In place of our regular daily commentary, we feature the following special guest commentary from Republican Assemblyman Guy Houston. Houston, who serves as Vice-Chairman of the Assembly’s Local Government Committee, is an important voice in the debate over the future of ACA 8, the "Trojan Horse" faux-Eminent Domain "reform" measure put forth by the League of Cities as a blocking-maneuver to prevent a real reform measure that would have protections for all property owners against abusive government takings. In Houston’s commentary, just see how many kinds of property are NOT protected from "Kelo" type government action? Without any further introduction, here is Houston’s piece:

Republican Opposition Can Stop Misleading Eminent Domain “Reform”… Read More

I am at John Wayne Airport here in Orange County with my wife and her dad, Eugene. Eugene is 67 years old, and while he doesn’t look a day over 50, he is a far cry from 21.

That said, we were all dumbfounded when our server, upon Eugene ordering a Heinekin, was told he had to present his drivers license. Seriously? At first, we thought he was kidding. But, um… No.

So here is our special message to Airport Director Alan Murphy, a good guy… Are you kidding? I can understand the wobblers… But asking senior citizens to show ID when ordering a beer is out of line.

P.S. I am sure fault ultimately lies with a union official or a trial lawyer!… Read More

In place of our regular daily commentary, we feature the following special guest commentary from Republican Assemblyman Guy Houston. Houston, who serves as Vice-Chairman of the Assembly’s Local Government Committee, is an important voice in the debate over the future of ACA 8, the "Trojan Horse" faux-Eminent Domain "reform" measure put forth by the League of Cities as a blocking-maneuver to prevent a real reform measure that would have protections for all property owners against abusive government takings. In Houston’s commentary, just see how many kinds of property are NOT protected from "Kelo" type government action? Without any further introduction, here is Houston’s piece: … Read More

At tonight’s meeting of the San Joaquin County Republican Central Committee, members were informed that former Stockton Mayor and 2004 5th Senatorial district candidate Gary Podesto has changed his registration to independent and resigned from the committee. Podesto had also served a short period as Chairman of the committee.

An election will be held next month to replace him as an ex-officio member of the committee.… Read More

Here is some great breaking news to follow Anthony’s great blog post on ACA 8 below. I have just had it confirmed that while ACA 8 had been scheduled for a hearing in the Assembly Local Government Committee this Wednesday, that hearing has now been CANCELLED.

Presumably this could change, and I am not privy to the "backroom politics" as to why it isn’t being heard, though it is obviously the choice of its author, Assemblyman Hector De La Torre. You see, De La Torre is the Chairman of the Assembly Rules Committee, and the reason that ACA isn’t being heard on Wednesday is because is it being held up in the Rules Committee…

I guess if we wanted to take a guess as to why the brakes were put on, perhaps De La Torre has insisted that the proponents of ACA show him where the necessary GOP votes would come from in order to give it the 2/3rds vote it needs to pass.

I am not aware of ANY Republicans, at this point, who are willing to publicly associated with this "Trojan… Read More

Having been a local government type myself (and having served on a JPA that struggled with the very real problem of condemnation actions) I can tell you that all interested parties need to take a deep breath and work together towards substantive reform. Why? Because much of the debate that has already occurred is based on misinformation and, to some degree, obfuscation of the real issue. Kelo is a perfect example: Many of the proposals to revamp eminent domain authorities in the state purport to be "Kelo fixes". The problem is, a Kelo decision could not be reached in California because our State Constitution precludes it from occurring. As such, no reform is necessary to "fix" Kelo in California.

To my mind, the real threat of Kelo was the Court’s determination that economic benefit, standing alone, was sufficient to establish a "public good". This line of reasoning opens the door for a host of horrendous determinations. To that end, a true reform proposal in California should seek to protect private property from the abuses of government by stating simply, that economic benefit does not constitute a finding of public good in… Read More

From today’s Political Diary E-mail:

Return of Sheehan

Liberals should be wary of some of the personalities they’ve pushed forward to secure temporary advantage in the debate over Iraq. Ned Lamont, the anti-war activist who defeated Joe Lieberman in a Democratic Senate primary last year but then lost to Mr. Lieberman’s independent candidacy, comes to mind. So too does movie director Michael Moore, whose "Fahrenheit 9/11" energized the left-wing base but whose extreme statements (the Cuban people have "artistic freedom") often repel moderate voters, is another.

Now comes Cindy Sheehan, the eccentric mother of a soldier who died in the Iraq… Read More

Democratic elitists, who know better how to live our lives than we do, are founders of the “Nanny State” in California. If I can be gender biased, King of the nanny Staters Mark Leno from San Francisco, is proposing an environmentalist/nanny bill that will endanger the lives of every family in California AB 706 seeks to ban two crucial flame retardants in California. These two flame retardants are found in 90 percent of our furniture–couches, beds and even baby cribs—which makes these pieces of furniture less flammable and safer for your family. Forget the science– ‘Nanny State’ legislators are now considering banning these flame retardants because burning flame retardants are “dangerous” to the environment. Forget the facts– … Read More