It’s the first week of the 111th Congress and it’s a little like the first week back at school in September. "So what did you do over the holidays?" is the standard greeting as "What did you do over the summer?" was in high school. There are the new kids (freshman Congressman numbering over 50), the missing kids that graduated (retired or elected to something else), and you also notice the absence of kids that were expelled (lost reelections). So, we all get sworn into office for another term, reacquaint with one another, introduce ourselves to the freshman who we don’t recognize, and note Congresswomen with new hairstyles and Congressmen with changes in facial hair. I have added to that number by growing a beard in the off-season.

Then it’s back to work, and given a terrible economy and a fragile international climate, there is plenty of work to do.… Read More

The Bush Presidency is almost over. In November the President announced the pardons of several people that included embezzlers, drug dealers, liars and the like.

There is an injustice that President Bush still has a few days to correct. Read my lips: Pardon Pat Nolan.

Most people know Pat Nolan now as the president of Justice Fellowship and his work for prison reform.

I met him over two decades ago as he served as State GOP Assembly Minority Leader Pat Nolan. Pat Nolan was an Assemblyman from the Glendale area.

But he was more than that. Nolan was the conservative movement in California. He was the one that helped organize conservatives in attempt to capture Democratic seats and preserve Republican ones. He found and developed leaders. He led fights in internal battles with GOP “old guard” types that stood in the way. Nolan also took care of his constituents.

That came to a screeching halt when he plead guilty in a FBI sting, one year before the Republicans took control of the State Assembly. One can only… Read More

The Governor gave his rather short State of the Union speech today, where he cleverly said that we are in a "state of emergency" — no kidding!

That said, I was annoyed that once again those of us who feel that a crisis created by overspending should be solely resolved by reductions in spending are classified as "ideological" (not that I have trouble being called an ideologue) — but the way he says it portrays ideologues as a negative influence on the public policy process.

What is a ideologue? In my opinion, it is someone who has strong convictions and beliefs, and stands by them, especially when all of the special interests are bearing down upon you.

The Governor had no problem being an anti-tax "ideologue" when he was campaigning for election and re-election. But now that he has drank the public employee union Kool-Aid, about the need to respond to respond to overspending with overtaxing, he feels the need to paint loyal Republicans snidely as ideologues

Some things lend themselves to compromise, and some things do not. Belittling those who feel that compromising on taxes is a tragic mistake is no way… Read More

FR friend John Ziegler interviewed Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. The video runs nearly ten minutes long, but it’s worth watching… … Read More

This off the transom from the office of San Bernardino County District Attorney Ramos:

jurisdictions: Highland, San Bernardino, Apple Valley, Victorville, Rancho Cucamonga, and Rancho Santa Margarita in Orange County. These actions are part of the District Attorney’s ongoing investigation involving Assessor Bill Postmus. During a search at his residence in Rancho Cucamonga, evidence of narcotics violations was discovered. Investigators arrested Assessor Bill Postmus and booked him on the following charges: H&S 11364 (Possession of… Read More

As the drumbeat to further dampen our economy with new or increased taxation on the citizens of California gets louder, one has to wonder why the reforms that would help prevent us from being in this condition ever again do not receive other thanpassingpress coverage. Instead we get theconstant push to compromise more ofOPM, Other People’s Money, from their wallets into state coffers, as well as a few grudgingreductions in the rate of increase of spending…not cuts, just a reduced rate of increase,which is always distorted in the news as draconian cuts. When the latest projections of the revenue stream to the state have been further reduced by another $7 Billion, it doesn’t take an astronaut to realize that "Houston, we have a problem" in this atmosphere.

Today’s State Of The State speech by the Governor properly underlined that the entire focus of the Legislature and the Guv should be solving our budget catastrophe. Republicans have been firm during my previous 6 years and moving into this new session thatany "fix" without reform is no fix at all.Not a fake reform… Read More

This week, readers of the Sacramento Bee are being “treated” to a series of editorials where, on a day by day basis, the editorial board fixes its sights on yet another “interest group” that is playing a role in the politics surrounding the state budget crisis. Their format seems to be similar – brief praise for their target, acknowledging a legitimate role for that group, and then blasting away at the group in question. I would summarize it this way – the members of the Bee editorial board clearly feel that the solution to the overspending crisis is some sort of mega-compromise where some of the increases in spending of the last few years are cut, and (I know you will be shocked) they want taxes to go up on Californians. So they have decided to heap criticism on anyone and everyone, right or left, who opposes this scheme. The Bee Editorial Board started off by blasting “the business community” and the Chamber of Commerce most specifically for their “narrow interest” (the state’s business climate?) and their failure to adequately help the Governor to… Read More

This week, readers of the Sacramento Bee are being “treated” to a series of editorials where, on a day by day basis, the editorial board fixes its sights on yet another “interest group” that is playing a role in the politics surrounding the state budget crisis. Their format seems to be similar – brief praise for their target, acknowledging a legitimate role for that group, and then blasting away at the group in question. I would summarize it this way – the members of the Bee editorial board clearly feel that the solution to the overspending crisis is some sort of mega-compromise where some of the increases in spending of the last few years are cut, and (I know you will be shocked) they want taxes to go up on Californians. So they have decided to heap criticism on anyone and everyone, right or left, who opposes this scheme. The Bee Editorial Board started off by blasting “the business community” and the Chamber of Commerce most specifically for their “narrow interest” (the state’s business climate?) and their failure to adequately help the Governor to… Read More