We are pleased to present this exclusive commentary from State Board of Equalization Member Bill Leonard…

Tax Increases are Doses for the Addict By Bill Leonard My heart goes out to the current Legislative Republican members as the cave-ins, compromises, squishes, and treasons of the past have all come home. California’s on-going structural financial problems have not been solved by postponing decisions and by papering over the excess in spending over revenue. This has been the solution that has been regularly adopted, usually by picking off… Read More

A timely book that anyone political observer would enjoy is The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought The White House and Tried to Steal the Country. It is very well written by Laton McCartney.

Now people may think this book is timely because of the oil crisis. It is timely for that reason.

An additional reason I think it is timely today is because of a post on this site written by Duane on some of the problems within the Republican party. It was an excellent post that rang true for many of us.

I would agree with virtually everything Duane wrote and add one more concept. We need to police our own political party for corruption. The sad truth is that when a long time Republican Sheriff, Congressman, Supervisor, or party leader does something unethical or illegal we all go silent. In the long run, our silence alone is a failure.

We need a couple people that are not elected officials to step up and lead this effort. People that will audit our party and hold members accountable when they break their… Read More

A few moments ago the Assembly approved AB 2123 (Lieu), which establishes the “California Financial Literacy Initiative.” This initiative will create a government program “for the purpose of providing resources and instruction to Californians” about how to be financially literate. The program will be overseen by the state controller, who, according to the bill, “has the experience and duty to lead an initiative to grow the state’s economy by bettering Californians’ financial literacy.”

Does it strike anyone else as hypocritical that our state controller and state lawmakers want to teach Californians “financial literacy”? I can’t speak to the “experience” of all state controllers past and future, but do we really want John Chiang teaching us about financial literacy? He’s currently defying the governor’s attempt to curtail government spending during the budget crunch. And lawmakers are 46 days past their constitutional budget deadline. If average citizens were 46 dayspast due on their bills, creditors wouldn’t be very… Read More

Now I’m not one to review movies, nor will I make it a habit here, lest I invite an E-towel snap from our FR leader, however I would recommend the new release "Swing Vote". It stars Kevin Costner and although the premise may be a stretch, it is a lot of fun and takes a good poke at what elections and politics can become. It does us the favor of not being preachy nor taking a partisan position, it just keeps it fun and a bit serious too. And hey, it has appearances by Richard Petty and Willie Nelson!… Read More

Petitioner Denise Erkeneff of Dana Point filed a lawsuit today against city council candidate Luigi Rossetti, Jr., the county and city to obtain a court order to strike the fictional name "Lou Penrose" from the ballot and ballot statements in the upcoming Nov. 4 municipal election. Rossetti is the District Director for Orange County Congressman John Campbell and a Dana Point resident. Erkeneff’s family are long-time Dana Point residents. Erkeneff is a Republican, and is active in the south country community.

Rossetti is registered to vote in Dana Point, and his driver’s license, marriage license, and social security numbers are all in the name of Luigi Rossetti, Jr. He is employed by Congressman Campbell and the U.S. Congress in the name of Luigi Rossetti, Jr., has received a traffic ticket in that name, has attended driving school in that name, and owns his home with his wife in Dana Point in that name.

However, Rossetti filed a Declaration of Candidacy for the Dana Point city council and a Candidate Statement in a different name, "Lou Penrose." The county and city certified this name on… Read More

SB 381 which would allow on-line voter registration, passes off our floor today. This would allow a person with a California ID to register without actually signing their form nor set foot inside a county election clerk’s office. The secretary of state would use an electronic signature for you. You could then vote absentee, without being seen.Or if you should decide to vote in person, you still can, in the state of California, not show any form of ID and be handed a ballot.… Read More

On Tuesday I took my interns to Sacramento to meet with policy advocates from Cal Chamber and various legislators. Thanks to the help of Chris Finarelli in Assemblyman Huff’s office(thx, Chris!!!), the day was the perfect opportunity for my interns to see their state government up close and personal. While we were in town, we learned some interesting factoids, and I thought I would share some of these with all of you in the form of a contest. The first person to name all the Sacramento Superstars correctly gets a prize pack of goodies!. You’ll get an official Go Green t-shirt…lovz it…a Go Green coffee mug…when what you drink is sew hott…and a Go Green eraser…very handy during deficit budget dayz.

So, here’s the quiz. See if you can name the lobbyist or the legislator who fits this description…

This legislator serves as the head of the E3 caucus. (You get a bonus point if you know what the E3 caucus is.) This lobbyist probably works with CBIA on a number of issues. This legislator thinks we should follow the example of the French. (You get a bonus point if you can explain why). This lobbyist is a … Read More

Jon Coupal, the President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, sent over this exclusive piece with all of the discussions that somehow the Governor’s proposal to increase the state sales tax by a full cent for years may "not" be a tax increase — um, yeah, it is… A Tax Increase is a Tax Increase By Jon Coupal

We’re hearing only rumors of the budget "deal" that Don Perata claims he has with Governor Schwarzenegger but, if what we’ve heard has any basis in reality, the proposed tax increase is a non-starter.

The rumored deal involves a "temporary" sales tax increase that would, not only be repealed in three years, but would actually be reduced until it is "paid back" to the taxpayers.

A couple of simple concepts here. First, even a temporary tax increase is still a tax increase. Any legislator who… Read More