It’s being reported as newsworthy that a "recall attempt" against State Senator Bob Huff failed to turn in enough signatures to qualify for the ballot — actually ZERO signatures were turned in.

My question is — why is this news? Elected officials are smacked with "Notice of Recall" forms fairly frequently, because doing this is not a difficult process, involving really an afternoon’s elbow grease. It’s the subsequent process, in the case of state legislators, of collecting tens of thousands of signatures that is a major endeavor.

It was clear to anyone observing the process that except for the attempted recall against Anthony Adams, that no other recalls were potentially viable.

Let’s be clear — Huff may have supported Proposition 1A on the May special election ballot (I spoke with him about it at the time, and he felt that the modest revenue smoothing measure contained within it was worth the trade-off on higher taxes — we agreed to disagree) but he opposed the February budget deal that brought us the… Read More

On his Fox News Channel show yesterday Glenn Beck had an interesting conversation with Columbia University professor David Buckner about the similarities between Dubai’s economic meltdown and California ’s financial crisis. It’s an interesting exchange and reiterates the fact that California cannot continue on its current path without impacting the rest of the world economy.

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There is a saying goes something like, "Adversity Breeds Opportunity."

This came to mind as I was reading stories in the SDUT, on the website of the Voice of San Diego, as well as a great column from FR friend Vince Vasquez on the up and coming SDRostra website — stories all about the massive budget deficit facing the City of San Diego, and the proposal of Mayor Jerry Sanders to try and address the $190 million shortfall.

First and foremost, let me commend Mayor Sanders for putting forward a package that does not seek an increase in taxes. Sanders (pictured), a Republican, understands that in a recession, you simply cannot ask taxpayers to reach deeper into their pockets. While the… Read More

California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, aka AB32, is predicated on the assertion by Governor Schwarzenegger and Mary Nichols, his appointee as Chairman of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and others that the “the science of global climate change is unequivocal and there is consensus among credible scientists.” Evidence of such usually and typically point to the various studies by the United Nations’ International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) group of self-appointed experts. Just over a week ago, however, internal communications from part of the IPCC support network came to light that questions their honesty and integrity, and most certainly raises questions about the very “settled science” that lies (pun intended) at the heart of AB32.

As a quick reminder to those not closely familiar with California’s “landmark” global warming legislation, AB 32 added the following to the Health and Safety Code 38501.… Read More

California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, aka AB32, is predicated on the assertion by Governor Schwarzenegger and Mary Nichols, his appointee as Chairman of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and others that the “the science of global climate change is unequivocal and there is consensus among credible scientists.” Evidence of such usually and typically point to the various studies by the United Nations’ International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) group of self-appointed experts. Just over a week ago, however, internal communications from part of the IPCC support network came to light that questions their honesty and integrity, and most certainly raises questions about the very “settled science” that lies (pun intended) at the heart of AB32.

As a quick reminder to those not closely familiar with California’s “landmark” global warming legislation, AB 32 added the following to the Health and Safety Code 38501.… Read More

State Senator Abel Maldonado sat down with the liberal editorial board of the Los Angeles Times. The paper has put online various short audio-clips from that interview.

I wouldn’t call the interview news-worthy in that Maldonado continues to throw the problems that California government faces not at the feet of the big spending liberals who control state government, but rather all "all of the partisans" — Republicans included.

I’m sure that Republicans in Sacramento, who are largely relegated to the sidelines by the Democrats, are equally to blame for our overspending mess.

It will be interesting to see the politics of Abel Maldonado’s confirmation. His strategy for getting confirmed seems to be to attack just about everyone with a vote.

I’m not sure that personal attacks are going to win you any votes, Senator. And when you have the nerve to trivialize an elected officials belief system, that is personal. When you imply that elected officials are only voting the way they are because of partisan politics, that is personal.

Senator, you may not be burdened with the inconvenience of uncompromising… Read More

In the shadow of the partisan splits on the budget is an interesting bipartisan campaign to go after federal education dollars. The Obama Administration has set aside $4.3 billion to distribute to states that adopt most of its recommended reforms. The California State Senate has already passed a reform bill that would constitute California’s application and the Assembly is scheduled to meet in special session (hard to remember there ever was a regular session) in December to consider the Senate bill.

I say "consider the Senate bill" because, while the money has been the focus of the headlines, it is the reforms that should have a greater impact on education in California. First, note the politics: the bill is jointly authored by Democrat Senators Gloria Romero and Elaine Alquist, as well as Republican Senators Bob Huff and Mark Wyland. Their collaboration is a testament that politicians can work together. The bill proposes several major changes in education. One of the most controversial is that the bill would permit, for the first time, student test data to be used in helping to evaluate the job performance of teachers and administrators. It… Read More

My assignment to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee has given me the unique opportunity to delve into the inner workings of California state government. Recently an investigation completed by the California State Auditors Office crossed my desk or inbox as the case may be. This report concluded that poor internal controls in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facilities are responsible for several instances of overpayment to employees for inmate supervision.

From March 2008 through February 2009 the State Auditor found five of the six facilities examined overpaid employees who did not meet the requirement for extra pay totaling a lost to the state of $34,512. Using this data it was concluded by the State Auditor as much as $588,512 was overpaid statewide during the same twelve-month period.

This is exactly the kind of waste the state cannot afford right now. Occurrences like these in previous years were a nuisance but could be considered budget dust, money not amounting enough to be concerned about, but now when we are cutting deeply into the Healthcare and… Read More