When the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted last month to ban plastic bags in unincorporated areas of the county, it was forced at the last moment to deal with an unfolding controversy about toxic levels of lead contained in reusable bags recommended as an environmentally-friendly alternative.

Experts warn that exposure to lead in reusable bags could harm the intellectual and neurological development in children and infertility in adults, among other serious health issues. Senator Chuck Schumer has called for investigations of the bags and according to a press release from the Senator’s office, “When disposed of in landfills, these bags can leak toxins into the soil and water and have the potential to create even more environmental problems.

”Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas introduced an amendment to address the potential health crisis regarding exposure to toxic lead in reusable bags: “Reusable bags should not contain levels of lead, cadmium or heavy metals in toxic amounts, as defined by applicable State and Federal standards and regulations for packaging or reusable bags.”

In their quest to appease environmentalists… Read More

California is about to embark on an interesting adventure. It is an adventure of the voters’ own choosing. They went retro with Jerry Brown. They decided to put an entire state government in the hands of the most leftist leadership, if not in the country, certainly in the history of this state. The voters, while handing the day to day operations of the executive branch into the hands of these collectivist comrades, also enacted a majority vote requirement for the budget. Since that majority is also mainly leftist Democrats, it appears that the state and its operations are in the control of those who believe that there is no limit to the good government can do, if it is just in the right hands. Since they think they are the ones with the right hands, be careful, we are in for a wild ride.

The voters, however, didn’t fall completely off the turnip truck. While handing over responsibility for day to day operations, and well as the policy functions, to a bunch of utopia-crats, they left some adult supervision of that effort, by putting a veto over the "tax-raising" function in the hands of the Republicans.… Read More

The whole issue of illegal immigration is so thorny, and everyone is seemingly "in their corners" (I’m in mine) that I don’t really write about it that much. That said there is a lot of chatter going on about the so-called "Dream" Act. The policy that would be enacted with this federal legislation, to my understanding, is to provide amnesty, legal residency, and a pathway to citizenship for certain illegal aliens. Specifically, people in this country illegally who came into the United States at the age of 15 years or younger, who complete high school, and who agree to either serve in the United States military or go to college would qualify (for at least two years of a six year period).

The prevailing arguments in support of this bill include that these minors are not responsible for the actions of their parents (or grandparents) who committed the crime of entering our country in violation of our laws, and thus they should not be held responsible for that criminal activity, and that given that these kids are here, they should be encouraged to go to school and go on to have productive lives.

Let me make it… Read More

I remember talking to someone once about an election I was running in and I told him that if I lose I want to lose by a lot. He was taken a back and asked why? I told him if you lose by a little you kick yourself for not working a little harder, walking just a few more hours, raising a little more money etc… If you lose by a large margin there was nothing you could do, the people are stupid.

He laughed. But, you do see this happening with the Cooley race.

I have already pointed out that the over confidence in Los Angeles County vote totalswas mistaken. Cooley hadn’t run a TV ad or sent a mailer to the much larger general election electorate in ten years.

Torey Van Oot reported about the feud between the Whitman campaign and the CRP over a mailer highlighting everyone on the ticket.

There is a little more to that story. At the CRP Convention in San Diego the initiatives committee (that I Chair)… Read More

With the big gains nationally for Republicans, after a four year hiatus, voters have returned a Republican majority to the United States House of Representatives. Back in 2006 Republicans lost the majority, in part, because the GOP had lost touch with voters, and embraced federal spending. Peggy Noonan, a former speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan, did a great job in describing this in a September column in the Wall Street Journal…

Song of the week: “It’s America” by Rodney Atkins "It’s a high school prom, it’s a Springsteen song, it’s a ride in a Chevrolet. It’s a man on the moon and fireflies in June and kids selling lemonade. It’s cities and farms, it’s open arms, one nation under God. It’s America!" My new, favorite, inspiring, patriotic song. If you haven’t heard it, go online and listen. Back here in DC, the "lame duck" session continues to trudge towards its end, likely with little resolution of much because lame ducks are rarely very productive. So, since there is nothing definitive to report on the lame duck at this point, here are some random thoughts of mine about recent developments on other topics:

Deficit Commission: I do not… Read More

From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary E-mail… … Read More

The California Supreme Court will receive written arguments next week to set aside the open primary system scheduled to go into affect in special elections next year and in 2012 as a result of the passage of Proposition 14. A superior court judge and an intermediate appellate court have already essentially approved implementation of Proposition 14. The Supreme Court will hear a challenge driven largely by non-recognized minor party candidates who claim they are at a disadvantage as a result of the implementation law, known as Senate Bill 6, over the issue of "declaring party preference."

Under Proposition 14, candidates for partisan office who are registered in established political parties can essentially "hide the ball" from voters by not disclosing their party registration on the ballot. I have always felt that this was one of the biggest flaws in Proposition 14, because it give voters less information on the ballot, not more, about the candidate. I thought that might be a pretty good line of challenge, too. But the folks challenging the law are from parties that… Read More