Southern California Public Radio listeners were treated to a bit of political theater yesterday, as State Controller John Chiang and Schwarzenegger Press Secretary Aaron McLear (I grabbed McLear’s Twitter avatar so you can see him in action) discussed the (unfortunate but necessary) possibility of paying state workers minimum wage next month unless the Legislature gets around to passing a budget. Chiang is an elected Democrat (read: union tool) who has in the past rather defiantly refused to pay workers minimum wage, even though a 2003 Supreme Court ruling (White vs. Davis) says that is exactly what he must do when the state is running without a budget. In yesterday’s interview Chiang, who has unsuccessfully tried to appeal the ruling before, said that his… Read More

We are pleased to share this piece from RNC Chairman Michael Steele…

In response to the story we broke here this morning, the Kern County Registrar of voters has put out a statement that they were in error, and that Rubio’s home is NOT in the 16th District where he is a nominee.

Click the link below to see the press release…

What happens now… Should be interesting…… Read More

Thanks to California’s infamously gerrymandered legislative districts the vast majority of seats are “pre-ordained” to be either Republican or Democrat. Only in a few districts is the registration close enough that a seat is “in play” in the general election. One of those is State Senate District 16 in the Central Valley.

This seat is currently occupied by term-limited Democrat Dean Florez, who has mentored Democrat Kern County Supervisor Michael Rubio (pictured, right) to succeed him. The Democrat “machine” in the southern part of the valley is so lock-step behind Rubio that he had no primary opponent whatsoever.

On the Republican side of the ballot, rancher and realtor Tim Theisen (pictured, left)… Read More

This just in from Team Carly’s Communication’s Honcho Julie Soderlund…

Yesterday Team Boxer and Team Carly met for the first time to discuss debates. As you know Carly is willing to debate Boxer pretty much anywhere, anytime. As a starting point Carly’s debate negotiation team comprised of political veterans Ken Khachigian and Beth Miller proposed a minimum debate schedule of five debates in local markets around the state in addition to two nationally televised debates. Team Boxer didn’t propose anything and said they would take our ideas back to Boxer’s camp. Below is the follow-up email Beth sent over to Dan and Ace that gives you the full rundown. We’ll keep you in the loop as this process develops! Dear Dan and Ace — … Read More

Thanks to California’s infamously gerrymandered legislative districts the vast majority of seats are “pre-ordained” to be either Republican or Democrat. Only in a few districts is the registration close enough that a seat is “in play” in the general election. One of those is State Senate District 16 in the Central Valley.

This seat is currently occupied by term-limited Democrat Dean Florez, who has mentored Democrat Kern County Supervisor Michael Rubio (pictured, right) to succeed him. The Democrat “machine” in the southern part of the valley is so lock-step behind Rubio that he had no primary opponent whatsoever.

On the Republican side of the ballot, rancher and realtor Tim Theisen (pictured, left)… Read More

Ireland is my kind of country. Literally. My dad’s dad’s line traces 11 generations to the family crossing to America in 1634. And his grandmother through his mother was born on the Emerald Isle. So I’m here enjoying a vacation and a pint of Guinness while doing some ancestry research at Trinity College in Dublin. Now is a good time to be here. The weather is great, everybody is excited that England made the soccer finals, and the Irish guy who won the U.S. Open last weekend in California’s Pebble Beach just made a triumphant return yesterday and is all over the news. And they love Americans. Yesterday my driver from the airport made a big deal of congratulating me on America’s World Cup victory over Algeria. I diplomatically accepted the congrats on behalf of all Americans but I’m glad he didn’t ask me the name of the striker that scored the winning goal. I love the Irish because they are such rebels, and I identify with that characteristic. A story in the Irish Times today discusses a planned visit of the 84 year old Queen of England later this year, which would be the first visit ever of a British monarch to the Irish… Read More

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