Ensuring Accountability on Infrastructure Spending Yesterday, I stood with Governor Schwarzenegger as he signed an executive order making state officials accountable for how they spend the $42.7 billion infrastructure bond package approved by the voters. While many of us had concerns with the bonds in the past, now is the time to ensure accountability and transparency. With the stroke of a pen, Governor Schwarzenegger acted decisively to ensure that these critical infrastructure dollars be spent exactly as the voters intended — easing traffic congestion on overcrowded roadways, strengthening flood control protections, building new schools and modernizing existing campuses. … Read More

In Roll Call Magazine (the foremost newspaper covering the ‘insider news’ of Capitol Hill), they profile a handful of GOPers (five in the Senate, five in the House) worth keeping an eye on — one of these ten is a Californian… Freshman Kevin McCarthy.

Here is was Roll Call had to say about McCarthy: Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.). In his first weeks in Congress, McCarthy already has shown signs of the same political acumen of his predecessor, Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.): He was tapped to serve on the transition team at the National Republican Congressional Committee, the freshman class elected him as their representative on the powerful GOP Steering Committee, and he landed a seat on the House Administration Committee – a panel once chaired by Thomas before he took over the House Ways and Means Committee. McCarthy’s… Read More

I ran across a bit from John Myers Capitol Notes about the Speakers’ trip to Switzerlandfor the World Economic Forum in Davos. He will speak on the subject of AB32, passed last year,and all the wonderful things it will do to reduce those pesky greenhouse gasses. Because he will have to fly over in a fossil fuel burning aircraft, the Speaker will pay $136 to the Davos Climate Alliance for carbon offsets to mitigate the impacts of the trip. No word on whether the Davos C. A.will split that with the Climate Alliances of North America, the Azores, or Atlantis…… Read More

With all the talk of the folks in Sacramento moving the Presidential Primary from June to February (and for what it’s worth, the idea has moved from thedrawing board to the legislative calendar as odd couple of George Plescia and Ron Calderon have introduced legislation to do just that), it is worthexploring who would be most benefited by such a move.

The polling firm, American Research Group did a statewidepoll of the Presidential wannabes from January 11-17.

Yayaya, they did test Dems and independents, but as this is a Republican blog, I thought I’d point out the results among Republican voters.

Guliani – 33% Gingrich – 22% McCain – 17% Hagel – 4% Romney – 3% Hunter – 1% Undecided – 20%… Read More

I am a fan of C-Span and all it’s sister television and radio off-shoots. There is just something mesmerizing about watching the author of a biography on David Rowland Francis, Secretary of the Interior under President Grove Cleveland (from his second stint in the WH) that I can’t turn off.

So when I saw this job opening I had to share it with all of you in the hopes that someone I know would get the job and give "a shout out’ to me every once in while on the air.

C-SPAN is seeking a full time Announcer/Producer to write and voice transitions between programs. (see the full listing here).

I once met Brian Lamb (president and CEO of C-Span) on tour of the C-Span studio in DC. Women are always impressed when I tell them this.… Read More

I’d like to mine to collective expertise and experience of FR Blog readers to answer the question: what is "absentee ballot harvesting."

The reason I ask is the OC Democratic Party is having an "absentee ballot harvesting precinct walk" this Saturday to boost former Democratic Assemblyman Tom Umberg‘s candidacy for the Feb. 6 OC Board of Supervisors special election.

As I wrote on Red County/OC Blog, I’m not sure what an "absentee ballot harvesting precinct walk" is, but it sounds like Democratic Party volunteers and operatives going to the homes of absentee voters and asking them for their completed absentee ballots, i.e. "harvesting" their absentee ballots.

If that is what "absentee ballot harvesting" is, it would violate the California Election… Read More

If it looks like a tax, and sounds like a tax, well, then it must be a tax, right? Check out this new commercial going up on the airwaves today from our friends at the Consumer Alliance for a Strong Economy: … Read More

As the debate takes place in Sacramento about whether to move the California Presidential primary to the first Tuesday in February, there seems to be widespread consensus amongst the Sacramento-Insider crowd that the legislative primaries should stay in June. As is being reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, the cost for holding an additional statewide election is somewhere in the neighborhood of $90 million smackers. So why not move the legislative primaries to February as well? I can think of a practical consideration — which is that it would cause folks to have to decide pretty early if they want to run for office. But, heck, everyone seems to decide awfully early right now! But moving off of that logistical challenge for potential candidates, I think that it is obvious that many politicians in Sacramento see a statewide Presidential primary in February of ’08 as one last opportunity to place a measure on the ballot to somehow loosen term limits. What is $90 million bucks compared to the opportunity to keep such amazing legislators in office for a few more years! (Not!) I look at the legislation that passed before we… Read More