In just his first year on the Board of Parole Hearings, read the "greatest hits" of Commissioner Troy Arbaugh. This guy is up for a confirmation vote any day now in the State Senate. Call your Senator (and someone else’s Senator) and urge them to reject Arbaugh. I can’t imagine that it would be possible to have someone else nominated in his place who could possibly be as disposed to paroling murderers and kidnappers in such high numbers…

Nam Huynh was convicted of 2nd degree murder for shooting his estranged wife to death in Santa Clara County in 1988. The Governor declined to review the decision and Huynh was released. Robert Foreman, a career criminal and drug addict, was convicted of kidnapping while armed with a deadly weapon, 18 counts of robbery with a deadly weapon and three counts of robbery during a two week crime spree in Alameda County in 1980. The decision to release Foreman is pending review by the Governor. Salvador Gonzalez was convicted of 2nd … Read More

Two hundred thousand plus state employees may be eligible for Unemployment Insurance benefits. This is an issue that has Employment Development Department (EDD) lawyers in a tizzy. Clearly, the Governor-ordered furloughs are a reduction in pay, but the employees are being sent home on furlough days so their rate of pay stays the same. The loss is a loss of hours to work, which is one way of defining unemployment. In fact, EDD already has a program in place for workers who are furloughed or laid off from work on a temporary basis with a promise of future work with the same employer. Under this program the worker getting the benefits is not even required to look for another job. Do state employees on furlough qualify? No one seems to know. Another big question is whether salaried employees have the same eligibility as hourly employees. Most state employees are on salaries but with strict work hour requirements. As they say, developing…… Read More

Over the past few days, along with other FR friends, I have been reaching out to GOP legislators up and down California, assessing where they stand on what has become the very controversial Proposition 1A. As many FR readers know, most Republican legislators voted to place 1A on the ballot when it was a straightforward clean, somewhat modest improvement to our state’s current chaotic spending ways. That said, when six Republican legislators (Senators Ashburn, Cogdill and Maldonado, Assemblymen Adams, Niello and Villines) voted with all of the Democrats to pass the largest tax increase in the state’s history (which the Governor signed), they also passed even more taxes ($16 billion worth) that are triggered if Proposition 1A passes.

Where do GOP legislators stand on 1A now, knowing the tax implications for all Californians (as of 4 p.m. on March 23)? Two-thirds of State Senate Republicans are publicly opposed to Proposition 1A: Sam Aanestad, John Benoit, Jeff Denham, Bob Dutton, Tom Harman, Dennis Hollingsworth, George Runner, Tony Strickland, Mimi Walters, and Mark… Read More

April Fool’s Day is just a week away. Wouldn’t it be a great practical joke if the State of California were to force 6,000 gas service stations to shut their doors on that day? Just think – millions of drivers (maybe you?) running on empty, with no place to fill up their tanks… Actually, it doesn’t sound very funny at all – and, guess what? It’s hardly a joke – it’s actually for real.

As FR readers know, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been on a multi-year jihad against carbon emissions – you know, so we can make some sort of “political statement” about global warming, since the actual impact of California government over-regulating its businesses and citizens will be nominal in terms of reducing man-made carbon emissions on Planet Earth.

Much of the draconian regulation that is taking place is coursing through the… Read More

As many of you know, I will be termed out of office next year.

I can think of no one else I would choose to recommend to succeed me on the California State Board of Equalization other than my Chief Deputy, Barbara Alby.

Barbara first joined my team while I was serving in the California State Assembly. I asked her to be my Chief Deputy when I was elected to the California State Board of Equalization. She has been with me for my entire tenure on the Board and has been an invaluable asset and counsel.

Barbara has proven to be a tireless advocate for the taxpayer and business community. With the economy in such dire straits, taxpayers need to have a “friend” on the state tax board who promotes business expansion and jobs in California, not chases them out of California.

At the BOE it is of the utmost importance to work in concert with the other four members of the Board. Taxpayers will never win if BOE business is conducted in a polarized, partisan atmosphere as it is in the Capitol. Barbara has those relationships and respect at the BOE and is the best choice to protect California businesses and taxpayers.

She also understands the… Read More

It’s a sad day when local government is so budget-tight, that one can no longer communicate immediately with their local elected official. The following is a recent auto-response to an email sent to Oceanside Councilmember Rocky Chavez… Council Member Chavez cannot currently be reached via email or his cell phone while he is out of his office today as he is experimenting with not having a PDA/cell phone as a possible cost saving to our budget. If you need to contact him urgently, please call him at home on (number removed) or call his Aide Janene Shepherd on (number removed). Emails will be checked on a periodic basis in addition to phone messages. Thank you for participating in our cost-saving experiment! Chavez is no doubt trying to make some kind of statement, and I do commend him for providing his home phone. On the other hand, lots of local electeds use cell phones without the agency picking up the tab. Oceanside… Read More

April Fool’s Day is just a week away. Wouldn’t it be a great practical joke if the State of California were to force 6,000 gas service stations to shut their doors on that day? Just think – millions of drivers (maybe you?) running on empty, with no place to fill up their tanks… Actually, it doesn’t sound very funny at all – and, guess what? It’s hardly a joke – it’s actually for real.

As FR readers know, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been on a multi-year jihad against carbon emissions – you know, so we can make some sort of “political statement” about global warming, since the actual impact of California government over-regulating its businesses and citizens will be nominal in terms of reducing man-made carbon emissions on Planet Earth.

Much of the draconian regulation that is taking place is coursing through the… Read More

Reading…..

To be fair, the huge majority — and most likely all — of his fellow GOP members signed on in support of Adams’ re-election before his budget vote (just as is the norm for most if not all of them to do for each other early on). However, it wasn’t noted that they had done so until after his controversial vote, thus leading to the erroneous assumption that they all endorsed him after the budget was passed.

That said, it isn’t significant that they endorsed a colleague, it is significant however what they do now that he has stood at complete odds with them on such a fundamental, core principle.

Unless I have missed it, his GOP colleagues have been relatively quiet on that issue. Poizner did drop out of an Adams event, while Schwarzenegger provided his support. But, what of Adams’ assembly colleagues?

The readers of this page — and the GOP in general — deserve an answer, regardless of the answer, from each of Adams’ fellow members. Either they continue to support him, regardless of his vote… Read More