I just got off of a brief appearance on KQED’s California Report coverage of the State of the State Address. I followed Senate President Darrell Steinberg. Here’s what I had to say… (I’m being interview by KQED’s Capitol man in the building, the irrepressible John Myers… I also talk briefly about the Anthony Adams retirement.

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Text of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s State of the State Speech Prepared text of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s State of the State address:

I want to begin with a true story from which we can draw a worthwhile lesson.

As you might guess, the Schwarzenegger household is something of a menagerie.

An Austrian bodybuilder, a TV journalist, four children, a dog, the normal goldfish and hamsters and so forth — and in recent years we added a miniature pony and a pot-bellied pig.

It’s not unusual for me to look up from working on the budget or something to find a pig and a pony standing there staring at me.

Now, the dog’s food, which we keep in a canister with a screw-on lid, sits on the top of the dog’s kennel.

The pony has learned to knock the canister off the top of the kennel, and then he and the pig wedge it into the corner.

There’s this ridge on the lid… Read More

Yesterday conservative GOP Assembly candidate Paul Hegyi emailed his supporters with the news that he would be suspending his campaign for the GOP nomination for the State Assembly in the Central Valley’s ___ Assembly District. Last year, Hegyi came in second to former San Jouquin County Supervisor Jack Sieglock, who went on to (barely, like by around 500 votes) lose to Democrat Alyson Huber, resulting in an unfortunate and unexpected Dem pickup in the Assembly. Last year Hegyi and Sieglock both announced that they would again be seeking the GOP nomination in AD __, setting the scene for a showdown this June — with the winner going up against Huber.… Read More

Yesterday featured a rash of surprising announcements about top Democrats, facing tough reelection prospects, ending their campaigns.

In Connecticut, embattled Senator Chris Dodd, chairman of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, indicated he would not seek reelection. Dodd faced several well-funded GOP candidates and trailed to all of them in head-to-head matchups. However, he will be replaced with Attorney General Richard Bloomenthal, the most popular politician in the state, dramatically improving Democrats chances of holding that seat.

In Colorado, Governor Doug Ritter, still in his first term and mired in poor approval ratings, decided to forgo reelection. Democrats will likely tap Denver Mayor John Lickenhooper, a moderate with strong name ID. Former Congressman Scott McInnis is the consensus Republican candidate and he’s expected to have a much tougher time with Lickenhooper than he would have with Ritter.

Michigan Lt. Governor John Cherry ended his bid to succeed Governor Jennifer Granholm after polls consistently showed him losing to any of the Republican candidates. Several Democrats are looking at the race but speculation centers on… Read More

George Radanovich’s retirement announcement has sent the Central Valley into a feeding frenzy on news of candidates looking to run to replace him. A solid Republican seat, all of the action for this one will be in the June primary.

So far I have heard from all of the campaigns of the major candidates. There are two potential candidates from the Fresno area, former Secretary of State Bill Jones, and former Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson. To the North, there are former Congressman Richard Pombo, and State Senator Jeff Denham. Truth be known, any of them would be a fine Member of Congress. Having four of them in the race will make it a real barnburner.

In this election, however, my sense is that old paradigms don’t matter. I don’t think fundraising is going to matter as much, and some of the issues that should really matter a lot won’t matter at all.

As everyone knows, the Central Valley here is the victim of a man made drought, fueled by outrageous Endangered Species laws, and the resulting unemployment is staggering. Hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile ag land remain fallow, threatening and endangering our… Read More

State Senator Mark Wyland has just sent a thoughtful and important letter to the Governor and legislative leaders calling for a halt to all of the non-essential gyrations of the state legislature, and for a razor-sharp focus on job creation.

I’ve included the text of the Senator’s letter below. Governor Schwarzenegger would do well to read this, and include this idea in his State of the State Address tomorrow. In fact, I feel comfortable saying that Senator Wyland wouldn’t mind a bit if the Governor embraced this idea and took ownership of it!

The reality is that our fiscal problems are so bad that all of the non-essential work of the legislature during this time amounts to moving deck-chairs around the Titanic. How about focusing on the big hole caused by the iceberg?

Dear Governor and Legislative Leaders … Read More

2010 is already here and it’s looking like it’s going to be another grim year for California’s economy. As we look ahead and try to find solutions to our state’s problems, it’s easy to forget about the decisions that brought us to our current plight.

Americans for Prosperity of California has produced a 5-minute video detailing 12 of the decisions California’s government made in 2009 that completely lacked common sense. It’s actions like the 12 listed in the video that explain how government intrusion has led to so many of our current problems.

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As we have watched the Governor and legislature go through contortions to try and change California state law in order to qualify for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal payments, I think it is worth stepping back and looking at the tragedy of federal preemption that is taking place, and also the irony of liberals becoming the victim of the larger role for the federal government which they advocate.

The federal government cannot order the states to enact laws in most areas of everyday life, not the least of which is education policy. That is on purpose. When our nation was founded, it was with the idea that our country’s national government would be limited in scope, especially on domestic issues. Remember that the American revolution was all about throwing off the… Read More