I have been in elected office for 10 years now. And of those 10 years, I have spent half of that time in the California State Legislature and the other half here in Congress. During that time, I have found that a common thread exists amongst elected Democrats. At least part of the reason they ran for and are in office now is to raise taxes on somebody or everybody and then spend that money on people and programs which they deem worthy. A fundamental tenet of the Democratic Party today is that government should tax more and spend more on lots of things.

But that ideology has just run headlong into political reality. Polling shows that one of the top two issues on the minds of Americans these days is the debt and the deficit. The other big issue is jobs and the economy. And Americans realize that the two are related. They understand that our crushing debt burden, up 81% since Democrats took over Congress in 2006, is one of the drags on the economy. So, spending money that increases the deficit and the debt even further is not very popular right now. And of course, there is an election in just over 4 months.

So, if you want to spend new money without earning the… Read More

[A version of this commentary appeared on FR early last year. This column has been revised and updated – Flash]

It seems to me that Californians are getting what they asked for in State Controller John Chiang. The contrast between selecting Chiang or his opponent, taxpayer advocate Tony Strickland, on the November 2006 ballot could not have been more stark. While Strickland was openly supported by a cadre of pro-taxpayer organizations and leaders, the bulk of Chiang’s support came from the left-wing of the Democrat Party, and most significantly, from public employee unions eager to have yet another “tool” in an important state constitutional office, ready to be put into play should the need arise. (Below, left, is a photo of Chiang standing with all of his union supporters after being… Read More

[A version of this commentary appeared on FR early last year. This column has been revised and updated – Flash] It seems to me that Californians are getting what they asked for in State Controller John Chiang. The contrast between selecting Chiang or his opponent, taxpayer advocate Tony Strickland, on the November 2006 ballot could not have been more stark. While Strickland was openly supported by a cadre of pro-taxpayer organizations and leaders, the bulk of Chiang’s support came from the left-wing of the Democrat Party, and most significantly, from public employee unions eager to have yet another “tool” in an important state constitutional office, ready to be put into play should the need arise.… Read More

Yesterday the Governor took the very serious step of ordering that the pay for most state employees be reduced to the federal minimum wage because the legislature has not put a budget in front of him by the Constitutional deadline of July 1st. We tracked down Lynelle Jolley, Communications Director at the Department of Personnel Administration, for a little Q&A on this action by the Governor…

FLASH: Why is the Governor doing this? JOLLEY: We’re trying to enforce the law. We don’t want to do it but are forced to because without a budget, there’s no authority to legally pay state workers their full salaries. Our State Constitution prohibits issuing payments without a legislative appropriation. For most of the state’s payroll, this appropriation comes through the annual state budget act.

When a taxpayer group brought suit against a former controller for issuing paychecks when there was no budget, the case ended up in the CA Supreme Court, which… Read More

Earlier this week, Chelsea’s Law passed a significant hurdle – the Senate Public Safety Committee.

We are incredibly moved by the Committee’s bi-partisan show of support and the tens of thousands who have made phone calls, written letters and supported our efforts from the very beginning.

The articles below lay out the ways Chelsea’s Law has been strengthened through recent amendments. Next up is the Senate Appropriations Committee. We will keep you posted on our progress.

U-T editorial: A remarkable featChelsea’s Law expanded and improved in Senate, not blocked

Chelsea’s Law Overcomes Another Hurdle Chelsea’s Law Cleared Calif. State Senate Public Safety Committee On Tuesday

… Read More

This time of year my email box fills up with press releases from Republican legislators, touting the passage of one of their bills through a committee, or off the floor of one of the houses of the State Legislature.

The releases, of course, are mostly crafted to draw attention, and to make a "big deal" out of this legislative feat.

Let me tell you that it is actually a pretty depressing time because all of these releases serve as dozens of reminders that the looney-left whackos control the legislature. You can tell because, almost without exception, the legislation being highlighted in these releases are…somewhere between non-impactful or of slight impact — or of no real impact at all.

I will pick an example (although that’s like shooting fish in a barrel, it seems that just about every GOP legislator is carrying some non-impactful bill). Senate Bill 944, authored by my good friend and FR contributor Senator George Runner will proclaim "Ronald Reagan Day" for California. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with this, after all, Reagan did a lot of great things as Governor of California. But I… Read More

Jerry Brown wants a return trip to the Governor’s mansion, where somehow he is going to fix state government. Obviously I am biased — I think that Brown’s time as Governor greatly helped us towards the mess we are in now, which I lay soundly at the feet of his liberal colleagues in Sacramento. These folks have figured out a way to overspend in every direction possible, and over-tax Californians to try and pay for it. Our current "budget crisis" is due entirely to this situation. But I digress…

Jerry Brown was on CNBC this morning, being interviewed by Jane Wells. Once again, we queue Brown up for another "you can’t make this stuff up" moment, in which the following exchange takes place…

Wells" "When will we get a specific plan?" [Remember, Brown has already said that his plan won’t be revealed until after he is Governor] Brown: "The plan is to go over each… Read More

No matter at what level you are engaged in politics here in the Golden State — Governor or a legislator, County Supervisor or a city councilmember, a Superior Court Judge, a news reporter or blogger, or one of the thousands of parties either trying to get government at some level to do something (or in many cases, not do something) – it is an accepted fact that when big-box store giant Walmart wants to open a “super center” store anywhere, local opposition often appears and a big battle ensues. There are certainly cases where a Walmart just skips into a town somewhere without a hue and cry, but examples of those don’t come readily to mind…

Recent revelations have come to light that create a very plausible reason for the consistent, organized and funded opposition to most new Walmart supercenters. Based on a story that appeared earlier this month in the Wall Street Journal, Rival Chains Secretly Fund Opposition to… Read More