We expected the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), the San Francisco based bureaucracy that manages the statewide court system, to make all kinds of pathetic excuses for wasting more than half a billion dollars of taxpayer money on the failed California Case Management System (CCMS). We also expected the same litany of excuses from the Judicial Council, an insular group chaired by the Chief Justice that repeatedly approved millions of dollars in spending for CCMS, even as courts were closing their doors to the public for lack of funds. Still, even we were surprised to see the editorial boards of several major California newspapers – among them the Los Angeles Times and Sacramento Bee – glossing over glaring evidence of waste and mismanagement at the hands of the AOC. It’s too bad these print media titans are content to lap up and then print “editorials” that simply track AOC talking-points.

Shame on them all.

In a recent editorial, the Bee lamented the demise of CCMS as a failure to bring the judicial branch into the electronic age. The Times suggested lawyers can’t track case progress without phone… Read More

Today I testified in support of legislation by Senator Tom Harman that would direct California’s three tax agencies to work toward the goal of consolidating tax self-services into a single taxpayer-friendly website.

These difficult economic times highlight the need for government to eliminate bureaucratic red-tape that entangles businesses. Many California businesses have to file and pay taxes to three separate agencies, and taxpayers are often confused as to which agency is responsible for a particular tax: BOE, EDD or FTB.

SB 1326 would streamline this process. Under the bill’s provisions, the website www.taxes.ca.gov would be enhanced to allow taxpayers to file tax returns, claim refunds, and request for relief of interest or penalties with one login.

Taxpayers would no longer need to navigate through three separate tax agencies to access forms and information, saving taxpayers time and increasing voluntary compliance.

Just as online banking has provided individuals and businesses with easier… Read More

I’m pleased to report that Senator Bob Dutton is stepping forward to fight for California consumers who are sick of high gas prices. Lawmakers like to complain about high gas prices. Now they have a chance to do something to help.

The legislation, which I am sponsoring, will cap the state excise tax on gasoline at 35.7 cents and limit sales tax to the first $4.00 per gallon of gasoline. It would also cap diesel taxes at their current levels.

Most Californians don’t realize they’re already paying about $10 in tax each time they fill up their gas tank. Without a cap, that number could get even worse.

Should the average annual fuel price rises just one dollar—from $4 to $5 per gallon—the typical California consumer would be forced to pay 8 cents more in taxes per gallon. For most consumers this would translate into a $1 or more in additional tax for each tank of gas.

As a whole, California consumers would be burdened $1.4 billion more in gas taxes each year – on top of the nearly $7 billion in taxes they are already paying.

According to the… Read More

Republican State Assemblyman Jeff Gorell recently returned from a year of active-duty with the military, stationed in Afghanistan. Yesterday was his first day back in the State Capitol since his departure in March of 2011…. I have penned this letter to the Assemblyman to welcome him home…

Dear Assemblyman Gorell:

Welcome back from your tour of duty in Afghanistan. We all know that freedom is in fact not free at all. Many people past, present and future put their lives at risk to defend this amazing country — you are one of those people, and for that you are owed a debt of gratitude from the rest of us who have not served in the Armed Forces. I also want to thank your wife and children for their sacrifice — to be without a husband, or a dad, for a year is no small thing!

I wish that I could tell you that while you were away, that the Democrats and their public employee union allies who control the politics in California have figured out how get our state government in good order — but I am afraid things are, well, exactly where they were when you… Read More

Jerry Brown’s new Tax petition has hit the streets and make no mistake, it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Jerry and his tax-raising friends over at theradicalCalifornia Teachers Federation are circulating a measure to raise YOUR Taxes. But they’re doing so under the guise that it actually helps our schools. Make no mistake, this measure couldn’t be more misleading, right down to its very title,“The Schools and Local Public Safety Protection Act of 2012.”

For the left to suggest this measure will help schoolscouldn’t be further from the truth.

You see, the revenue raised from Jerry’s potential initiative would go into California’s… Read More

Back in 2009, six Republicans voted with all of the Democrats in the Capitol to sock it to Californians with the largest tax increase in state history — Senators Roy Ashburn, Dave Cogdill and Abel Maldonado, and Assemblymembers Anthony Adams, Mike Villines, and Roger Niello — all of whom besides Niello had violated a written pledge against raising taxes (and Niello ran on some pretty strong anti-tax rhetoric). Three of these scoundrels are actually trying to run for public office again this year. Anthony Adams is running for Congress as a “No Party Preference” candidate in CD 8, an open “safe GOP” seat in the high desert of Southern California. Abel Maldonado is running for Congress in the coastal 24th District. Finally, Roy Ashburn is running for a seat on the Kern County Board of Supervisors, a job he held eons ago before being elected to the legislature.

All three of these ex-politicians seeking election this year were rewarded for their willingness to raise taxes with plum political appointments. Maldonado, of course, was appointed to be the state’s Lt. Governor, though he was trounced in his bid for election to a full term… Read More

Nathan’s decision to leave the Republican Party must have been a difficult one. It isn’t easy to leave a party you’ve been a member of for nearly 20 years. While I’m disappointed we’ve lost Nathan, I know he feels this is what is right in his heart.

It’s okay to be sad he left the party, many of us are, but attacking Nathan’s character is taking it too far. Nathan’s character, tested in battle in Iraq and Africa, is rock solid. Nathan is the same person he was a week ago. None of his positions changed, and he remains one of the most honest, hard-working and smartest members of the Legislature. He will make a great mayor. His accomplishments in the Legislature speak for themselves: he authored Chelsea’s Law, a groundbreaking, difficult piece of legislation to pass, held the line against higher taxes and authored regulatory relief for small business.

It’s telling that so many of us who know Nathan still stand with him. Governor Wilson, Assembly Leader Conway, Senator Anderson, Senator Wyland, Republican Caucus Chairman Brian Nestande and thousands of others are fully behind Nathan and believe he is the… Read More

This year San Diego voters are being treated to a very lively contest to see who will succeed Republican Jerry Sanders as mayor of California’s second largest city. I have and will continue to write about this and other races taking place in the City of San Diego – but I think it is important to share with you that I have not endorsed any candidates for mayor or city council, nor have I made any financial contributions. The only bias that I bring to any analysis of the mayor’s race is my conservative perspective, and a disclosure that one candidate, Nathan Fletcher, has been a personal friend of mine for many years. In fact, it has been my friendship with Nathan that has made it a bit awkward for me as I have contemplated for many days what to write about his sudden decision to leave the Republican Party and become a decline- to-state voter.

Let me just throw out there that I believe Nathan’s decision to re-register was strictly a tactical maneuver for the purpose of attempting to rebrand his campaign, and improve his odds at making it into the runoff election after June. It’s pretty clear that something had to be done as survey after survey kept… Read More