In advance of tomorrow’s picking up of the Senate Budget dance, State Senator Tom McClintock has posted up a fairly lengthy list of suggested places where the State of California could inhale, and then tighten up the belt a little bit. Below is the Senator’s blog post from his Citizens for the California Republican website (lifted with permission) and at the bottom of his comments is a link over to the CFCR website where he has posted up a letter from McClintock to Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman, with 40 suggested reforms for the California budget.

THE NEXT STEP By Senator Tom McClintock … Read More

Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian has received the unanimous endorsement of the Senate Republican Caucus in his race to succeed term-limited democrat Senator Mike Machado.

Aghazarian continues to build momentum in what promises to be the hottest Senate race of the cycle. With a history of running in targeted seats and a strong record of accomplishment, Aghazarian decided to run in the open 5th district and give the GOP it’s best shot at claiming this seat. Aghazarian also brings a battle hardened political team to the table in a race without a strong Democrat candidate.

"Greg is positioned very well for this target seat," said Aghazarian Spokesman Tim Clark. "He has shown a strong ability to win votes from independents and swing Central Valley Democrats. And, he also has the advantage of not having an incumbent to run against."… Read More

Over at the Orange County Register, Dena Bunis is reporting that Barbara Boxer is headed for Greenland. We can only hope that it is a one way ticket… Hmmm, I wonder if Arnold can run for President of Greenland? … Read More

This in from the Governor’s office. The first one is a big appointment for someone relatively new to town, but hardly surprising given the appointee’s impressive background.

BTW, please note that all four "Del Mar Fair Board" (hey, I’m a purist, I still call it what I want) appointees are Republicans. All four.

Ruben Barrales, 45, of Del Mar, has been appointed to the San Diego County Fair Board of Directors (22nd District Agricultural Association). He has served as president and chief executive officer of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce since 2006. Barrales previously served as a deputy assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006 where he was the President’s liaison to state and local elected officials. Prior to that, he served on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors for four years. Barrales is a member of the California Speaker’s Commission on State and Local Government Finance, the California Commission of Local Governance for the 21st Century and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there… Read More

We received this commentary from Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, who hails from Ventura County. The Republican legislator had this to say:

Kudos to Senate Republicans for Insisting on a Balanced Budget By Assemblywoman Audra Strickland When I first ran for office, I told the voters of my district that I would be responsible in spending their hard-earned dollars. To me, that means not supporting increased or new taxes, providing benefits to illegal immigrants or spending more than the revenues the state takes in. … Read More

Today’s Commentary is guest-authored by two reknowned taxfighters — Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, and Ted Costa of the People’s Advocate…

Putting the red light on spending By Jon Coupal and Ted Costa California faces a fiscal crisis that may soon drown taxpayers in billions of dollars of debt. The facts speak for themselves: Controller John Chiang says unfunded pension liabilities just for state employees are at a minimum $50 billion—and growing. In addition, California is facing at least a $5 billion structural budget deficit and tens of billions of dollars in bond debt.… Read More

Today’s Commentary is guest-authored by two reknowned taxfighters — Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, and Ted Costa of the People’s Advocate…

Putting the red light on spending By Jon Coupal and Ted Costa

California faces a fiscal crisis that may soon drown taxpayers in billions of dollars of debt. The facts speak for themselves: Controller John Chiang says unfunded pension liabilities just for state employees are at a minimum $50 billion—and growing. In addition, California is facing at least a $5 billion structural budget deficit and tens of billions of dollars in bond debt.

**There is more – click the link**… Read More

In the post below this one, Assemblyman Anthony Adams has reprinted a memo that went out to the Governor and GOP legislators from the California State Sheriff’s Association. Because of the way that the memo was carefully worded, referring only to the "law enforcement portion of the budget," I took the liberty of reaching out to CSSA’s lobbyist, Nick Warner. I have known Nick for quite a few years now, building a relationship with him during my nearly six years full-time with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Nick quickly clarified with me that it was not and is not CSSA’s goal to pressure Senate Republicans, or anyone else for that matter, where the budget is concerned. Rather, CSSA wanted to get something out "on the record" making sure that they expressed their support for the current level of law enforcement funding within the budget that has been passed out of the Assembly.

This does not appear to be a controversial position on the part of CSSA because from my conversations with many GOP State Senators, and also with many GOP Assemblymembers who voted against the budget, there is no groundswell from the… Read More