Rumor has it that there are three Republican votes for a budget with a tax increase. Since only two are needed, why would three Republicans vote yes? Once again, according to rumors, one of these Republicans wants to protect Lou Correa, the only Democrat in a target district, from having to vote for a tax increase. If these rumors are true, we have three Republicans who wish to betray Republicans two ways, (1) by violating the basic principles upon which they all were elected, that is, the basic commitment to smaller government and less taxes; and (2) protecting the Democrat majority from the consequences of their spendthrift ways by protecting one of the targets.

Who are these three? Once again according to rumors they are Roy Ashburn, Jim Battin, and Abel Maldonado. All friends of mine, all Senators for whom I have great respect and all Senators that would break my heart if these rumors are true. Now I know my heart is unimportant in the scheme of things, who am I anyway? But I feel like that little boy who looked at Shoeless Joe Jackson after the Chicago Black Sox scandal and said "Say it aint so, Joe." Say it aint so, Jim, Roy, Abel. Say it… Read More

The following op-ed ran in my local paper today – The Desert Sun —

Union bossTyrone Freeman has stolen a lot of money from low wage union members. According to the the Los Angeles Times (link) in a Pulitzer-worth piece, reporter Paul Pringle will not be invited to the next SEIU Christmas Party. This SEIU local, 6424 United Long-Term Care Workers, is controlled by its organizer Freeman. It has some 190,000 workers paying each month into his local. Local 6424 sees itself as the "poor helping the poor" union. Like many such unexamined unions, this one became Freeman’s personal bank. … Read More

Union bossTyrone Freeman has stolen a lot of money from low wage union members. According to the the Los Angeles Times (link) in a Pulitzer-worth piece, reporter Paul Pringle will not be invited to the next SEIU Christmas Party. This SEIU local, 6424 United Long-Term Care Workers, is controlled by its organizer Freeman. It has some 190,000 workers paying each month into his local. Local 6424 sees itself as the "poor helping the poor" union. Like many such unexamined unions, this one became Freeman’s personal bank. … Read More

I got off of the phone a little while ago. The termed-out Assemblymember assured me that she is “No! No! No!” in any tax increases, “temporary” or not.… Read More

In our quest to get termed-out legislators on the record against any tax increases, whether so-called temporary or not, we got this statement from Senator Dick Ackerman:

“Temporary or not, I do not support the use of taxes to balance the state’s budget. This includes an exchange of higher taxes today for a promise of lower taxes and fiscal responsibility in the future. This latest proposal misleads California taxpayers and does not deserve support.”

Oh, and I got a shout-out from Senator Dennis Hollingsworth, who agrees completely.… Read More

The file item that contained the state budget bill, AB 1781, was passed over this morning. Republicans made a motion to at least have a vote on the current bill, as reported out of the budget Conference Committee. That motion was defeated, so we still don’t know what the ‘temperature’ of both caucuses is on the current document or how far away the Assembly is from achieving 54 votes to pass any form of budget.There are47 Democrat members in regular attendence in our floor sessions. It is widely assumed, if a vote was taken today,that there are less than 47 likely ‘aye’ votes as of right now for this budget document…but who really knows? … Read More

Statement by Assembly Republican Caucus Chairman Bob Huff:

"I stand by my pledge to oppose tax increases for the state budget for 2008-09. Raising the state sales tax or income tax will increase the cost of living and hurt working families who are already struggling to keep their heads above water in the face of high gas and food prices, and house payments. Raising taxes on California businesses will cause many companies to leave California for other states, delay our economic recovery and kill jobs. We did not run up a $15 billion dollar budget deficit because Californians are paying too little in taxes. The problem is the Legislature is spending too much, not that we are paying too little. "… Read More