A new Legislature took office on December 1st. It was an exciting day, especially for the 25 “true freshmen” who joined the Legislature for the first time. All of these new members are in the Assembly.

I remember when I helped elect a new Assemblywoman from Sacramento County way back in 1978. She held her young daughter in her arms as mother and daughter both raised their hands to take the oath of office in December of that year. It was such a cute photograph that it made the front page of the Sacramento Bee, and we used it liberally in her reelection campaign.

I am quite certain that most of the new legislators who took their oath of office last week enthusiastically intend to do their best to govern with distinction. They know the challenges that California faces are great and they honestly intend to make the sacrifices that will be necessary to meet those challenges.

The enthusiasm of freshmen legislators is legendary. When Assemblyman Lloyd Connelly first took office back in 1982, he worked so many hours in the Capitol that he took to sleeping on the couch in his office. This was a… Read More

Around this time of year I’ve been known to tinker around with JibJab.com – one of my favorite websites.

Last year we caught our blog boss, Jon, Elfing Around (could appear again this year too……..) and I premiered the "Night of the Living Democrats" and even had a Republican version too.

Since I’m no longer in the legislature I didn’t want to feel left out of the budget process (because I sooooo miss arguing about taxes and spending cuts) – so I’ve participated in my small way by creating the video below.

I hope our legislative leaders will follow this holiday advice.

I call it "How NOT to solve the budget crisis".

Enjoy.… Read More

This morning at 9:55 PST, there will be many Pearl Harbor survivor groups around having a time of remembrancetoday. The numbers of those men that were there are dwindling fairly rapidly as that day of infamy has now been 67 years ago. Chances are there is a Pearl Harbor survivorgroup near you doing one this morning, see if you can’t go visit their ceremony.… Read More

President-Elect Barack Obama announced Saturday that he plans to revive the economy and create jobs by upgrading roads, schools and energy efficiency in the greatest public-works initiative since the interstate highway system in the 1950s.

His announcement was in response to news of more than a half-million American job losses last month. He reportedly offered no price estimate. As the Associated Press observed, “The president-elect’s address never once used the word ‘spend,’ relying instead on ‘invest’ or ‘investments,’ and pledging wise stewardship of taxpayer money in upgrading roads and schools, and making public buildings more energy-efficient."

Hmm. “Invest” in government spending… Echoes of Bill Clinton? Absolutely. One of Clinton’s first acts in 1993 was to push a package of public works money through a Congress controlled by his own party. Sounds familiar indeed. The current thinking by transportation policy advocates is to convince the government to put up about $65 billion… Read More

The is an article this morning in the Sacramento Bee where is talks about how the top priority of newly sworn-in State Senate President Darrell Steinberg is to expand the role of government in California, moving the responsibility for the health of children from their parents to the state government.

Are you kidding, Senator?

This concept of yours is a major problem for a whole slew of reasons. But let’s start with the biggies.

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

The is an article this morning in the Sacramento Bee where is talks about how the top priority of newly sworn-in State Senate President Darrell Steinberg is to expand the role of government in California, moving the responsibility for the health of children from their parents to the state government.

Are you kidding, Senator?

This concept of yours is a major problem for a whole slew of reasons. But let’s start with the biggies.

First and foremost – California government doesn’t have remotely enough money for existing programs (remember, there is the pesky issue of past overspending that has left us with a hole of well over $14 billion in just this budget year alone?). At a time when we need to be figuring out how to reduce the size and scope of state government, as a time when we need to figure which of our which responsibilities that Big Brother (California State Government) needs to return back to individuals and families, only committed liberal ideologues like… Read More

Fletcher’s "Biker" Shorts Land him on “Five Newcomers to Watch” List… Congrats to the new 75th District Assemblyman for the hi-lite inthe SacBee:

It takes a certain something to appear in your first political TV ad in skin-tight biker shorts … But that is exactly what Nathan Fletcher did. An avid triathlete and decorated former Marine who served in Iraq and Africa, Fletcher has a sterling résumé for a young GOP officeholder … He can also bend the ear of his wife – Mindy Tucker Fletcher, a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger – any time he’s looking for political advice. Mindy Fletcher also served on President Bush’s two presidential campaigns. The Bee may not know the subtle difference between “biker” and “bike” shorts. That would be a funny sight, the devil dog going into a biker bar in his bike shorts.

Here’s the rest of the Bee’s newcomer picks, including those who did TV ads in more traditional attire.… Read More

If you turn to page 15 of the Governor’s recommendations coming from his California Performance Review that he undertook after winning the recall election in 2003 with a mandate to “blow up the boxes,” you will see that one of the Commissions that the Governor had slated for elimination was the Integrated Waste Management Board. These days, the California Performance Review and the Governor’s proposed revisions to state government that were part of its roll-out are just growing electronic dust, occasionally linked-to by an online columnist like myself. Never mind the fact that had the Governor achieved the revisions he sought, as opposed to a wholesale abandonment of the whole project, our budget deficit issues would be significantly mitigated.

Well, we’ve certainly come a long was in just five short years. There is nothing left of the Governor (1.0) who was swept into office after a recall of former Governor Gray Davis was successfully qualified after Davis outrageously hiked the state car tax.… Read More