As a legislator, I am often asked by reporters how I can, in good conscious, oppose tax increases when the state is broke. My answer is simple: The state isn’t broke because of an anemic revenue flow; it’s broke due to poor decisions made by over-spending Liberals – like the $17,000 per year we spend on each California prison inmate and the gold plated compensation packages afforded to education bureaucrats instead of investing money in the classrooms (just to name a few budget problems). And now the California Taxpayers’ Association just released a report that reveals nearly $20 billion in state government waste, fraud and mismanagement in just the past decade alone! Cal-Tax President Teresa Casazza puts this gross mismanagement of taxpayers’ dollars into perspective: “Every penny of waste that is stopped is like a penny of new revenue that can help students, provide health care to the poor and keep convicted felons behind bars.” This report is further proof that shaking down taxpayers is not the… Read More

Supervisor John Benoit’s office just shared the details for the upcoming Memorial Service for Barry Nestande, who passed away last Friday… Services for Barry Nestande are as follows: Friday, March 26 at 10:00 AM Memorial Service in the Main Worship Center at Southwest Community Church in Indian Wells. Reception immediately to follow. … Read More

Republicans are not surprised that Obamacare could not have succeeded without Big Pharma, the Business Round table, Wal-Mart, the American Medical Association, and the American Hospital Association. All statists. All looters. Looking to increase market share and drill more out from government.

If we think the public sector unions are parasitical, we need look… Read More

I am listening in to a Meg Whitman tele-townhall. Got the call about 2 minutes ago.

Meg talked about eliminating a couple thousand appointees and running the state more like a business.

UPDATE: They are saying that thetele-townhall is just in Orange County.… Read More

Quote of the Day: “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” – Thomas Jefferson

The Vote: As of now, it looks like the final vote on $1 trillion in new taxes, $2 trillion in new spending, socialized medicine, and the confiscation of much of your freedom will be voted on at about 10:00 PM Eastern time tonight. I don’t know what is going to happen. I fear they will win. I pray they will not.

In an astounding show of arrogance, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a posse of her fellow Democrats chose to walk right through the group of people still protesting against the bill and for their civil and constitutional rights. They could have taken the tunnels under the Capitol, they clearly did this on purpose. She did this while holding a giant over-sized Speaker’s gavel in a gesture intended to taunt the assembled multitude. I’m not sure it is possible to overestimate the arrogance of this ruling majority. Their sense of omnipotence and their dismissal of the Constitution, the will of… Read More

Although I have in the past complained about the apparent lack of activity in the Assembly District 77 race to replace Joel Anderson, things now seem to be heating up, at least in the endorsement department.

In the last week and a half, Christine Rubin rolled out a handful of "name" endorsements, as well as the support of the Independence Caucus, while El Cajon Councilman Bill Wells nailed down the backing of a retired state senator and the conservative California Republican Assembly. The two each also gained the endorsements of former candidates in the race.

Rubin announced the support of former Secretary of State Bill Jones, State Senator Mark Wyland (her one-time boss), former Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, and former Cajon Valley Schools Trustee Jeff Kover, who earlier had been a candidate for the Assembly seat.

"Christine stands with me," said Jones,"in recognizing that a restoration of California’s greatness is only possible with common sense solutions to the State’s financial crisis. She knows that we… Read More

A new Survey USA poll shows former Mayor Jim Patterson tied for the lead with State Senator Jeff Denham in the race to succeed retiring Congressman George Radanovich. The shocking part of the poll is that former member of Congress Richard Pombo in in 3rd place, well back of the leaders.

Now, while I have not made a personal endorsement in this race (that’s coming), it is interesting to note that Mr. Patterson has literally spent zero money promoting his campaign, while both Denham and Pombo have been hitting the airwaves regularly in their quest to become better know in the Fresno market.

Powerful ag and business interests have lined up behind Pombo, as well as respected Member of Congress Devin Nunes, but the question remains: in 2010, will voters select a 14 year former Member to represent them, in this year of throwing out everyone connected to the failures of the federal government?

This is the central issue to be overcome by Pombo, and while he’ll have enough money to get his message out, serving in Congress from 1992 – 2006 might… Read More

Most Americans oppose the Obama/Reid/Polosi rush to massively increase the role of the United States government in health care delivery. For good reason, there is no reason to believe, for even a moment, that shifting a significant percentage of our country’s economy from the private sector to the public sector is anything other than a recipe for disaster.

As of this morning, Speaker Pelosi’s operatives are saying they have the necessary 218 votes in the House to pass the bill. That is unfortunate – but not surprising. Democrats have a substantial majority in the House, and never underestimate the power of a determined President…

The only silver lining in this very, very heavy, black and rainy cloud is that in order to pass this legislation (and substantially advance the cause of progressivism in American), a lot of Democrats will be signing their own death warrents — since so many are in districts with voters who very much oppose this extreme plan.

… Read More