The news of the announcement of the candidacy of Ray Haynes for Treasurer coursed through the political circles of the California Republican Party yesterday. Overwhelmingly the news was met with much excitement and enthusiasm. Current party Treasurer Keith Carlson is term-limited out (and running for the State Assembly in 2012) and there was a potential void in strong leadership in this critical party post.

Ray Haynes of course enjoys broad support in the party as a longtime respected leader. He is well known and well regarded by grassroots activists, county party leaders, volunteer organizations, party donors and of course is well known in the State Capitol (Haynes served for six years in the State Assembly and eight years in the State Senate where he was known as a conservative leader in both caucuses).

I penned the following letter to CRP members that I sent out last night…… Read More

My latest op-ed as seen in the Mountain Democrat and Fox & Hounds Daily

They’re at it again.

Lawmakers in California, in a desperate attempt to generate revenues are again seeking to force out-of-state retailers to collect taxes for online purchases made by California shoppers. If they are successful in passing this legislation, not only will they fail to raise even one more nickel in tax revenue, they will cost the state thousands of… Read More

Escondido deputy Mayor Marie Waldron, a perennial favorite of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association – PAC, was just named "Woman of the Year" by Assemblyman Martin Garrick in an announcement from his legislative offices. Waldron is considered a top contender to succeed Garrick, who will be term-limited in the 2012 election in a reconfigured district; Waldron’s receiving such top honors from the incumbent in this northern San Diego county district is surely a big boost to her prospects.… Read More

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has just sent out this alert to their (considerable) e-mail blast list…

This Is a Taxpayer Action Alert

 Make yourself heard – please call these wavering lawmakers now!

 The Republican Senators listed below have been negotiating with Jerry Brown to put his $60 billion tax on the ballot.

This would be a disaster for taxpayers because Brown’s government employee union allies are prepared to spend tens of millions of dollars on a campaign to fool voters into approving the largest tax increase in state history. 

It is critical that these lawmakers hear from taxpayers before a deal is struck.

Take… Read More

This just in from Chris Cillizza of the Afternoon Fix :

"Republican strategist Mike Murphy is joining the public affairs firm Revolution Agency. Murphy’s former clients include John McCain, Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Murphy told the Fix he had several offers to work on presidential campaigns in 2012 but had decided to stay out of the mix, citing "quality of life and time demands of Hollywood work and punditry. Revolution also recently signed on Bob Honold, a rising star in the Republican operative world."

It has been estimated that Murphy recovered over $10,000,000 cash managing Whitman’s campaign.

… Read More

In the current budget debate, HJTA has taken a principled stand against placing massive tax increases on the June ballot. The only circumstance, in our view, that would justify this proposal is if the California Legislature also agreed to put tax reductions on the ballot as well. Several legislators (all Republicans) agreed with our view as well as supporting other major reforms.

Other Republican legislators, while supporting substantive reforms, did not necessarily include tax reductions as part of an overall budget fix. Although we disagree, it is now apparent that these Republican legislators were nonetheless holding out for major structural reforms of a positive nature. Even this more moderate stance, however, has been rebuffed by the Governor and the Democrats in the Legislature. In frustration, it now appears that they have broken off talks with the Governor.

Although we continue to believe that any reform package should include tax reductions as an option, we acknowledge the efforts of the five legislators who yesterday signed… Read More

The the very Republican 4th Assembly District Beth Gaines bested John Allard by a slim 667 votes to win a runoff slot against the lone Democrat candidate Dennis Campanale. Gaines should be able to win the runoff without breaking a sweat.

While there are technically a few thousand ballots left to count (late absentees, provisionals) — not enough of those remain to statistically give Allard a shot at closing the gap.

Congratulations to Beth Gaines on her victory, and a shout out to her consultant Dave Gilliard.… Read More

… Read More