Republican candidate for Governor Steve Poizner unveiled a new and innovative conservative tax policy yesterday at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. Commissioner Poizner is proposing across-the-board tax cuts for every Californian and an innovative jobs program that will get California’s economy back on track. One of the things I like best about Poizner’s plan is that he is proposing specific, detailed policies on how to cut taxes. I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves: When he is Governor, Poizner will enact the following tax cuts: · 10% cut in personal income tax rates · 10% cut in the state sales tax rate · 10% cut in the corporation tax rate · … Read More

Imagine that you are the proud owner of a cement manufacturing company. The government has just sent you an informative, yet unfortunate reminder that your production costs are about to be raised yet again.

As a person working in the cement industry, you probably followed the legislative proceedings regarding the Global Warming Solution Act of 2006 (Nunez), that was passed into California law. After three years, you receive this reminder from the government that, after three long years, their statewide crackdown on global warming is ready for action!

Well, not exactly.

Before things really get going, they’ll need just a little more of your money: 10 cents for every ton of cement that your plant produces, to be exact. This may not seem like much to an ordinary citizen, but you know full well that the average cement establishment, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Portland Cement Association, produces over 420,000 tons of cement yearly. This means that the $42,000 you could have spent to create another California job is now going to help pay for a new government position on the Air Resources Board.

And even that assessment is an… Read More

This just in. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today sent a letter to Attorney General Jerry Brown calling for a "full investigation into ACORN’s activities in California." The letter is attached below.

Also, according to Jim Sills at sdrostra.com, Sean Hannity tonight will air another video investigation of ACORN out of San Diego. Read it here.

Developing.… Read More

Like every aspect of California government, state parks are in financial troubled waters.

As an outdoors enthusiast I am saddened by this inevitable outcome. As a result, many parks will be boarded up or padlocked and left unavailable to Californians and tourists.

I believe we could remediate the problem through a variety of means, including partnering with private industry to offer more services; subletting to counties, cities or non-profits; allowing more volunteers to work at our parks, and charging more at the gate.

Environmentalists have other ideas. They are after the wallets of California car owners by way of a $15 per year hikeon vehicle registration fees.This is an unfair idea, as it’s not safe to assume that every car owner visits state parks. There’s no nexus to this scheme. I mean why must my mother, who owns a car strictly for driving to the store and church, subsidize my outdoor activities?

The environmentalist groups must collect more than a half million signatures to qualify the proposal for the November 2010 ballot. When signature… Read More

STATE GOP TAPS FUNDRAISING VETERANS FOR KEY POSTS The California Republican Party (of which I am an elected officer) has made a couple of key announcements concerning its finance team for this election cycle which are worthy of mention.

The first is that Tony Russo, who served as Chairman of the Party’s Team California Program last cycle will reprise his role. This is a key position for the party, and under Russo’s leadership last cycle, working with the leadership of the State GOP, over $14 million was raised for party operations and candidate support.

The other announcement is that Jeff Miller (pictured) will be back with the CRP (having last been there when I was Executive Director, back in the 2000 cycle) – taking on the role of Finance Chairman. Miller has strong credentials and an energetic and focused fundraiser, and currently serves as a Co-Chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association.… Read More

The La Mesa-Spring Valley School Board in San Diego’s EastCounty caused somewhat of a stir last week when they held a special meeting on Labor Day, voting 3-2 against a live airing of President Barack Obama’s address to school-kids the next day. It appears that since then some if not all of those in the majority have had second thoughts about the decision, but you can understand how this sort of thing could still be a tad controversial.

As I write tonight, the board is holding a regular meeting where they will consider officially apologizing. I won’t even touch that decision. Additionally, however, Trustee Rick Winet is asking his colleagues to support a staff recommended resolution condemning threats against school officials, to wit (excerpted):

WHEREAS, all school officials, as part of their duties, made decisions that, at times, may be unpopular;

\WHEREAS, all people are entitled to a safe and healthy community;

WHEREAS, in today’s society individuals may respond to unpopular decisions with threats and personal attacks;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Education of… Read More

While it has been talked about widely as a possibility, ace OC Register Political Reporter Martin Wisckol has written that Linda Ackerman has announced her candidacy ‘- by text message! That’s a first! This matches up with our solid FR sources confirm that tomorrow, Linda Ackerman will more "officially: announce her candidacy for the 72nd Assembly District seat left vacant with the abrupt resignation of ex-Assemblyman Mike Duvall.

While many know the "Ackerman" name through the lengthy and storied political career of her husband, Dick (who served in the Assembly and Senator, in the latter chamber as Republican Leader), Linda has her own impressive portfolio that extends well beyond that of toiling side by side with her husband. Linda has been a long-time leader in Orange County and California Republican politics. Her popularity in the party was… Read More

Just a few minutes ago Meg Whitman announced that she is making a $250,000 donation to the California Republican Party to bolster its efforts towards registering voters.

In making the announcement, Whitman said, "To rebuild California with a Republican vision, we must first rebuild the Republican Party. Californians today are paying higher taxes and getting little in return. We’ve lost hundreds of thousands of jobs, but do not encourage job creation. This must end."

I want to take this opportunity to personally thank Meg Whitman for this contribution, as an officer of the party. I can tell you that raising money for the party’s support of candidates in general elections is an easier task than it is to get early money from those who have to have a pretty mature understanding that you can’t win elections next year without investing in party "infrastructure" this year. It is my hope that many of Whitman’s donors follow her lead — and to the extent they have the ability to do so, it would be great if Steve Poizner and Tom Campbell would also step up with contributions from themselves or their donors to the… Read More