Danny Ramirez may be the least known Democrat in the CD 51 Filner-Vargas brouhaha, but he may also be working for Filner.

Thanks to John Dadian for sending this along fromthe Capitol Morning Report:

Danny Ramirez, a Democrat running in the 51st CD, has announced filing a criminal complaint with the DAs in Imperial and San Diego counties and with the AG’s office against his opponent Asm. Juan Vargas and Vargas’ “campaign staff man” George Bresnahan. Ramirez says Vargas and Bresnahan violated CA Election Code 18205 by offering him “valuable consideration” in exchange for running in the 80th AD instead of the 51st CD. According to Ramirez, he and Bresnahan are acquaintances from church and Bresnahan visited his home on the evening of March 7. Ramirez recalls Bresnahan saying explicitly that he’d been “sent by Juan Vargas to make an offer or deal with me in regard to not becoming a candidate for the 51st CD.” The approach made Ramirez “uncomfortable,” he says, “so I promptly got a witness.” Ramirez remembers Bresnahan saying to him, “Danny, both you and Juan Vargas have Hispanic names, so you know what will… Read More

The editorial page of the San Diego Union Tribune has quickly become a ‘must read’ page for the well-written, provocative opinions that are written there. Certainly no small part of this success comes from the addition of Chris Reed to the editorial board (Chris immigrated to the U-T from the OC Register).

Here is a choice piece from today’s paper:

Slick vs. oblivious: No wonder Democrats are unenthusiastic San Diego Union Tribune Editorial(read it online here)… Read More

[While this column space is usually devoted to FR Publisher Jon Fleischman’s Daily Commentary, today we are pleased to present commentary by FR’s State Capitol Correspondent Dan Schnur.]

Redistricting Reform Urged by Bi-Partisan Citizen’s Coalition by Dan Schnur

What do respected conservatives like Bill Leonard, Jon Coupal, and Jim Brulte have in common with Leon Panetta, Fred Keeley, and the head of the League of Women Voters?

Answer: they all agree that letting legislators draw their own districts is like letting third-graders decide how much ice cream they can have for dessert.

To be fair, none of the individuals listed above actually compared the members of the California Legislature to elementary school students, Neither did the eighty-plus of their fellow political, business, labor, academic, and community leaders who signed a letter this week from the Voices of Reform… Read More

[While this column space is usually devoted to FR Publisher Jon Fleischman’s Daily Commentary, today we are pleased to present commentary by FR’s State Capitol Correspondent Dan Schnur.]

Redistricting Reform Urged by Bi-Partisan Citizen’s Coalition by Dan Schnur What do respected conservatives like Bill Leonard, Jon Coupal, and Jim Brulte have in common with Leon Panetta, Fred Keeley, and the head of the League of Women Voters? Answer: they all agree that letting legislators draw their own districts is like letting third-graders decide how much ice cream they can have for dessert. To be fair, none of the… Read More

I read with great interest Karen Hanretty’s two previous posts regarding the Governor, the first theorizing that he will sign an illegal immigrant driver license bill if he is re-elected, and the second his apparent support of single payer health care for California during a second term.

It’s time to put him on the record on both of these issues. As soon as these primaries are over the State GOP Board or Executive Committee needs a commitment from him to oppose both of these issues if he earns a second term. If we can’t get a firm commitment, there isn’t any reason to work for his re-election. The Governor needs to understand who his primary constituency is.… Read More

I received a missive from a conservative Republican yesterday, concerned about the prospects of Francine Busby serving in the House. Brief, but to the point. And, 100% correct:

The Bilbray team has to get this message out to pouting Republican voters: 1) This election is essentially about illegal immigration. 2) I am serious about solving the problem, Busby is not. 3) If Busby wins, her victory will send the message to all politicians that the voters are not serious about immigration issues. 4) The result will be for the nation’s border problems to be returned to the back burner — unsolved. 5) If you want the border problems fixed, YOU MUST GET OFF YOUR REAR-END AND VOTE!… Read More

John Myers’ is the first to report this morning policy news that Gov. Schwarzenegger supports universal health care in his second term in office. As you read, ask yourself how the government can provide health insurance for everyone without a tax increase. User fees?

"First, some news: the governor said that his goal for the first year of a second term would be, in his words, ‘to create health care for every citizen.’ The comment was made in response to a student question about universal health care, specifically the kind Massachusetts has moved forward this year.

"Schwarzenegger said the Massachusetts model won’t work, in part, because of California’s larger uninsured population. But his comments clearly sounded like he favors some new effort.

"’I believe we can really conquer that problem, once and for all, if everyone works together,’ he said. ‘It means that employers have to put money in, I think that employees have to put money in, and I think that the government has to put money in.’ The governor said… Read More

A friend called me up yesterday, laughing, saying, “Well, I’m sure this is the first and last time I’ll see a lawn sign for a Democrat in your front yard.”

She may be right, unless I continue to live in Oakland where no GOP candidates even bother to file for the mayor’s race (or my assembly district!).

Normally, I’ll just cast a vote and ignore the rest of the campaign (in 2002, I voted for the more conservative candidate in the race for mayor—Jerry Brown).

This time, I’m a little more invested in the race. Not so much on behalf of the candidate I’m supporting—City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente—but because I cannot sit back and allow the wackos in this city install Ron Dellums in the mayor’s office. I do not want to foot his travel bill to Cuba or his self-esteem meetings for the poor kids kicked out of school because they… Read More