President’s speech: Many of you probably watched the President’s Wednesday night address to a joint session of Congress on health care. Such addresses to a joint session are usually done for the State of the Union or a national military emergency (9/11). It is quite rare to use this for a single policy address.

I was frankly surprised at what went on. This was really more like a lecture than a speech. Rather than accept the legitimate concerns of those (including this writer) who disagree with the president’s health care plan and discuss potential for compromise, Mr. Obama chided and taunted his opposition. You can’t say "we will call you out" in reference to people who will say things with which the President disagrees, and then expect to work with and be trusted by those same people. The President’s tone was haughty and condescending. As a result, the atmosphere is the room was extremely acrimonious. Maybe this mood didn’t come across on TV, but you could cut the air with a knife in that room. That is why there were more outbursts than usual.

The President sets the tone, and the tone was one of… Read More

Have you forgotten — I never will.

Remembering those lost in the 9-11 Attack on America, the unbelievable men & women who ran into the fire to save others, the courageous Flight 93 passengers or the brave men & women of the United States Armed Services.

I’ll never forget that day – and those innocent or brave lives lost. It’s burned forever into my mind, and my heart. I’ll never forget the feelings of loss – and the pride at brave police and firefighters who ran into the fire to save others.

I’ll never forget the rage at the barbarian terrorists whose utter disregard for human life demands they be stamped out utterly, wiped from the earth.

And I’ll never forget our brave men & women in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines who daily defend the freedom of America. Perhaps that’s why I think honoring our Armed Forces is not a small thing, not a political game – it’s more important than partisan games or… Read More

Have you forgotten — I never will.

Remembering those lost in the 9-11 Attack on America, the unbelievable men & women who ran into the fire to save others, the courageous Flight 93 passengers or the brave men & women of the United States Armed Services.

I’ll never forget that day – and those innocent or brave lives lost. It’s burned forever into my mind, and my heart. I’ll never forget the feelings of loss – and the pride at brave police and firefighters who ran into the fire to save others.

I’ll never forget the rage at the barbarian terrorists whose utter disregard for human life demands they be stamped out utterly, wiped from the earth.

And I’ll never forget our brave men & women in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines who daily defend the freedom of America. Perhaps that’s why I think honoring our Armed Forces is not a small thing, not a political game – it’s more important than partisan games or… Read More

Speaker Karen Bass today temporarily recused Assemblyman Jeff Miller from the Ethics Committee that is investigating Mike Duvall’s actions. Presumably that’s because it was Miller to whom Duvall was regaling with his sexcapades in the infamous video, and bass feels there would be some sort of conflict.

But what about Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, who is the co-chair fo the Ethics Commitee? Here he is at a California Against Waste event with ith Heidi Barsuglia, the lobbyist with whom Duvall was (allegedly) having an affair:

Somehow, I don’t think Speaker Bass will be quite so sensitive to appearances off conflicts in this instance.

[Don’t bother looking for the photo: it’s been dropped down the memory hole].… Read More

I come from the Adam Probolsky school on the issue of self-promotion but regardless this little saga deserves some mention here.

In 2007, Newport Beach’s Bill Ficker, an architect and winner ofThe America’s Cup, the most prestigious regatta and match in the sport of sailing, teamed with local philanthropist Jack Croul and former State Senator Marion Bergeson, and their friend Ron Hendrickson, to advance a plan to place the new Newport Beach City Hall building in a very logical location: an empty lotnear Fashion Island right next to the Main City Library.

But the majority of the City Council didn’t like the idea. They seemed to want the City Hall at a nearby bus station. So Ficker and Company decided to go directly to the people with an initiative campaign. They hired Scott Taylor to do the campaign for them (whose office is nearby Ficker’s in Newport Beach) and Scott recommended me to do the lawyering.

So I wrote a prettystraightforward proposed charter amendment. It had a number of clauses to it, and it was carefully drafted, but its purpose was very clear: any new City… Read More

When the tale is told of this year’s legislative session, clearly one of the major themes we will see is the inability of Senate President Darrell Steinberg to actually achieve major accomplishments — unless you count the inability to do so as some sort of achievement.

Darrell "Deal Killer" Steinberg is so tied and beholdin’ to the most ideologically extreme elements of his caucus that we are about to watch opportunities to resolve issues like the water infrastructure shortage, the prison funding crisis, and our state energy challenge Perhaps I should alter my perspective a bit. As a conservative ideologue, perhaps I should relish the fact that Steinberg’s "leadership" is stopping progress in all of these areas. Invariably I probably would be less than satisfied with compromise solutions on any of these topics.

Nevertheless, I presume that Senate Democrats actually want to achieve nothing of note… Read More

Yesterday I reported that Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby called and told me that his is a candidate for the GOP nomination in Assembly District 72. Currently Norby still occupies that territory all by himself. But names are definitely swirling around of other potential candidates. These (so far) include Republican National Committeewoman Linda Ackerman (the wife of now-retired Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman), Placentia Councilman Scott Nelson, former Placentia Councilman ____, Orange Councilman Jon Dimitru.… Read More

Anyone who believes that voter fraud is a thing of the past or not a serious problem in the United States should read these headlines that were published in papers around the country in recent days:

* Two more charged with voting fraud in Lexington election * Update: Atlantic City councilman’s job status still undecided

* 11 accused of faking voter registration cards in Miami-Dade

Our right to vote is one of our most cherished freedoms. Therefore, we must never tolerate voter fraud.

To learn more what we are doing to prevent voter fraud in California, visit www.votesafenow.org… Read More