I received the following statement from Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform. FR readers will recall that is ATR’s No New Taxes pledge that Maldonado egregiously violated. No one forced him to sign the pledge, and no one forced Maldonado to vote to smack California taxpayers with the largest tax increase ever in the history of any state… “I urge California legislators to reject political payback for the guy that provided the deciding vote for the largest state level tax increase in the history of the United States.

First Abel Maldonado gets his ballot measure that would destroy the integrity of the primary election process in exchange for throwing already over-burdened California taxpayers under the bus, breaking his promise to not raise taxes in the process.

Now Abel Maldonado is on the cusp of rising to higher office.

This is not someone California taxpayers want sitting just one heart beat away from becoming governor.

The only job his recent behavior… Read More

The pervasive and corrupting influence of the state’s public employee unions is obvious. But we don’t need to tell Meg Whitman that, she’s talked about it on the campaign trail.

The Citizen Power Initiative, if passed, would curb the ability of unions to take money out of the paychecks of their members for for political purposes without their express permission.

There is no doubt that California will not get back on the right track until we can pass this important reform.

Tom Campbell has talked about this on the campaign trail — and has endorsed the Citizen Power Initiative.

Steve Poizner has talked about this on the campaign trail — and has endorsed the Citizen Power Initiative.

Chuck DeVore has talked about this on the campaign trail — and has endorsed the Citizen Power Initiative.

Carly Fiorina has talked about this on the campaign trail — and today has endorsed the Citizen Power Initiative.

That leaves only one candidate left on the campaign trail for Governor… Read More

Okay, I made the quote in the headline up. The County Supervisors didn’t really say that to SEIU when taking today’s action on a June ballot measure to ban PLAs. Not publicly, at any rate.

From the Del Mar Times…

http://www.delmartimes.net/news/265750-supervisors-consider-measure-to-ban-labor-agreements

Supervisors consider measure to ban labor agreements

The Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to consider putting a measure on the June 8 ballot that would ban project labor agreements on developments being undertaken by San Diego County.

A project labor agreement mandates that government contracts for public construction projects go only to union contractors.

The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to direct its lawyers to draft ballot language that would amend the county charter to prohibit project labor agreements. The panel also asked staff to craft an ordinance… Read More

In the face of the state’s perpetual budget crisis, some Californians are beginning to regret their votes in favor of the $9.9 billion high-speed rail bond last year. Even though proponents of the train have now admitted the bond was only a down payment on the actual cost to build the system, the numbers that were projected are changing—and all in the wrong direction.

The business plan released by the train’s advocates last month show the dramatic differences in what the voters were told and what reality is. For example, the price of a ticket from San Francisco to Los Angeles is now projected at $105, up from the previous $55 estimate. That new number changed the ridership predictions: now 41 million annual riders by 2035, down from last year’s prediction of 55 million passengers by 2030. The cost for building the train system has also grown. The proponents had been thinking $33.6 billion (2008 dollars) but have revised upward to $42.6 billion. Recently, the Obama administration announced $2.25 billion in funding for the project. Proponents said federal money would be used to close the gap between the voter-approved bond and the ultimate… Read More

CRA Statement on Maldonado Confirmation Vote The pending confirmation vote for Abel Maldonado as Lt. Governor is a sad day for California. He has not exhibited the honor, integrity or principles that merit support for this position. A confirmation would provide a stark contrast of the disconnect between the elitists and the Tea Party movement.

Ken Mettler, president of the California Republican Assembly, stated that, “Maldonado represents everything that is wrong with the Republican Party and support for him will further encourage many voters to register decline-to-state.”

Ken Mettler President California Republican Assembly __________________________________________________ One would imagine that since the CRA does not speak out ahead of time on too many legislative votes that this one is… Read More

One of the most prominent anti-tax organization in California, and across the country for that matter, is the National Tax Limitation Committee.

NTLC’s President, Lew Uhler, just sent over the following statement to publish on the FlashReport concerning the Governor’s nomination of State Senator Abel Maldonado to be Lt. Governor…

“I urge all legislators who are committed to limited government to vote against the confirmation of Senator Abel Maldonado to be Lt. Governor.

Taking a no new taxes pledge and then voting for the largest tax increase in the history of any state should not be rewarded."… Read More

The Nonpartisan Candidate Evaluation Council owes the Secretary of State over $84,000 in fines for failing to disclose its finances. I was a little stunned by this report. As readers may know, I am involved in the slate mail business as well as running my law firm. Nonpartisan is a venerable but aging slate mail organization that has successfully mailed millions and millions of slates over the last 50 or so years of operation in California. It generally helped Republican candidates. Over the years, its operating management has changed several times, with notable consultants including Allan Hoffenblum and Dave Gilliard doing a good job of managing its program, and Shawn Steel later involved in its oversight. I had some limited ties to it during the 2004 cycle. But the operating management changed again around 2004, and the slate mailer, according to a published report, and study by the Sacramento Bee, completely stopped filing disclosure reports in 2007. Nevertheless, it mailed slates in the 2008 election cycle. The Bee determined that… Read More

Dave Maass of San Diego CityBeat posted a story this afternoon that Attorney General Jerry Brown today called on CalPERS and CalSTRS to abide by the law and divest from Iran.

This follows CityBeat’s story of last week detailing how the two large pension systems are ignoring State law that bans investments in Iran and Sudan. The story was hi-lited on the FlashReport yesterday.

The AG uses strong language to note the flaunting of the requirements. "CalPERS and CalSTRS need to honor the state law requiring them to divest from companies doing business in Iran, " he writes. "It’s time for our public pension funds to show some leadership and stop supporting companies that do business with a tyrannical regime."… Read More