Some years ago I wrote a post on the death of my dog, Felony the Dog, that came to mind today when I learned that Kingpin, the dog of my friends, Jason and Patty Roe, was on his last legs. As a person who spent many years in the company of Kingpin I thought I’d republish. After all, if the people in politics were more like dogs, we’d have to watch our backs a bit less and our shoes a bit more. To me that would be a fair trade.

Eat many burgers in your last days Kingpin, and take many walks.

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FELONY THE DOG

For some thirteen years I’ve had a British Staffordshire Terrier named Felony the Dog, or Felony for short. One of my peers in my first year of law school had purchased a puppy, but his apartment manager had very particular and definite views about the acceptability of pets that required either Donald and Felony, or just Felony, to move. Donald chose to stay, and I, who had just moved into an ancient Victorian downtown that happened to have a yard, became Felony’s new owner. Felony proved to be an intelligent dog who picked her friends and her enemies at first site and generally stuck with the… Read More

Brett Henry leaving the race opened up the San Bernardino area of the seat for another candidate. Ken Hunter is already running from that side of the district. Hesperia Unified School Board Member Anthony Riley is getting in the race. Anthony worked for Supervisor Gary Ovitt until recently and hung out a shingle for a PR firm.

Riley has had an interesting journey. While part of his resume is staffer, he was also principal of the now defunct charter school.

But even more importantly Anthony Riley was on Melrose Place. Yes in a small role he was back when Heather Locklear, no relation to the State Treasurer, was hot. Okay she is still hot.

A couple of issues may be in a GOP primary are the fact the local teachers union supported his election and the charter school officials up above him are in criminal trials (not him, but mail pieces may say it.).

More importantly can he raise the money? The machine in San Bernardino County that was there when Adams was elected is not there. Although, Riley has shown he can compete in many difficult environments.

This race will be a barnburner.… Read More

***Apparently as quick as it was up, the post is now down that is references below. I have an email into Aaron Park to figure out what the deal is — since I linked to his post after he notified me of it. I did not download the docs separately. I will let you know what happens…***

Longtime NorCal conservative activist Aaron Klein just hit me with an email to check out the latest story he has filed on his RightOnDaily.com website. So clicked to check it out and when I ready his post, Abel Maldonado Got His Wages Garnished For Back Child Support, I admit that I was a bit skeptical. After all, Maldonado went through a bruising primary in his first run for the Assembly, and I don’t remember him having any "Deadbeat Dad" allegations.

I am sure that the Governor’s office goes through a thorough vetting process for all potential appointees, let alone to be nominated to fill a vacancy in such a significant Constitutional Office. If you had a short list… Read More

Famed politico and senior level Whitman for Governor consultant Mike Murphy fired a shot across the bow of the S.S. Poizner, in response to the accusations leveled by Poizner this morning (see the blog post below this one). Murphy’s statement: "After reading the ridiculous charges made by Steve Poizner during today’s strange press conference, all I can say is that I’m starting to worry about Commissioner’s mental condition. It is true that I have been trying to find a way to avoid a costly and unnecessary Republican primary. I believe it is important that Republicans across California unite around Meg Whitman to defeat Jerry Brown in the fall. It is also true that I am not the only one with this view. Many Republican leaders are more and more concerned that the Poizner campaign, now 28+ points behind in the… Read More

[As you read this, please note that the Hillary Clinton Campaign has acknowledged to Chief Justice George’s attorney that he appears on their campaign reports in error. So my story was based on inaccurate information on the FEC website, and my accusation was, as it turns out, unfounded. See more here – Flash]

Just a few minutes ago, I got off of the phone with Beth Jay, the Principal Attorney for Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George. She called me in response to my commentary this morning taking the Chief Justice to task for what appear to be many contributions to the Hillary Clinton for President campaign back in 2008.

While telling me that she can understand why I could have reached the conclusion that Justice George had made those contributions (hmmm, because the FEC website identified… Read More

A good friend of the FlashReport, an attorney who does a lot of reporting compliance work, offered the following observation on this flap over the Chief Justice being the victim of a "drive by reporting…"

I could see how an incorrect occupation/employer would end up listed on a campaign report. Our firm prepares dozens of these reports per filing period, and for a committee as large as Hillary’s, the recordkeeping is astronomical. In an attempt to comply with reporting requirements, we often resort to google when we can’t reach a donor to obtain their address (in CA has to be a street address), occupation and employer. If we find a match that appears accurate, we go with it. Especially at the CA level, there is no “best efforts” rule like there is at the federal level – in CA, if you don’t obtain the street address, occupation and employer, the contribution has to be returned. At the federal level, the committee need only show that it made its “best efforts” to obtain the information, and can keep the contribution in the absence of the information being collected – so… Read More

As far as the “jobs, jobs, jobs” mantra, we can spend with borrowed money, which is not popular with voters, or we can look at what is right in front of our noses. To stop the hemorrhaging of jobs, the obvious thing for government to do is lower the cost of labor by cutting back on payroll taxes paid by employers and workers.

I plugged in data for an imaginary California worker making $45,000 a year who is single with no deductions and here is how it breaks out:

Gross pay (per month): $3,750 Federal income tax: $543 FICA (social security): $232.50 Medicare: $54.38

So already out of a gross pay of $3,750, this hypothetical Californian has over $829 taken out by the federal government before he gets a dime. But we need to add California’s payroll taxes.

California has four State payroll taxes which are administered by the Employment Development Department (EDD). They are Unemployment Insurance and Employment Training Tax, which are employer contributions, and State Disability Insurance (SDI) and Personal Income Tax… Read More

The California Supreme Court made the right choice today when it sided with voters and victims by upholding Jessica’s Law 2,000-feet living restriction for sex offenders who were paroled after the date the law was passed

I am pleased with the ruling. The court has upheld the will of the voters and the rights of victims who, let’s not forget, have suffered from the hands of society’s worst criminals.

The court’s ruling is consistent with the intent behind Jessica’s Law, which is to provide better safety for children by preventing paroled sex offenders from living near schools.

According to the Declaration of Independence, our leaders have the right to rule only with ‘the consent of the governed’ and the California Supreme Court proved that today. It’s a good day for Californians and for Democracy.… Read More