After six years of Mike Spence’s outstanding leadership, the California Republican Assembly has a new president.

This weekend the CRA met in Bakersfield to select their leadership, including a new president: Ken Mettler from Bakersfield. The new CRA national committeeman and committeewoman are Sergio Picchio (a CRA past president) and Karen England. Six vice president were elected: Ben Lopez, Scott Voigts, Celeste Greg, Cliff Wagner, Karl Heft and me (thank you to the CRA delegates for your votes!).

Congratulations to the Kern County Republican Assembly for putting together a fantastic convention. The entire weekend was packed with informative, engaging speakers. Coming on the heels of the extremely successful tea party rallies (most CRA delegates had participated in them), CRA members were excited about voters taking action against an elitist government bureaucracy—something the CRA has battled since its inception.

All of the GOP gubernatorial hopefuls visited the convention. Friday evening Steve Poizner spoke at the dinner, delivering his stump speech about California’s obtrusive government… Read More

Earlier today Steve Maviglio blogged about the possibility of Tom McClintock jumping into the governor race. A few hours later Sacramento-area radio talk show host Eric Hogue took to the airwaves and reported that there is polling being done regarding McClintock running. It’s still early in the race, but McClintock jumping in would definitely change the dynamics in a competition where there is no true conservative running right now.

However, considering the initial source of the McClintock gubernatorial rumors, Republicans should be wary. Mr. Maviglio has an interest in wreaking havoc in the 4th CD—especially if another Democrat challenges McClintock. According to my sources, McClintock has no plans to run for governor and is very happy representing the people in his new congressional district. Like my fellow voters in the 4th CD, I am grateful for Congressman McClintock’s outstanding leadership and feel so privileged to call him my own congressman. As this governor race heats up, there will… Read More

With the recent passing of GOP luminary and football great Jack Kemp, FR reader Allen Payton penned a few thoughts…

MEMORIES OF JACK KEMP By Allen Payton Jack Kemp was my political hero and an example of the kind of leader we need, today.

He wasn’t afraid to stand up for what he believed, in spite of strong opposition. He successfully offered a new direction to not only the Republican Party, but the nation, as well.… Read More

Earth Day occurred some time last month. I missed the exact date, but the lockstep coordination from television news, magazines, the kids’ channels my granddaughter watches — and everything in between — it was impossible to escape the message. I happen to like the idea of teaching kids to pick up litter and to recycle, mostly because it makes our communities nicer places to live and teaches kids good habits. Through Instapundit I came upon another message for Earth Day not officially sanctioned by the priestly class of environmentalists in charge of official Earth Day festivities. At Scrivener.net they compiled some research showing that even though Gross Domestic Product per person is up 125% since 1965, worldwide mineral consumption is down 40%. They cite the famous axiom, “The more advanced an economy grows, and the richer its population becomes, the less in physical resources it consumes." I know this is counterintuitive to a lot of folks, but consider these facts:

The amount of trash produced by the population of New York City peaked at over 2,000 pounds per person in… Read More

I voted for one budget in my time in the Legislature. It was the first Schwarzenegger budget (’04-’05), the one constructed by Donna Arduin (who is, by the way, a true fiscal conservative), back when Schwarzenegger was still the Terminator, and not the Capitulator. I thought long and hard before I voted for that budget, studied its implications, its assumptions, and came to the conclusion that the Governor deserved my support. It started out, in the January budget as a $1.1 billion spending cut. It ended up, after negotiations with the spending addicts in the Democrat Legislature, and the advocates of the status quo in the Governor’s administration, as a $100 million spending increase. As I recall, it was a $78.3 billion general fund budget.

The next year (’05-’06), the finance director was Tom Campbell, and the final budget proposal was $92 billion, the largest spending increase in the history of the state (larger than the largest Gray Davis increase). A serious dilemma was facing Legislative Republicans. The Governor had worked hard to put his initiatives on the ballot, which included a real spending limit, removing mandatory… Read More

I voted for one budget in my time in the Legislature. It was the first Schwarzenegger budget (’04-’05), the one constructed by Donna Arduin (who is, by the way, a true fiscal conservative), back when Schwarzenegger was still the Terminator, and not the Capitulator. I thought long and hard before I voted for that budget, studied its implications, its assumptions, and came to the conclusion that the Governor deserved my support. It started out, in the January budget as a $1.1 billion spending cut. It ended up, after negotiations with the spending addicts in the Democrat Legislature, and the advocates of the status quo in the Governor’s administration, as a $100 million spending increase. As I recall, it was a $78.3 billion general fund budget.

The next year (’05-’06), the finance director was Tom Campbell, and the final budget proposal was $92 billion, the largest spending increase in the history of the state (larger than the largest Gray Davis increase). A serious dilemma was facing Legislative Republicans. The Governor had worked hard to put his initiatives on the ballot, which included a real spending limit, removing mandatory… Read More

Very few obituaries in the mainstream media may emphasize the real impact of this man, not only on conservative political ideology, but also on the nation as a whole. The news reports will undoubtedly refer to the greatness of Jack Kemp as a quarterback, his stellar Congressional career and stint as housing secretary, his selection as a 1996 vice presidential candidate, and maybe even his successful record of outreach to minorities and the poor.

What may be missed is that Kemp is among only a very small group of individuals that successfully carried free market principles and conservative political thought forward in this nation in the years between the 1950s of William F. Buckley’s “God and Man at Yale” and the Reagan Revolution of the 1980s.

Kemp was not just an inspiration to many in the “lean conservative years” of the 1970s, ultimately he was a principle architect of the Reagan presidency itself and the economic cornerstone of the conservative movement. The unparalleled success of supply-side economics would only be overshadowed by an unrestrained Congress spending more than the increased… Read More

This morning I’ll be heading to Bakersfield for the California Republican Assembly convention this weekend. It should be an interesting meeting, with most of the GOP gubernatorial hopefuls scheduled to address the conservative faithful.

There will also be a leadership election. Sadly, CRA President Mike Spence will be ending his tenure—he was a truly outstanding leader for the CRA. The only candidate running for president is Bakersfield’s Ken Mettler. I will be running for a CRA vice president spot, along with eight other hopefuls. I may not be able to bring updates throughout the weekend, but I will post a recap at the end of the convention.… Read More