Earlier this afternoon, the fifteen members of the Senate Republican Caucus went down to Governor Schwarzenegger’s office to discuss the state budget. (Only in the State Capitol would fifteen people go downstairs instead of one man coming upstairs. Then again, he is the Governator. Besides, maybe they smoked cigars, and he does have the only smoking tent in the immediate vicinity…). Apparently the name of the game is still, "Do ANYTHING to get Senate Republicans to vote for the already-passed budget out of the Assembly — we don’t want to crack-open budget negotiations again!" So, we can assume that Governor’s "pitch" to Senate Republicans was made with a big blue pencil in his hand, making the case for how the Governor would trim the state budget over the ears a bit in order to satisfy concerns of GOP Senators. Unfortunately, one has to acknowledge that the blue-pencil (line item veto) approach has its limitations. Yes, the Governor could… Read More

We received this commentary from Assemblywoman Audra Strickland…

There seems to be this notion promoted in the media that Republicans are not all on the same team. And, that support for our Republican colleagues in the Senate and their efforts to balance the state budget is a repudiation of the Governor and the Assembly Republicans that voted for the budget. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It is because of Governor Schwarzenegger and his commitment against raising taxes that Democrat proposals for new taxes are not a serious part of budget negotiations. During the Davis administration, Democrat politicians seemed to compete to see who could propose the largest and most creative new tax levy. Today we are at the cusp of fiscal responsibility and a state government that lives within its means largely because we have a Republican Governor committed against raising taxes. Assembly Republican Leader Mike… Read More

The fundraising numbers are coming in. In the 36th AD only Steve Fox’s are currently available. He raised a over 57K. He is an attorney and Hospital board member , so some of the donations come from….lawyers and medical.

Now, many candidates will loan themselves some money. Not Steve Fox. No games being played here.Fox contributed $37,864.18 to the campaign. There is no moving money around to look good. Just plain old burning the boats so you can’t leave.

We will see how that works out?… Read More

This from Christine Hanley of today’s L.A. Times

"Gore is the youngest of Tipper and Al Gore’s four children. He was arrested in 2003 on suspicion of marijuana possession while a student at Harvard University. He completed substance-abuse counseling as part of a program to settle the charge and was not convicted of a crime.

He now lives in Los Angeles, where he is an associate publisher of Good, philanthropy magazine aimed at young people."… Read More

An exciting new proposed ballot proposition that would eliminate the current "winner-take-all" system of apportionment of Presidential Electoral College votes and replace it with a regionalized system based largely on voting results in Congressional districts, has been filed with the Attorney General by "Californians for Equal Representation" by Sacramento-based attorney Thomas W. Hiltachk. The ballot measure, identified as the "Presidential Election Reform Act," and identified on the AG’s system as "Initiative No. 07-0032," would give increased clout in the Presidential election to more local areas of the state, and might also help a credible third party candidate to pick-up some electoral votes, without having to win the entire state.Congressional Districts inthe Bay Area, for example, which usually vote for the Democrat, might be counted on for their electoral votes, however, Congressional districts in southern counties that usually vote for the Republican, would not have their electoral votes necessarily wasted in a Democratic sweep of the state, as in the current system. And vice-versa, were thereto be a really… Read More

Romney for President “Secure”:30 TV

Mitt Romney (VO): We should secure our border.

We should put in place an employment verification system.

And then when an employer is thinking of hiring someone the federal database immediately tells them whether they’re available to be working or not.

If they’re not you can’t hire them.

People that are here illegally are going to have to get in line with everybody else with no special pathway to becoming citizens

Legal immigration is great, but illegal immigration that we’ve got to end.

Thank you, and Amnesty is not the way to do it.

Mitt Romney (VO): I’m Mitt Romney and I approved this message.

Here’s the video:

[Publisher’s Note: We’re very honored that our own Duane has been tapped as… Read More

This weekend Larry Dick’s campaign for the 60th Assembly District came to part of the LA County. Walnut Valley Water Board member Ling-Ling Chang and Pomona School Board Member Andrew Wong sponsored Larry’s Luau in Diamond Bar. In the audience were quite a few “Water people”. As water board member Larry is working that angle. Water is big business in CA and there is more money there than some might think. There were also a lot of GOP activists from the SGV Valley, many that were also at the last Curt Hagman events I was at. They must be checking out the field. See here. Assemblyman Huff was there saying very nice things about … Read More

Senators Aanastad, Ackerman, Ashburn, Battin, Cogdill, Cox, Denham, Duttin, Harman, Hollingsworth, Margett, Maldonado, Runner, McClintock, and Wyland — The fifteen of you are an inspiration to all California’s who believe that sound budgetary management is an important part of running state government. You are serving as a reminder that the GOP can be proud of each of one you, as you stand up to the special interests that have become the dominant players in California politics over four-plus decades of dominance of liberal Democrats in the legislature. You are showing that united, Republicans can make a difference in reigning in excessive spending in California. And the message we want to send you is — hold tight, the best is yet to come. There is an obscene amount of pressure being put on all of you to approve the budget sent over to you by the Assembly Democrats, along with slightly less than a third of Assembly Republicans. So far you have stood tall against this pressure, and you are to be commended. Of course, Senator Don "The Golden Pig" Perata won’t let any of the tax cuts that… Read More