I obtained the audio files of freshman Assemblyman Danny Gilmore, who ran as a conservative, "defending" his support for Proposition 1A. Essentially, he said he was supporting it, but he hated it.

What no one is talking about, of course, is how the budget "deal" that recently passed the legislature is dead on arrival. The revenue isn’t anywhere near the projections.

The audio files are here.… Read More

Last Tuesday, on a Southwest flight to San Jose, I literally ran into my friend John Clarey, a successful businessman from Orange County.. The irony is that John and I work about 30 feet from one another in Newport Beach, in the same office suite.

John is a huge supporter of Meg Whitman’s campaign for Governor, and so it wasn’t a surprise when he told me he was on his way to a Meg Whitman "Call Day" — this is when supporters gather and make fundraising calls from one location, with the candidate on hand to jump on the line. As always, John tried to get me to go along — but he knows as an officer of the state GOP, I have to stay out of contested Republican primaries.

"Call days" were a favorite fundraising technique of Mitt Romney during his Presidential run — so it’s no surprise that Whitman, who was a key player in Romney’s campaign for President (while he lost the nomination, Romney raised a vast amount of money).

**There is more – click the link**… Read More

Former Congressman and GOP candidate for Governor Tom Campbell sent this over for FR readers…

Illegal Immigration: Does Secretary Napolitano Understand the Law? by Tom Campbell

As a professor of law, as well as a former US Congressman, I was distressed to see the following statement recently made by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. "And yes, when we find illegal workers, yes, appropriate action, some of which is criminal, most of that is civil, because crossing the border is not a crime per se. It is civil. But anyway, going after those as well."

However, TItle 8, section 1325, of the United States Code makes it acrimeto enter our country eluding examination or inspection by… Read More

"More is more," is one of my favorite slogans, and in the case of the battle against the misleading campaign being waged to pass Proposition 1A, a second major effort to get the truth out to the voters about the $16 billion in additional taxes that are triggered by its passage has kicked off. To complement the Herculean efforts already underway under the leadership of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, we now have Californians Against New Taxes – No On 1A. This committee kicked off its efforts with a press event in downtown Los Angeles, and we asked their Communications Director, longtime FR friend Jonathan Wilcox, to pen something on how that event went…

Riordan, Steel, Foy, Baric Kickoff Latest No on 1A Effort

The formation of Californians Against New Taxes is set against the backdrop of a record expansion in state spending and we believe not coincidentally a record expansion of the state’s budget deficit, expected to reach more than $41 billion by this time next year.… Read More

"More is more," is one of my favorite slogans, and in the case of the battle against the misleading campaign being waged to pass Proposition 1A, a second major effort to get the truth out to the voters about the $16 billion in additional taxes that are triggered by its passage has kicked off. To complement the Herculean efforts already underway under the leadership of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, we now have Californians Against New Taxes – No On 1A. This committee kicked off its efforts with a press event in downtown Los Angeles, and we asked their Communications Director, longtime FR friend Jonathan Wilcox, to pen something on how that event went…

Riordan, Steel, Foy, Baric Kickoff Latest No on 1A Effort The formation of Californians Against New Taxes is set against the backdrop of a record expansion in state spending and we believe not coincidentally a record expansion of the state’s budget deficit, expected to reach more than $41 billion by… Read More

I am scratching my head a bit this morning, as I caught up with the news that two GOP Assemblymen from the Central Valley, Tom Berryhill and Danny Gilmore, have endorsed Proposition 1A. Other than the three infamous Republican Assemblymembers (Adams, Niello and Villines) who voted to tie $16 billion in taxes to the passage of 1A, Berryhill and Gilmore are the only two GOP Assemblymembers to endorse 1A.

The reason why I am scratching my head is to try and understand why they would endorse this measure. We know that it's passage triggers $16 billion in income, sales and car taxes, as well as cuts in the tax credits for families wity children. We know that the “revenue smoothing” language in 1A is so vague that our state's leading experts on spending restraints oppose 1A and specifically have criticized the so-called spending cap — the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the National Tax Limitation Committee, the Pacific Research Institite, the People's Advocate, the Claremont Institute — to name some.

This to say nothing about the “great ruse” – the considerable efforts by the proponents of 1A to… Read More

Earlier this week the San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a stunning ruling affirming the individual right to bear arms. My latest Townhall.com column takes a look at the ruling and how out of step state lawmakers are with the growing case law affirming our Second Amendment rights. … Read More

I figure if I want to climb higher than “55” on the CapWeekly's Top 100 list, I need to beat CW's Anthony York to publishing hot rumors. And this little tidbit is just that, a little bit of “water coolor” banter that makes for fun reading.

So John Garamendi, who is in some obscure statewide office — oh yeah, Lt. Governor — is now a declared candidate for Congress in the East Bay/Delta area, where Democrat Ellen Tauscher has vacated her seat upon being appointed into the Obama Administration.

If not the favorite, Garamendi is no doubt a very strong candidate to take that seat, and head off to Congress (ugh) — with all due deference to the two Democrat state legislators who are also running.

So… This leads to the next question — if later this year, the Lt. Governor steps down to head to Capitol Hill, then who would Governor Schwarzenegger appoint to fill out the unexpired balance of Garamendi's term?

First and foremost, with this Governor, I would hardly put any money down on him necessarily appointing a Republican to this post. Actually, no matter who is appointed, that… Read More