I looked over the state Legislative Analyst’s recent report about the fiscal outlook for next year. I certainly was not expecting any good news, but I at least expected a realistic view of the dire situation the state is in. I was stunned by what I saw. The LAO is projecting a 14.5% increase in expenditures next year over this year. Go ahead, read that sentence again: he is saying the state will spend 14.5% MORE money next year than this year.

In part that is because many of the sneaky "savings" games the Governor and Legislature have played will expire. No more borrowing from cities, stealing from redevelopment agencies, or shifting state employees’ December payday into the next calendar year. At the same time, federal stimulus money will expire and our state’s debt service will soar.

http://www.lao.ca.gov/2009/bud/fiscal_outlook/fiscal_outlook_111809.aspx

To put this into perspective, consider these figures distilled in a recent issue of Political Pulse: In 1990-91 the state spent $1,350 per person. By the current fiscal… Read More

Since our last day of officially publishing the links to top stories in California politics was Friday, December 19 — I thought I would provide FR readers with a quick summary of some of what took place while our FR elves were taking some much needed R&R.

Click through on any links to read the full stories!

The Center for Investigative Reporting has been around for a long time — but their new endeavor, California Watch, is new the California political scene. At a time when we see MSM newspapers devoting fewer and fewer resources to investigative journalism — especially in politics — California Watch represents an effort at serious watchdog journalism not by the media, but by a non-profit foundation. A longtime friend of this website publisher is the Editorial Director of California Watch — Mark Katches. I met Mark when he used to work at the Orange County Register. It is also noteworthy that another longtime FR friend, Bob Salladay (formerly an ace reporter and blogger with the Los Angeles Times) is onboard advising this endeavor.

I’m quite certain that everyone at California Watch would agree with my observation that this is no right-of-center endeavor. Hardly. That said, shining the light into the farthest, darkest corners of state government is an endeavor that should be applauded, even if many of those shining the flashlights voted for President Obama. I reached out to Mark and asked… Read More

When the Fresno County GOP was fined $29,000 for taking contributions from a San Diego family and donating them to a State Assemblyman, I said at the time that the primary function of political parties today is to "launder money". You would have thought I revealed a deep secret of politics, and of course, I was right, as today’s California Watch documents, there is significant money laundering on both sides of the aisle.

I was particularly amused by being taken to task for my statements by one Steve Maviglio, who is mostly famous for defending the records of such "effective" poltiical leaders as Gray Davis and Karen Bass. In his "California Majority Report" (why would they even be proud of being the majority when they’ve bankrupted the State?) he refers to money laundering as a felony, which is true.

I guess the entire political system is full of felons… Read More

From Judy Lloyd, Vice Chairman of Lincoln Club of Northern CA and a client of Jane Clark in AD 15 in 2008 – Bay Area Republicans are saddened at the loss of one of our most dynamic Republican fundraisers, Jane Clark this New Year’s Day.

Reports are that Jane had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer just a week before. At first the prognosis was for aggressive chemotherapy then the tragic news that Jane only had one week to live. Sadly, Jane passed on New Year’s Day, with Bruce McPherson, the former Secretary of State, her friend and former client, at her side as well as her dear friend Anne Appleman. Jane had been a great friend and colleague of mine for many years. She helped many national, Bay Area and Central Valley Republicans including McPherson, Jeff Denham, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Jim Cunneen, Dick Rainey, and most recently Carly Fiorina. She also had several non-profit clients who adored working with her… Read More

The Federal court trial on the constitutionality of Proposition 8’s ban on same-sex marriage will begin in San Francisco on January 11. But the parties to the suit are busy as bees with preliminary motions. One of those motions would have required the Prop. 8 political consultants to turn over all their internal strategy memos and emails to their pro-gay marriage opponents to examine them for evidence of anti-homosexual animus. The idea being that if these private documents and correspondences revealed any antipathy to gays and lesbians, as such, the entire intiative would be tainted as an unconstitutional conspiracy and quickly overturned. A Federal judge agreed to force disclosure of the documents late last year, but an appeal to the 9th Circuit leavened the hysterics of opponents and the political consultants can now keep their memos in their vaults. This trial will contrast the drama of a Perry Mason closing argument to the thrill of a visit to Fleischacker Zoo.… Read More

Once again government is picking winners and losers. In this case, I get to look no further than the Orange County Children and Families Commission (the local "First Five" Commission, which is financed through a mandated tobacco tax — there is a statewide commission, and then 58 county commissions, all happily redistributing wealth).

In yesterday’s Orange County Register there was a story that the OC First Five Commission is going to be dropping $125k in medical school loan forgiveness for six lucky government-chosen doctors. Specifically, for six pediatric specialists who meet the following criteria: The doctors must practice in Orange County and accept patients enrolled in Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, the state’s low-cost insurance program.

It has been well documented that California has a tough time attracting new doctors because of the high cost of living here, combined with the high costs of malpractice insurance (this is one… Read More

Candidates are already jockeying for position to run to replace George Radanovich in the 19th Congressional District. As currently constituted, the 19th is a safe GOP seat, so all the action is in the primary this June. Rumored candidates are State Senator Jeff Denham, Former Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson, and current Fresno City Council Member Larry Westerlund.

The Lincoln Club of Fresno County is presently considering opening a federal committee in order to participate in Congressional races in 2010. If we do, I can assure you, those that we interview for Congressional District 19 will come out of a meeting with us bleeding. There will be demands placed on whoever the candidates are that they legislate with conservative credentials – period.… Read More