Is there never a tragedy that doesn’t require a new law? It is almost funny how quickly legislators—at both the state and federal level—have to put out a press release announcing a new law after some individual tragedy. Such is the case with the death of 4-year-old Carlos Alejandro Flores at the Great America amusement park in San Jose last week. Despite the fact that Great America has announced that children shorter than 4 feet twill now be required to wear life vests in all of its 17 locations nationwide, State Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-Santa Clara, says that she plans to introduce legislation to address the problem. Her bill would legally require children under 4 feet to were life vests at amusement parks, set a mandatory ratio of lifeguards to swimmers and require that young children not be left unattended. The key to this sad situation is that the 4-year-old boy was left unattended. We can pass a law to require parents to say with their young… Read More

Thanks to this great chart produced by the Senate Republican Caucus, it is really easy to visualize the significant growth in the state budget and in state spending between last year’s budget and the budget proposed by the Democrats for next year (those numbers below are in millions, so add six zeroes to each)…

It appears they have "Potomac Fever" because they once again are using double-speak. It is easy to see that Democrats want to massively increase spending, and are accusing the Republicans of wanting to cut spending. The reality is that the Republicans are simply proposing LESS OF AN INCREASE. Actually, we should have actual cuts, and a lot of them, give the largesse in the budget. But clearly, in this case, the Democrats are whores for any increased spending, and the Republicans are being very modest in their efforts to apply a degree of fiscal discipline to state finaces.… Read More

There seems to be a little bit of confusion about the resolution passed by the CRP Board last Friday relative to GOP voters and the GOP Presidential Primary. So let me try to clarify. Back in the 2000 election cycle, when John McGraw was Chairman of the Party, the party amended its bylaws with a new system of selecting delegates to Republican National Conventions. Up to that point, since 1976, California’s GOP delegates were determined using a "winner-take-all" method where whomever got the most votes statewide was awarded all of the delegates (this was put into place in 1976 to help ensure that then-favorite son Ronald Reagan would carry the entire delegation in his primary bid against President Ford). The new rules for the GOP, which did not go into effect until after the 2000 cycle, are "winner-take-all-by-Congressional District" and they set up a system where three delegates are awarded in each House seat, to the GOP candidate who garners the plurality of the vote in each. A small number of statewide delegate positions are still awarded based on the statewide vote. This new system was rendered moot in the 2004 cycle because… Read More

Both major candidates to succeed Assemblyman Bob Huff in the 60th Assembly District have finished up successful fundraising periods.

Chino Hills Councilman Curt Hagman has taken a sizable lead in the money chase, reporting having brought in $309,000 on over 140 contributions ($100,000 of that being from the candidate), including tens of thousands of dollars from Orange County, where conventional wisdom suggested he’d struggle to find support. All told, including money transferred from his Council account, Curt Hagman finishes this period very strong with $334,000 Cash on Hand.

Orange County Water Board member Larry Dick had what would’ve been a good haul in most any other race. He brought in $189,000 from 150 contributors. He finishes with $167,000 Cash on Hand. Coming inches from $200,000 raised a year out from the election is a good amount to show. Unfortunately, it seems for Dick is that Hagman seemscontent on raising the stakes.

Curt Hagman’s campaign is being handled by consultant Jim Nygren and on the ground by Mike Richman. Larry Dick’s campaign is being handled by consultant, and former FlashReport blogger Joe Justin.… Read More

There seems to be a little bit of confusion about the resolution passed by the CRP Board last Friday relative to GOP voters and the GOP Presidential Primary. So let me try to clarify. Back in the 2000 election cycle, when John McGraw was Chairman of the Party, the party amended its bylaws with a new system of selecting delegates to Republican National Conventions. Up to that point, since 1976, California’s GOP delegates were determined using a "winner-take-all" method where whomever got the most votes statewide was awarded all of the delegates (this was put into place in 1976 to help ensure that then-favorite son Ronald Reagan would carry the entire delegation in his primary bid against President Ford). The new rules for the GOP, which did not go into effect until after the 2000 cycle, are "winner-take-all-by-Congressional District" and they set up a system where three delegates are awarded in each House seat, to the GOP candidate who garners the plurality of the vote in each. A small number of statewide delegate positions are still awarded based on the statewide vote. This new system was rendered moot in the 2004 cycle because… Read More

This just in from the Anderson outpost, across the Potomac from the CalPERS Hessians fortressed down in defense of terrorist states….

Key Senate Committee Passes Anderson’s bill to divest California from Iran Unanimous Vote by Senate Judiciary Committee Sacramento, CA – Thursday, the California State Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed (5-0) Assemblyman Joel Anderson’s (R-El Cajon) Assembly Bill 221 to divest California’s public retirement funds from billions of dollars invested in key businesses that invest in Iran.

“Once again, I am excited that my colleagues in the State Senate have shown strong bi-partisan support and leadership for this legislation, which will end California taxpayer’s investment in key foreign companies that invest in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said Anderson. The legislation has 34 bipartisan coauthors.

AB 221, which was unanimously approved by the California State Assembly 75-0 two weeks ago, next goes to the Senate Appropriations committee prior to being voted on by the full Senate.

This historic… Read More

It was a proud moment today when I read the Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed SB566, legislation that would have required rank and file Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) commissioners to be active members of their local union.

Senator Tom Harman was the ONLY Orange County Republican to vote for the Mark Ridley-Thomas bill.

The Governor said in his veto letter:

"To the Members of the California State Senate:

I am returning Senate Bill 566 without my signature. California’s peace officers are tasked with the important job of ensuring public safety. Each day their job requires decisions that can have a lasting impact on the lives of the citizens of this state and their trust in government. Peace officers need to be selected from a pool of high-caliber individuals.

In California, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training is the state entity responsible for setting the minimum standards for selection and training for California peace officers. Given the incredibly important nature of their work, we should strive to have a broad pool of candidates so this Commission has the best… Read More

The YearlyKos Convention is a collection of leftwing kooks and spoon benders that represent the real crazy part of the Democratic Party. Their sponsors include the usual suspects like the NEW, SIEU, Moveon.org and of course the publicly traded JetBlue airlines.

That’s right. I knew something was wrong when I flew JetBlue to the RNC Convention. The seats were comfy, they were nice to me. It was all a set up to try to spill GOP secrets. That won’t happen again.

H/T to Dennis C Smith and Helen Najar or the info .See the proof here.… Read More