I’m in Sacramento today… And so is Congressman Kevin McCarthy. Kevin is far from the U.S. Capitol, and hundreds of miles from his hometown of Bakersfield…

I ran into the former Assembly Republican Leader at a luchtime fundraising event for FR friend and Assemblyman Van Tran over at the Esquire Grill. It was a great event, and it was a pleasure to spend some time there with Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. We did have a few Assembly candidates here including Paul Heygi (Tran’s CoS) who is running in the 10th AD, Robert Rau in the 15th, andJohn Patein the 64th – the latter two being chaperoned by political consultant/icon Tim Clark (who is Tran’s consultant as well).

McCarthy and I had a few minutes to chat about his engaged role with the National Republican Congressional Committee. He is very focused on working to re-attain the majority for Republicans.

Later tonight, the "Energizer Bunny" has his own fundraising event here in Sacramento…… Read More

Beer & Politics is actually the name of a monthly meeting started by the Long Beach Junior Chamber of Commerce. I guess the Senior Chamber of Commerce must have an Ensure & Politics meeting. This month featured the candidates for the special election in the 37th Congressional District. The major Dems (Oropeza, Richardson, McDonald) showed up, as did one of four Republicans, Long Beach cop and war Veteran John Kanaley. You can hear audio of the event at LBReport.com here. You can see another article on the event here.The election is June 26th. … Read More

DON PERATA RECEIVES INAUGURAL "GOLDEN PIG" AWARD FROM US TERM LIMITS AFTER SPENDING $1 MILLION OF SPECIAL INTEREST MONEY ON HIS LAVISH LIFESTYLE "TAX-FREE"

Trophy Awarded to Legislature’s Ultimate Perk Addict

US Term Limits, the nation’s leading term limits advocacy organization, yesterday announced it was inaugurating the "Golden Pig" Award for individual California politicians whose misconduct in office remind us of the necessity for term limits. Recipients are elected officials who have repeatedly acted in an arrogant and self-serving manner, gorged themselves on political perks, betrayed the public trust and demonstrated contempt for the voters who elected them.… Read More

DON PERATA RECEIVES INAUGURAL "GOLDEN PIG" AWARD FROM US TERM LIMITS AFTER SPENDING $1 MILLION OF SPECIAL INTEREST MONEY ON HIS LAVISH LIFESTYLE "TAX-FREE" Trophy Awarded to Legislature’s Ultimate Perk Addict

US Term Limits, the nation’s leading term limits advocacy organization, yesterday announced it was inaugurating the "Golden Pig" Award for individual California politicians whose misconduct in office remind us of the necessity for term limits. Recipients are elected officials who have repeatedly acted in an arrogant and self-serving manner, gorged themselves on political perks, betrayed the public trust and demonstrated contempt for the voters who elected them.… Read More

AB 1471, legislation to require a microscopic stamping of every cartridge as it is fired in a semi-auto pistol, passes today with no Republican support, 44-31. This bill was tried last year by Asm. Paul Koretz, where it was stopped late at night on our floor after coming back from the Senate. The pretense being that ID’d casings, tied to a particular gun,left behind at a shooting would help solve that crime.

The argument that marking bullet casings with a micro-small ID number struck by the firing pinis a way to solve crimes doesn’t hold water for Reeps, what with the fact that it is easy for a criminal to file down the firing pin, or toss other-numbered cartridges outto confuse investigation ofa crime scene, or usea revolver that doesn’t eject shells at a crime scene, not to mention that real world studies show that the numbers frequently mis-stamp and aren’t reliable. Theseare among just a few reasons why this bill won’t solve anything…and why the Governor needs to veto it should it make it’s merry way through the Senate again this year.… Read More

While leading by 88 votes after election, the final count is in and GOP Candidate Roy Burns lost by 238 votes out of over 130,000 votes cast. See previous post here.

Read how the New Majority spent $170,000 to help a Democrat win by 20 points and gave ZERO to Roy Burns here.

It should be pointed out that the Republican Party of Los Angeles County did endorse Burns and the Los Angeles County Lincoln Clubs did contribute to his campaign.

You can read the New Majority Political Consultant’s retort that giving money to Deomcrats and none to Republicans is putting "Kids over Politics" here.… Read More

An interesting piece in VoiceofSanDiego today about AMN Healthcare Exec and former mayoral candidate Steve Francis, including his ongoing efforts to better City Hall and keep his name in play for the future. Francis foes — of course — say such activism is only about thelatter, but as I’ve opined before, positive efforts regarding the City of SD are welcome, regardless of any personal agenda that may also be gained in the process.

The VoSD entry by Evan McLaughlin may focus a bit too much for Francis’ tastes on whether he will take on sitting Mayor Jerry Sanders, but as long as Steve is leaving that option open, the questions are bound to be the focus of any media story.

A friend and local consultant provides the quote in the article that truly hits home, politically, whether one likes the reality or not:

"I don’t expect anyone to run against the mayor. And frankly, anyone thinking about it doesn’t have good political acumen," said Jennifer Jacobs, a Republican political strategist. In reference to Francis, Jacobs added: "I think he would make a great mayor, but… Read More

“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice.” [Harrison Ford in the movie, “Air Force One”]

Memorial Day at the Presidio was as full of pageantry as it was solemnity. The day was bright, but brisk, yet the grounds were packed with visitors of every age, gathered to pay tribute and give thanks to the more than one million American military men and women who have given their lives in our nation’s wars. The Rose and Moore families were given the gift of communal grieving for their sons’ sacrifice in Iraq, and the mothers of these two San Francisco heroes laid wreaths at the feet of the warrior’s battlefield memorial, a rifle upright with a Kevlar helmet atop the weapon. Every mother who has a child in harm’s way is a “Blue Star” mother, but these two women were honored in a way no mother every wants to be honored…by becoming a “Gold Star” mother of a child who has fallen in combat. The community shared some small piece of their pain, and many in the audience who had… Read More