I’ve been thinking about this for a couple days now….. and I’m still scratching my head.

What the heck is the strategy behind the taxincrease games the Assembly Democrats are playing?

With the steadfast resolve put forward by the Assembly Republican leadership and members in their opposition to taxes – the thinking behind putting up a bill that would raise the price of gasoline (according to the Sac Bee) is just a little nutty.

It allows the Reps to stand strong for working families and paints the Dems as big-spending, tax-increase loving left wingers – out of touch with the mainstream. Not a place the Assembly Democrats want to be. And whatever you may think about the Assembly majority, they rarely make this kind of clunky play.

So, what’s up?

Are they trying to put vulnerable Republican targets up on "bad votes" that they can claim hurts education in the General Election?

Uber Democrat strategist Gary South thinks so.As reportedin the LA Times:

We’re busy at FR central getting today’s news links up, so pardon it we just post this verbatim — just off the transom, Meg Whitman of E-Bay, and who is reportedly flirting with a run for California Governor in 2010, is taking a leadership role with the McCain for President campaign:

Today we are pleased to feature this guest commentary from longtime FR friend Audra Strickland. Strickland is a member of the California State Assembly…

Expose the Democrat’s Ruse for Tax Increases By Assemblywoman Audra Strickland

Big in the news in the last couple of weeks is that Democrats and education community leaders are up in arms about the Governor’s plan for across the board cuts that include reduction in K-14 and higher education spending – cuts projected to be $5.5 billion combined. These folks say that the Governor’s solution to address the state’s $16 billion deficit is lopsided because it only includes spending cuts and no tax increases.… Read More

Today we are pleased to feature this guest commentary from longtime FR friend Audra Strickland. Strickland is a member of the California State Assembly…

Expose the Democrat’s Ruse for Tax Increases By Assemblywoman Audra Strickland Big in the news in the last couple of weeks is that Democrats and education community leaders are up in arms about the Governor’s plan for across the board cuts that include reduction in K-14 and higher education spending – cuts projected to be $5.5 billion combined. These folks say that the Governor’s solution to address the state’s $16 billion deficit is lopsided because… Read More

I just returned from San Diego, where I spent the afternoon assisting with Roger Hedgcock’s special “drive-by” radio show. The radio program focused on two initiatives that are trying to qualify for the November ballot: Protect Marriage and Sarah’s Law. With just a few weeks to go before the petition deadlines, there is a statewide push to gather the hundreds of thousands of signatures needed.

Protect Marriage is the initiative that will place Proposition 22 in the constitution, thus ensuring that the will of the people is honored in defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Sarah’s Law is the initiative that will require parental notification prior to a minor’s abortion. Both initiatives are key not only for strengthening parental rights and the sanctity of marriage, but from a political standpoint, these are issues that will draw the Republican base to the polls in November. The Save Our Kids campaign to overturn SB 777 was also present (thus my involvement), handing out flyers to alert citizens that initiative petitions will be on the street in early… Read More

Here is a bird’s-eye view of upcoming electoral contests in San Bernardino County

Of all the action in San Bernardino County this upcoming election primary season, three open state legislative contests are the focus of intense competition in the Republican party primary, while a trio of Democrats will duke it out for an open Democratic-held Assembly seat.

First, an overview of competitive Republican primaries.

SD 29: This seat, held by departing incumbent GOPer Bob Margett is the site of a two-way contest between Assemblymember Bob Huff (AD 60) and former Assemblymember Dennis Mountjoy (AD 59). Huff, who has garnered the lion’s share of endorsements, has shot to a lopsided advantage in fundraising for this heavily-Republican seat. The often colorful Mountjoy is counting on name recognition (as a lawmaker, his father represented similar legislative territory from 1978-2000) and steadfast support from social conservatives to propel him to victory. Huff, who is more mild-mannered than his opponent, nonetheless is a tenacious campaigner who has been campaigning for some time now. The winner of this race will take the seat in the Fall.… Read More

I met Earl Greif last night, and I felt the Holocaust. I have been to several Holocaust museums across our country, even to the one in Israel a few times, when I led some excursions to the Holy Land. But I never really felt the Holocaust.

Then I spent an hour withEarl last night. Earl Greif was sent to a starvation camp in Poland during World War II with his parents, his brother, Lou, and his baby sister. In April of 1943, the Nazi Gestapo began clearing out the camp, preparing to move on. They shot his sister and parents in a ditch along with hundreds of other prisoners.

Sixteen year-old Earl and ten year-old Lou crawled unnoticed into an oven, and hid through the day and night. They crawled out when things were quiet and escaped into the surrounding forest, where they lived for the next four months, surviving on berries, mushrooms and bird eggs. They were frightened to emerge because they thought the Nazi’s might still be around.

In the fall, the chilling onset of winter forced them to move on, so they split up and each got work on a farm, pretending not to know each other. In 1947, the brothers came… Read More

Which one of these is a wetland?:

This one…

Or this one…

If you picked the top photo, you’d only be half-right. The correct answer is they are both wetlands.

The second picture is of a vacant lot next to the parking lot at Sunset Harbour Marina in Orange County. When no one was paying attention, some hydrophytic vegetation crept in and the California Coastal Commission — the same folks who’d have you believe completing the 241 toll road in OC would destroy the environment — subsequently declared this to be a wetland, and therefore to be protected.

There’s even a sprinkler system installed to prevent Mother Nature from changing her mind and reclaiming it as a dryland. Call it a Brezhnev Doctrine for wetlands.

I posted on this absurdity in more detail on Red… Read More