Today, the Orange County Register editorialized on the City of Anaheim‘s citywide WiFi [full disclosure: the City of Anaheim is a client].

The Register, while favorable toward Anaheim’s approach to erecting citywide WiFi, express the sneaking libertarian suspicion that it is somehow contrary to the American experiment in representative government.

Or as the Register put it: "Citywide wireless Internet access is cool, but is it really the government’s job?"

My answer to is "yes" to the first, and "not really" to the second. The thing is, under Anaheim‘s approach, citywide WiFi really isn’t the government’s job.

Unlike other major cities like … Read More

Bill Leonard and Ray Haynes are both influential and important Republican officials in California. Leonard, currently on the State Board of Equalization, spend decades in the State Legislature, serving in both the Senate and Assembly. Haynes has also served in both houses of the legislature, and is now the senior (or tied for it anyways – I’m not sure). in the legislature.

Leonard and Haynes both have e-newsletters they send out. Below I am excerpting Leonards thoughts on both the Governor’s BIG BOND proposal, as well as on the issue of mandating a increase in the minimum wage.

Immediately beneath Leonard’s thoughts, I have excerpted some of Ray Haynes’ observations.

FROM LEONARD: ***The Price of Bonds*** … Read More

Update: The link to both the Democrat and Republican surveys in the 50th is here.

Leave it to team Furlong/Babcock at Datamar to be running numbers at this point:

Republican Voters Not Wild Yet About Any One Republican Candidate

For Every Republican Candidate in the Candidates-crowded April 11th 50th Congressional Special "Mixed" Primary Election the Combined "Neither favorable or unfavorable" (neutral) and "Unfamiliar with the name" responses Far Exceed the Combined "Favorable" and "Unfavorable" responses San Diego – In the poll released today by Datamar Inc. regarding Republican candidates in the mixed-parties 50th Congressional Special Election to be held April 11th, the combined "Unfamiliar with the name" and "Neither favorable or unfavorable" (neutral) responses exceed the combined "Favorable"… Read More

The knock on Bill Morrow going into the special election to replace the Duke of Wiretapping has been the perception that he won’t be able to raise the money to be competitive. Morrow shattered that perception with his announcement earlier today that he raised over $200,000 in the 4th quarter – an impressive number for anyone given the challenges of raising that money in the current environment and the holiday season.

Also, conservative Congressman Gary Miller joins a majority of the elected California Senate and Assembly members in endorsing Morrow.

Those that counted Morrow out early, should take notice. With more candidates to come, this race will be a free-for-all.… Read More

Congressman Jerry Lewis will not be pursuing a promotion in the Houseleadership.The Redlands Republican, who had been considered a possiblecontender for the majority leader post, announced today that he intends to remain as Appropriations Committee Chairman. To read the announcement, see www.house.gov/appropriations.… Read More

Carl Burton of the California Congress of Republicans recently sent out a letter supporting the bond busting proposals of the Governor. In order to do so he invoked conservative activist Steve Frank and his position of a former CRA President to do it.Here is the lead.

"I believe Steve Frank (past-President, CRA) was right on target when he wrote that Governor Schwarzenegger’s speech "… was an A+ speech …" Steve also wrote that the governor "… had passion, energy, structure, focus, it was delivered with humility in parts and sincerity throughout. He gave the audience confidence that he knew the subject and had a full grasp of the issues being raised. And the construction of the speech–masterful. Coming back several times with the line, ‘I say build it’ was forceful and positive."

You can see the whole CCR letter below.

While it is true Steve wrote this about the style of the speech, hewas against the policy.

"The policy of this speech did not work, because it did not give answers, nor did it address the major… Read More

That was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s response on Friday when given his first opportunity to reassure voters that his infrastructure bond proposal was fiscally responsible. He’s going to need to do better.

This upcoming week’s budget announcement provides Schwarzenegger with an opportunity to explain in detail how a building campaign of this magnitude can be done without hemorraging red ink for the next several decades. While many leading conservatives have immediately denounced the bond package, it appears that the window may still be open for Schwarzenegger to explain how his proposal can be financed in a responsible way.

State Senator Tom McClintock, Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, and Lew Uhler of the National Tax Limitation Committee, perhaps the three most respected voices of fiscal conservatism in the state, have all reacted cautiously to Schwarzenegger’s proposal. Each has acknowledged the need for California to address its transportation requirements, and each has offered guidelines under which a project like this would be acceptable. Wall Street has weighed in favorably, pointing to the… Read More

Even as prolific a writer as I am cannot churn out new commentary every day. I’ve got a tight schedule this morning. But I will draw your attention to two things, which if you are an avid FR reader, you’ll have already read:

The first is my commentary from yesterday, concerning Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition. The second is an entry I made to the Weblog yesterday in response to a question from my colleague and fellow FR contributor, Dan Schnur. It speaks from my heart.

In closing, while it is somewhat lengthy, I really encourage you to read the lead column today on the main page, from Ward Connerly. This man’s courageous crusade against discrimination is nothing short of heroic. And what he has been doing around the country after the successful Passage here of Proposition 209 has been amazing. He really details his current efforts in Michigan.

Have a great… Read More