Last evening a group of Bay Area Republicans gathered in Oakland to meet and listen to Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. This informal group plans on meeting with the other two gubernatorial candidates in the next two months as well.

Poizner was a good sport for even attending a meeting of Bay Area Republicans (believe it or not, there were more than six of us there). Poizner’s speech was a basic stump speech underscoring his opposition to the latest budget deal and explaining his commitment to low taxes, job growth and innovation. Oh, and his commitment to public schools, via charter schools. (School choice, he said, was politically dead in this state.) He also eloquently addressed the problem the state faces with the expense of retirees’ health care.

The most interesting part of his appearance was his response to a question (mine) about the spending cap voters will be considering in May. He had already stated his opposition to the spending cap because it extends the tax… Read More

There is no doubt that there are a lot of changes happening in the newspaper business – or perhaps I should say in the business of newspapers. For years now, we have been watching newspapers all around the country experience a decline in readership. What is the cause of this? Some, especially readers of this website, would like to say that it is exclusively due to the left-wing dogma of most newspaper editorial pages, along with the left-of-center bias that appears to come from most newspaper news rooms (see the most recent example of that here).

The reality is that while some people have stopped subscribing to newspapers for ideological reasons, the most likely suspect for the precipitous drop in readership is due primary to the way that people choose to get their news (I guess there could also be less people interested in getting the news, but I… Read More

There is no doubt that there are a lot of changes happening in the newspaper business – or perhaps I should say in the business of newspapers. For years now, we have been watching newspapers all around the country experience a decline in readership. What is the cause of this? Some, especially readers of this website, would like to say that it is exclusively due to the left-wing dogma of most newspaper editorial pages, along with the left-of-center bias that appears to come from most newspaper news rooms (see the most recent example of that here).

The reality is that while some people have stopped subscribing to newspapers for ideological reasons, the most likely suspect for the precipitous drop in readership is due primary to the way that people choose to get their news (I guess there could also be less people interested in getting the news, but I… Read More

I noticed on this March 9 late contribution report that the COO of the "Stupid Fan Club" have $5,000 to Gov. Schwarzenegger’s "Dream Team" campaign account.

I’d say that is a perfect match.… Read More

The American Conservative Union (I am a Board member) issued their 2008 ratings of Congress just in time for the national Conservative Political Action Conference a couple weeks ago and the ratings make for some interesting understanding of the politics of our California delegation in Washington, D.C.

Of course, our two lady Senators from San Francisco were disasters. Of the 25 bills picked to indicate political leanings, which included votes on tax rebates, spending cuts,against earmarks, Iraq, global warming, missile defense, and the financial and auto industry bailout (I have attached the complete file), Feinstein and Boxer only voted right on one issue: they both opposed a liberal measure foran almost immediate Iraq troop withdrawal. That one vote earned them a "4" out of 100 on the conservative scale. Even Barack Obama got a more conservative "17" rating as a Senator, and he missed 12 of the 25 votes while campaigning for President!

Over in the House of Representatives, our leading Republican lights with perfect "100" scores were Congressmen Nunes, McCarthy, Royce, and Issa,and the… Read More

Last week I posted a link to a calculator at the Sacramento Bee website where you can calculate an estimate of how much more you will have to pay as a result of the tax increases signed by the Governor. http://www.sacbee.com/1098/story/1627728.html A reader alerted me to some possible flaws with the calculator so I asked our chief economist at the Board to look at the calculator’s sales tax component. The conclusion is the calculator is off in two ways with respect to sales tax, the net result is it likely understates the impact on individuals. I do not believe the flaws are intentional but based on an imperfect understanding of California’s economy. I very much appreciate the Sac Bee’s efforts to make clear the impact of the tax for individual Californians and I encourage them to continue doing so. The analysis of their calculator is below. “We now know the calculator does… Read More

I know that some of you would like me to talk more about issues other than fiscal/financial ones. And I will do that when bills move or issues come to the floor. However, I am a bean counter (CPA) by trade and I do sit on 3 of the 4 financial committees on which members of the House can sit (The only one I am not on is the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee). Numbers are kind of what I do. And of course, issue number 1, 2, and 3, both in the public’s mind and in DC, is the economy right now.

One of the services I hope to provide the readers of this blog is information about what is happening back here which will hopefully help you navigate the very treacherous economic waters ahead. To that end, all 3 of the committees on which I sit met last week. Here is a brief synopsis of what I learned from those hearings…..and some comments on other stuff you may want to know:

Budget Committee: Last week’s witness in this committee was Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner talking about the President’s budget. He vigorously defended the budget, which I would… Read More

I am pleased to offer this Guest Commentary from longtime FR reader Alyse Fulbright. Fulbright (pictured to the right holding the sign) was one of over 10,000 activists who rallied in Fullerton on Saturday to protest the recent passage of the largest tax increase in California history, as well as to decry the legislature’s placing Proposition 1A on the ballot which, if passed, would extend those taxes additional years…

Yesterday afternoon, I joined thousands of other Californians at the Tax Revolt in downtown Fullerton. The turnout shocked me, with estimates from 8,000 to 15,000 in attendance, depending on who you ask. It was a diverse crowd—college students, old folks, families with children—and everybody there was angry about the recently passed budget and the tax increases that came with it. … Read More