For almost as long as there has been a Congress, there has been an August recess. It’s origins can be traced to everything from a desire to go home and farm to a distaste for Washington’s oppressive summer heat in a era before air conditioning. Abraham Lincoln professed a particular loathing for the capital’s summer weather. In the 21st Century, the August recess is largely a time for members of Congress to meet face to face with the people we represent. Although Congress meets in Washington, the people are not. Spending longer periods of time at home reminds us of the needs and wants of those people in California or Texas or Ohio, rather than only the wants of those inside the beltway. We recessed just before 2:00am on Saturday morning after a rather frantic and productive week. Here are the two most significant pieces of legislation that passed during the days and nights that preceded that recess: Death Tax/Minimum Wage: Last year the House passed a full repeal of the death tax which failed to garner the requisite 60 votes in the Senate. Last month, I wrote about a compromise passed by the House to… Read More

In planning to increase student capacity by nearly one-third, San Diego State University has all the while contended that the public and private impacts of such an expansion must be borne by the City of San Diego, the adjacent neighborhoods and nearby Alvarado Hospital.

This “king of the hill” approach by SDSU has resulted in several lawsuits, not to mention a bunch of teed-off neighbors. SDSU’s attitude has seemingly been one of ignoring goodwill…and a “we are more important and powerful than anyone else” approach to community concerns.

Yesterday the State Supreme Court appeared to have dealt a serious blow to the SDSU plans by ruling in a similar Monterey Bay case that the CSU system must pay for public improvements when undertaking such an expansion.

Here is this morning’s SDUT story, on the local fallout from a ruling that has statewide implications.

Councilman Jim Madaffer (pictured), who represents the 7th city council district including SDSU and the nearby neighborhoods, has this to say:… Read More

FIELD POLL SHOWS GOP CHALLENGE There is a new Field Poll out showing that early-on, the down ticket races for statewide office favor Democrats. Not surprising in a state where the party of Hillary enjoys a significant margin of plurality. It’s still early, and so we will have to wait and see how things develop. Clearly the biggest challenges lie in the quest for Attorney General where Senator Chuck Poochigian, a fine conservative who is in a battle with Jerry ‘Mayor of the Murder Capitol’ Brown, who enjoys a huge name I.D. advantage as a former Governor — and Claude Parrish faces almost insurmountable odds in a battle with State Attorney General Bill Lockyer for the office of Treasurer. Parish is an odd, political gadfly. So it is not clear how he would even begin to raise political dollars. Democrat Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante continues to be disliked by many Democrats, giving GOPer Steve Poizner a great opportunity to pick up the State Insurance Commissioner’s post. Clearly a key for down-ticket… Read More

FIELD POLL SHOWS GOP CHALLENGE There is a new Field Poll out showing that early-on, the down ticket races for statewide office favor Democrats. Not surprising in a state where the party of Hillary enjoys a significant margin of plurality. It’s still early, and so we will have to wait and see how things develop. Clearly the biggest challenges lie in the quest for Attorney General where Senator Chuck Poochigian, a fine conservative who is in a battle with Jerry ‘Mayor of the Murder Capitol’ Brown, who enjoys a huge name I.D. advantage as a former Governor — and Claude Parrish faces almost insurmountable odds in a battle with State Attorney General Bill Lockyer for the office of Treasurer. Parish is an odd, political gadfly. So it is not clear how he would even begin to raise political dollars. Democrat Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante continues to be disliked by many Democrats, giving GOPer Steve Poizner a great opportunity to pick up the State Insurance Commissioner’s post. Clearly a key for down-ticket… Read More

Some opportunities you just can’t pass up. Being a gearhead of the Mustang persuasion, when offered a chance to "deliver"a 2006 Hertz Shelby GT-H Mustang to NorCal, it didn’t take much arm twisting.

The 2006 model is the reincarnation of the ’66 Shelby Mustang GT350H that you could rent from a participating Hertz location in 1966 for $17 a day and 17 cents a mile. Carroll Shelby persuaded the Hertz folk back then they needed to liven it up a bit so they took delivery of a total of 936 special edition GT350’s in Hertz company colors of black with gold stripes. This was the Mustang fastback which in its Ford incarnation came with the 271 horsepower Hi Performance 289. Shelby’s magic brought it up to 306 h.p. via a big 715 cfm carburator, Cobra high rise intake, Tri-Y headers and improved exhaust. Plus enhanced suspension bits, stiffer springs and shocks tostraighten curves and brake upgradesto bring some more "whoa" with the go. And of course,… Read More

Following up on our top story today, attached is a .pdf file that shows the 55 changes that Democrat McNerney has made on the Project VoteSmart website as he ‘reinvents himself’ for the General Election. Let me add that he may have changed all of these positions again since this was compiled. He’s quite the moving target.… Read More

Relaxing over the weekend, I happened to get sucked into a replay on Fox Soccer Channel of a slow-paced rematch between the 1998 American and Mexican national soccer teams. Soccer fans of yesteryear will remember that the two World Cup qualifier matchups in 1998 between the rivals resulted in bitter fought draws. So, Fox, with the financial support of Nissan North America, decided to reunite both teams (players, coaches, and all) for one final, best-out-of-three game titled ‘El Reto Final.’

Well, the game took place months ago (May 21, 2006) at the Home Depot Centerin Carson, home of the LA Galaxy. Throughout the game, I was struck by the total lopsidedness of the fans’ cheers. Silence during American possession of the ball, cheers during Mexican possession.Elated screamingand horn blowing was heard when Mexico scored. This was… Read More

As an advocate of full disclosure and no other restrictions on campaign finance I am posting my major donor report that will be filed with the Secretary of State today.

For those people who find money in politics to be distasteful or corrupting I say too bad. Free speech is our right and I literally put my money where my mouth is.

No longer can you simply stand in the park and recite your grievances with the government and have an impact. Supporting good candidates and issue is the way we do it today–don’t villanize me for speaking my mind.

People who have problems with money in politics don’t understand why some people give to politics. My motivation is often times helping friends. For instance, my good friend Steve Vargas is running for city council in Brea. He was on the council several years ago and now he is ready to serve another round for the residents there. I have given him $2500 so far and fully expect… Read More