As you will see on the main page, there is another story out there that talks about California Congressman Jerry Lewis being at the center of a criminal probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, questioning whether he will soon be indicted. I will be the first one to say that I do not know whether Lewis broke any laws as a Member of Congress — I guess that remains to be seen. But he has certainly broken his commitment to his Party — to support a policy agenda that limits the size and scope of federal authority and spending. But I will tell you this — Jerry Lewis SHOULD NOT be in Congress anymore. This is something that I have said to FR readers before — and I will say it again. The Republican Party need only look in the mirror if we are unable to ‘police ourselves’ when it comes to understanding how we could have a majority in both Houses of Congress, and hold the Presidency, and still preside over unprecedented growth in federal government spending. Of course the blame can be shared by many, but still it seems appropriate, as part… Read More

It’s only recent that County Central committees could vote to formally endorse candidates. Forever, it was not kosher for Republican leaders to endorse or throw official party weight behind candidates before the Primary. The thinking was to allow the Republican voter to have exclusive power over determining nominees.The LACRCC continued the tradition by not endorsing anyone for the Special Election in the 37th CD.

Well, it was certainly hot at the LA Rep Central Com meeting last Wednesday night. At issue was who to endorse for the June 26, special election of recently deceased Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald . Withterm limitedCalifornia, the only ‘permanent" political jobs are Federal Congressmen. Meaning, once you get elected it’s a literally lifetime job.

But candidate "Bishop" Guillory, a minister made a strong impression. Flanked with 6 body guards, each with blue tooth, some armed and otherssun glasses. It was already known that the minister was a convicted felon who served 8.5 years in state prison for kidnapping. Oh well, you got to do what you got to do. When Guillory began to speak, two of his… Read More

Worth reprinting from his email…..

RICHARD RIDER RANT 10 May, 2007: Today at Von’s I paid a record price for my usual purchase of two one-gallon containers of skim milk. An even $5.00. As perhaps you recall from a previous rant, I prefer buying two one-gallon milks at a time because of the considerable discount — given that a single gallon of the same milk sells at Von’s for about $4.00 (the $4 one gallon artificially high unit price is thanks to our peculiar state milk regulations). Recently I’ve been surprised with how fast our local milk prices have climbed, so I decided to do a little research. As I’ve reported before, both the federal government and the California state government dairy regulators hold milk prices artificially high through complex, totally incomprehensible milk floor price requirements. This is 100% to benefit the dairies and the milk processors — NOT for the benefit for the consumers. Many states don’t have the state regulation (and thus have much lower single gallon milk prices). But in California we are blessed with… Read More

Steve Burd, the Chairman of the Board of Safeway stores, should be ashamed of himself. Why? Because the Safeway chain of stores was founded and was able to grow into a massive company because of the free market system, and a form of government in this country that is geared towards limiting the role of government. Now Burd has decided that businesses, large and small, all across California, should be burdened with new employer-based mandates on healthcare, and apparently believes that healthcare for Californians will somehow improve by going down the path of countries such as Great Britain and Canada.

Burd is leading a group called the Coalition to Advance Healthcare Reform, which is made up of big businesses that have apparently decided to throw in with efforts of Democrats in Sacramento to inject government mandates and rules into a government-directed healthcare ‘solution’, aided by a Governor who has proposed billions of dollars in tax increases, and has taken to using the phrase "shared responsibility" as a moniker for saying that it is the government, not individuals, who are responsible for their health and health care. … Read More

Steve Burd, the Chairman of the Board of Safeway stores, should be ashamed of himself. Why? Because the Safeway chain of stores was founded and was able to grow into a massive company because of the free market system, and a form of government in this country that is geared towards limiting the role of government. Now Burd has decided that businesses, large and small, all across California, should be burdened with new employer-based mandates on healthcare, and apparently believes that healthcare for Californians will somehow improve by going down the path of countries such as Great Britain and Canada.

Burd is leading a group called the Coalition to Advance Healthcare Reform, which is made up of big businesses that have apparently decided to throw in with efforts of Democrats in Sacramento to inject government mandates and rules into a government-directed healthcare ‘solution’, aided by a Governor who has proposed billions of dollars in tax increases, and has taken to using the phrase "shared responsibility" as a moniker for saying that it is the government, not individuals, who are responsible for their health and health care. … Read More

Warning: OK, I’m having to keep my desk clear now of any objects that can be thrown. Otherwise, I would be tossing stuff all over the place. The Democratic majority is just going haywire here with their reverence for illegal immigration, increased taxes, union bosses, and trial lawyers. And giving you all a daily dose of what I am seeing back here in Washington may get under your skin too. So, those of you who prefer lower taxes, legal immigration, free markets, and sensible litigation reform, may want to keep your desks cleared too.

Illegal Alien Security: Many of you are upset that the Republican controlled Congress did not do enough to stop illegal immigration. And you are correct, we didn’t. But at least we made some positive headway. This Democratic controlled Congress is moving in the opposite direction. They are putting together a bill to provide a pathway to citizenship for the roughly 12 million illegal immigrants in our country and then plan to give these illegal aliens Social Security benefits derived from their illegal work. Simply amazing.

And there’s more. Last night, the House passed a funding… Read More

A quick follow-up on the story I wrote yesterday regarding the multi-state agreement California has entered into with four other states to curb carbon emissions via carbon taxes and/or a cap and trade market.

Besides our Governor, the other four states’ governors (AZ, NM, OR, WA) are Democrats.

Two of our neighboring states, poised to welcome businesses that move shop fromCalifornia and it’s carbon reductionpartners (Nevada and Idaho), have Republican governors.

I would love to see headlines demonstrating some intra-party work between our Governor and his fellow Republicans in Nevada and Idaho to either get them to join the carbon club, or strike some sort of deal that will lessen the chance that our businesses move to those states.… Read More

Former Congressman Richard Pombo announced he will not seek election again in the 11th congressional district. Pombo is now a senior partner with public affairs firm PacWest and will serve as honorary Chairman for Partnership for America, which will allow him to continue his fight for conservative environmental and energy solutions with the same type of organization (a 501C4) that was used by his political enemies to defeat him last election.

Pombo’s announcement clears the way for CD 11 contenders Dean Andal and Guy Houston to get the ball rolling on their campaigns to take on first term Congressman McNerney.

Watching Richard Pombo and his dedication to conservative values up close is something I will always consider a special moment in my own political career. Here’s wishing him all the best in these new endeavors. He has been a courageous leader who did great things for the Central Valley and had the courage of his convictions to stand for what was right when many would have taken the path of least resistance. In his new role, it is obvious that he will still remain the premier voice in America for sensible environmental and energy… Read More