We’re fed a media diet rich in monotonous blah blah blah and light on substance; the mix is occasionally supplemented with nutritive additives provided by thoughtful "consultants" convincing us like a square paper carton of bad Chinese food we’re not quite full and should maintain our rate and quantity of consumption.

Such is the debate over the Democratic campaign to "annoint" a new head of the Republican Party: Rush Limbaugh.

Yesterday’s news delivered the exclamation point in an op ed by former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. Politico ran coverage of the issue, as did the Washington Post. Jay Nordlinger weighs in over at NationalReview.com.

But sadly, it’s a strategy that is sexy to the media and to the public for the moment but is really a shock and awe campaign that will quickly fade.

Every candidate has had a mail piece dropped prior to an election with their face adjacent to the… Read More

Thank You: First of all, I would like to offer a very heartfelt thank you from the Captivating Mrs. Campbell (Catherine) and me for all the prayers and good wishes (and medical advice) from the many hundreds of readers of this missive who e-mailed, wrote, and called. It was all much appreciated and we could both feel your prayers every day. The surgery went very well (they took out 18" of my colon) and my recovery is on schedule. Statistics at the Mayo Clinic (where the procedure was done) say that 98% of people who go through this surgery never experience diverticulitis again. I hope I am not in the other 2%. Besides, if I were, Obama would raise my taxes more!

I read every one of your emails after the announcement of my surgery and they all provided much encouragement and comfort. I have to say though; my favorite was from one reader who said: "Get well quickly John, so I can disagree with you again."

I’m Baaack: Although I probably won’t be 100% recovered until sometime in April, I am back to work in Washington. About a month ago, the condition of my health was bad. Doctors did a diagnosis,… Read More

As I began reading Senator Abel Maldanado’s oped yesterday in support of the proposed "blanket" primary, the great compromise in the budget negotiations, I was stunned by the following lead sentence, "When I was first elected to the state Assembly 10 years ago, I was elected in an open primary system."

Wait! I thought he was trying to make a case FOR the blanket primary? Now that he has refreshed our memories of the circumstances of his election, which we can now tie to a $60 billion haircut for taxpayers over the next five years, why in the hell would any thinking person support this initiative.

We now can quanitiify the cost of our last "blanket primary". $60 billion. Yes, this is the great outcome from the last time! What a persuasive argument to vote no.… Read More

Congressman Tom McClintock gave an outstanding speech in the well of the House of Representatives earlier this week. You can watch him deliver the remarks here, or you can read them below…

M. Speaker:

The Laffer Curve is a simple but elegant method of demonstrating how increasing taxes reduces economic productivity until a point of equilibrium is reached when further tax hikes actually reduce revenue.

If the tax rate is zero, tax revenues are zero. But if the tax rate is 100 percent, tax revenues also reach zero, because there’s no point in working.

… Read More

Okay, so we weren’t on at the same time, or even the same night… Last Wednesday night, Maldonado came onto San Diego’s Rick Amato show where he made his case for why he had to vote for the largest tax increase in the history of any state. He took some shots at yours truly in that interview as well.

On Monday night, I was Amato’s guest for about an hour, and I gave some critiques of Maldobama (h/t to Barry Jantz on the nick-name).

You can get more information on the Rick Amato show here.

The two segments I reference are available here.… Read More

As I arrived at the San Jose International Airport a few minutes ago, I rolled my eyes at the signed proclaiming my arrival at the “Norman Y. Mineta” Airport” – groan.

Who is Norm Mineta? He is a politician of course. Mineta was Mayor of San Jose, served for many years in Congress, and also served as a token Democrat in President George W. Bush's cabinet, serving as Secretary of Transportation.

This practice of “idolizing” politicians by naming public works in their honor (freeways, bridges, airport terminals, and more) are misguided.

Government service, as a representative, is laudable and should be commended. But public works, paid for with the peoples money, shouldn't bear the name of politicians. And for those who think it's okay to do so postumously, let me assure you that Mineta is very much alive and kicking.… Read More

New Gingrich’s group, American Solutions for Winning the Future, has posted a clear and compelling 12-point plan to help "get American back on the path to prosperity." I haven’t seen much of this plan, but there was a prominent full-page advertisement in the "Marketplace" section of today’s Wall Street Journal. A link to the plan is here.

There are some good policies here–issues that Americans across the political spectrum would recognize as critical and important issues.… Read More

As we mentioned previously, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has filed a lawsuit asking a judge for relief because the state legislature and the governor are in the midst of a deceptive effort to cause Californian’s to consider whether to support or oppose Proposition 1A without having all of the information about the measure readily available to them — there is no mention in the title or summary of this measure that mentions that the passage of it would extend a boatload of taxes for years! Below we have linked the legal documents filed with court for those who would like to read them.

This "keep all of the facts from the voters" campaign extends beyond the omitting of information in the official voter guide pamphlet (though that omission is the most egregious) — it seems that proponents of Proposition 1A literally don’t want to even mention the taxes. Of course, what they should be doing is making the case that they feel the spending cap in 1A is strong enough to justify extending tens of billions in taxes on Californians.

Another example of this "don’t fully disclose and discuss the pros and cons of… Read More