Local government everywhere generally lacks dynamic leadership. And Orange County is no different.

We have some very nice people in local government, but most are not the kind of people you’d want leading you through a time of crisis or could ever see ascending to higher office.

So when leadership presents itself, it gets a lot of attention and usually some arrows shot at it, lest everyone else look bad.

There is a Troika of leadership in local government in OC that includes Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and Irvine Councilman Larry Agran. Say what you will about this Republican, Democrat, Democrat (respectively) team but they are indeed dynamic leaders.

They represent their constituencies well and rule in many cases over a council majority that allows them to accomplish big things.

In Anaheim Pringle has amassed a huge war-chest and most people respect him and all that he has accomplished. No serious challenger (with money or position) has stepped up to challenge him for re-election in November.

However, Pulido of Santa Ana who has been mayor for 12 years (Santa Ana has term limits on city council… Read More

Welcome to the last month of the legislative session. You know what this means, right? You got it – this is where a lot of great legislative proposals that are geared towards empowering individuals die in committee, and legislation that centralizes power in Sacramento (at the expense of individual freedom and liberty) passes out of the Democrat-dominated legislature. Thank goodness we have a Republican Governor who has pledged to oppose any tax or fee increases. That said, the Governor and his team should be prepared for an onslaught of horrible bills. In the newspapers today, several ‘bad idea bills’ are profiled including a Hillary-care style government-run healthcare system takeover, further regulations on firearms manufacturers that will raise the price for law-abiding citizens to purchase a gun, and the legislature wants to tell pet owners how to treat their animals – seriously. I’m penning a column due out shortly on a real choice piece of legislation. As we all focus on eminent domain reform, and the… Read More

Welcome to the last month of the legislative session. You know what this means, right? You got it – this is where a lot of great legislative proposals that are geared towards empowering individuals die in committee, and legislation that centralizes power in Sacramento (at the expense of individual freedom and liberty) passes out of the Democrat-dominated legislature. Thank goodness we have a Republican Governor who has pledged to oppose any tax or fee increases. That said, the Governor and his team should be prepared for an onslaught of horrible bills. In the newspapers today, several ‘bad idea bills’ are profiled including a Hillary-care style government-run healthcare system takeover, further regulations on firearms manufacturers that will raise the price for law-abiding citizens to purchase a gun, and the legislature wants to tell pet owners how to treat their animals – seriously. I’m penning a column due out shortly on a real choice piece of legislation. As we all focus on eminent domain reform, and the… Read More

New West Notes blogger William Bradley reports this afternoon:

"In the contentious, if not wildly competitive, race for California attorney general, the trailing Republican candidate, Fresno area state Senator Chuck Poochigian, again notes that the murder rate in Oakland is up. For his part, current Oakland Mayor and former California Governor Jerry Brown notes that he raised four times as much money in increments of $5,000 and more as Poochigian did in July. (That’s the amount that must be reported for now to the California Secretary of State’s office.)"

Well, I suppose Oakland residents will sleep better knowing that their Mayor is spending time raising money in $5,000+ increments and eating shrimp cocktail at fundraisers rather than making the streets of Oakland safe from violent crime.… Read More

Tiny Maywood in Los Angeles County has become famous or infamous for declaring themselves a sanctuary for illegal aliens. The council unamiously opposed the House immigration bill and supports SB 60.

They also voted to disband the traffic enforcement division including DUI checkpoints because too many illegals without licenses were losing their cars. (If only Mel Gibson knew he could have drunk Tequila there and drove around in Maywood with no problem.)

Here is good rundown on the city.One of the councilman Sergio Calderon has filed for a seat on the Directors of the Water Replenishment Board of Southern California.

If he beats the incumbent, maybe they will be delivering water for illegals in the desert in no time.… Read More

I’m repostingyesterday’s enlightenedcomment from Dr. Ted Mazer, President of the San Diego County Medical Society and a Trustee of the California Medical Association.It’s great because it illustrates the stranglehold health insurance companies have over state government. It’s in response to my commentary over the weekend ("Schwarzenegger Wrong On Balance Billing").

The patients are only ‘in the middle’ because health plans refuse to 1)create fair contracts by negotiation such that a complete network can be obtained for 24 hour coverage for their insureds; 2) report on the inadequacy of their contracted networks and have DMHC properly oversee such shortcomings; 3) pay noncontracted physicians who are backing up the ERs at a fair and reasonable rate, or be forced to challenge… Read More

I enthusiastically celebrate the defeat of liberal Republican Congressman Joe Schwarz at the hands of a more conservative Republican last night in Michigan. I participated in the funding of the independent campaign by Club For Growth and am proud of it – and will most certainly do it again.

The bar has moved over the years. The GOP used to define liberal Republicans based on one or two issues – usually on abortion. That has changed due to the leftward move of the GOP Congress almost continuously since 1998. The budget deficit, new entitlements such as Medicare part D, a lack of leadership on border security, failure to extend the tax rate cuts, and a general concern for re-election over problem solving puts a TON of Republican incumbents into the RINO category – as measured against the Party’s stated platform and icons such as President Ronald Reagan.

For two years, because of the way Congressional Districts were rigged in the last gerrymandering, I’ve beenwriting and opining on local talk radio here in the Central Valley that the REAL problem for Congressional Republicans would not be general elections losses but… Read More

FR READERS HELP TOPPLE SCHWARZ The top story today on our "All California Politics All of the Time" is a bit of a stretch, because it is about a liberal Member of Congress from Michigan last night who lost his primary — but this was most notable because this liberal was a REPUBLICAN – Joe Schwarz. You can read the piece for more information, but let me just say that on a weekly basis, I participate with a large group of conservative activist bloggers from around the nation on a conference call (sponsored by the Heritage Foundation and Human Events Magazine) where we attempt to coordinate our activities when possible. Sinking Schwarz and electing conservative Tom Walberg in this overwhelmingly GOP House seat was set out as one of the first coordinated projects of our group. Of course it is relevant to all of us in California because it is liberal GOPers like Schwarz, who oppose the basic economic platforms of the party (among other things) that endanger our Republican majority. Schwarz opposes making the President’s tax cuts permanent. Anyways, FR readers stepped up to… Read More