-additional administrative requirements on slate mail organizations imposing new record-keeping requirements, new rules governing imposition of the so-called "asterisk" rule, new rules regarding imposition of the so-called "Notice to Voters" box rule, rules regarding notices when the slate is written in another language, Spanish or Korean (for example), new regulation of slate mail emails.

-changes to candidate committee termination rules that allow for extensions of time to raise funds to terminate the committees, a reasonable change in the rules.

-changes to timing of filing of "late filing" reports to account for… Read More

For most Californians, the arrival of December means gift shopping, family get-togethers, and good cheer. But it also reignites the ridiculous feud over the word that is the main reason for the holiday season – the word "Christmas." Last month, I sent out an e-mail invitation to my constituents in the 60th Assembly district to join me for a "Christmas" open house at the district office. I ended my invitation with a saying you may have heard before: "May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace, the joy of Christmas give you hope, the warmth of Christmas grant you love." Isn’t this the true meaning of the season?

The grinches in our community reacted as if I sent them a letter that used a four-letter word which no one should dare speak in government. My office received phone calls stating that using the word "Christmas" is a violation of the separation of church and state and that it was insulting to non-Christians. I decided to ask my constituents in an email survey whether they approved or disapproved my use of the word "Christmas." An overwhelming number emphatically… Read More

I have to say, I don’t think the Hispanic fascination with Democrat candidates is anything but liberalism on their part. As I wrote in my Fresno Bee column last week, I think itsa myth that Hispanics are "culturally conservative".

Now, a former Schwarzenegger advisor Rob Stutzman is quoted in a George Skeleton column in todays LA Times that "Republicans need to understand that they live in suburbs with second-generation Mexican American neighbors whose parents came here and worked in agriculture and the service industries and are very proud of their families’ success" as a key for the GOP to get Hispanic votes.

Huh?

I think there are plenty of Republicans and conservatives, like me, that appreciate all hard working people, regardless of country of origin and skin color. Making a case that this is somehow a gateway to getting Hispanic votes is not only simplistic, but ignores the fact that 2nd and… Read More

As I write this, neither the Senate nor the House have adjourned for the year as various issues are still unresolved. But, hopefully within a few days, the 111th Congress will mercifully come to an end. As I’m sure you know, the tax bill, which I vigorously opposed, passed last week. 35 other Republicans and 112 Democrats joined me in voting “No”. This in spite of immense pressure on Democrats from the President (who was personally making many calls) and on Republicans from our leadership. Your taxes will not go up next year and that part of the bill is good. But, on January 1, 2012, the Alternative Minimum Tax will go up again and your temporary reduction in Social Security tax will end. Then, on January 1, 2013, all the tax rates on everybody will go back up to 2000 levels, including the death tax. So, we will have to have this same fight and same debate again starting in less than 12 months. In the meantime, the federal government is now on track to borrow or print $3.8 TRILLION in the next 24 months, including the "QE2" money printing that the Fed is doing. Let me repeat that. The government will borrow or spend $3.8 trillion in just 24 months… Read More

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Every ten years after the census is taken, America’s political fault lines shift during the process of redistricting. Whole political districts can be swallowed by massive population shifts or in other cases political districts emerge unscathed.

Although we don’t have complete census data we can tell where the state is growing and have some rough numbers. It is clear where the political fault lines will shift the most.

In California, voters rewrote the rules for how state legislative and congressional districts will be drawn in order to remove politics from the process. Instead of politicians drawing district boundaries, an independent citizen commission will determine the new district lines.

California’s new process of redistricting will likely result in some districts being entirely redrawing with new boundaries. For… Read More

The California Fair Political Practices Commission issued its required upward adjustment of the California state election contribution limits this week. A detailed chart of the new limits is attached. As a result of low inflation, candidates for State Assembly and State Senate after 1/1/11 can still receive $3,900 per person in contributions, other statewide candidates can still receive $6,500 per person but Jerry Brown can now receive $26,000 towards his re-election race, raised just a hundred bucks from previous levels.

Under existing law there is no limit to what a political party can give to a candidate for state office, however, the revised rules allow a person to give an extra $100, now, $32,500 to a party, over the previous limit, and still $200 to a so-called "small contributor" committee, and $6,500 for a PAC that contributes to state candidates. (The unlimited support a partisan candidate can receive from a political party keeps them relevant even if Proposition 14 is upheld, which does not change that aspect of campaign finance.) There is no limit to contributions to committees… Read More