We are pleased to present this guest commentary from Jon Coupal, the President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association… PENSION TSUNAMI

When the city of Vallejo filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, it made national news. Among the alleged reasons for this financial debacle was, as usual, Proposition 13. Same urban myth, different city. Recall that Prop 13 was also blamed when Orange County went bankrupt. In spite of the clearly documented evidence of the Orange County Treasurer’s criminal wrongdoing and the fact that he used an astrologer to assist him in making investments of public dollars, in some quarters, it is always Proposition 13’s fault when any government entity runs short of money.

Nor is… Read More

In my county office I often get mailed reports and studies. Most of them are of no value at all and quickly go in the recycle bin.

In November I got a report sent to me from Eli Lilly titled Navigating the Currents: A Guide to California’s Public Mental Health System. I read it a few weeks later. It is easily the best report that has come across my desk this year. Eli Lilly worked with the California Association of Local Mental Health Boards and Commissions to produce the report.

In 106 easy to read pages it covers the historical background of the issue in our state, describes the California system, the local/county system, and takes a look at some of the issues that must be addressed in the coming years.

If you are interested in county government or state government and want to know more about the mental health system this is the document you want to get. Andrew Bradley and Perry Communications Group at andrew@perrycom.com or Kit Wall at wall_kit@lilly.com are the contacts to get your copy.

Many of us want a smaller more economical government. I certainly do. That involves drawing a line… Read More

[Cross-posted from OC Blog]

There have been some close elections in Orange County recently — Janet Nguyen’s three-vote margin in her 2007 supervisor win comes to mind — but victories don’t get any closer than Yorba Linda Councilman Jim Winder’s.

Winder’s election day margin over was a mere 7 votes Ed Rakochy. The recount completed yesterday, and Winder won by 1 — count ‘it, 1 — vote:

… Read More

[Cross-posted from Red County.com]

There’s an article on Wall Street Journal on Bill Simon, conservative philanthropy and intellectually reviving the Republican Party. Near the end of the piece, the 2002 GOP gubernatorial nominee indicates he might run again in 2010:

In fact, Mr. Simon tells me that he would definitely consider running again for governor or lieutenant governor in 2010. He says that the budget crisis in California, including a deficit which he estimates at approximately $40 billion, will "require very fundamental change. This is an issue I understand. Economic issues are a strength for me."

You can read the whole article here.… Read More

Readers of the Los Angeles Times this morning are treated to this lovely photo of none other than our own FR contributor Mike Spence. Why? Check out the article Conservative Sees Reason For Hope In Season of Gloom.

Mike is our resident optomist!… Read More

Former California Republican Gubernatorial Nominee Bill Simon sat down for a lengthy one-on-one interview with the Wall Street Journal’s Naomi Schaeffer Riley. The piece, A Conservative Philanthropist Looks To The Future, is definitely worth a read.

I did note, most of the way through the piece, the following excerpt (the boldfacing is added by me for emphasis).

One has to wonder if Simon is serious about a potential statewide bid in 2010… Mr. Simon first ran for governor of California seven years ago. He beat the Republican establishment’s candidate, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, in the primaries, and lost by only five percentage points to the incumbent governor Gray Davis. Though Mr. Simon was not shy about his staunch social conservatism — including his opposition to abortion — he focused his campaign on fiscal restraint, education reform… Read More

Does Mike Duncan warrant another term as Republican National Committeechairman? San Diego’s Rick Amato of KCBQ radio does an interview with Duncan on Washington Times Radio to get the answer. Listen to it here.

Of all the criticism of Republicans at the national level, what rings the truest comes down to a lack of understanding the pulse of the electorate, exacerbated by a subsequent lack of applying conservative principles to the country’s issues and problems in such a way that the voters understand those solutions as the best path of action for the nation.

If that’s too complicated, how about this? If voters rightfully want change, perhaps they don’t see it coming from a party that consistently ignores its principles by growing the size of government and ignoring common sense, while openly cow-towing to the status-quo.

Republican leaders and bloggers can… Read More

Of all the civilizations of antiquity, I’ve always held a special place for the Romans, both the Republic and the Empire. The sheer time scale of this civilization is almost hard to comprehend. The Republic was founded around 510 BC, started faltering around 130 BC, was replaced in fact if not in name by an Empire in 29 BC. The Empire in one form or another lasted formally until 1453 with the fall of Constantinople . Coming from the perspective of a 200 some-odd year old Republic this was quite a run.

What I respect most about the Romans was that they understood that the world was a constantly changing place, and that to fail to adapt to changing times was to surrender power, and thus to surrender their ability to determine their own future. This came to mind today because I was reading an old history book about the Roman wars with Carthage – in particular the… Read More