This morning the Sacramento Bee and Calbuzz carry obituaries of Bill Cavala. Bill was a legendary Democrat professional and activist who, among other things, worked for decades at the side of former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, Jr, helping him to secure innumerable political victories.

Needless to say, Bill and I had little in common in terms of ideology or issues. Despite this, over the past decade, and especially since I launched this website in 2005, Bill and I became friends. We have a string of emails going back and forth that must number in the hundreds. We joked, shared analysis — and regularly called each other out if our rhetoric overshot reality (ok, that was mainly him schooling me).

Bill and I both began our road down the path to politics in high school as members of the Junior Statesmen of America (where I now serve… Read More

**BREAKING NEWS**

FlashReport sources have confirmed 15-year veteran Republican Member of Congress George Radanovich, who represents a safe GOP House seat in the Central Valley, will announce shortly that he is retiring from office at the end of this term — he has spent the morning breaking the news privately to key supporters. Congressman Radanovich’s wife, Ethie, is apparently very ill and Radanovich will be leaving Congress to spend more time with his wife, and family. (Radanovich is pictured, right)

Radanovich was swept into Congress in the infamous 1994 Republican wave that brought a GOP majority to the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in a generation. That year Radanovich was selected by his very large group of fellow GOP Freshman to be… Read More

I have written in the past about how the City of San Diego’s campaign finance laws go far beyond those included in the California Political Reform Act. On top of this, add a City Ethics Commission that oftentimes takes "interpretation" into its own hands, seemingly becoming a policy-making entity instead of a regulatory body that is supposed to simply apply and enforcethe already restrictive local laws.

When the fledgling candidate can’t even begin to compete for a city position due tothe costly need for professional treasurer, accountancy and campaign software assistance, that marks only the beginning of the problems with the city regs. What of campaigning for a seat a couple of years or more in advance if one so chooses? Seems like a fundamental right if you ask even the distant observer. It’s not.

As a Charter City, does San Diego have the authority to restrict campaign activity in such a manner as to exceed that regulated by the State’s Fair Political Practices Commission? Good question. Charter cities do indeed have the authority for localized restrictions in several areas, but when it comes to State Law in… Read More

“As California goes, so goes the nation,” as the old saying goes. America, please don’t do what we are doing. Last week, Americans witnessed the U.S. Senate adopting the schedule that the California Legislature uses for its all night legislative slumber parties in our State Capitol. Americans had to wait until 1:00 AM eastern time to watch the Senate vote on the healthcare system’s destruction.

Back here at home, many of our state’s most important decisions over the last few years have also been completed well after last call in any neighborhood bar. And judging by the government spending sprees of late, both groups of late night patrons had similar decision-making capabilities: an explosion of new spending on bonds, budgets that are BILLIONS out of balance before the photocopies of the legislation have cooled. All this was voted on by California legislators after an attrition strategy by their leaders to delay votes until near dawn.

The California Legislature would often convene in late-night session after CalSpan is off the air, thus avoiding their handy work being exposed to “We The People.” After seeing votes scheduled for 1:00 am,… Read More

“As California goes, so goes the nation,” as the old saying goes. America, please don’t do what we are doing. Last week, Americans witnessed the U.S. Senate adopting the schedule that the California Legislature uses for its all night legislative slumber parties in our State Capitol. Americans had to wait until 1:00 AM eastern time to watch the Senate vote on the healthcare system’s destruction.

Back here at home, many of our state’s most important decisions over the last few years have also been completed well after last call in any neighborhood bar. And judging by the government spending sprees of late, both groups of late night patrons had similar decision-making capabilities: an explosion of new spending on bonds, budgets that are BILLIONS out of balance before the photocopies of the legislation have cooled.

All this was voted on by California legislators after an attrition strategy by their leaders to delay votes until near dawn. The California Legislature would often convene in late-night session after CalSpan is off the air, thus avoiding their handy work being exposed to “We The People.” After seeing votes scheduled for 1:00 am,… Read More

Of course I am a little prejudiced, having served on its city council and planning commission in the past, nevertheless, news reports of coastal Orange County’s City of Dana Point’s plans for the New Year help us understand why Obama actually beat McCain here in John Campbell’s Congressional District, of which Dana Point is a part. My hope in the New Year is thatleaders in adjoining coastal cities won’t catch the "tax and regulate" flu that is now endemic on the Dana Point City Council and Planning Commission.

Dana Point is site to a lovely harbor and beautiful ocean views. It also is the locale of several luxury hotels. The City’s revenues, which have always been in tip-top shape, are largelytied to sales taxes associated with the hotel industry, namely, a "transient occupancy tax" of 10% added to traveler’s hotel bills. This "TOT" tax is stuck on top of the normal sales tax of 8.75% in Dana Point. So, a typical unsuspecting visitor to Dana Point has taxes of 18.75% added to their hotel bill. For the Marriott Laguna Cliffs least expense room on the internet to stay… Read More

Judging from a quick walk around South Coast Plaza mall in Costa Mesa this afternoon, silver, and not diamonds, are what people are buying this first Christmas during the Obama era.

I took a stroll by a few of the shops in the designer section of the mall. Nobody was in Mikimoto (known for pearls) mid afternoon just two days before Christmas. Nobody was in Bulgari, the very high-end Italian designer jeweler. Nobody was in Van Cleef and Arpels, the "legendary" French high-end jewelry store.Top drawerJapanese, Italian, and French stores, all empty just before Christmas.

But America’s Tiffany’s was jumping. Not the whole store though, however. The diamond display cases, for which Tiffany is best known, were almost without any customers. So were the platinum and gold cases. However, the silver cases, where Tiffany’s offers jewelry priced about $200 were exploding with activity (the lowest you can get something in the other cases is closer to $2,000). In fact, Tiffany’s was so loaded with people in the lower cost silver section, that the store had initiated crowd control… Read More

Governor Schwarzenegger deserves some quick and strong praise from conservatives for his first "opening salvo" on the 2010 state budget debate. In today’s Los Angeles Times, reporters Shane Goldmacher and Evan Halper explain how the Governor has put forth some major negotiating points he will use with the legislature to work towards closing an estimated budget shortfall of over twenty BILLION dollars. Governor Schwarzenegger has thrown down the proverbial gauntlet, making it clear that without money from the federal government, he will be advocating large and deep cuts in social spending programs.

Here is a relevant excerpt from the Times article: If Washington does not provide roughly $8 billion in new aid for the state, the governor threatens to severely cut back — if not eliminate — CalWORKS, the state’s main welfare program; the In-Home Health Care Services program for the disabled and elderly poor, and two tax breaks for… Read More