The new year brings us some new great places to get insightful news and observations on the California political scene. We’ve seen the arrival of non-profit investigative journalism organizations Cal Watchdog and California Watch, both with blogs. They are already producing great content and we’ll link to their best stuff.

Today brings a new big player from the main stream media blogging front — the Los Angeles Times has partnered with the venerable Capitol Weekly newspaper to create a new California Politics blog housed on the Los Angeles Times website. You can check out the new blog page at the LA Times website here. We’re expecting big things from Anthony York (pictured), Shane Goldmacher, and more on this site. Again, we’ll link to the best of the… Read More

Do people have a constitutionally protected right to dislike someone? "Associational rights" spring from the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and the U.S. Supreme Court says this right includes both the right to associate with others, and the right to not associate with others.

The debate in the current Federal trial in San Francisco on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the initiative that bans same-sex marriage in California, has gone well beyond resolving the question of whether gays and lesbians have a straightforward "right" to marry. The case has included allegations by the homosexual plaintiffs that the ballot proposition passed by majority vote, was stimulated by an "animus," or dislike for gay people, and therefore constituted an illegal conspiracy against them, rendering the Proposition null and void. The plaintiffs have sought to "discover" private internal memos and emails of Prop. 8’s political consultants, hoping to find disparaging remarks against homosexuals, to help prove their contention.

In the meantime, supporters of… Read More

UPDATE: 12:30PM — The transition from Assembly Republican Leader Blakeslee to Martin Garrick will take place in early February.

Just moments ago the Assembly Republican Caucus members gathered in the State Capitol and elected Assemblyman Martin Garrick (of San Diego County) to be their new leader.

Joining Garrick in leadership of the Assembly Republican Caucus will be Assemblywoman Connie Conway, who will serve as caucus Chairman.

As the story… Read More

After listening to a clip (thanks www.calcliptv.com ) of the hearing on Assemblyman Logue’s bill to suspend the state’s Anti-Global Warming Act (AB 32) until the economy is better, I am convinced that there is no more perfect issue for politicians than global warming. Strike that –than global climate change. Now strike that — than man-induced global climate change. Unlike early childhood education programs where you have to wait 13 years to measure if they worked or not, with the man-induced global climate change issue you will have to wait a century or two to know who was right. No politician voting today will ever be held accountable for being wrong on this issue.

It is really a faith-based issue. One side places their faith in the principle that man has caused a terrible problem that the planet is unable to accommodate, and that man must fix it. The other side places their faith in a planet that has absorbed planet-wide catastrophes in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Science is being used by both sides to justify conclusions, but in reality legislators’ positions are more… Read More

For the first time in three decades, Massachusetts has a Republican U.S. Senator. Awesome. A fine 'tribute' to scoundrel former Senator Ted Kennedy!… Read More

Scott Baugh has served as Chairman of the Orange County Republican Party for over five and a half years. Prior to that he served in the California State Legislator for nearly as long, and was elected by his peers as Assembly Republican Leader. In all of that time, Baugh has given hundreds, if not thousands of speeches.

Tonight, to use Baugh’s own words, he will deliver, "The most important speech of my life."

At 7pm this evening, hundreds of Republicans will converge on the Hyatt Hotel in Irvine for the first meeting of the year for the Orange County Central Committee. Everyone is buzzing as word has spread that Chairman Baugh has been cloistered away — writing, honing and perfecting a speech that… Read More

A Great Choice for Haiti Relief… With the tragic devastation in Haiti on just about everyone’s mind, many may still be deciding how they can help. There are of course several outstanding entities through which contributions can be sent. If anyone is looking for a homegrown organization with very low overhead and a great track record, California-based Rescue Task Force has my highest recommendation.

Started in 1988, RTF was led for many years by two Congressman Duncan L. Hunter staff members. Wendell Cutting passed away a few years ago, but many will remember him from his days as mayor of San Jacinto, president of California Republican Assembly, and — more recently — Hunter’s Congressional district director. Cutting is branded in the San Diego area as the namesake of a handful of continuing awards, given annually to those in the community exemplifying humanitarian efforts and high ethical standards.

RTF continues its relief efforts under the leadership of founder Gary Becks and his daughter Andrea Stone, in most cases with… Read More

Senator Abel Maldonado doesn’t like political parties. He makes that clear over and over again, whether stumping for his "top-two" ballot measure (that limits voter choice, keeps parties and vastly increases the cost of running for office) or now, in his official reaction to the Governor’s State Of The State Address.

As an officer with the Republican Party, I think it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I think that political parties are an important player in American politics, and would like to see my party grow in influence as much as possible, so that we can elect more people to office who support the outstanding policies outlined in our party’s platform.

Republicans believe that the problems we face in Sacramento have been largely created by decades of control of the legislature by liberal Democrats. Abel Maldonado seems to think that the problems in Sacramento are not caused by the Democrats, but by both parties. How you can possibly blame Republicans for our woes, given that we have virtually no input in California public policy (I don’t count Governor post-partisan)?

There are many who talk about the two… Read More