You know what I like most about Assemblyman La Malfa, he can say in three words what is takes me a one thousand to say. The wisdom of a farmer over the verbosity of a lawyer.

That being said, I wanted to talk about the budget and two articles that appeared today about the dispute, one from Dan Walters and the other from Dan Weintraub. A short synopsis of the Walters article is that the Republican plan is the one most likely to be adopted, not because it is a perfect plan, but because the Legislative Republicans are sticking together. Walters notes the problems in both the Governor’s plans and the Democrat plan, neither of which will fix the budget problem either. The Weintraub artilcle blasts those same Republicans because they won’t vote for a tax increase to "permanently" fix the budget problem in California.

Now usually neither Walters nor Weintraub get things right, not because they are not experienced, but they don’t think outside the box in politics. They like the tired old cliches that masquerade as solutions among the pseudo-intellectual chattering class in Sacramento. They are willing to criticize doctrinaire Liberals… Read More

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A second person told me that Fred Thompson’s great speech last night was mostly the one Arnold Shwarzenegger was to give at the RNC Convention.

I assume it as the last have that didn’t deal with current events. It is your call, but would the Governor give a speech that included discussion of character? And attributes like "Strength. Courage.Humility.Wisdom.Duty.Honor."

If so it was a good thing he kept his word this time not to come.… Read More

Everyone is excited to see how Vice Presidential running mate-mate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin does in her big convention speech tonight. I know that I am ready for another convention session to begin. Senator Fred Thompson hit a “home run” for McCain last night, which was awesome. And despite his reminder of how I disagree with Senator McCain on a few key policy issues, Senator Joe Lieberman gave a wonderful talk “over the heads” of watchful delegates to independent swing voters across America (he did succinctly remind me of a lot of issues where I disagree with McCain, but then I quickly remembered that those pale in significance to horrific prospects of an Obama Presidency).

Before going I’m enjoying my seats in the Alternate section. Our delegation is awkwardly seated on the actual floor, to the back right hand side of the stage, but the Alternate section, just off of the floor, is front and center in front of the podium! It’s been great walking around the convention, meeting and shaking hands with GOP… Read More

Just got to chat for a few minutes with Assemblyman Paul Cook. He (and his lovely wife) are on our bus to the ExCel Center. He’s a great conservative in addition to being one of the state legislators here being chided by the Governor. Once the Governor figures out there is zero will amongst his GOP brethren for a tax increase, perhaps we’ll be closer to a budget. Otherwise, why NOT be here?… Read More

Right now we are in the midst of the two weeks that comprise the quadrennial national conventions of both parties. These events will suck up all the political wind until the gavel falls to close the Republican convention in Minneapolis. Congress goes back into session on September 8th, which will begin a 3 week sprint until we go home again to campaign for the November elections. By the way, this is a normal recess date particularly during presidential election years.

So, what’s going to be on the agenda for those 3 weeks? Not too much. The House could probably pass some stuff but the Senate will be the choke point. Since I have been in Congress, I have learned why so many things pass the House and then don’t pass or are never taken up in the Senate, regardless of which party is in charge of either house. First of all, in order to become law, all bills must pass both the Senate and the House. That means that Senators must do the same work to pass the same number of bills that we do. But there are only 100 of them and there are 435 of us. This means, for example, that although I am on 2 committees (many House members serve on only one), Senators usually serve on… Read More

Looks like we are "back on" here in Minneapolis. We’ve been told that we’ll have a "normal" convention evening — President Bush will speak, as will Rudy Giuliani and others. I think that our VEEP nominee, Sarah Palin, will also speak this evening. We’ll bring you more coverage on how that all goes — though be sure to watch some of the coverage on tv. Should be good stuff.

In case you are wondering why we love California — it’s raining cats and dogs here. The upside — all of the lame eco-terrorist protesters are stuck in the rain.… Read More

Crime Victims United of California is in a debate with the staff in the Governor’s Office on Proposition 9. After learning a little bit about the status of victims in our criminal justice system I can’t imagine not supporting this measure.

This is a copy of their letter to Susan Fisher, the Victim Advocate for Governor Schwarzenegger.

Proposition 9 is the result of a failure of the Legislature to adopt protections for the people that are victims of crime.

August 28, 2008 Dear Susan, Thank you for your prompt response to my email regarding Marsy’s Law – Proposition 9. While I sincerely appreciated your response and the concerns you raised, I continue to be perplexed by your lack of support for the initiative. Furthermore, I – along with other proponents for the measure – am quite disappointed with your lack of involvement as the Governor’s Crime Victim Advocate. As I mentioned in my previous note, Marsy’s Law is a victims’ initiative that deserves the support of the Governor’s Victim Advocate and the Governor himself. With regard to the concerns you’ve raised, I must say… Read More