In 2008 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had 1187 pieces of legislation sent to him by the Democrat-controlled state legislature. Much of this legislation was terrible – which makes sense when you consider that all of these bills had to pass muster with the liberals who run the State Senate and State Assembly. Virtually any Republican bill of any substance was killed somewhere in the legislative process, ensuring that only bills that grow the size and scope of state government reach the Governor’s desk.

That said, the Governor vetoed 415 of the bills, and signed 772 of them. Interestingly, the Governor’s veto percentage of nearly 35% is the highest of any Governor. In spending time going through a lot of the bills that the Governor did sign, and considering that previous Governors (of either party) signed a greater percentage than Schwarzenegger, it’s no wonder state government is so big and fat.

For a short period of time, Governor Schwarzenegger actually threatened to veto ALL of the legislation on his desk.… Read More

We’ve got spirit, yes we do…

Today I stopped in at the Pleasanton Victory HQ, and talked with long time GOP pal, Judy Lloyd. We are both fired up for the debate tomorrow night, and can’t wait to see Biden vs. the Barracuda!!!

While in the office, I met Nathan Conrad, who is coordinating the Victory efforts in the Bay Area. I tried to get him to talk a little smack and lay down a challenge to his counterparts throughout the State. He told me that the Pleasanton office is making over 5,000 calls per week!

Impressive!

I got to see Justin Norell and Forest Tracy working the phones, and may I say…they are charmers! I don’t know how anyone could say ‘no’ if one of these gents asked them to vote for Senator McCain. Justin and Forest…you guys are awesome!

We need some precinct… Read More

[Cross-posted from OC Blog]

Although what became Proposition 8 was already moving toward the November ballot, what really thrust same-sex marriage to the forefront of California and national politics was the state Supreme Court’s 4-3 decision creating it. Since then I’ve been perplexed by the attitude of a number of Republicans and small "l" libertarians to the court’s decision and the issue of same-sex marriage.

For example, the OC Register editorial page responded by expressing its support for the ruling, and Libertarian Party presidential nominee Bob Barr chimed in his approval.

It’s astounding to me that any libertarian would applaud a such a naked exercise of government power. Four judges took it upon themselves to use their power to re-define the fundamental unit of civilization in opposition to what it has been throughout recorded history. Such deep social engineering by judicial diktat should appall libertarians, not merit their approval.

Instead, libertarians and conservatives ought to be natural allies in the effort to pass Proposition 8.… Read More

There’s a difference between preventing a death in the future, causing a death today or being associated with one at any point. There’s also a difference between the way media outlets have reported the impacts of port-related pollution and plans to address it.

Today’s LA Times reports, "The estimated 16,700 trucks currently servicing the ports account for more smog and soot than all 6 million cars in the region, and diesel emissions spewed by big rigs cause 1,200 premature deaths annually, according to the California Air Resources Board." (emphasis added)

A quick Google search returned a California Air Resources Board (CARB) news release indicating "ARB estimates that the proposed regulation will prevent 1,200 premature deaths from 2009 through 2020…." (emphasis added)

Interestingly, I also found a Reuters story that reads "The nearly 17,000 trucks that… Read More

Senator McCain, as he should, is going to be in Washington, D.C., to vote on the latest iteration of "taxpayers of America bail out Wall Street" — I suspect he will vote FOR it. But I strongly counsel him to vote against it. This is a great opportunity to show that the self-annointed "Maverick" is willing to buck the monied interests who are pushing for this particular bill, which is fundamentally flawed.… Read More

This morning I had a chance to speak for a few minutes with former California Governor Pete Wilson (pictured left), and with Captain Pete Hegseth, retired, a former combat soldier in Iraq. Both are veterans, both are leaders in a 401(c)4 organization, Veterans for Freedom. Hegseth is the group’s Chairman, and Wilson – well he describes his involvement in the group as, “a supporter, a volunteer and someone eager to see all of the efforts being made by these 30,000 combat veterans to educate the American people successful.”

Today Veterans for Freedom begins a saturation-level $2.2 million dollar, week-long media buy in all of California’s major media markets, featuring this ad… … Read More

It is rare, but sometimes technical issues cause a delay in the posting of our main page news links. This is one of those occasions. My apologies, and we're working with our development team (in Orlando) to get things back on track.… Read More

**A FlashReport Exclusive — We Had It Here First**

One of Governor Schwarzenegger’s most senior staff members, and certainly the highest placed conservative in the administration, Cabinet Secretary Dan Dunmoyer, is leaving the administration. Replacing Dunmoyer will be another Republican, Victoria Bradshaw, currently the Secretary of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. This change at the highest levels of the Schwarzenegger Administration will be publicly announced later this morning.

There will be a short transition, but as Dunmoyer told me in a conversation last night, “Vickie is already prepared to hit the ground running.”

In addition to be a current agency secretary since 2004, Bradshaw… Read More