Assembly Republicans are to be commended for withholding their votes yesterday to ratify a new contract for state workers in SEIU 1000, the largest state public employees union. The Schwarzenegger Administration came to terms with union officials on this deal – but a 30,000 foot view of the contract makes it a head scratcher. This is not a “severe recession” contract that gives the state the kind of flexibility it needs to potentially implement workforce reductions as part of reducing state spending down to a level that reflects plummeting state revenues.

So that FR readers are clear, in order for the State of California to approve a union contract, it must be approved by the State Legislature. So in that regard, the Governor and union negotiators have to “bring back terms” to get approved – the union by its membership, and the state by the legislature.

This contract was negotiated with a hope and expectation on the part of the Governor and union leaders that the May 19 “burrito” package of special election measures, including 1A with its trigger of $16 billion in new taxes, would be passed by the electorate. That outcome is looking… Read More

Peter Hechthas a write up over at the SacBee’s Capitol Alert about the petitions being issued in the recall effort against tax-hiking GOPer Anthony Adams.

I have attached a petition below for your perusal.… Read More

Chrysler: Given my 25 years in the car dealership business, of which most of you are aware, I can’t let this week go by without commenting on last week’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Chrysler Corporation. What the Obama Administration is doing with the American car industry saddens me. No, it actually angers me. In fact, I am fired up big time. It has become abundantly clear that the only objective of the Obama task force is to put control of GM and Chrysler in the hands of the UAW union and wipe out anyone who had invested any capital in either of these companies. What’s more, he is using taxpayer money to subsidize the union’s takeover of these companies. Here are some of my observations on what it going on:

Under the Obama plan; the government, UAW, and government-controlled banks will own 95% of GM. They will own 80% of Chrysler. The existing stockholders get 1% of GM and 0% of Chrysler. The bondholders (who are not government controlled banks) get 4% of GM and 0% of Chrysler. The remaining 20% of Chrysler will be owned by Fiat (more on that later).

So, in the Chrysler plan, the… Read More

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