I have been in elected office for 10 years now. And of those 10 years, I have spent half of that time in the California State Legislature and the other half here in Congress. During that time, I have found that a common thread exists amongst elected Democrats. At least part of the reason they ran for and are in office now is to raise taxes on somebody or everybody and then spend that money on people and programs which they deem worthy. A fundamental tenet of the Democratic Party today is that government should tax more and spend more on lots of things.

But that ideology has just run headlong into political reality. Polling shows that one of the top two issues on the minds of Americans these days is the debt and the deficit. The other big issue is jobs and the economy. And Americans realize that the two are related. They understand that our crushing debt burden, up 81% since Democrats took over Congress in 2006, is one of the drags on the economy. So, spending money that increases the deficit and the debt even further is not very popular right now. And of course, there is an election in just over 4 months.

So, if you want to spend new money without earning the… Read More

Yesterday the Governor took the very serious step of ordering that the pay for most state employees be reduced to the federal minimum wage because the legislature has not put a budget in front of him by the Constitutional deadline of July 1st. We tracked down Lynelle Jolley, Communications Director at the Department of Personnel Administration, for a little Q&A on this action by the Governor…

FLASH: Why is the Governor doing this? JOLLEY: We’re trying to enforce the law. We don’t want to do it but are forced to because without a budget, there’s no authority to legally pay state workers their full salaries. Our State Constitution prohibits issuing payments without a legislative appropriation. For most of the state’s payroll, this appropriation comes through the annual state budget act.

When a taxpayer group brought suit against a former controller for issuing paychecks when there was no budget, the case ended up in the CA Supreme Court, which… Read More

[A version of this commentary appeared on FR early last year. This column has been revised and updated – Flash] It seems to me that Californians are getting what they asked for in State Controller John Chiang. The contrast between selecting Chiang or his opponent, taxpayer advocate Tony Strickland, on the November 2006 ballot could not have been more stark. While Strickland was openly supported by a cadre of pro-taxpayer organizations and leaders, the bulk of Chiang’s support came from the left-wing of the Democrat Party, and most significantly, from public employee unions eager to have yet another “tool” in an important state constitutional office, ready to be put into play should the need arise.… Read More

[A version of this commentary appeared on FR early last year. This column has been revised and updated – Flash]

It seems to me that Californians are getting what they asked for in State Controller John Chiang. The contrast between selecting Chiang or his opponent, taxpayer advocate Tony Strickland, on the November 2006 ballot could not have been more stark. While Strickland was openly supported by a cadre of pro-taxpayer organizations and leaders, the bulk of Chiang’s support came from the left-wing of the Democrat Party, and most significantly, from public employee unions eager to have yet another “tool” in an important state constitutional office, ready to be put into play should the need arise. (Below, left, is a photo of Chiang standing with all of his union supporters after being… Read More

Earlier this week, Chelsea’s Law passed a significant hurdle – the Senate Public Safety Committee.

We are incredibly moved by the Committee’s bi-partisan show of support and the tens of thousands who have made phone calls, written letters and supported our efforts from the very beginning.

The articles below lay out the ways Chelsea’s Law has been strengthened through recent amendments. Next up is the Senate Appropriations Committee. We will keep you posted on our progress.

U-T editorial: A remarkable featChelsea’s Law expanded and improved in Senate, not blocked

Chelsea’s Law Overcomes Another Hurdle Chelsea’s Law Cleared Calif. State Senate Public Safety Committee On Tuesday

… Read More

Jerry Brown wants a return trip to the Governor’s mansion, where somehow he is going to fix state government. Obviously I am biased — I think that Brown’s time as Governor greatly helped us towards the mess we are in now, which I lay soundly at the feet of his liberal colleagues in Sacramento. These folks have figured out a way to overspend in every direction possible, and over-tax Californians to try and pay for it. Our current "budget crisis" is due entirely to this situation. But I digress…

Jerry Brown was on CNBC this morning, being interviewed by Jane Wells. Once again, we queue Brown up for another "you can’t make this stuff up" moment, in which the following exchange takes place…

Wells" "When will we get a specific plan?" [Remember, Brown has already said that his plan won’t be revealed until after he is Governor] Brown: "The plan is to go over each… Read More

This time of year my email box fills up with press releases from Republican legislators, touting the passage of one of their bills through a committee, or off the floor of one of the houses of the State Legislature.

The releases, of course, are mostly crafted to draw attention, and to make a "big deal" out of this legislative feat.

Let me tell you that it is actually a pretty depressing time because all of these releases serve as dozens of reminders that the looney-left whackos control the legislature. You can tell because, almost without exception, the legislation being highlighted in these releases are…somewhere between non-impactful or of slight impact — or of no real impact at all.

I will pick an example (although that’s like shooting fish in a barrel, it seems that just about every GOP legislator is carrying some non-impactful bill). Senate Bill 944, authored by my good friend and FR contributor Senator George Runner will proclaim "Ronald Reagan Day" for California. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with this, after all, Reagan did a lot of great things as Governor of California. But I… Read More

A hot rumor around Sacramento lately has been the status and fate of the water bond, now known as Prop 18 on this November’s state ballot. The realities of the economy and state budget wreck have finally hit home to Sacramento decision makers that an $11 Billion measure may not fly with voters this year. Many don’t see how we will make the $900 million per yearpayments…or that they’re getting value for those payments. Today, the Governor, bond proponents,and others including Sen. Darrell Steinberg seem tonow publicly agree that this isn’t the year.

As the legislature placed it on the ballot, the legislature can move to pull it. This isn’t unprecedented with bonds, as the High Speed Rail bond was delayed a couple times during my years in the Assembly having been scheduled to be on the ballot and then pushed back for fear that voters would reject it in ’04 or ’06, asI recall. [Why it passed in ’08 is still beyond me but I digress]

One silver lining is that pushing it back to ’12 saves the state from debt it cannot now afford and gives legislators time to… Read More