Check out this video of SEIU "Budget Bullies" Storming the Capitol Building today.… Read More

Well, I guess I played a role in an Orange County politician resigning from office today. Another dubious distinction for my resume.

Readers know I have been reporting here about the apparent jihadthat is ongoing by the Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, and the Los Angeles District Attorney, to nail people involved in politics who are registered to vote at one address, but apparently live most of the time at another. Mark Jacoby, a petition gatherer, was charged with a felony along these lines late last year and pled to a misdemeanor a couple weeks ago. I was surprised by the plea, I thought he might have gotten off if he fought the charges. But after his plea, the same authorities nailed liberal Latino activist Nativo Lopez with the same type of wrap, but with FOUR felony counts. He won’t enter a plea until next week, and is out on $55,000 bail. Ouch!

So on the 28th, when I read Teri Sforza’s story appearing in the Orange County Register on the 26th, (I was a little behind on my reading) about Metropolitan Water District of Southern California board member Ergun Bakall, who repsents… Read More

June’s local school tax elections went 3 for 4. Yesterday La Canada Unifiedapproved a parcel tax with over 70% of the Vote. They join Palos Verdes Peninsula and South Pasadena Unifiedin passing parcel taxes. Yours truly went 4 for 4 when Rowland Unified’s attempt to pass a parcel tax got a little over 51% of the vote. Parcel taxes need a two-thirds vote to pass.

It seems that these votes were referendums on their local school districts. Most local taxes are viewed through that lens. Each of these communities had rejected 1A on May 19th. That was a referendum on the state.… Read More

I have to admit that I was pretty impressed when I got off of the phone with Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner last Sunday night. When my phone rang, and Poizner was on the other end, I expected to have a chat about his campaign for the GOP Gubernatorial nomination. But actually, he was calling me, in his capacity as Insurance Commissioner, to let me know about a bold new policy that he would be announcing on Monday, launching a funding probe from the Department of Insurance targeting investments made by insurance companies in Iran.

"Jon, using my authority as Insurance Commissioner, I will be announcing tomorrow a terror funding probe targeting direct and indirect investments by insurers in Iran."

As I am sure that many FR… Read More

That "mega" number (my eyes glaze over) is now the size of the projected shortfall in the state’s 2009-10 fiscal year budget.

It’s time for the Democrats in the State Legislature to step up and deliver a plan to deal with this shortfall. Every minute, hour and day that goes by without a comprehensive solution, the more difficult it will be to resolve this shortfall.

Hopeful the resolve of Republicans to not allow a piecemeal approach to solving this shortfall is very, very clear to Capitol Democrats. Republicans are committed and united to protecting taxpaying Californians from being hit with higher taxes to resolve this problem. Republicans understand that a piece-meal approach to trying to resolve this shortfall, passing cuts a few billion at a time will eventually lead to a time, mid-fiscal year, when Democrats can simply stop agreeing to cuts at all — leaving our state more vulnerable to a play to raise taxes. Especially since the ability to implement cuts becomes more dubious once you are well into the fiscal year. Funny how that works — cuts take considerable time to implement, while tax increases seem to go into… Read More

I have to admit that I was pretty impressed when I got off of the phone with Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner last Sunday night. When my phone rang, and Poizner was on the other end, I expected to have a chat about his campaign for the GOP Gubernatorial nomination. But actually, he was calling me, in his capacity as Insurance Commissioner, to let me know about a bold new policy that he would be announcing on Monday, launching a funding probe from the Department of Insurance targeting investments made by insurance companies in Iran.

"Jon, using my authority as Insurance Commissioner, I will be announcing tomorrow a terror funding probe targeting direct and indirect investments by insurers in Iran."

As I am sure that many FR… Read More

At 11:30am today, Governor Schwarzenegger held a press conference where he issued a State of Emergency due to the budget impasse, and also has ordered a third non-paid furlough day for each state employee through June 30, 2010. Below is a release put out by the Governor’s office with the details…

Following the legislature’s inability to pass a comprehensive solution to solve California’s entire $24.3 billion deficit, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today proclaimed a fiscal emergency and called a Proposition 58 legislative special session to address this emergency. Additionally, the Governor exercised his executive authority to save cash for vital state functions and services by ordering three furlough days every month.

“Though the legislature failed to… Read More

Today Governor Schwarzenegger was "channeling" Republican Assemblyman Bill Emmerson who has for quite some time now been beating the drum of stopping all other legislative work and focusing exclusively on the budget shortfall (Emmerson had a column on this topic just last weekend published in the Riverside Press Enterprise). Needless to say, until now, Emmerson’s been on a lonely quest — as his legislative colleagues have not been in a hurry to push thousands of pieces through the process while state government is literally going broke. Well, if Emmerson could have hand-picked one politician in the Capitol to agree with him, it would have been Arnold Schwarzenegger. I’m sure Assemblyman Emmerson was smiling as he watched this clip from the Governor’s press conference just a couple of hours ago. We’re smiling — because we agree with Emmerson and Schwarzenegger — it’s time to stop all non-budget related matters, and focus exclusively on a comprehensive solution to the massive shortfall of over $26… Read More