As I mentioned yesterday, I had the opportunity to be a fly on the wall during Governor Schwarzenegger’s press conference on the state’s budget problems. To be both biased and balanced, I wanted to point out that despite continuing to talk about raising taxes, the Governor was right on target when he talked about the need to cut spending and make government more efficient – harkening back to his campaign slogan of “blowing up boxes” in Sacramento. When he was asked about what ideological lines the Democrats needed to cross to satisfy him, this was his answer:

No room to cut budgets?

Here is a notice in today’s Fresno Bee, page B2:

Stonewall Democrats talk over farmworker legal helpFresno Stonewall Democrats will hold a meeting at 6:00 pm Wednesday at Carrow’s Restaurant, 4280 N. Blackstone Avenue. Diana Oliva of California Rural Legal Assitance will speak about legal services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender farmworkers. Details: (559) 266-92**, ckrugman@********.met.

Wow. I never knew there was a need for such essential services. I was left asking myself this morning – who would actually go to a meeting like this? And why would any government agency fund this nonsense?

The existance of these programs is why we do not compromise this year on the budget. As long as idiotic programs like this exist, we should hold out.… Read More

As we go into the new year, I want to be able to have more custom designed graphic art on the site. This ranges from customized small images for our main page to help delineate topic areas "Governor 2010" etc to larger more challenging graphics to go into commentary and blog posts to enhance our coverage.

Are you a graphic designer, or do you know one?

First and foremost, we’ll give exposure to you by letting our readers know, periodically, where the good works come from.

Secondly, this is not expected to be a volunteer endeavor. While we would be looking for a good break because this is work for "the cause" and there is a PR plus for you, we’re also sensitive to the fact that some of this kind of work can be time consuming.

Interested parties should drop me an e-mail!

Thanks.… Read More

It is good that the Nature Conservancy accepts that the Peripheral Canal is needed to improve the Delta’s plumbing system. However, the Conservancy and other environmentalists also need to accept that a Canal cannot be solely an irrigation system to water the Delta. Such a Canal also needs to serve as a conveyance system to divert water around the Delta for export south to help fund the Delta’s restoration.

Even though the environmentalists agree that the Peripheral Canal would be the best environmental solution, their version of water allocation would mean no water moving south of the Delta. They want "surplus" winter flows to be used to flush the Delta in an artificial version of a flood, and they want the public to pay to store some water behind Shasta and Oroville dams to use in the summer to keep the Delta waterways high. This could not happen without halting exports. In 1982 in discussions with opponents of the Canal, I suggested and offered to support putting Delta flow standards into the state constitution. Standards were designed to be median… Read More

Apparently Senate President Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg wants to limit legislators to introducing only 15 bills. The idea of limiting of reducing legislation in Sacramento is certainly appealing. But given that Steinberg has said that his reason for wanting to set this cap is so that legislators spend their time focusing on the state budget mess — perhaps Steinberg should add another proviso to his suggestion — that no legislation be introduced this year that increases state spending. Now THAT would be substantively helpful to the process. While this modest step wouldn’t solve the current overspending-driven crisis, it would be nice to try to put out this fire without more fuel being added.… Read More

As the elected Republican National Committeeman from California, I plan on sharing information over the next few weeks on the race for the Chairmanship of the Republican National Committee. Who wins the RNC chairmanship will help propel Republicans or get us sidetracked intoa ditch.

The RNC Chair is only the official face and public opposition to the Democrat Hegemony.

Every time Obama, Reid and Pelosi speak, only the RNC chair was be the Republican voice. Not our guysin the House or Senate. The January 28 election for the new RNC chair is the most important vote for all 168 (3 per state plus 6 territories) RNC members. The vote will take place one week after the Obama Inaugural in Washington DC… and it’s getting mighty hot for all 168 members.

There aresix candidates. The guy who was in charge of the lastthrashingis running for re-election. He is the Bush holdover, having been hand-selected for the job by the President.Chances are you… Read More

My wife Valerie and I are reading the Federalist Papers section by section, then chatting about what we’ve read. While I’d read selections at college, I hadn’t read the whole of the papers in the past. Last night I passed through Federalist Paper Number 8 (Hamilton)and thought, for anyone who hasn’t read it in the lasteight years or so, it might be worth rubbing your eyes on.… Read More

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, a leader in California’s conservative movement, continues to charge ahead in his bid for the GOP nomination to challenge ultra-liberal Senator Barbara Boxer’s re-election next year.

The Devore for Senate campaign has rolled out an impressive augmentation to its already weighty list of GOP officials. 26 new endorsements from Republican elected officials include: State Senators Jeff Denham, Bob Dutton, Bob Huff and Mimi Walters and Assemblymembers Anthony Adams, Joel Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Sam Blakeslee, Connie Conway, Paul Cook, Mike Duvall, Bill Emmerson, Jean Fuller, Ted Gaines, Danny Gilmore, Curt Hagman, Kevin Jeffries, Stephen Knight, Jeff Miller, Brian Nestande, Jim Nielsen, Cameron Smyth, Audra Strickland, Van Tran, and Mike Villines, the Assembly Republican Leader.

The campaign had previously announced the endorsements of 16 Republicans, including Congressman Tom McClintock and State Board of… Read More