Plastered all over the news today are stories about 10,000 layoffs in the State workforce. That might be signficant, but can it be understood on it own? No.

We need to ask: how many employees, new, were hired by the State since 2004. I have heard the number 50,000 thrown around as the answer, but I don’t know. But if it is, then we are still 40,000 higher than we were, and it unlikely that anyone can put up a rationale defense that we needed the extra (insert number) of employees.… Read More

Yes, you read that title correctly. According to a piece by John Simerman in yesterday’s Valley Times, the state spent $22 million to help sex offenders pay their rent in 2008. In some cases, the payout to individuals was over $2,000 per month. This money was evidently spent to help the parolees abide by Prop. 83, Jessica’s Law. By that same logic, we should be spending millions for paroled thieves to give them everything they want, so they won’t steal anymore. And while we’re at it, perhaps we should spend a few mil on cocaine and give it to paroled drug offenders so they won’t have to buy it and get in trouble.

Since when did the government bear the burden of paying for people to comply with the law? The government didn’t pay for my last speeding ticket, or give me vouchers for taxis so that I couldn’t possibly break the law by driving myself anymore.

I am astounded that someone receiving a taxpayer subsidized salary thought that those same taxpayers should pay for some creepy… Read More

No… It wasn’t us. It was the Los Angeles Times (or as former Congressman Chris Cox like to refer to them, Pravda West).

Breaking her long self-imposed silence on many state policy issues while she was "considering" a run for Governor, Meg Whitman, now officially a candidate, gave an interview to Michael Finnigan with the Los Angeles Times. The interview is worth reading, although I must admit that after reading it with the idea that an interview might actually clear up a lot of the "mystery" surrounding Whitman and her positions on major issues of the day. Instead, I found that the interview left me with a lot of questions.

I have my own request into the Whitman campaign talk with the ersatz Governor, and haven’t heard back yet. I actually had assumed that Whitman was not doing interviews, yet. Clearly she wanted to give an exclusive "first interview as a candidate" to a major California newspaper. Conservative blogger interviews are somewhere down the journalistic… Read More

No… It wasn’t us. It was the Los Angeles Times (or as former Congressman Chris Cox like to refer to them, Pravda West).

Breaking her long self-imposed silence on many state policy issues while she was "considering" a run for Governor, Meg Whitman, now officially a candidate, gave an interview to Michael Finnigan with the Los Angeles Times. The interview is worth reading, although I must admit that after reading it with the idea that an interview might actually clear up a lot of the "mystery" surrounding Whitman and her positions on major issues of the day. Instead, I found that the interview left me with a lot of questions.

I have my own request into the Whitman campaign talk with the ersatz Governor, and haven’t heard back yet. I actually had assumed that Whitman was not doing interviews, yet. Clearly she wanted to give an exclusive "first interview as a candidate" to a major California newspaper. Conservative blogger interviews are somewhere down the journalistic food… Read More

Capitol staffers experienced some unique lobbying today: Valentine’s condoms courtesy of Planned Parenthood. In recent years I had heard Planned Parenthood takes the opportunity of Valentine’s Day to distribute condoms to capitol offices. But this year’s valentine didn’t just wish its recipients affection and love on February 14th, it also lobbied for continued funding. The packet pictured below contained several information sheets touting Planned Parenthood’s accomplishments, including just how much money it saves the state every year by preventing unintended pregnancies ($1.35 billions).

Using the tag line “a health budget = a healthy California,” the valentine implores lawmakers, “don’t break our hearts,” which one assumes means by cutting their piece of the budget pie.

And just in case legislators were concerned about having to answer to their spouses about listing condoms… Read More

If you have been involved in multiple battles, statewide or local, to oppose taxes on the ballot, then you know that it is significantly more difficult to defeat measures that “seek to extend the life of an existing tax” than it is to stop the creation of a new tax.

Legislators flirting with the idea of voting to increase taxes “temporarily” (my good friend Assemblyman Martin Garrick can remind any legislators of the fallacy of raising taxes now, temporary or not) need to keep in mind that once it is created, there is a very good likelyhood that it will eventually become permanent.… Read More

I know people like rumors so here is one.

In Southern California the whole KFI John and Ken Show and their campaign against some Republicans keeps coming up. There isn’t a meeting I go to someone doesn’t talk about it.

It appears to have gotten the attention for former State Senator Dick Mountjoy. Mountjoy conveyed to me he was thinking of running for Assembly in 2010. He was really upset about Republicans voting to raise taxes.

Of course I relayed that no one has voted to raise anything at this point.

Dick has one more term left in the Assembly. The Democrats kicked him out of the State Assembly in 1994. Mountjoy had been elected at the same time in a special election to the State Senate, but stayed in the lower house to try to help the Assembly Republican keep their majority. (Remember Paul Horcher?)

In that GOP Senate Primary he beat Horcher and future Assemblyman and Congressman Gary Miller despite being outspent.

Mountjoy represented half of the current 59th (Monrovia, Glendora etc..)as a State Assemblyman and State Senator. He lost a bid as the GOP nominee for U.S.… Read More

This just in from longtime FR friend Jamie Fisfis over at Chariot Research, a respected public opinion research company from the Bay Area that actually does quite a bit of world all over the globe. They are just out of the field with some survey data on California issues, and I think that the results are definitely worth looking over in the context of the current debate in Sacramento over how to deal with the financial shortfalls due to chronic overspending.

From Fisfis:

Chariot LLC just completed another statewide omnibus survey and the budget debate was one of our main focuses. We have fresh budget debate numbers and they are pretty decisive on the issue of how Californians want the crisis solved. By a 63%-25% margin, Californians believe in spending cuts rather than tax increases to solve the budget crisis – even when education is mentioned specifically. … Read More