Back in July, I was on the dais for a Joint Economic Committee hearing on the topic of energy. At one point during the hearing, one of my Democratic colleagues from New York made the statement that we could get rid of all oil usage in this country by using solar power.

This is a nice thought, but one not rooted in any understanding of reality. I then presented the challenges and opportunities facing our energy policy and challenged my colleague’s assertion with the three panelists (from MIT, Texas A&M, and a New York consulting firm – 2 Democratic panelists and one Republican). All three agreed with me.

If you take the emotion and proprietary interests out of it, our energy solutions are much clearer and in less dispute than conventional wisdom would have you believe. This is the first in a 3-part laptop report on energy discussing where our opportunities do and do not exist.

The first thing to understand is that we must separate the solutions for fixed source energy generation (electricity and heating) from the solutions for mobile source energy generation (trains, planes, and automobiles). The solutions for fixed energy are much easier… Read More

This is a great watch, albeit a little long (23 minutes). Republican Governor Christie, of New Jersey, making a difference…

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Speaker Pérez and Senate President Steinberg sounded hopeful tones this week after their “Big 5” budget meetings with Governor Schwarzenegger and Republican legislative leaders. They spoke of progress and suggested that they were getting somewhere on a budget deal.

Forgive me for being skeptical, but I don’t trust Pérez any further than I can throw him. The word around Sacramento is that Pérez, a veteran of Democratic machine politics, doesn’t even want a budget to pass before November, since that would hurt the case for Proposition 25, which would change the vote requirement for passing a budget from two-thirds to a simple majority.

Rumor has it that the Speaker has been circulating a memo to his political allies outlining his strategy: speak of progress for the cameras during the month of September, then—in October—say that the budget can’t pass because of the two-thirds requirement. Pérez’s calculation is that the voters will then see Proposition 25 as the solution to the state’s broken system and sign off on tyranny by the majority.

This type of behavior… Read More

Carl Guardino is president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. We are told that some 300 of the Valley’s "most respected" companies belong. The LA Times tells us that Carl is helping tofund the campaign against Prop 23. … Read More

Back in July I met in person a young woman who I had spoken with on the phone many a time – at times back east, at times in California, at times on a campaign, at times in between campaigns. She walked straight into my office over my USC rug and told me she knew I had to be good people.

Her name is Lindsay Conwell and she is a Trojan with degrees in political science and psychology, a former political fundraiser, and the co-founder of a political fundraising software company called iDONATEpro.

With about 15 minutes before my next meeting, Lindsay quickly pulled out her Mac and opened up iDONATEpro. She explained that when she started her own political fundraising business, she was unable to find a product to manage her data, so she hired her now business partner, Forrest Howell, to create a one. Lindsay was quickly blown away by the features that Forrest added, and Forrest was blown away that the market was without a product like so many he had developed for corporations and nonprofit organizations. The two sought to create a solution.

Lindsay showed me the single space where one would… Read More

Our president was educated as a child at a Muslim school, that is factually a correct statement, that Obama will not speak to. But whether or not that makes him a Muslim, the ignorance of the religion among highly prejudiced non-Muslims locally and nationally is stunning. In Temecula, reports of opposition to building what otherwise seems to be a beautiful structure dedicated to the same God of Abraham that Jews and Christians pray to, is clearly interwoven with concerns that the Mosque “will bring terrorists” to Riverside County. While it is encouraging to see Mormons and Muslims in Mission Viejo trying hard to understand each other, the mutton-chopped Rev. Terry Jones in Florida has been rebuffed by none other than General David H. Petraeus for his “burn a Koran Day,” which the General thinks will only incite more violence against our troops overseas. Polls show the majority of Americans think of Muslims favorably. The same polls show a majority of Americans don’t want a Mosque built at Ground Zero in New York. I agree with the majority of Americans. I think one can think favorably of religious Muslims and at the same time understand that… Read More

Today Assembly Speaker Perez released his target book.

Here is his e-mail announcing the publication on their Website…..

Dear Friend,

I am happy to provide to you a link for the 2010 Assembly Democrats candidate directory. This directory includes district profiles, candidate contact information, and other useful resources about our Democratic candidates for Assembly. The directory can be found online at www.assemblydems.org (Login: dem; Password: win2010).

I am very proud of our candidates this cycle. Not only are they representative of the rich diversity of California, but they will also be extraordinary Democratic leaders when they are elected. This is especially important as we confront the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Our party and its candidates are fighting for jobs, full funding for education and a budget that puts California back on the pathway to prosperity–as opposed to Republicans obstructionists who put pledges to party bosses over the people of California. The contrast couldn’t be clearer, and our Democratic candidates are going to win by fighting for California’s… Read More

Conservative Republican Assemblyman Ted Gaines has retained well-respected pollster, strategist and FR friend Arnie Steinberg for his public opinion research. Steinberg & Associates just got out of the field with a survey… Here is a memo from the pollster to his client (but really written for the rest of us)…

Date: September 7, 2010 To: Assemblyman Ted Gaines and Dave Gilliard Fm: Arnold Steinberg Re: Senate District 1 Conclusion. Based on my review of the data, I believe Assemblyman Ted Gaines is in a good position at… Read More