I have never professed to be an expert on the state budget and luckily I don’t have to be, Senator Abel Maldonado, has released some interesting commentary on the budget deal.

From Senator Abel Maldonado (released Tuesday):

"When deciding to vote for this budget I asked myself, does this budget move California forward or back? The answer is simple: it moves California backward.

"This budget spends $9.9 billion that hardworking taxpayers unexpectedly sent us in a good year and spends another $7 billion we do not have. This budget puts less than two-percent away for a rainy day. The fact of the matter is, after we leave tonight we’re still saddled with a $4.6 billion deficit next year.

"I campaigned with Gov. Schwarzenegger and let me share something with you. He said politicians in Sacramento have an addiction to… Read More

Orange County has given birth to and/or nurtured its share of people and organizations that have powerfully impacted the Republican Party — for good or ill.

Richard Nixon was born here, and Ronald Reagan’s political home base was here.

The state’s two leading GOP groups — the Lincoln Club of Orange County and the New Majority — also originated here.

The Lincoln Club was formed in the wake of the bitter 1962 gubernatorial primary between Richard Nixon and Joe Schell. The purpose was to "build Republican strength by lowering the intensity of intra-party warfare and making party politics more orderly and business-like."

The New Majority was born in the wake of Dan Lungren’s lopsided 1998 defeat and dedicated to "bringing a Republican majority to California… Read More

The rat in Pearls Before Swine has found a winning formula for writing a political column.… Read More

This morning, the US Supreme Court reached a decisionin a much-watched challenge to Vermont’s campaign finance law (Sorrell v. Randall ). This case has gathered lots of attention because of the potential it will have to impact campaign finance laws nationwide.

TheU.S. Supreme Court appears to have struck downtheVermont law that strictly limits how much money candidates for state office can raise and spend on their political campaigns. (Because the decision came this AM, I have not yet reviewed the case and there isn’t much information available. I am in the process of getting a copy of the case and will report further on it in a coming blog.)

Reports indicate that there are 4 opinions by the 6 justices held that the law was unconstitutional and3 dissents (J. Ginsburg, Souter and Stevens dissenting).

The law limited spending by candidates for governor to $300,000, for lieutenant governor to $100,000 and other statewide races to $45,000. It also limited spending on races for the state legislature.… Read More

San Francisco’s pending city budget is a great illustration of the Democrat’s priorities, both at the local and state level. Who are the the biggest winners in the new city budget? The public employee union, of course!

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, salaries and benefits for city employee will get a whopping 10.6 percent increase. City jobs will grow by 2 percent, up 646 jobs.

But the places that will get the new positions tell the real story. Take a look at the true winners in this budget:

— Municipal Transportation Agency: 157.15 — Public Health Department: 128.48 — Public Utilities Commission: 75.5 — Human Services Agency: 60.5 — General Services Agency – City Administration: 45.13 — General Services Agency — Public Works: 31.5 — Police: 18 — General Services Agency — Telecommunications & Information Services: 17.34 — Airport: 14.5 — District Attorney: 10 — Trial Courts: 10.6 —… Read More

There’s an intriguing scandal on low boil in the orderly City of Irvine, involving the city’s sister program, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, the Shanghai Communique and possible Communist Chinese investment in Irvine’s Great Park.

Yep — never a dull moment in that dull city’s politics.

I’ll try to make this long, twisted tale short — readers can fill in the blanks with my generous servings of hyperlinks.

Irvine Mayor Beth Krom — who is apparently the only person in Orange County unaware she is a pawn of liberal Irvine Councilmen/Evil Genius Larry Agran — went to Communist China along with another councilman and an Irvine staffer, Valeire Larenne, whose job it is to tend to sister city stuff. The purpose was to cement a sister city arrangement with a Shanghai suburb called Xuhui.

Now, Irvine has had a… Read More

This is being reported by the Herald Sun of Australia (!).

From the article:

A MAJOR Californian port has been closed after officials found a written threat, apparently directed at US President George W Bush, in the hold of a cargo ship.

"We got a report that there was a threatening message written on one of the stanchions in the cargo hold of a ship called Mild Lotus," outside California’s Port Hueneme, US Coast Guard spokesman Patrick Sullivan said.

"Apparently a longshoreman who was working on the vessel saw the message," he said.… Read More

(Hat tip to Assemblyman DeVore for the link to the story.)

The Associated Press posted this breaking news not long ago: Calif. gov. plans to address prison reform

Warning that the nation’s largest prison system is dangerously overcrowded, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday summoned lawmakers into a special session to decide whether to build two new prisons and adopt other relief measures.

The special legislative session will start on Tuesday.

In a speech to the California District Attorneys Association,… Read More