Read his FlashReport column here.… Read More

A ruling on the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, defining marriage as between a man and a woman, is expected from the San Francisco Federal court this afternoon……stay tuned.… Read More

San Francisco’s Chief Judge of the Federal district court, Vaughn Walker, ruled that California’s Proposition 8 defining marriage as between a man and a woman, passed by California voters, was unconstitutional today.

Ugh.… Read More

I have to respond to Controller John Chiang’s most recent order where he is calling for transparency in local government salaries…

Once again the media has exposed massive fraud and abuse of tax dollars. This time it was the City of Bell. The pattern of the media exposing waste is becoming all too familiar. From reading about new, unused, and parked Cal Trans trucks stored under freeway overpasses to the Controller’s $100 million failure to upgrade California’s computer payroll system, the media seems to be doing John Chiang’s job. John Chiang’s order today is too late and smells political. His cries for transparency are another example of the Controller following rather than leading. His failure to exercise his greatest power – the power to audit – is costing taxpayers millions.… Read More

Guy Houston is a nice guy, at least to the extent that I have had dealings with him. Frankly, that hasn’t been much. During his six-year tenure representing the East Bay Area in the State Assembly, Republican Houston (pictured) was more or less a back-bencher. More moderate than many of his Republican colleagues (he voted for some budgets and voted to place bond measures on the ballot that would make a true-blue conservative roll their eyes), Houston was able to hold onto his office through three elections despite an increase of Democrats in the district. That said, when he retired due to term limits, the GOP did not retain that district, which is currently represented by liberal Democrat Joan Buchanan (GOPer Abram Wilson is making a spirited run to reclaim that seat this November).

I have to admit that I was somewhat surprised to receive a telephone call from… Read More

With the state facing what is now a $19.1 billion budget shortfall, as we sit here now over a month into the fiscal year without a state spending plan, you can expect to see a lot of “creative” ideas coming out of liberal politicians who are desperately trying to close the budget gap while minimizing more cuts to state government spending. That having been said, virtually all of the one-time gimmicks and accounting tricks have already been used before reaching this point.

No one should be surprised that the latest “creative idea” to come out of the Capitol, purportedly floated by State Senate President Darrell Steinberg, is – you guessed it, another tax increase. His proposal is to raise most income tax rates for Californians, while lowering sales tax rates. The basic idea is that income taxes are deductable on itemized federal tax returns, and the swap in taxes would shift a few billion bucks from the coffers of the federal government into state government. John Myers of KQED Public Radio has an excellent summary and analysis of this proposal on his Capitol Notes Blog. I am excerpting some of it below,… Read More

From today’s Wall Street Journal… Jerry Brown’s Pension Punt The California Democrat won’t consider 401(k)s for state employees. The race for California Governor ought to come down to which candidate has a better chance to rein in the special-interest asylum that is the state legislature. Republican Meg Whitman is a conservative former eBay CEO but a political rookie, while former Democratic Governor Jerry Brown is a liberal but might be quirky enough to do a Nixon goes to Sacramento. Judging by his recent pension reform plan, however, Mr. Brown still has some relearning to do. This year, the Golden State is… Read More

With the state facing what is now a $19.1 billion budget shortfall, as we sit here now over a month into the fiscal year without a state spending plan, you can expect to see a lot of “creative” ideas coming out of liberal politicians who are desperately trying to close the budget gap while minimizing more cuts to state government spending. That having been said, virtually all of the one-time gimmicks and accounting tricks have already been used before reaching this point.

No one should be surprised that the latest “creative idea” to come out of the Capitol, purportedly floated by State Senate President Darrell Steinberg, is – you guessed it, another tax increase. His proposal is to raise most income tax rates for Californians, while lowering sales tax rates. The basic idea is that income taxes are deductable on itemized federal tax returns, and the swap in taxes would shift a few billion bucks from the coffers of the federal government into state government. John Myers of KQED Public Radio has an excellent summary and analysis of this proposal on his Capitol Notes Blog. I am excerpting some of it below,… Read More