When Sony Pictures released the movie, “Who Killed the Electric Car,” (http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/electric.html) the U.S. political landscape was much different, and Detroit had a lot more clout than it does today. The movie honed in on a very specific moment in time when the California Air Resources Board (CARB) eliminated the production of electric vehicles in the zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) initiative, and pinned the blame on D.C.-based lawsuits and lobbying in Sacramento as the reasons electric cars failed to achieve economically-feasible market share. I’d be the last person to underestimate the effects of Sacramento lobbying, but in truth, there have been two primary consumer concerns that have inhibited the success of the electric car: · the cost of the vehicles is higher than comparably-sized gasoline cars; and … Read More

What California needs is a release of middle management prison bureaucrats. Instead of pushing a plan of early release of tens of thousands of convicted felons from our state prison we ought to be looking for savings by cutting the fat out of CDCR.

The Governor’s prison budget savings plan would release nearly 30,000 prisoners into our communities. Senate Republicans have a safe and sane plan to achieve the same level of savings without any early release of prisoners, and it’s in writing.

See the "Corrections Budget Reductions" document below.

California has virtually the same number of prisoners in state prison than it did ten years ago, while the state population continues to increase. The number of individuals in state prison in California is roughly average per capita in the US, why the rush to release.

We should cut the fat instead of releasing dangerous felons into our neighborhoods.

Corrections Budget Reductions

Summary of conflicts between Democrat and Administration’s jointly proposed cuts to Corrections and Senate Republican… Read More

I wonder if legislative Democrats realize how good they got it in this current budget revision deal? When you consider the fact that state government has a shortfall of over a quarter of its current fiscal year general fund budget, and that raising taxes or fees were quite literally off the table, it was looking like this would be the "day of reckoning" for the big-spending liberals that have dominated state government for so many decades. After year after year of catering to the state’s massive public employee unions — and dropping a seemingly endless supply of other people’s money into one social program after another — somehow Senate President Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat.

Let me say from the outset that we can thank the resolve of Governor Schwarzenegger and our Republican legislator that we do not have any tax increases in current budget deal. Clearly they were listening when taxpayers rejected the massive tax increases on the May special election ballot. The Governor also gets a lot of kudos for quickly coming out of the gate after that election with a… Read More

I wonder if legislative Democrats realize how good they got it in this current budget revision deal? When you consider the fact that state government has a shortfall of over a quarter of its current fiscal year general fund budget, and that raising taxes or fees were quite literally off the table, it was looking like this would be the "day of reckoning" for the big-spending liberals that have dominated state government for so many decades. After year after year of catering to the state’s massive public employee unions — and dropping a seemingly endless supply of other people’s money into one social program after another — somehow Senate President Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat.

Let me say from the outset that we can thank the resolve of Governor Schwarzenegger and our Republican legislator that we do not have any tax increases in current budget deal. Clearly they were listening when taxpayers rejected the massive tax increases on the May special election ballot. The Governor also gets a lot of kudos for quickly coming out of the gate after that election with a… Read More

Orange County local elected officials will come together tomorrow to oppose the compromise budget deal. They call it a "Reckless and Irresponsible Ponzi scheme."

Already in this forum there is commentary on the League’s response.

Fleischman brings up an interesting point. Perhaps there ought to be an alternative organization that represents the interests of cities. I am thinking of a PAC, totally separate from governments yet funded via the efforts of local elected officials.

Smaller government is a great idea, but in the mean time, I trust local governments to spend my taxpayer dollars more than I trust the legislature. It is much easier to hold accountable the city council member I see in Synagogue or the water board member I run into at the super market.

I wish local elected officials had more clout in Sacramento. A fund raising vehicle that would support their interests would help.

Click below to see the full media advisory.

* * * NEWS CONFERENCE ADVISORY * * * Media Advisory: City Officials and Taxpayer Advocates Hold Press Conference Wednesday, July 22 at 2:00 p.m. to Condemn State Budget Deal… Read More

Those who have talked to me about it know that I have been stewing for a few weeks now about the vote of Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack in support of the national energy tax bill ("cap and trade") that narrowly passed through the House of Representatives. Astonishingly and in a most disappointing development, Republican Members of the House provided the margin of passage for what was hailed as Nancy Pelosi’s most important legislative achievement as Speaker. Because my brain is hard-wired to California politics, my angst is largely directed to Bono Mack, the only California Republican to vote for this terrible piece of legislation. The state budget crisis has provided me with a little bit of a distraction, and spared Rep. Bono Mack, thus far, of a pretty hard-hitting commentary from this website publisher.

That said, this morning I was perusing the Red County website, and came across what I would call a "must read" column from FR friend Chip Hanlon. Chip, a conservative who "gets it" has been providing solid leadership in my home county of Orange for many years, and I am pleased to say that he has started to provide some… Read More

Mr. Fleischman poses an interesting question in his post two below, specifically: Is there any statewide group out there that represents cities besides the League of California Cities? Let me attempt to answer.

Jon, although there are no other statewide groups that represent cities of which I am aware, there are a number of groups across the state that do in fact represent individual cities.

They are called city councils.

However, all too often these bodies and/or their individual members seem to march lockstep, herd mentality, with the consistent pro-tax philosophy of the "League."

All the more ironic, in that the League itself really doesn’t represent any taxpayers, at least not directly, while the city councilmembers most certainly do.

The reason I mention such heresy, is that I know there are dozens and perhaps hundreds of locally-elected city officials from throughout California that do in fact understand and realize the duplicityof a statewide association that admittedly does a pretty decent job in protecting… Read More

From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary E-mail…

Arnold Wins a Round

… Read More