As noted by others who aremore observant of national trendsthan me,a new fightfor the heart and soul of the Republican Party is well underway. The combatants are the BigGovernment Republicanswho have dominated Congress and the Presidency post Clinton and post Gingrich v. the resurgent Good Government Reformers.

Congressman Brian Bilbray (disclosure: a client of Coronado Communications) made a pretty good argument for the Reformers’ position last week in the North County Times:

Changing Culture Requires Real Reform by: CONGRESSMAN BRIAN BILBRAY

San Diegans believe that the accountability and transparency they expect from their elected leaders has been replaced by backroom deals. When I left Congress in 2001, Congress had a balanced budget and a $155 billion surplus. Today, that surplus has turned into a $296 billion budget deficit. We need budget reform, and Congress must balance the books.

For months, the American people have been waiting for Congress to follow through on the promise to bring more transparency and accountability to the budget and earmark process. Congress has responded by taking a few first steps in the right… Read More

This November, there are many reasons to vote no on most of the initiatives that will be presented to California’s voters. Proposition 1C sells bonds for housing. This is one where I say let the feds handle it—if they are stupid enough to keep HUD’s doors open—let them run low income housing projects. Not only won’t we have to pay for it through bonds, but fewer and fewer people will want to live in these projects and be motivated to get out. Proposition 1 D sells bonds for education, didn’t we just pass one of those? Proposition 86 is brilliant. Tax poor people (who make up the majority of smokers) and use the money to fund their healthcare. The more intellectually honest approach to the health concerns that surround smoking would be to ban… Read More

This November, there are many reasons to vote no on most of the initiatives that will be presented to California’s voters. Proposition 1C sells bonds for housing. This is one where I say let the feds handle it—if they are stupid enough to keep HUD’s doors open—let them run low income housing projects. Not only won’t we have to pay for it through bonds, but fewer and fewer people will want to live in these projects and be motivated to get out. Proposition 1 D sells bonds for education, didn’t we just pass one of those? Proposition 86 is brilliant. Tax poor people (who make up the majority of smokers) and use the money to fund their healthcare. The more intellectually honest approach to the health concerns that surround smoking would be to ban the practice all… Read More

In tune with my commentary today, I want to highlight another item in the Los Angeles Daily News, an excellent op-ed by Jill Stewart on the decline of Cruz Bustamante and his chances for Insurance Commissioner.

An exerpt:

"…Bustamante, who made a fool of himself in the 2003 recall, is at it again in his bid for the wonky but powerful job of insurance commissioner.

"Instead of focusing on specific issues involving the vast auto, health and workers’ compensation industries, he spent months on a personal weight-loss crusade, with a Web site exhorting us to ‘Get active. Side effects include more energy, decreased stress, increased confidence, more compliments.’

"Who is… Read More

Following up on FR Bay Area Correspondent Jennifer Nelson’s illustrative commentary yesterday morning, I’m going to reveal my observations about the end of the legislative session and the activities of the Governor’s pen.

At the top of the main page today is a story by the Los Angeles Daily News titled "Governor kills fewer measures." In it, the Daily News declares that the Governor only vetoed twenty-two percent of the bills that reached his desk this year, a startlingly low percentage of vetoes for a Republican governor with a Democrat legislature.

An exerpt:

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

Following up on FR Bay Area Correspondent Jennifer Nelson’s illustrative commentary yesterday morning, I’m going to reveal my observations about the end of the legislative session and the activities of the Governor’s pen.

At the top of the main page today is a story by the Los Angeles Daily News titled "Governor kills fewer measures." In it, the Daily News declares that the Governor only vetoed twenty-two percent of the bills that reached his desk this year, a startlingly low percentage of vetoes for a Republican governor with a Democrat legislature.

An exerpt:

Schwarzenegger signed 910 bills this year and vetoed 262, or 22 percent of the total sent to his desk. In both of his first two years in office, he averaged a veto rate of 24 percent.… Read More

For a second I actually considered entitling this post after a Dickens’ novel, but that would’ve been too obvious. Suffice it to say that both Escondido and National City have received much attention in recent weeks for the polar opposite directions they are taking on the issue of illegal immigration.

National City Mayor Nick Inzunza has garnered headlines for his announcement that he would declare a "Sanctuary City" for illegal aliens, which he simply refers to as immigrants (see my prior posts). Yesterday, Inzunza signed the sanctuary proclamation (SDUT story), while — on the advice of law enforcement, apparently in no mood to try to protect him — he was holed up in city hall during another protest rally outside. This was the second such rally in two weeks, with illegal immigrant apologists… Read More

The Governor gave his veto stamp to Gil Cedllo’s SB 160, which would have given illegals grants to attend state colleges. See veto message here.

The Gov is done with all the bills. I’m know I fell better. I remember saying at the beginning os the year, that I would fell better if we just had these 910 bills signed into law. You can see the rest last bit here.

Arnold did sign a bill to give marriage tax breakx to gay couples. And he vetoed attempts to legalize hemp and ban ultrasounds.… Read More