It is hardly a secret that at a statewide level the voters of California have been “inconvenient” to the special interest groups that control the State Capitol.. You need look no further for proof of this than California Democrat Party Chairman and former State Senate President John Burton’s recent screed in the Sacramento Bee, railing against the ballot initiative process. Just last week there was an article in the Los Angeles Times, Democrats propose measures to rein in California initiative process. Without going on at length with a great many example of ballot measures passed by the California electorate, suffice it to say that while the Capitol is dominated by politicians with an ultra-liberal ideology, the results of various high profile initiative contests demonstrate that voters are pretty centrist – and center-right when it comes to fiscal issues.

The assault on the overall ballot measure process comes as no surprise, but the level to which… Read More

Politics is about leadership, and those of us who are active in the conservative movement often look for excellence in the private sector to inspire better governance.

For this reason, in light of recent developments we should take a moment to learn from one of California’s most famous private sector leaders: Steve Jobs.

The modern era of personal computing came about while I was in high school and college, and I was never much of an Apple guy. In those days, kids chose brands in the emerging computer wars like they were rival sports teams. Apple vs. IBM, Red Sox vs. Yankees, same thing. I barely noticed when Jobs was dumped from the company he co-founded by then-CEO John Scully.

Yet Jobs’ career and the impact of his work on the rest of us and how we lead our lives are both exceptional and noteworthy. His return to Apple and the success the company has enjoyed since is an inspiring testament to the power of devotion when combined with both skill and judgment. Jobs started a new comany, NeXT, after being forced out of Apple, leading to multiple innovations that would later be incorporated into Apple once Jobs… Read More

One thing is for sure, that Democrat State Senator Mark DeSaulnier, like all his colleagues in the Legislature, despises Adolf Hitler. Regardless, DeSaulnier’s new law to require petition signature gatherers to wear a badge saying “I am paid to do this” in 30 point type is the functional equivalent of and conceptually based on the same cognitive justification as Nazi Germany’s law that required a Jew, when in public, to stitch on their clothing a big Star of David, the symbol of that religion. Just as Hitler wanted the public to know who the Jews were, and see something negative in that, DeSaulnier wants the public to know that a signature gatherer is employed to do what they do. And the joint intention of the Government regulations in both instances are to single out and sully the person wearing the badge in the eyes of the public.

Why does it matter that a signature gatherer is paid to obtain signatures? The right to petition government is a fundamental First Amendment based constitutional right. It is a hyper-right in California where we also have a state constitutional right to initiative and referendum. Any restrictions on those… Read More

As the current legislative session winds to a desultory close, I had the occasion recently to look back on the bills Republican Assembly Members had offered to make the state more business friendly. The sight was not a pretty one. Dead Republican bills littered the committee rooms and assembly floor. The local morgue does not have enough toe tags for all of the good, pro-jobs bills killed this year in Sacramento.

For example, the Republicans proposed several bills offering tax incentives to small businesses. Paul Cook’s AB 166 eliminated the yearly Minimum Franchise Tax on small businesses to make easier expansion and the hiring of new workers. If wholesale elimination was too much for the Democrats, then Martin Garrick offered AB 821 reducing that Minimum Franchise Tax from $800 to $100 for the second through tenth years of operation. If even that was too much, Mike Morrell proposed AB 368 to cut the tax for only the first six taxable years. And finally, if all else failed, Jim Silva had a bill, AB 831, to at least provide a break in the Minimum Franchise Tax to the few entrepreneurs who establish single member limited liability companies. No, no, no, no,… Read More

On the very day Governor Brown spoke about job creation, legislators are concocting an outrageous ploy to prevent the people from voting to overturn the ‘Amazon Tax.’

Clearly these lawmakers are afraid the public is poised and ready to vote down the failed ‘Amazon Tax’ that is costing our state jobs.

Instead of continuing their attack on out-of-state online retailers, the Governor and Legislature ought to be asking these companies how we can work with them to get Californians back to work.… Read More

The Huffington Post broke news today that California Rep. Xavier Becerra signed an affidavit claiming, for tax purposes, that his second home in Maryland is his primary residence. After Becerra purchased the $1 million Chevy Chase home, he took advantage of the homestead tax credit and saved roughly $4,000. According to a spokesman for the congressman, the legal designation is permissible because the tax breaks were claimed by his wife. The HuffPo article mentions three other instances of congressmen–including California’s Pete Stark–of claiming similar out-of-state residences for tax breaks.

Whether this is all legal mumbo-jumbo or a serious matter, it exposes one of the many reasons Americans have reason to be so suspicious of their elected representatives. When voters send one of their own to represent them in Sacramento or Washington, DC, they expect that legislator to still be a member of their community. Using voters as a stepping stone to power and influence on the other side of the country and forgetting where you came from is the… Read More

We have confirmed that Patricia McKeon, the wife of United States Congressman Buck McKeon has decided to seek election to the California State Assembly in the 38th District, which is a “safe” Republican seat (41.4% R, 34.7% D – see the map here) Patricia McKeon will come out of the gate with two of the most prominent endorsements in the area for a GOPer — her husband, who is immensely popular in the area — and also longtime Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich.

McKeon has retained well regarded GOP political consultant Joe Justin to handle her race. No doubt she will also benefit from the fact that longtime time senior Republican strategist Bob Haueter is on the scene (Haueter serves as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Congressman).

While it is unusual to have the spouse of a Member of Congress run for (let alone serve) in the State Legislature, Patricia lives at home and no doubt already used to seeing Buck on weekends (or maybe even less, given his responsibilities as Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee).… Read More

A few days ago it happened that I was sitting down with former Senate (and Assembly) Republican Leader Jim Brulte. While we talked about a number of things, when the topic came up of redistricting, and the recently announced plans of the Senate Republican Caucus to qualify a referendum on the Senate District maps created by the California Redistricting Commission, Jim was very clear — he said that referring the proposed lines was critical, and that there was simply no choice. He told me, “I have reviewed in detail the Commission lines for the California State Senate, and I can tell you that it will be nearly impossible for Republicans to block aDemocrat super-majority.”

Many readers of this column know Senator Brulte, though the vast majority of you do not. Brulte has a reputation both for being a keen political strategist — and an equally strong reputation for not talking out of school, or making widely speculative statements.

I wrote about the importance of qualifying the referendum on the State Senate lines last week, but it is… Read More