Quote of the day: "No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session." – Mark Twain 1866 Samuel Clemens would be comforted to know that his life, liberty, and property are now safe for the next 5 weeks as the House of Representatives has adjourned for the traditional August recess. The Senate is in for another week, but it can do little damage without our concurrence. Here is my brief synopsis of the state of some current issues:

Healthcare: As of this writing, the last committee in the House to mark-up the ‘socialized health care bill,’ Energy and Commerce, is still meeting. So, there isn’t much I can tell you right now. But one thing you ought to know is that I am a cosponsor of a resolution that says that if the bill passes, Members of Congress should be placed onto the government plan. Currently there are 66 cosponsors of the resolution, all Republicans. So, no one who is going to vote to force you into government run health care is willing to commit that they too… Read More

Generally, when a new “public opinion survey” comes out, I am pretty cynical about it. Having had a lot of exposure to the mechanics behind such surveys, and having had a lot of opportunities over the years to talk extensively with public opinion research specialists, I can say that without any hesitation that what comes out of a survey depends greatly on what you put into a survey. Or put another way – if you ask a slanted question, you will get a slanted answer.

The latest survey out from the Public Policy Institute of California presents a great example of manipulating those being surveyed to skew the results in a particular direction. The issue is on global warming and AB 32 – but first let me walk you through the broader survey manipulation issue…

You can write a whole book (I’m sure someone has) on all of the ways to manipulate the outcome of public opinion surveys. But one way that these kinds of surveys can fall short is that do not sufficiently educate the person being questioned before asking the question – producing a meaningless response. A hypothetical example of… Read More

Generally, when a new “public opinion survey” comes out, I am pretty cynical about it. Having had a lot of exposure to the mechanics behind such surveys, and having had a lot of opportunities over the years to talk extensively with public opinion research specialists, I can say that without any hesitation that what comes out of a survey depends greatly on what you put into a survey. Or put another way – if you ask a slanted question, you will get a slanted answer.

The latest survey out from the Public Policy Institute of California presents a great example of manipulating those being surveyed to skew the results in a particular direction. The issue is on global warming and AB 32 – but first let me walk you through the broader survey manipulation issue…

You can write a whole book (I’m sure someone has) on all of the ways to manipulate the outcome of public opinion surveys. But one way that these kinds of surveys can fall short is that do not sufficiently educate the person being questioned before asking the question – producing a meaningless response. A hypothetical example of… Read More

In response to recent comments from Speaker Karen Bass, whining about the Governor's veto-pen cuts to social programs, State Senator Bob Dutton put Bass in her place. Bass had accused the Governor of destroying California's safety net, putting lives in jeopardy and potentially killing people. Dutton has offered Bass a bi-partisan solution by using a $100 million in revenue from a proposed oil extraction contract and having that money fund programs for the most vulnerable Californians. That is a $100 million to help restore many of the programs Bass decried in her statement.

As Dutton put it: “If Speaker Bass is truly concerned about the additional cuts, I would urge her to quickly pass this bill off the Assembly Floor and send it to the governor for his signature. Doing so would allow $100 million in program cuts to be restored immediately.”

The ball is now in her court. Will Bass help California's most vulnerable or was it all talk? Is the Speaker truly an advocate for these programs? Or is she in the hip-pocket of the radical eco-nut agenda that would see not only a permanent moratorium on offshore drilling, but… Read More

I am really sick of reading idiotic reporting on the State budget, and I can’t take it anymore.

There is never, ever any reporting on anything other than a spending comparison to LAST year. I have not ever seen a five or ten year spending trend in the news. This is a deliberate omission which place the entire debate out of context.

The State is still spending more than five years ago and enormously more than ten years ago. This fact cannot be found anywhere.

Also missing from reporting is population, student enrollment, and other factors which need to be considered.

I don’t know if the MSM is lazy, or just disinterested, but as a loose institution it is incompetently reporting the situation in California.… Read More

I am pleased to commend a great and funny film by Nicholas Tucker. The movie is called "Do As I Say" and is based on a bestselling book compiling the hypocrisy of politicians, actors and other activists who demand that others pay “their fair share” in taxes while they take full advantage of ways to avoid paying them. The film is an official selection of the Sacramento Film & Music Festival and will be shown at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, July 28 at the Crest theatre in downtown Sacramento. I make a brief appearance in this clip .

… Read More

The 5th Assembly District, which is centered in Sacramento County, is currently occupied by Roger Niello who, fortunately, is forced to retire due to term limits. FR readers will undoubtedly recall Niello’s infamous vote for the largest tax increase in California history, and his vote tie even more massive tax increases to Proposition 1A should it have passed (fortunately the voters overwhelmingly rejected 1A). Niello, while being a truly nice guy, is too smart to get any kind of pass for abandoning the most significant premise of our party — which is that government is too big and spends too much.

I hear the argument from Republicans all of the time that we need to nominate “moderate” candidates in primaries because conservatives can’t win in swing districts. While I don’t agree with this argument at all, I can see why some people would buy into that logic. I believe you best defeat the other party by contrasting their views with ours — but some feel that you need to be "like them" to beat them – go figure.

That said, what I do not understand is why some believe we should nominate liberal or moderate Republicans in… Read More

Steve Poizner is by far the most compelling candidate for Governor in either party and I wholeheartedly support his candidacy to be our party’s nominee in June 2010. Furthermore, I am anxious to actively campaign for Steve because he specializes in exactly what our state and our party need – solutions. Steve spent his career in Silicon Valley creating jobs and building businesses, but most importantly he spent his career finding ways to make things work better. Steve is the man who engineered the technology to put GPS in cell phones, which is now the industry standard in 700 million cell phones worldwide. When he gets to Sacramento, he will be the Governor who puts a GPS tracker on every taxpayer dollar being spent by the Legislature, so you know where your money is going. Steve is the conservative candidate in this race and will offer the conservative solutions that our state so desperately need to move forward. I know this because Steve has already proven his conservative credentials at his post as Insurance Commissioner. Steve Poizner is the only candidate running for Governor who has actually cut waste from state government, and when he is… Read More