A very important football game will open tomorrow night a 8:00 pm at Home Depot Stadium in Carson, CA, home of the LA Galaxy Soccer Team. It is the CIF Division 1 high school football championship game between Bellarmine College Preparatory, representing northern California, and Oceanside High School.

Bellarmine, a "Jesuit institution" as Tom Fuentes would say, and my alma mater, has always had a great football tradition but this is its first trip to the CIF finals. When I was a student at Bellarmine, I was the "manager" of the freshman football team. (That means I got cut but the coaches and players liked me hanging around.) During my high school years, Bellarmine’s quarterback was Dan Pasterini, who went ontothe NFL as Houston’s first string quarterback. Bellarmine’s challenging Western Catholic Athletic League includes Serra High Schoolin San Mateo, whose football top-gun when I was at Bellarmine was a guy named Lynn Swann, who went on to USC (another alma mater of mine) before he joined the NFL Steelers(Serra was also home to current Patriot’s Q-back Tom Brady, and S.F. Giant home run… Read More

The California State Auditors office has announced it’s accepting applications to become a member of California ‘s first-ever Citizens Redistricting Commission. Created by Prop. 11 in 2008, the commission will be responsible for reapportioning legislative and board of equalization districts following the 2010 census. The application process closes Feb. 12, 2010. For more information go to www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov. Contact: Margarita Fernandez916 445 0255.… Read More

[Cross-posted from RedCounty.com]

Well, that was quick.

On November 5, I posted that Anaheim Republican Sue Perez was going to challenge Democratic Sen. Lou Correa’s re-election, with the backing of the state Senate GOPCaucus.

I heard on Sunday that she had decided not to run, after all, and additional calls confirmed that. I don’t know the official reason for her exit, but it’s my understanding she has some baggage that would prove damaging in mail pieces.

So it’s back to the drawing board.

One has to marvel at Sen. Correa good fortune thus far. He’s running for re-election in what is shaping up to be a terrible year for Democrats. Democratic voters… Read More

Former Local Elected Wants Every Penny He Is and Isn’t Entitled To

Becoming an elected official is something I am very proud of, serving my community is a decision I made with the encouragement of my family because I believed I had something to give back first toChino Hillsand now the state.

This is why I find it particularly disgusting when a representative repays his community by attempting to squeeze every possible dollar he can get out of it.

I have requested the Accountability and Administrative Review Committee, of which I am a member, to begin an investigation into the California Employment Development Department’s payment of $11,250 to a former city councilman from Rosemead, CA, John Núñez, who filed the claim after he lost a re-election bid in March of this year.

Perhaps the California Employment Development Department (EDD) should be familiar with the Unemployment Insurance Code. The law is very clear on this issue; Section 634.5 renders elected officials ineligible for unemployment benefits. Despite this fairly strait forward bit of code the EDD approved the claim over the city’s objections.

My fear is this is… Read More

Beneath the propaganda and the well-crafted sound bites thatare Sen. Harry Reid’s health care bill is the mention of "tax" 183 times. One Hundred and Eighty Three times!

As documented by Americans for Tax Reform, here are some of the tax proposals the tax-and-spend liberals have proposed for you:

– An Individual Mandate Tax (Sec. 1501/$8 billion); – An Employer Mandate Tax (Sec. 1513/$28 billion), – An Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans (Sec. 9001/$149.1 billion); – An Employer Reporting of Insurance on W-2 (Sec. 9002/Min$); –A Medicine Cabinet Tax (Sec. 9003/$5 billion); – An HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike (Sec. 9004/$1.3 billion); – An FSA Cap (Sec. 9005/$14.6 billion); –A Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting tax (Sec. 9006/$17.1 billion); – an Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals (Sec. 9007/Min$); –A Tax on Innovator Drug Companies (Sec. 9008/$22.2 billion); –A Tax of Medical Device Manufacturers (Sec. 9009/$19.3 billion); –A Tax on Health Insurers (Sec. 9010/$60.4 billion);… Read More

Veteran KNBC sportscaster Fred Roggin contacted me earlier this month and invited me to be a regular commentator on his new program "The Filter," a fast-paced news and opinion program currently airing evenings on KNBC’s Digital Channel 4.2.

Yesterday was my debut on "The Filter." I appeared opposite Charlotte Laws, another regular who is a member of the Greater Valley Glen Council.

Here’s the first half of the segment, in which the topics were how Barbara Boxer’s "ma’am" incident with Grig. Gen. Michael Walsh is impacting the U.S. Senate campaign, and whether employees usage of employer cel phones enjoys privacy protection:

… Read More

[Cross-posted from RedCounty.com]

Cha-ching.

Steve Poizner, state Insurance Commissioner and software gazillionaire, announced — or rather his campaign announced — he will be writing his campaign a really big check: $15 million.

It’s good timing. I was chatting with some other politicos of Mike and Susan Schroeder’s Christmas party yesterday, and Poizner’s spending — or relative lack thereof — was one topic of conversation: namely, whether allowing rival Meg Whitman to leverage her fortune to dominate the airwaves was a deliberate strategy, or a reflection of personal parsimony on Poizner’s part.

I did see Poizner consultant Steve Franks there at the Schroeders, dropping big hints that "some big news" was going to pop. No word on whether any portion of the $15 million will go to a Cash for Bloggers program.

Barbs aside, I was beginning to wonder when Poizner would hit the airwaves (I’m assuming that’s where such a large sum of money will be… Read More

I’ve always wondered why political figures think their legislation solves problems. Usually, legislation doesn’t solve anything. If you look the list of issues today that are very serious, almost all of them have had many legislative "solutions" passed to address them.

Governmen can’t execute – plain and simple.

When I ran for Congress in 1994, California was in the throes of a water crisis. Today, 15 years later, California is in the throes of a water crisis. Legislation has made it worse.

Now, the latest gimmick is a bond – a bond that will be placed on the ballot in 2010 to "solve" the water crisis in the State. On problem – California voters have passed so many bonds in the past 10 years that our debt service to general fund revenues are out of control.

For 10 years, while doing political analysis on KMJ 580, and writing for the Fresno Bee, I’ve warned of this impending debt crisis. It’s here now.

Many of the bonds passed by voters in the past 8 years have not been sold – authorized – but not issued. So the debt service on those hasn’t… Read More