The President’s latest proposal to make “the rich pay their fair share” is just another awful idea in a series of awful ideas from this Administration. First of all, it again defines a taxpayer making $200,000 as “rich”. I know a number of such people and I suspect you do too. They live comfortable lives, but I don’t think they deserve the suddenly pejorative term “rich”, particularly if they come to that income by way of 2 working spouses and some investment income because they have saved money over time.

But, the new wrinkle here is the so-called “Millionaires” tax on incomes over $1 million. Obama’s rhetoric explains that he will only require that these incomes pay the same tax rate as “middle class families”. Well, obviously, the tax rate on these incomes is already much higher than for lower tax brackets. Most deductions for higher income people have already been largely eliminated through the alternative minimum tax and other tax laws over the last 20 years. There are really only 2 ways to get the tax rate on your $1 million income down. The first is if a bunch of that income is derived… Read More

I have been barraged with requests since the convention with questions about who this person or that person voted in the Platform Committee meeting. Thankfully the fine staff of the California Republican Party were able to furnish me with the roll call vote that was taken, which replaced the drafting committee’s watered-down platform with the conservative platform. So this is as good as it gets in understanding how things were split. I should add that if you don’t see someone on this list who is on the Platform Committee, that means that they were not at the meeting.

Again, a “Y” vote was for retaining our current conservative platform. A “N” vote was to use the watered down draft. “NV” means that the individual signed in at the beginning of the meeting, but did not respond when their name was called.

Susan Abato – N Adam Abrams – Y Linda Ackerman – NV Walter Allen – N Ivan Altamura – N Christian Amsberry – N Joel Anderson – Y Martin Avila – Y Darlene Ayers-Hohnson – N Hector Barajas – N… Read More

Last weekend at the California Republican Party’s biannual convention in Los Angeles, I stopped in to the hospitality suite of Presidential candidate and gay rights activist Fred Karger. Just as I got their, the program began, and so I took out the Flip cam and recorded it. Former California Log Cabin Republican President Len Lanzi introduces Former State Senator Roy Ashburn (who came out of the closet in his last term, and also was the deciding vote for the largest tax increase in California’s history. One action made him famous, the other infamous. You can decide). Then Karger speaks for about 16 minutes. If you watch all of it, towards the end, takes a break from his gay rights theme to critique President Obama — for around a minute…

LINK TO THE VIDEO.… Read More

There is much to be said about the California Republican Party’s Fall Convention held in downtown Los Angeles last weekend. Presidential candidates and a straw poll, great workshops and townhalls, tributes, speeches and more. The better part of a thousand GOP activists, donors and leaders descended on the L.A. Live! Marriott-Ritz hotel, across from the Staples Center (we were the pre-show for the Emmy Awards, I guess).

This column, however, is devoted to only one aspect of the convention – the ongoing process of the quadrennial adoption of the California Republican Party’s platform. One step of that process occurred at the convention, but a very important one.

By way of background, once every four years the CRP adopts its platform. I have been a member of each platform committee going back to 1992 – so this will mark two decades of direct involvement in this process. It has been since 1992, I believe, since there was a bona fide fight over the platform with party conservatives and moderates battling it out. Conservatives won the day back then, and while the platform has gone through changes over this intervening years (it was much… Read More

Introduction from FR Publisher Jon Fleischman When we go through hundreds and hundreds of bills to find the ones that we consider to be the most egregious, harmful or inappropriate, it is our hope that a responsible Governor would veto all of them. Remember, we’re talking about the worst bills. If the Governor signs any of the bills listed below, it is bad news for the people of California… We published this column five times during the last Governor’s term, but this is our first time doing so since the return of Jerry Brown.

Earlier this month, Governor Brown vetoed a piece of legislation, SB 105, which would have imposed criminal penalties on a child under the age of 18 or his or her parents if the child skis or snowboards without a helmet. In his veto letter, Brown said that he was, “concerned about the continuing and seemingly inexorable transfer of authority from… Read More

Let’s begin with praise. The online news folks at Voice of San Diego deserve big props for diving in head first with a great concept – a political festival centered around the first San Diego 2012 mayoral debate or as they called it Politifest 2011.

However, due to no filtering of candidates, it felt more freak show than what they dubbed a “Lincoln – Douglas” style county fair debate.

Though top-tier candidates, Rep. Bob Filner and Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, participated – they were not “the talk” of the debate.

The “It” kid of the event, Rob Harter, called himself “Girly Girly.”

He opened up with a diatribe about how men are evil, ruining the world with war and guns. Oh, did I happen to mention this event took place on the grounds of the old Naval Training Center, where sailors like my father, attended boot camp?

Yes, clearly the Lincoln candidate.

Meaning wacky retired teacher and magician Loch David… Read More

Four years ago, the California Republican Party conducted a unique process to strengthen its new platform. This 2008 – 2012 document is especially important now, since it was recommended for re-adoption by the full state committee at the next convention, bypassing the vague and ambiguous substitute that had been moved through the party’s drafting committee.

In drafting the current platform, we worked with the people at American Solutions, a 527 group founded by Newt Gingrich. Their team conducted extensive research on issues among Republicans, Democrats and independents, the purpose of which was to identify issues which had been traditionally considered “conservative,” but actually earned the support of a majority of Democrats and independents, in addition to Republicans.

The purpose was to maximize our ability to reach voters not by diluting or blurring the party’s positions on timely issues, but to do so by identifying issues consistent with our values that, when discussed properly, earn the support of Americans from differing partisan backgrounds. This was a unique and unprecedented process in the development of a party platform in… Read More

On Monday, September 19 the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands will hold a field hearing on “Restoring Public Access to the Public’s Lands: Issues Impacting Multiple-use on Our National Forests.” I requested this hearing because a growing number of citizen complaints protesting policies of the federal government that appear designed to radically limit the public’s use of our public lands.

The original mission of the U.S. Forest Service as defined by its creator, the legendary Gifford Pinchot, is to manage the forests “to provide for the greatest amount of good for the greatest number in the long run.” That has always meant welcoming recreation, hunting, fishing, camping, and riding in the forests, as well as the responsible and sustainable use of the public lands for the prosperity of the nation, including ranching, logging, energy development and other job-creating economic activities.

Nearly twenty percent of California’s lands and much of my District are managed by the U.S. Forest Service. These lands are the economic lifeblood for surrounding communities, supporting local jobs and… Read More