By June California’s Supreme Court will render a decision on the constitutional nature of Proposition 8. Was it a revision or was it an amendment? The ruling will establish a legal precedent impacting all future initiatives. But regardless of whether the court finds Proposition 8 a legal amendment or an improperly approved revision, some state legislators want to ensure the people never have the ability to approve another Proposition 8. This legislative session there are no less than thirteen bills that seek to alter the initiative process. The Republican-sponsored bills mostly deal with the attorney general’s ability to tinker with ballot and title summaries—probably in response to Attorney General Brown’s blatantly biased rewriting of the Proposition 8 title and summary just months before it appeared on the ballot. But the other, Democrat-sponsored bills are shameless attempts to wrest control of the initiative process away from voters. Assemblywoman Lori Saldana alone has … Read More

The state budget, tax increases and the debacle waiting to happen with 1A through 1F have drawn a lot of criticism from political insiders and commentators. And now the public is weighing in. And it’s not looking good for the Governor and his Democratic allies in legislature.

The new PPIC poll (see the full report by clicking the link below) shows less than 50% support for each of the substantive ballot measures on the May ballot. The only proposition with significant voter support, is the seemingly benign Prop. 1F.

1A – 39% YES, 46% NO, 15% UNSURE

1B – 44% YES, 41% NO, 15% UNSURE

1C – 37% YES, 50% NO, 11% UNSURE

1D – 48% YES, 36% NO, 16% UNSURE

1E – 47% YES, 37% NO, 16% UNSURE

1F – 81% YES, 13% NO, 6% UNSURE

Widespread disapproval with the governor (56% disapprove) and legislature (68% disapprove) is likely a major contributing factor to this poor showing by the propositions. Also, 46% of the likely voters polled says the fact that the propositions are "part of the budget plan" makes no difference to them.

Prop. 1B has majority support among Democratic voters. It’s title… Read More

One of the few remaining GOP Assemblymembers to take an official position on Proposition 1A did so yesterday. Assemblyman Jim Nielson put out a release with this stinging rebuke of the ballot measure: California cannot afford to continue with failed ‘tax, borrow and spend’ polices that have driven our state to the brink of fiscal insolvency. During this budget crisis a spending cap was passed and placed on the ballot, however it has been linked to billions of dollars of tax increase extensions. These additional taxes represent a poison-pill attached to this spending cap that I simply cannot support. Therefore, I will oppose Proposition 1A on the May ballot.… Read More

The state budget, tax increases and the debacle waiting to happen with 1A through 1F have drawn a lot of criticism from political insiders and commentators. And now the public is weighing in. And it’s not looking good for the Governor and his Democratic allies in legislature.

The new PPIC poll (see the full report by clicking the link below) shows less than 50% support for each of the substantive ballot measures on the May ballot. The only proposition with significant voter support, is the seemingly benign Prop. 1F.

1A – 39% YES, 46% NO, 15% UNSURE

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

These days, it’s a good idea for an officer of the California Republican Party to be "listening in" to the John and Ken Show on KFI Radio in Southern California. John and Ken have been spending a LOT of time talking about the role of Republicans in the passage of the largest tax increase in California history, passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor in late February (the cost for a few years to the average California family… $1100).

Today when I tuned in, Lee Lowry, Chairman of the Atlas PAC was talking about the kickoff of the recall campaign against Assemblyman Anthony Adams (one of the six who voted for the largest tax increase in the history of any state in the country). He announced that the recall effort was engaging in a fundraising drive in advance of serving the Assemblyman with an official recall petition.

So now John and Ken are, over and over, giving out the URL for the recall campaign,… Read More

Quote for the week: "…the economy is something that he should focus on, probably more than the brackets." – Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, after being asked what he thought of not being picked by President Obama to be in his "Final Four" bracket.

President Obama likes to speak. He likes to speak a lot. At one point while I was recovering from my surgery, I remember seeing him give 3 separate televised speeches on the same day! Whether it’s Leno or a prime time press conference, he’s on TV saying something pretty much every day.

But is he doing what he is saying? A couple of weeks ago an editorial appeared in none other than the Washington Post (not exactly a conservative publication) suggesting that he is saying one thing and doing another. I agree. Here are some specific examples:

"…I’ve pledged to slash earmarks by more than half when I am President" Candidate Obama – 11/22/08:

But one of his very first acts was to sign a massive spending bill with nearly 9,000 earmarks… Read More

I am going to vote no on all of the propositions in May. Very simply stated, the so-called spending limit does not warrant the tax increases, or an extension. As usual, our Republican friends in the Legislature got sold a bill of goods. They really got nothing for the tax increases they voted. for. The ballot propositions that are supposed to implement the budget solutions are either meaningless, foolish, or increase state spending. As usual, the Democrats got everything they wanted, that is, no spending reductions at all (I am not going to argue about the baseline issues, there really are no spending reductions), all the tax increases they wanted, and no effective limit on future spending. All in all, just another typical year for this Governor, who, after being given historic opportunities to revamp state spending, has done nothing. He is not the Governator, he is not a terminator, he is the Capitulator, and through his capitulation to the demands of the Democrats and the special interest union thugs they represent, he has done more damage to the people of the state of California, and to the Republican party, than anyone can measure.

Let’s start… Read More

As I mentioned on Monday when we started a process of figuring out where California’s 45 Republican State Legislators stand on Proposition1A, we would be keeping you updated. Since Monday, we’ve heard from Assemblyman Steve Knight’s office that he has been an opponent of 1A for some time, and also from Connie Conway that she opposes the measure. Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee’s office has said that he does not take positions on ballot measures.

Currently two-thirds of Senate GOPers oppose 1A. On the Assembly side, it’s three short of that mark — with six unknowns…

Below is the current tally:

Ten 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 Wyland.

Four Republican Senators are publicly supporting Proposition 1A: Roy Ashburn, Dave Cogdill, Bob Huff, and Abel Maldonado.

One Republican Senator has… Read More