Are Republicans gleeful over recent events impacting the State Senate? That clearly seems the case in some quarters.

Glee may be natural, given the circumstances.

Yet, I’ve been around long enough to remember some Republican legislators also nailed in stings and caught up in public corruption. That absolute power thing, it most certainly can go both ways, regardless of party.

Human nature isn’t partisan.

So, I’ll leave it to the blindly partisan to cite examples in attempts to prove which party produces the most bad apples.

I do note that Republicans in the California legislature don’t have enough clout for any influence peddlers to even tempt them with graft.

Yet, if in fact Republican legislators can somehow successfully capitalize on current events, I would caution them to remember not to someday feast at the indoor table while standing upright on two hooves.

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Hey, New Jersey and Chicago, you’ve got nothing on California. For several years, the Golden State has tried to be number one among all states in tax burden – and, of course, we are very close to that prize. But now we seem to be striving for a new number one title: The most corrupt state in America.

By now, few people in California haven’t heard about the latest in corruption scandals emanating from the California Legislature. In a nutshell, liberal San Francisco democrat Leland Yee… Read More

Have you ever gone to see a movie based on a book you’ve read, and found that the two have less in common than you thought? It’s the same with some of the reporting about the latest PPIC poll, especially as it relates to the governor’s race.

One news story described the race as “a one man show,” citing Brown’s “37 percentage-point edge over his nearest rival…” You get the point. Game over, right?

Not so much.

There are not one, but two elections at play here: the June election, and the November runoff. The dynamics will change radically between the first and the second, and much of the reporting misses this critical fact.

Incumbent Gov. Jerry Brown currently leads in the PPIC poll by that 37%. For all practical purposes, in the June election, which right now is the only one that counts, this number is absolutely, totally meaningless. Everyone knows Brown will place first in the new “top two” primary. It’s the top two finishers who both go on to the runoff, not the top one finisher.

The… Read More

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

Much has been written and will be written about the now-unsealed indictment of State Senator Leland Yee.Much has been written and will be written about the upcoming trial of State Senator Ron Calderon.And much has been written about the now completed trial of State Senator Rod Wright, who as we know was found guilty by a jury of his peer of eight felony crimes.It is unprecedented, as far as I know, that three different State Senators have been simultaneously serving under these extreme circumstances.

Darrell Steinberg didn’t sign up to be the President of the Senate in this kind of unprecedented “season of corruption” in the California legislature’s upper house. That having been said, the institution has needed a Pro Tem who can provide a bright, clear line between ethical, law abiding legislators, which we can hope number 37 – and this… Read More

Part l of two stories about the reality of California’s water supply

Whether or not California’s drought conditions are brought on by alleged “global warming,” most agree the state is lacking rainfall. What many in the state refuse to acknowledge is that this is actually typical; drought occurs 40 percent of the time in California. It’s not unusual.

However, government and public officials with an agenda of opportunistic control are fueling the melodramatic media coverage of the state’s rainfall shortage. And many of these same officials have been mum about the state’s historical lack of adequate water storage, despite an increasing population.

Rationing shortfalls

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Tonight, 40% of children in America will go to sleep with just one parent in the home and a report released in October of 2013 by the Congressional Research Service indicates that, at $745.84 billion per year, welfare programs have surpassed Medicare and Social Security as the largest federal budget item.

Alarming statistics. But perhaps more alarming is that 0% of the 537 elected federal officials in Washington DC fully understand the relationship between the fatherless child and government costs; that dedicated parenting is essential to the pursuit of happiness and the lack thereof is the common denominator of the runaway cost of government.

President Obama has at least acknowledged the plight of the fatherless child. In a 2008 speech on the subject of fatherhood, the president stated the following: Children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; nine times more likely to drop out of schools and twenty times more likely to end up in prison. All of this burdens the economy and government by increasing the cost of education, law enforcement and prison incarceration.

Thankfully, no government program was… Read More

Last night by a rather overwhelming margin voters in the 23rd State Senate District voted to elect Mike Morrell as their next State Senator. For the past few years Morrell has been serving in the State Assembly, where he established himself as one of the most articulate conservatives in the lower chamber.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Mike and his family for many, many years — going back to my involvement as State President of the California Republican Assembly too many years ago — and through our mutual involvement and support of the Clarement Institute. Mike is strong, principled leader. His political philosophy is well thought out,… Read More

“I think expanding Social Security benefits is incredibly important… the current Social Security benefits are not covering the cost of living for seniors.” – Shenna Bellows, Democrat, candidate for U.S. Senate, Maine, as quoted in Fiscal Times article “Liberal Dems’ New Goal: Boost Social Security Benefits,”

The debate over what role, if any, government should play in ensuring retirement security for all Americans, ought to be creating strange bedfellows.Liberal Democrats like Shenna Bellows want to expand Social Security. Many conservative Republicans want to reform public sector pensions by eliminating them in favor of individual 401K accounts. They ought to be working together.

There is only one equitable and affordable way to expand Social Security benefits, and that is by requiring all public sector employees, with no exceptions, to participate in Social Security from now on.

The reason for this is because Social Security, unlike typical public sector defined benefits, are progressive. This means… Read More