I don’t like Dan Lungren and he doesn’t like me. When Lungren ran for governor in 1998, he ran a self-centered, indulgent campaign in which he chose to talk about the issues that were important to him rather than those that mattered most to the voters. He doesn’t like me, I’m guessing, because of statements like the one in the previous sentence.

The relationship took a turn for the worse when he ran for Congress two years ago. On Election Night, the Associated Press incorrectly reported that one of his opponents had won the Republican primary. Based on that incorrect information, I provided analysis for a local television station on why Lungren’s comeback had been unsuccessful. Despite heroic efforts by his brother Brian to bridge this gap over the years, my friendly advice would be to avoid inviting us to the same picnic anytime soon.

But on an issue of critical importance to the Republican Party, Dan Lungren is exactly correct. By advocating for the entire GOP leadership to step down and face new elections, Lungren clearly understands the scope of the problem the GOP faces in dealing with the lobbying scandals that have… Read More

I awoke this morning, having spent an enjoyable evening at the Senate and Assembly Republican Chief of Staff Association January social last night, to find that my planned submission on The Center for Policy Initiatives own Lee Cokorinos’ "Target San Diego: The Right Wing Assault on Urban Democracy and Smart Government" had been stolen by Jon Fleischman. This is my limited, edited version:

Let’s start with this: if the "report" in question was to be sold at the local bookstore, it would probably be found in the Fantasy section. It sounds like Lee googled the names of various center-right organizations then drank a few beers and started drawing lines. He has no basic understanding of how San Diego’s center-right coalition came into being, operates, or finances itself. Hey, Lee, I’m not a prized researcher from the world-class Center for Policy Initiatives, but even I would probably spend at least five or ten minutes going through financial records or interviewing relevant persons. I mean I hate to repeat last weeks critique of another lefty who played free and loose with the facts, but c’mon Lee you could have gotten more… Read More

SEXUAL PREDATOR UNION? I have been scouring the Secretary of State’s website this morning for the CAPS – California Association of Sexual Predators. You see, the State Assembly Public Safety Committee Democrat majority is showing the kind of lock-step solidarity to opposing Jessica’s Law (GPS tracking of sex offenders, as was as other needed reforms) that is typically shown on bread-and-butter labor issues. Since everyone knows it is the labor unions that keep the Democrats in line, well, doesn’t it make sense that there must be a union for sexual predators? There are several articles on the main page — and a ‘must read’ column from Karen Hanretty on the Democrat Chairman of the Public Safety Committee – San Francisco’s Mark Leno. BILL THOMAS: KING OF PORK MAKES..SAUSAGE Representative Bill Thomas of Bakersfield, otherwise known as the "King of Pork" as he lords over a massive increase in… Read More

SEXUAL PREDATOR UNION? I have been scouring the Secretary of State’s website this morning for the CAPS – California Association of Sexual Predators. You see, the State Assembly Public Safety Committee Democrat majority is showing the kind of lock-step solidarity to opposing Jessica’s Law (GPS tracking of sex offenders, as was as other needed reforms) that is typically shown on bread-and-butter labor issues. Since everyone knows it is the labor unions that keep the Democrats in line, well, doesn’t it make sense that there must be a union for sexual predators? There are several articles on the main page — and a ‘must read’ column from Karen Hanretty on the Democrat Chairman of the Public Safety Committee – San Francisco’s Mark Leno. BILL THOMAS: KING OF PORK MAKES..SAUSAGE Representative Bill Thomas of Bakersfield, otherwise known as the "King of Pork" as he lords over a massive increase in… Read More

The word is that today there will be some kind of major announcement in a local SD assembly race. Trying to pin it down, I’ve been asking around,"This isn’t the stale Packard thing, is it?" If it turns out to be a cataclysmic story, I’ll post it later.

In the meantime, speaking of Scott Packard, former Vista councilmember and son of the former congressman, apparently he has jumped in the 74th, no surprise there, although the late entry will cause fodder. The North County Times has the story this morning.

But, I simply can’t resist the mention on the SD Politics blog, posted in the wee hours:

Getting To The Party Late

Scott Packard, son offormer Congressman Ron Packard, announced this week that he is joining the race for the 74th Assembly District.

So it’s official. Well, well, well, welcome to the party! Packard has some serious ground to make up. He’ll have few… Read More

Some things are just too unbelievable to read. Today when I got an email from FR friend Carl DeMaio of the San Diego-based Performance Institute, with a link to an online version of a research paper, I was blown-away with what I read.

Clicking this link took me to a 79 page analysis by some guy named Lee Cokorinos at the website of the Center for Policy Initiatives. To read it, you start to think of that Mel Gibson movie, Conspiracy Theory. Your eyes start to go wide, and you start to look for photographs of black helicopters on each page.

This bizarre look at one left-wing analysts view of conservatism in San Diego is called Target San Diego: The Right Wing Assault on Urban Democracy and Smart Government.

This is their brief discription of their study:

Multiple "Golden Pen Award Winner" John Fund wrote this for today’s edition of the Wall Street Journal Political Diary e-mail…

Minimum Rage

With even GOP Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California calling for a $1 an hour increase in his state’s minimum wage, political momentum has clearly shifted in favor of the unions pushing similar hikes in other states. About half of Americans live in 17 states where mandatory hourly wages exceed the federal government’s minimum of $5.15 an hour.… Read More

Agriculture is a very important part of life and industry on the Central Coast. From the lettuce fields of Salinas to avocado orchards in Ventura County, agriculture is essential to the Central Coast economy.

An article in this morning’s Ventura County Star covered a study on labor and immigration in California agriculture. According to the Ventura County Star, the study was directed by Maxey and Bill Watkins, executive director of the Economic Forecast Project at UC Santa Barbara in cooperation with California Lutheran University. It was commissioned by the Workforce Investment Board of Ventura County and was formally unveiled during a conference today in Oxnard.

The article states, "’As durable as agriculture has been in California, I think there’s a level of threat in the coming decades that is… Read More