I’m on my Southwest flight, preparing to fly from Sacramento back home to Orange County. It was a jammed pack few days, filled with a ton of meetings with legislative and administration officials, and opportunities to attend some great events, including a reception last night at the California Chamber headquarters where Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines celebrated the end of a successful multi-day candidate training for all of the 2008 GOP Assembly nominees.

As for the plane rule (that’s the one that says you can’t fly to or from Sacramento without seeing someone you know), I’m joined on this flight by Republican State Senator Dave Cox and his wife.

Wheels up!… Read More

It was actually a pretty busy week back here in DC. Here is a quick rundown (of course with my short editorial comments) on some of the things we did and/or learned this week.

A bill HR 6346 came to the floor that would have started new proceedings regarding alleged price gouging in the price of gas. This in spite of the fact that all previous investigations have turned up nothing and that the increase in the price of gas is because of the increase in the price of oil. The bill failed to pass. We cannot sue our way into lower gas prices. One other bill (HR 6052) was brought to the floor supposedly to deal with high gas prices. This bill would create subsidies for only federal employees to take public transportation to work. Are you kidding me? While everyone is struggling with high energy prices and a tough economy we are going to give more subsidies to government bureaucrats and only government bureaucrats? The bill passed 322-98. That’s it on the energy front. To see the wide array of actions I think we should be doing, go to my new Energy Page. … Read More

As we all know from personal pain at the pump, gasoline prices have skyrocketed and it is unclear when driving Californians will begin to see relief at the pump. I recently spoke with a friend who lives in Florida, and the price that she pays for a gallon of gas is about 10 percent less than I do, which caused me to wonder why there would be such a disparity. About this time I had a chat with longtime FR reader Larry Venus, who had done some research and pointed out to me that California motorists currently pay an average of 7.9 percent sales tax per gallon! Well, it doesn’t take much thought to realize that if the state’s tax on gasoline is not a flat dollar amount, but rather a percentage, that the amount of taxes on $5 a gallon has is a whole lot more than taxes on a $2 gallon. Actually, getting out the FlashCalc, by my reckoning, when gas was a couple of bucks a gallon, I paid 15 cents per gallon in taxes. Using a $5 per gallon figure for comparison (even though I am starting to forget when gas was that cheap), my tax liability per gallon is a staggering $37 cents. This kind of tax is insidious, making us pay more… Read More

As we all know from personal pain at the pump, gasoline prices have skyrocketed and it is unclear when driving Californians will begin to see relief at the pump. I recently spoke with a friend who lives in Florida, and the price that she pays for a gallon of gas is about 10 percent less than I do, which caused me to wonder why there would be such a disparity. About this time I had a chat with longtime FR reader Larry Venus, who had done some research and pointed out to me that California motorists currently pay an average of 7.9 percent sales tax per gallon! Well, it doesn’t take much thought to realize that if the state’s tax on gasoline is not a flat dollar amount, but rather a percentage, that the amount of taxes on $5 a gallon has is a whole lot more than taxes on a $2 gallon. Actually, getting out the FlashCalc, by my reckoning, when gas was a couple of bucks a gallon, I paid 15 cents per gallon in taxes. Using a $5 per gallon figure for comparison (even though I am starting to forget when gas was that cheap), my tax liability per gallon is a staggering $37 cents. This kind of tax is insidious, making us pay more… Read More

Today was a significant day in Supreme Court precedent-setting history, starting with the 5-4 decision announced early this morning, to support the individual right to keep and bear arms for self defense in the District of Columbia v. Heller case. The razor-thin majority struck down as unconstitutional the 30-year-old D.C. Firearms Control Regulations Act (1975), one of the most stringent gun control laws in the nation.

I’ve been following this court action as my boss, Assemblyman Benoit– 2007 Legislator of the Year by California Rifle and Pistol Association– floated a resolution at the start of the year to put the California State Legislature on recordas supporting the individual rights interpretation of the Second Amendment. Unfortunately,it never got considered by the full Assembly before the decision was announced, but along the way, the measure gained eleven Republican co-authors: Assemblymembers Joel Anderson, Sam Blakeslee, Bob Huff, Doug La Malfa, Bill Maze, Jim Silva, Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines, and Senators Roy Ashburn, Dave Cox, Tom Harman, and George Runner. Benoit’s NRA-sponsored measure is now amended to… Read More

Today Senator John McCain has endorsed the Protect Marriage Initiative that will appear on the November ballot. His statement…

“I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona. I do not believe judges should be making these decisions.”

This will present an important contrast between McCain and Barack Obama in the Fall. There is no way that Obama will support this measure given his ultra-liberal supporters here in California.… Read More

This morning I did something I don’t do often, I played “Capitol Press Corps reporter” for a few minutes. Senate and Assembly Republicans held a press conference in the offices of the Senate Republican Leader, Dave Cogdill, to discuss the need to move forward with the need to build new prison beds before the 3-Judge Panel invariably sets a inmate cap for state prisons, resulting in an early release of convicted criminals.

In addition to Senator Cogdill and Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines (who chimed in with his glee over the triumph of the Fresno State Bulldogs), also speaking at the presser were Senator George Runner and Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, the “lead members” for their respective caucuses on this important issue.

Also on hand were Senators Aanested and Cox and Assemblyman Benoit could devote a lot of megabytes to this topic, but I will cut to the chase. Last year the legislature passed a multi-billion dollar prison bond package because of an urgent need to build prison beds (so urgent, I might add, that the process where voters approve the bonds was skipped entirely). Well, guess what? Not one bond has been… Read More

With a link to the docs…. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court upholds the Second Amendment:

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ET AL. v. HELLER

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

No. 07-290. Argued March 18, 2008-Decided June 26, 2008

District of Columbia law bans handgun possession by making it a crime to carry an unregistered firearm and prohibiting the registration of handguns; provides separately that no person may carry an unlicensed handgun, but authorizes the police chief to issue 1-year licenses; and requires residents to keep lawfully owned firearms unloaded and dissembled or bound by a trigger lock or similar device. Respondent Heller, a D. C. special policeman, applied to register a handgun he wished to keep at home, but the District refused. He filed this suit seeking, on Second Amendment grounds, to enjoin the city from enforcing the bar on handgun… Read More