April Fool’s Day is just a week away. Wouldn’t it be a great practical joke if the State of California were to force 6,000 gas service stations to shut their doors on that day? Just think – millions of drivers (maybe you?) running on empty, with no place to fill up their tanks… Actually, it doesn’t sound very funny at all – and, guess what? It’s hardly a joke – it’s actually for real.

As FR readers know, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been on a multi-year jihad against carbon emissions – you know, so we can make some sort of “political statement” about global warming, since the actual impact of California government over-regulating its businesses and citizens will be nominal in terms of reducing man-made carbon emissions on Planet Earth.

Much of the draconian regulation that is taking place is coursing through the… Read More

Reading…..

To be fair, the huge majority — and most likely all — of his fellow GOP members signed on in support of Adams’ re-election before his budget vote (just as is the norm for most if not all of them to do for each other early on). However, it wasn’t noted that they had done so until after his controversial vote, thus leading to the erroneous assumption that they all endorsed him after the budget was passed.

That said, it isn’t significant that they endorsed a colleague, it is significant however what they do now that he has stood at complete odds with them on such a fundamental, core principle.

Unless I have missed it, his GOP colleagues have been relatively quiet on that issue. Poizner did drop out of an Adams event, while Schwarzenegger provided his support. But, what of Adams’ assembly colleagues?

The readers of this page — and the GOP in general — deserve an answer, regardless of the answer, from each of Adams’ fellow members. Either they continue to support him, regardless of his vote… Read More

In early June 2004, amidst a tough re-election campaign, a burgeoning financial disaster and daily criticisms for his responsibilities as captain of "Enron by the Sea," San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy returned fire on his main challenger, County Supervisor Ron Roberts. Claiming that the county’s pension problems were actually worse than the city’s, Murphy said that Roberts needed to "clean up his own house."

Murphy’s charge, in effect an "I may be bad, but so is he" defense, was viewed by most as an obvious attempt to grasp at straws. The City of San Diego, after all,was the daily headliner, having under-funded a huge retirement obligation, so as to pay ongoing costs and beef up employee salaries. Few watchers viewed the County as the problem, and if it was having some pension difficulties, it certainly hadn’t robbed Peter to pay Paul.

About one week after the Murphy claim, on June 15, 2004, county supervisors unanimously agreed to… Read More

… Read More

In response to the news that, after received a sizable government bailout, executives at AIG took what could only be described as massive bonuses, Congress responded by passing a tax written to hit these AIG executives with a 90% tax on those bonuses. It was a controversial vote, with conservatives split on the issue. Further down the blog, Congressman and FR blogger John Campbell talked about why he voted against this bill. I am now presenting a statement from Congressman Tom McClintock on why he voted for it…

Statement by Congressman Tom McClintock Regarding HR 1586 March 19, 2009… Read More

*BREAKING NEWS*

I am currently in the midst of a meeting of the California Republican Party Board of Directors, where I serve as Vice Chairman for the Southern Region.

Making a very important political statement about Proposition 1A being pushed in a May Special Election by Arnold Schwarzenegger and others, the Board of Directors of the CRP just passed the following resolution: The Board of Directors of the California Republican Party supports a spending cap, but we oppose the taxes that will continue for two years upon voter approval, therefore the Board of Directors of the California Republican Party urges the Party’s Executive Committee to oppose Proposition 1A. The motion to pass this was made by Republican National Committeeman Shawn Steel, and seconded by… Read More

Well, it is official now. The Sacramento County Superior Court ruled on Gilb v. Chiang, giving the Governor the authority to order the state controller to reduce state employees’ wages to the minimum wage level during a budget impasse. I’ve blogged on this topic, almost ad naseum, because it’s one of the few bright spots that’s come out of the state’s fiscal mess.

The Judge upheld his tentative ruling today and has now clarified the law, it a legal obligation for the Controller to reduce or not pay the salaries of state employees during a budget impasse. The Court also weighed in on the computer issue that Chiang used as a flimsy excuse for why he’s unable to implement that type of order- taking a subtle shot at the Controller’s motives for not estimating when the project will be completed, saying “Although the project has stalled and the Controller’s Office currently is unable (or unwilling) to estimate when it will be completed, the Court is not persuaded the 21st Century Project (or a similar project) cannot be funded and completed before the next budget impasse.”

I don’t want to overstate things, but I believe this… Read More

I’ve been “back in the saddle” here in Washington for 3 weeks now, and I can’t believe what I am seeing. I am angry. Angry because of the direction in which this Congress and this President are taking the nation; angry because the atmosphere here is so poisonous; angry because it seems so many leaders here are still campaigning when we have a crisis that demands responsible leadership.

But I am also sad. Sad because the policies being put in place and proposed will leave so many out of work for so long. Sad that opportunities may be limited for a decade.

And I am scared. Scared because things may still get worse before they get better.

Over the next several days, I will give you some very personal reflections on what is happening, but first, the AIG debate.

Oh, and to preempt the inevitable question, I was not invited to President Obama’s campaign rally in Costa Mesa this week, even though my district is only about a mile from where he spoke. I use the words “campaign rally” rather than “town hall” intentionally.… Read More