Yesterday was a very bittersweet day for Californians, relative to their state government, as the Democrats pushed through an “on time” state budget plan. The good news is that due both to the resolve of Capitol Republicans to oppose tax increases, and a seemingly equal resolve by California’s public employee unions to oppose any meaningful spending and pension reforms, the budget that was adopted does not include the placing of massive income, sales and car taxes on a special election ballot, nor does it include the “bridge to nowhere” – our name for the outrageous request of the Governor that the legislature extend such taxes for a year, regardless of what voters might do. So when one considers the actions of the Democrats yesterday, it must be in the context of understanding that things could have been a lot worse.

I couldn’t say it better than Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway: “By standing united together as the last line of defense for California taxpayers, Republicans were able to stop Governor Brown’s massive $58 billion tax increase from becoming reality. This means that hard-working Californians will see much needed tax… Read More

Today, we here at the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association blasted the phony budget proposed by the Democrat majority in the legislature as a convoluted effort motivated solely by the need to continue to receive their paychecks.

As usual, the politicians under the Capitol dome are looking out for themselves. They are so desperate to pass a budget – any budget – in order to keep their pay, they are willing to use any means, including illegal maneuvers and gimmicks, in order to do so.

Some examples…

The passage of a CALFire surcharge on home insurance policies is illegal if passed on a simple majority vote; The proposed stealing of $1 billion from California’s First Five funds is illegal without a ballot initiative process; A $1.7 billion request of funds from Redevelopment Agencies (RDAs) under threat of extinction is likely illegal under Prop. 22; The $1.2 billion the Legislature is relying upon from the sale of State office buildings has already been determined to be illegal.

If self-serving lawmakers attempt to circumvent Prop. 13 and the will of the people, we will see them in court.… Read More

Make no mistake, the Democrats’ budget isn’t about solving California’s fiscal problems—it’s only goal is to ensure lawmakers keep their paychecks flowing.

When voters last fall granted Democrats their wish of majority-vote budgets, they demanded lawmakers forfeit their pay if those budgets are not approved on-time. But it was never the voters’ intention for lawmakers to approve a sham budget simply to keep their paychecks coming.

What’s worse is that to protect their own pay, Democrats are poised to sacrifice the paychecks of thousands of California small businesses known as affiliates. Up to 25,000 of these Internet entrepreneurs will lose their affiliate status if Democrats approve a so-called ‘Amazon tax.’ According to the Board of Equalization’s analysis, ‘termination of affiliate programs would have an adverse impact on state employment’ and ‘lead to lower revenues.’

The dumbest idea of all is the Democrats’ plan to sell state buildings for one-time revenue. If lawmakers want real one-time dollars, they should consider my proposals to raise billions in revenue by (1) granting an interest and penalty holiday to spur… Read More

This great video comes to us courtesy of Hector Barrajas of Revolvis… … Read More

Memorandum Date: 06/15/11 To: Legislative Republicans From: Jon Fleischman, Publisher, FlashReport.org RE: Today’s Democrat Majority-Vote Budget Drill

There is a better time and place to debate whether or not the voters of California were wise in passing Proposition 25 last year, which among other things provided that vote threshold to pass a budget and its attendant trailer bills would be a simple majority. The voters did approve it, which is all that really matters today.

The budget that Democrats will put before you today will be a terrible one. You should feel very comfortable voting against it. It represents the priorities of the ultra-liberal majority, and the will of the state’s powerful public employee unions.

The important task ahead of you is to take advantage of the opportunity provided with a majority vote budget. By definition, this represents the first budget (perhaps ever) that Democrats cannot claim has any patina of bipartisanship. This is their budget — they own it. Lock, stock and barrel. Each of you must be ready to talk to reporters, pen columns, prepare e-mail… Read More

Last week the California Redistricting Commission released their first draft of new Congressional, State Senate, State Assembly and Board of Equalization Districts. The lines that they have released have predictably caused a lot of chaos in California’s political community, with 157 directly impacted politicians all pouring over the maps, and trying to figure out whether they have “safe” seats, whether they need to physically move to stay in office, whether they have been thrown into a district with a colleague, or whether they have been drawn right out of a district altogether.

The purpose of this analysis is to specifically look at the impacts of these draft redistricting lines on the Congressional, Senate and Assembly seats that are completely or partially within Orange County. It is important to remember that these lines are drafts, and that the Commission will continue to take input that reserves the right to make small or large changes to them all the way until August 15th when they are required to adopt final lines. And even then there is every likelihood that the final lines will end up in front… Read More

I’ve done a fair amount of work in New Hampshire for conservative organizations, so I watched the debate last night at Saint Anselm College with considerable interest. Here’s my take on winners and losers.

The biggest loser was Barack Obama. The entire field presented itself as credible, articulate and capable. The range of cogent attacks on the Obama Administration serve as a great early-indicator of what next year’s General Election is going to look like. He’s vulnerable on the economy, jobs, federal spending, entitlements, energy independence, bailouts, immigration and so much more.

The second biggest loser was Sarah Palin. If Palin is actually looking at getting into the race (who knows?) her apparent strategy is to arrive late into a weak field and suck up all the energy in the race. However, the field last night showed that it is not weak, it is quite strong. We have businessmen, former Governors, former Senators and members of Congress past and present speaking forcefully, intelligently and candidly about why Barack Obama has failed the country.

Mitt Romney had a very good night. Romney entered the debate as the favorite, and nothing… Read More

Not long ago, I wrote about the somewhat remarkable conduct of the Assembly’s ruling Democrat majority in denying Republicans the right to caucus during floor deliberations. But incredibly, they topped that discourtesy just a few days later in a “debate” over the state budget. This time, Republicans were not denied just the right to meet among ourselves. Rather, we – and every one of the millions of constituents we represent – were denied the right even to participate in any meaningful way in the budget discussion.

No subject is of more importance and interest around the state right now than the California budget. Indeed, I would bet that, at least before Arnold’s latest scandal, no single topic has been more covered in the press than the budget. So you would expect that the Assembly’s very first full Budget Committee meeting after the May revisions showed $6.6 billion in unanticipated revenue and immediately before the June 15 constitutional deadline to pass a budget would be a very open and deliberative meeting with considerable, robust debate between the committee members. You would be wrong.

Shortly after the committee convened, right in the… Read More