* If you have a badge issued to you by a member of the California Legislature, you may want to frame it for posterity. Speaker Fabian Nunez has announced that there will no longer be badges produced for non-legislators. Which really begs the question — why were badges created for non-legislators in the first place? I wonder if the current badge-holders will have to turn theirs back in. Undoubtedly for all of their hard work, Jason Kinney, Roger Salazer, Andrew Acosta and Steve Maviglio must have badges, no? I guess they will have to make their favorite drive from Sacramento to San Francisco while observing the speed limit. Sorry guys. * I can’t say how disappointing it is that the Governor has proposed what are, so obviously on the face of them, new taxes to finance this ill-fated government incursion into healthcare in California. When he and his senior officials are trying to thread some sort of needle over technical yet important distinction between a tax or a fee, then the Governor just doesn’t get it. For example, what kind of an person doesn’t think a hike in the payroll tax — is a payroll tax? After the… Read More

InDecember I praisedthe creation of the San Diego Institute for Policy Research, an effort by AMN Healthcare Exec and one time mayoral candidate Steve Francis to inject some additional free market thinking into the veins of the City of San Diego. (Maybe the City Council majority could use more than a free market speedball, perhaps also an intervention.)

At any rate, SDIRP is up and operating, apparently, as they just completed a survey through Competitive Edge Research & Communication called a "Barometer of San Diegans Opinions." Thanks to Competitive Edge guru John Nienstedt for shooting it over.

The results show that most San Diegans find the city’s financial situation bad, but getting better under the leadership of Mayor Jerry Sanders, who has high approval ratings. Additionally, Mike Aguirre has a relatively good showing, while folks are not so sure about the SD City Council. And, San Diegans do love the Governor.

Here is the press release:

San… Read More

Understand first that I write these blog posts between meetings and other business commitments as part of my day job, which is President and owner of a thriving insurance brokerage business. So let me apologize in advance for deficiencies in spelling and content. In my previous post on the Governor’s Health Insurance proposal, I pointed out the economic and legal reasons why its dead on arrival. At the end of the blog, I also point out why, if the Governor’s proposal were implemented and was successful, the health care system in California would collapse.

Health care affordability is at the core of what I help employers do every day.

So what steps should be taken now to make health insurance more accessible and affordable? Here are a few ideas:

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

Understand first that I write these blog posts between meetings and other business commitments as part of my day job, which is President and owner of a thriving insurance brokerage business. So let me apologize in advance for deficiencies in spelling and content. In my previous post on the Governor’s Health Insurance proposal, I pointed out the economic and legal reasons why its dead on arrival. At the end of the blog, I also point out why, if the Governor’s proposal were implemented and was successful, the health care system in California would collapse.

Health care affordability is at the core of what I help employers do every day.

So what steps should be taken now to make health insurance more accessible and affordable? Here are a few ideas:

1. Put the new money on the table first.Increase reimbursement rates for government run health plans first.Cost shifting to private plans will end and health insurance rates paid by employers and employees shouldcome down. When rates come down, access… Read More

I just got the regular emailupdate from the Sacramento Bee. The headline reads:

Senate GOP rejects governor’s education appointee

I open the article and find a description of the rejection of Joe Nunez.

One paragraph caught my eye.You can see the whole article here.

"The Senate voted 25-11 on the confirmation of teachers’ union activist Joe Nunez, but with minority Republicans opposed, fell two votes short of the required two-thirds majority."Now that is interesting because several hours earlier. Jon posted on FlashReport a description of the defeat and pointed out that "Republican" SenatorsDenham and Maldonado voted FOR Nunez. See Jon’s post here. The post explain that two Dems were absent for the vote.

So which is it? The Sacramento Bee makes GOP Senators… Read More

When Republicans lost their majority, Buck McKeon lost his Chairmanship of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. He has decided to go back to his old place on the House Armed Services Committee. See article here.… Read More

I realize I’m in no official position to give a real “State of the Anything” address, but this week has seen its highs and lows for me as a Republican, so without any authority at all to speak for others, I’d like to offer my own feelings on the status of the CRP.

When my family relocated to California in 1999, after a very brief post-military stint in South Carolina, I wanted to make friends as quickly as I could, so I joined four groups that I would have something in common with: my church, the PTA, my local Toastmasters club, and the local band of McCain’s campaign warriors. (Yes, I said McCain, and I’ll do it again, so there!)

I read about Senator McCain in George magazine (don’t start with me…I don’t know a woman my age who didn’t pick up JFK, Jr’s magazine….but just for the articles). I liked what I read about his days as a feisty Naval Officer – I might have been accused of being something similar when I was a Lieutenant – and I actually thought it was kind of macho… Read More

I just saw Russ Feingold, Democrat from Wisconsin, call on Congress to end the war in Iraq by pulling funding.He called it the "power of the purse" (I’m sure he meant ‘man bag’ – for all you Friends fans).

But still, it’s an interesting concept…

Following his logic, could we end illegal immigration in California and the U.S. by pulling funding?… Read More