The California Supreme Court has issued its much anticipated ruling on the validity of Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman. The Court, by an overwhelming 6-1 vote, upheld the constitutionality of Proposition 8. Many people view the ruling as being primarily about the wisdom of allowing gay marriage in California. But whether you agree or disagree with gay marriage, the ruling was an important one for those who support the right of voters to initiate laws and challenge governmental decisions.

At the core of the challenge to Proposition 8 was a challenge to California’s initiative process itself. Opponents of Prop 8 argued that this plain-language 14-word amendment constituted an illegal “revision” of the state Constitution that only the Legislature can initiate. Prior Court rulings had defined constitutional revisions to be those proposals that resulted in a fundamental restructuring of governmental power. How, one might wonder, does a 14 word proposal that simply inserts the age-old understanding of the definition of marriage constitute a fundamental restructuring of government? Fortunately, the Supreme… Read More

Last year, I had an opportunity to attend, with my good friend and former California Republican Party Chairman John McGraw, the Pacific Research Institute’s annual gala in San Francisco, where the main program was a presentation from none other than Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and columnist George Will. It was a special evening, not just to gather with fellow conservatives, but I have to tell you that Will exceeded my expectations. If, like me, you enjoy reading his columns (like this recent one on California), well hearing him in person is literally like experiencing his columns in 3-D – it’s awesome.

If you are from Southern California, now it is your turn to experience George Will “unplugged” at what promises to be another evening of conservative camaraderie and fellowship as Will is the featured… Read More

Last year, I had an opportunity to attend, with my good friend and former California Republican Party Chairman John McGraw, the Pacific Research Institute’s annual gala in San Francisco, where the main program was a presentation from none other than Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and columnist George Will. It was a special evening, not just to gather with fellow conservatives, but I have to tell you that Will exceeded my expectations. If, like me, you enjoy reading his columns (like this recent one on California), well hearing him in person is literally like experiencing his columns in 3-D – it’s awesome.

If you are from Southern California, now it is your turn to experience George Will “unplugged” at what promises to be another evening of conservative camaraderie and fellowship as Will is the featured… Read More

I just sat down for a thirty minute interview with Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman and House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, who endorsed Whitman's candidacy this morning. Look for that interview in the next few days.

While the Congressman's support is notable, my favorite factoid from the interview is that Whitman is friends with and went to Princton with President Barack Obama's Supreme Court pick, Sonia Sotomayer… What did Cantor and Whitman have to say about the Sotomayer pick? You'll have to wait until we publish the interview!… Read More

And the next person arrested in San Bernardino County politics is… Click here.… Read More

As predicted, the fight over Proposition 8 and same-sex marriage drags on. This morning media reported former Solicitor General Ted Olson has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Proposition 8. ABC’s White House Correspondent Jake Tapper blogs about the lawsuit here. It’s interesting that two former legal adversaries have found unity on such a divisive issue: Olson is joined by David Boies, his opponent in the historic Bush v. Gore case.

The two lawyers contend that the Supreme Court’s upholding of Proposition 8 violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection and due process clauses. Read the complaint here. The suit requests an immediate injunction so that Proposition 8 cannot be enforced. My latest Townhall.com article examines the Proposition 8 case and how this issue will be making headlines for years to come.… Read More

The Legislature is often accused – and rightfully so – of misplacing priorities. One example of this is Assembly Bill 1366, authored by Assemblyman Mike Feuer, of West Hollywood, which involves banning water softeners.

Specifically, the measure authorizes local water boards to seize water softeners from private residential homes to supposedly solve the problem of water salinity in rivers and streams. This bill is being pushed through the Legislature – despite the fact that a recent water softener ban in Santa Clarita did not do enough to solve the water salinity of the Santa Clara River. The policy did not work at the local level; one can only guess why Mr. Feuer believes it would work on a statewide level.

But here’s the kicker: while the Legislature wants to ban the use of water softeners by law-abiding civilians, the state is currently purchasing large quantities of softeners for the criminally insane! The state has recently purchased large quantities of water softeners for prisons, even as the water board pushed to ban civilians from using these softeners. The State of California is placing the water needs of murderers and rapists over everyday… Read More

SB 676 (Wolk) is scheduled to be heard on the Senate Floor in the next few days. It is a minor bill that is sponsored by the County of Yolo and one that should earn support of people concerned with transfers of wealth and those that value local control.

Yolo County studied how much it cost to provide some of these services where the fee we could charge was controlled by state law. Some of these fees had not been adjusted for more than 20 years despite the increased cost of providing the service. This bill that was introduced by Senator Wolk addresses some of the issues that were discovered in that study.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say that Publisher Jon decides to play in a local soccer league run by the City of Irvine. Good for Jon, bad for his teammates, and maybe good for Irvine. Does anyone think that the general fund and all the taxpayers in Irvine should subsidize Jon’s soccer? I certainly don’t. I want Jon to pay exactly his share of costs for Irvine to run the soccer league. No more. No less.

So why… Read More