So here is the big question for Sunday morning.

House Republicans seem set on re-election John Boehner as some sort of “Permanent Minority Leader” for the long haul, with some sort of concession to conservatives being that former Republican Study Committee Chairman Mike Pence is going to be the new Conference Chairman, the #3 spot in House Leadership. The question is – if Boehner stays put, meaning that the fundamental structure of House Republicans stays in place, does it even matter that Pence is in Leadership, except maybe at the margins?

Whoever is in leadership – well, it’s rearranging the deck chairs if they aren’t prepared to reign-in the “GOP Cardinals” – the Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee. Isn’t it time for House Republicans to stop glorifying spending by leaving in place the GOP Lard Team?

It’s true that conservatives don’t go to Washington, passionate about spending. So the squishy moderates and non-ideologues end up stacking the Appropriations Committee.… Read More

So here is the big question for Sunday morning.

House Republicans seem set on re-election John Boehner as some sort of “Permanent Minority Leader” for the long haul, with some sort of concession to conservatives being that former Republican Study Committee Chairman Mike Pence is going to be the new Conference Chairman, the #3 spot in House Leadership. The question is – if Boehner stays put, meaning that the fundamental structure of House Republicans stays in place, does it even matter that Pence is in Leadership, except maybe at the margins?

Whoever is in leadership – well, it’s rearranging the deck chairs if they aren’t prepared to reign-in the “GOP Cardinals” – the Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee. Isn’t it time for House Republicans to stop glorifying spending by leaving in place the GOP Lard Team?

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The people of California spoke clearly on Tuesday. They voted to define marriage as between one man and one woman for a second time. Prop 22 passed in 2000 and now Prop 8 has passed as well.

Multiple commentators that oppose Prop 8 have said that it is not over and that a vote of the people doesn’t matter when rights they consider as fundamental are in question. This is a logical legal argument.

If that is the case then Prop 8 didn’t matter. The existing law was and still is adequate to get them where they want to go in terms of public policy. So then why spend $30 million on Prop 8? If people really believed that then there was absolutely no reason to fight this measure. They should have taken the money spent on TV spots and spent it in legal fees to get to court and have Constitutional rights exercised.

The real story is that the law is not completely on their side. Prop 8 does matter and will shape this debate in a major way.

Further, the proponents of same-sex marriage now have the burden to pass a measure that allows same-sex marriage in our state. That is what they should have had to do in the first place.… Read More

I just got off of the phone with Tony Strickland. Needless to say, he is a bit anxious, as this race has ended up being not only the most expensive legislative contest this election cycle, but now it is the closest.

What’s the status of things? Well, FR readers probably know that this sprawling district is mostly in Ventura County, with a big portion of it also being in Santa Barbara County, and a sliver of it is in Los Angeles County.

Generally, Strickland performed better in Ventura County, and Jackson did better (by a slightly larger margin) in Santa Barbara County. In the tiny LA portion, which is up in the very conservative Santa Clarita area, Strickland performed much better.

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I just got off of the phone with Tony Strickland. Needless to say, he is a bit anxious, as this race has ended up being not only the most expensive legislative contest this election cycle, but now it is the closest.

What’s the status of things? Well, FR readers probably know that this sprawling district is mostly in Ventura County, with a big portion of it also being in Santa Barbara County, and a sliver of it is in Los Angeles County.

Generally, Strickland performed better in Ventura County, and Jackson did better (by a slightly larger margin) in Santa Barbara County. In the tiny LA portion, which is up in the very conservative Santa Clarita area, Strickland performed much better.

Today, most of the outstanding absentee ballots in Santa Barbara were counted. The effect of this was to leave Jackson with a roughly 250 vote lead over Strickland. Between remaining absentee ballots and provisional ballots, there are probably around 7,000 votes left to cast in Santa Barbara County.

In Ventura County, it sounds like there are probably somewhere around 50,000 ballots left to count, and it’s really hard to tell what is left in Los… Read More

People all across California (and America) are anxious for information about the McClintock/Brown race. Today, Tom’s lead increased to 889 votes.

I spent the entire day at the Placer County Registrar of Voters, observing the ballot counting. It’s a slow, tedious process and can certainly be boring. But I will say that I’ve never been prouder of my local election officials. They take every precaution to ensure every vote is counted. Even in races that aren’t closely contested, each vote is considered extremely important. Until today, I had no idea that every absentee signature is scrutinized, the integrity of the ballots makes them untouchable by anyone other than a select few, and voter intent is paramount. Some voters are actually called if their signature is slightly off, or if there is any suspicion of fraud.

While I’m proud of my local elections officials, there are some in other areas that have been less impressive. I’ve heard some horror stories from other areas in the 4th CD—and in a close election like this one, tensions are high. As Assemblyman LaMalfa mentioned last night, the Democrat lawyers have descended upon the 4th CD and they are… Read More

I know that this blog is generally supposed to focus on California politics but I wanted to pass along a column by John Kass, the right-of-center columnist for the Chicago Tribune. My mother grew up in Chicago and, for a time, I lived in Illinois and covered the statehouse for the Springfield Journal-Register. Chicago is my favorite city in the country, but there is no question that it is one of the most corrupt cities in the nation (althoughI won’t deny that it is cleaner, prettier and more pleasant to visit thanmost CA cities).Kass is constantly shining a light on the questionable ethics of Mayor Richard Daley, his family and other Chicago politicos. Here’s Kass’ take on President-elect Obama’s pick of Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff: Emanuel pick shows change is a state of mind.

… Read More

The following is a Guest Commentary just received from Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform…

Your Governor can beat up Sarah Palin, but Sarah Palin is smarter than your Governor By Grover Norquist

Only 6 months into the new fiscal year, the Democrats in the California State legislature have spent $11 billion more next year than they had planned to take from taxpayers. This, Governor Schwarzenegger explains is our problem. We have failed to pony up the $11 billion.

In fact, this is the state legislature’s own problem. They are spending too… Read More