Andy Pugno is the legal counsel for ProtectMarriage.com and is the lead attorney defending Proposition 8 in Federal Court. Below is a column from Pugno worth a read… Pugno is blogging on the trial here. What First Amendment? By Andy Pugno, General Counsel, ProtectMarriage.com Over the last couple of days, we have been treated by the plaintiffs to astonishing intrusions into areas supposedly protected by the First Amendment, including religious freedoms and the political rights of… Read More

This morning Governor Schwarznegger put out a statement in response to the climbing jobless rate, saying that creating jobs was his top priority.

With all due respects, Governor, that is a lie.

The job-killing regulations in AB 32 are hurting our state’s economy and pushing people out of jobs. When you championed this bad legislation, you put in a provision for its suspension in bad economic times, which you could do with a stroke of a pen.

You should correct your release to be more accurate. You mean that you are for politically correct "green" jobs at the expense of all of the other sectors of the economy. You are for a big government that in the midst of a recession seeks to use its powers to manipulate the market instead of leaving it free, so that we can recover.

Instead of putting out some misleading release about your support for "jobs" you should either suspect AB 32 or perhaps apologize to Californians for your role in increasing unemployment rates.… Read More

I think its curious when State and local elected officials go to Washington DC to ask for money. Frankly, they seem to me quite like the sad blokes standing in the median of a busy street corner holding a cardboard sign.

Many State and local governments just haven’t done their job correctly in handling taxpayer dollars. They’ve negotiated stupid contracts with their employees, overpay for everything, and seemed genuinely stunned that there is a business cycle, you know, that period of time when tax revenues actually fall.

There may be nobody in America that has abdicated his responsibility worse than California’s Governor. Oh, he took a stab at reform, once, in 2005. After a crushing defeat, he never tried again. He is now a pathetic figure, flying back to Washington to beg for money, asking the feds to borrow from China and give it to California after laundering it through the bureaucracy.

This is all an attempt to get Washington to subsidize the poor performance of a Governor who should know better, and a psychotic Legislature, that even in the face of ANOTHER $20 billion deficit was STILL voting for single payer health care… Read More

This may come as a surprise to some, but perhaps not to all — but State Senator Abel Maldonado, while fairly well known by Republicans, is not well liked by Republicans. Gee, I wonder why? Could it be his deciding vote to smack every Californian with higher income, sales and car taxes?

I have just reviewed a statewide survey for the Lt. Governor GOP primary taken by Smith Johnson Research, of 500 likely Republican primary voters and on a first ballot test, the results are pretty clear. When those surveyed were asked for whom they would vote for Lt. Governor, they responded: FIRST BALLOT Aanestad 20.4 Maldonado … Read More

Earlier today, the Senate Democrats passed SB 810, which would mandate government run healthcare. The Democrats in Sacramento aren’t listening. The people don’t want a government run healthcare system. The lack of support for the federal proposal and the election results in Massachusetts, less than 48 hours ago, should indicate the public’s desire to have government stay out of their healthcare decisions.

SB 810 is far more intrusive than the federal program. And, it comes at a time when California is facing a $20 billion deficit and cuts are being made to education, healthcare, and public safety. The Legislature should not even contemplate implementing a program that will ration healthcare and cost over $200 billion annually – more than double the California State Budget.

This is the plan for you, if you want the compassion of the IRS and the efficiency of the DMV.… Read More

Wednesday was a great day all around. Not only did Scott Brown win an incredible victory in Massachusetts, but I saw polling numbers that show Tom Harman is leading all potential opponents to be our Republican nominee for Attorney General. Like many of you, I believe the tide is turning in our country and our state. Tom has always been a great supporter of mine, an excellent conservative particularly when it comes to holding the line on the budget and strengthening our criminal justice system and an aggressive fundraiser. This new survey of 500 registered Republican likely voters (see below) shows decisively that Harman is the frontrunner for the GOP nomination.

These results, along with his support from leading “3 Strikes and You’re Out” champion Mike Reynolds, are extremely strong indicators about the strength of his campaign and our opportunity to put this seat back in the GOP column – particularly when you consider that these same 500 Republicans said they would be more likely to support a… Read More

Yesterday U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina held a ten minute press availability in Sacramento, following the upset win of Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts on Tuesday. Because I am in Sacramento, I went over the handy Flash Flip Camera, and was able to tape the entire thing. So here’s your chance to see what one of these press avails is like, and of course to hear the candidate in her own words, as opposed to just a snippet or two in variou MSM stories…

… Read More

Last year Michael Steele upset the Republican establishment as the first outsider in a generation to win election as Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Massive forces were aligned against Steele, but the harsh lessons of wholesale Republican repudiations of 2006 and 2008 helped propel Michael’s message.

The message from Steele? That for Republicans to win again, they must embrace and act conservative. We have valuable lessons to learn from the Tea Party movement. Depending on the Republican bulls in Congress could be fatal. Over the years, many RNC vendors grew rich over no-bid contracts. In fact, there still remains an RNC member who was paid over $1,000,000 from the RNC — who was a fierce opponent to Steele’s election. Chairman

Steele promised reforms. No more no-bid contracts. Old favored vendors would have to compete. The Establishment would have to move over and and re-invent themselves.… Read More