[Meredith’s post below this one reminded me that I had intended to write on this earlier. I guess it’s "pile on Jack Scott" day…] About a month ago, State Senator Jack Scott was "hired" to be the new Chancellor of the California Community College System, said employment to begin at the end of the year. Shortly after his appointment to this post was announced, Scott tendered his resignation as Chairman of the Budget Subcommittee on Education (The Bee’s Capitol Alert carried it here – registration req’d).

At the time, Scott’s spokesperson said that the Senator, "didn’t want any possible appearance of a conflict of interest."

I guess its time to ask the obvious question — if Scott resigned from a budget subcommittee because a conflict of interest (I can’t think of a bigger one than having accepted a job at the end of your term from a public agency that is heavily… Read More

Just when you think nanny government can’t get any more intrusive, Senator Jack Scott introduces an asinine bill like SB 1499. This ridiculous bill will make it a crime to sell metallic balloons in California. A staple of parties and celebrations, the balloons are apparently the cause of periodic power outages when they get loose and become entangled in electrical wires. So to prevent such inconveniences, Senator Scott wants to ban the balloons in California.

Los Angeles radio talk show hosts John and Ken are some of the most vocal opponents against nanny government bills and, as you can imagine, they are vehemently opposed to SB 1499. To express their disgust for SB 1499, they decided to use an effective tactic that Rush Limbaugh calls “showing absurdity by being absurd.” Instead of utilizing the old political protest tactic of “burning in effigy,” the radio hosts sponsored a Jack Scott “stomping in effigy” last week.

… Read More

From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary E-mail… OUCH.

No Message, But Please Accept this Toy

My sources at the Republican National Committee say they are stunned by the dropoff in contributions this election cycle, but a big part of the problem is an absence of an agenda. It’s getting harder and harder to finish this sentence: "Vote for Republicans in November because…" The Republican campaign committees are getting more angry mail than checks as a result of failing to stop earmarked spending and the GOP’s recent failure to support President Bush’s veto of the inexcusable $300 billion farm bill.

So instead of a message this fall, the GOP is trying to promote donations with a new stuffed… Read More

It’s financial disclosure time–and you thought FPPC Form 700 season was tough! The Washington Post and Politico have coverage of the statements, outlining members worth and liabilities, here, here and here. California member Doolittle is mentioned in both because the form shows contributions to his legal defense fund.

The digging has begun, and members of the House are answering questions about their mortgages, noted in today’s Roll Call (sadly, despite a site re-vamp, subscription still required). In a related note, House conservative Rep Jeb Hensarling has called for hearings to determine the impact of discounted rates given to Representatives and Senators on mortgages from Countrywide. Here and here.

Politico looks at the politics of immigration and also at the "budgets" of key members,… Read More

It’s easy for political pundits and campaign operatives to Wednesday morning quarterback a campaign’s effort. More often than not, this evaluation process means unfair praise for the winners and excessive blame for the losers. That’s why I wanted to take a moment- to recognize the stand-out campaign manager of the cycle. The best campaign manager doesn’t mean the best campaign. It doesn’t even mean that you won the race. The best campaign manager means the person who best executed the X’s and O’s of a ground campaign. The 2008 Primary’s Campaign Manager of the Cycle is Barrett Tetlow. Barrett is an experienced campaign operative, who arguably managed the primary’s best ground effort. The Larry Dick campaign was always walking precincts and calling voters. They walked every house several times over in an “unwalkable” district and chased them with a phone call. … Read More

In my write up of last Friday’s big Orange County GOP fundraising dinner, I mentioned that Orange County Register columnist Frank Mickadeit would undoubtedly follow with some thoughts on the dinner. You can read them all here, though below I have excerpted the part of his column where he gives a stinging assessment of the performance of Florida Governor Charlie Crist.

Crist. Oy. Brought in as the keynote speaker because he’s on the short list of potential McCain running mates, his performance Friday night truly did help his party. By showing unequivocally he would be a complete disaster for the GOP – the worst running mate since Dan Quayle.

Mr. Crist looks great: – silver hair, ragged shirt, baggy pa— … wait, that’s Mr. Bojangles; let’s try again: silver hair, warm smile, great tan, perfectly tailored suit of clothes, decent teeth. It’s when he uses his… Read More

Just off the transom — from State Senator Bob Dutton, the Vice Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee…

Today California Congressman Kevin McCarthy rang the opening bell for the stock market.

You can see the video here.… Read More