Last night the State Senate made a decision that the Assembly will mull over this morning — do you put a "solution" to the state’s water problems in front of voters that includes billions of dollars in unnecessary spending? To talk to Republicans who are supporting this proposal, they would tell you that they support some of the non-essential spending in order to make the measure itself more appealing to liberal votes in parts of the state that aren’t suffering from water shortages. Talk to others and they would tell you that the water crisis is so bad that billions of non-essential borrowing and spending is simply the price paid to get a water-fix through a legislature dominated by liberal Democrats.

Either way, if the water bond proposal as passed by the State Senate last night is approved by the Assembly and scheduled to go before voters in November of next year, there is serious question about whether or not such a "Christmas Tree" measure (with boughs filled with ornaments of enviro-pork) will be passed or rejected by voters.

To be sure, there is a large chunk of this proposal that makes sense — borrowing to… Read More

The media is making much of the perceived split between moderate or establishment Republicans and conservative, activist Republicans. And while it’s interesting to watch, it’s really nothing new to the Grand Old Party. Nor is it really such a bad thing, for either party. We see this push-pull today in the NY23 flap, and in the move, reported here in Politico, from conservatives to run primary challenges against moderate/establishment/incumbents with whom the former are displeased.

And while the media may focus on this as if it’s big news, the reality is that political parties are messy; representative democracy and a two-party system is messy business.

The internecine battle (in both political parties) is nothing new. I was reminded of a distantly similar example of this recently when I stumbled across a biographical listing for Peter Robinson, former Reagan speechwriter who hosts the excellent "Uncommon Knowledge" broadcast produced by the… Read More

Every legislator who has ever advocated for transparency who votes on this water package before it has been in print and distributed to the public (with an understandable summary) for at least 48 hours should consider themselves part of the problem. Policy considerations within this massive bill aside, the process is fatally flawed. And on 2/3rd vote bills, both parties are at fault.… Read More

There was smoke, but apparently no fire.

La Mesa Councilman Dave Allan, who on Friday filed initial paperwork to run for County Supervisor in 2012 (see prior breaking news story), called me today to say he changed his mind. Now apparently done with perhaps the briefest candidacy in recent memory, Allan had previously confirmed that he would run for the 2nd District seat, even if it meant taking on incumbent Dianne Jacob.

"I’m not going to run," said Allan. "It was a hasty decision made out of distrust and anger over my concerns about fire protection in the County of San Diego."

So there. As for his future plans, Allan said "I’m going to continue my mission to make fire protection the best that it can be."… Read More

The Stockton Record today has an article about the State’s latest ticking time bomb: bond payments.

The latest disaster, coupled with operating deficits, exploding pension and healthcare obligations, and plungng tax receipts, means the State’s budget problems are probably two to three times worse than what has been previously reported. In addition, California’s bond rating will go even lower as a result of the unsustainable borrowing voters have done over the last ten years.

In election after election, conservatives, and the Lincoln Club of Fresno County, have opposed all bonds on statewide ballots because we knew it would come to this: we are functionally bankrupt now.

Now, the Legislature is considering another water bond. We’ve had at least four water bonds over the past ten years already. What the hell are we doing?

And what do we have to show for it? Nothing.… Read More

"The BNRT’s far-reaching ramifications have not been fully addressed and should be carefully analyzed and considered by the Governor and the Legislature…. Instituting a new tax system and phasing out an old one needs careful oversight. There may be unforeseen consequences and dramatic shifts in the economy that could call into question the proposed pace of transition."

The above quotes are not from critics of the Commission on the 21st Century Economy report but from the majority authors of the report itself. That is something less than a ringing endorsement, and not useful for either bumper stickers or campaign ads. And it is probably the most forthright statement in the report regarding the Business Net Receipts Tax (BNRT). This tax reaches every transaction in the economy so everyone pays but it is incorporated into the price of the product or service, so consumers do not know how much tax they are paying. It is a tax designed for the benefit of government because it can raise large amounts of revenue at low rates all while hiding itself from the public.

The Commission does recommend that a technical body be convened at least… Read More

This week will see likely legislative action on water issues…the cause being a good and needed one. But in the mosh pit of legislative compromise, what will we get as the end result? The voters will be asked to vote on a large bond of some sort, should a proposal survive the legislative process and win the 2/3 vote needed in both houses.

It’s sort of an ideological slide rule as you move the bond proposal slide to each side to find support that gets 2/3 of legislators to agree. Move the slide too far to the right, [money going mostly for building storage, dams, hard infrastructure only] Dems drop off like flies.Slide it to the left, [money mostly for ecosystem restoration as most previous water bonds have done, removing dams on the Klamath, acquiring more land, creating more commissions and morepower for them over land and water use] and Republicans say ‘no thanks’. Place it in the middle and it’s not effective at doing anything, other than a dribble towards eco stuff as dam projects require a large commitment.

How excited are the voters to approve a likely $9B + bond that they aren’t sure produces… Read More

For weeks now top legislative leaders have been toiling in the back room cobbling together a complex package to try and address California’s water woes. The plan is rumored to include not only borrowing through bond measures of close to ten BILLION dollars, but also is said to include a host of new regulations that will impact all Californians.

The handful of legislative leaders that have been engrossed in the negotiations are very familiar will all of these details. One would imagine, if the legislative leaders are doing their job, that to some degree, each of the 120 legislators have some knowledge of the contents of the plans — at least through telephonic briefings and such. Well, at least the plans as of their most recent conference call. In addition some stakeholders have been briefed in summary fashion at various stages of negotiation, but certainly that is a small number.

Once you get beyond this very small pyramid of those in some sort of loop, it becomes clear that once again the legislature and the Governor are once again preparing to put up for a vote a piece of major legislation without providing an opportunity for thorough… Read More