Quote of the day: "No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session." – Mark Twain 1866 Samuel Clemens would be comforted to know that his life, liberty, and property are now safe for the next 5 weeks as the House of Representatives has adjourned for the traditional August recess. The Senate is in for another week, but it can do little damage without our concurrence. Here is my brief synopsis of the state of some current issues:

Healthcare: As of this writing, the last committee in the House to mark-up the ‘socialized health care bill,’ Energy and Commerce, is still meeting. So, there isn’t much I can tell you right now. But one thing you ought to know is that I am a cosponsor of a resolution that says that if the bill passes, Members of Congress should be placed onto the government plan. Currently there are 66 cosponsors of the resolution, all Republicans. So, no one who is going to vote to force you into government run health care is willing to commit that they too… Read More

How embarrassing and appropriate that Assemblyman Dan Logue is seen in the video below having to apologize to a California business owner for what state government has done to him and others like him… … Read More

In response to recent comments from Speaker Karen Bass, whining about the Governor's veto-pen cuts to social programs, State Senator Bob Dutton put Bass in her place. Bass had accused the Governor of destroying California's safety net, putting lives in jeopardy and potentially killing people. Dutton has offered Bass a bi-partisan solution by using a $100 million in revenue from a proposed oil extraction contract and having that money fund programs for the most vulnerable Californians. That is a $100 million to help restore many of the programs Bass decried in her statement.

As Dutton put it: “If Speaker Bass is truly concerned about the additional cuts, I would urge her to quickly pass this bill off the Assembly Floor and send it to the governor for his signature. Doing so would allow $100 million in program cuts to be restored immediately.”

The ball is now in her court. Will Bass help California's most vulnerable or was it all talk? Is the Speaker truly an advocate for these programs? Or is she in the hip-pocket of the radical eco-nut agenda that would see not only a permanent moratorium on offshore drilling, but… Read More

Generally, when a new “public opinion survey” comes out, I am pretty cynical about it. Having had a lot of exposure to the mechanics behind such surveys, and having had a lot of opportunities over the years to talk extensively with public opinion research specialists, I can say that without any hesitation that what comes out of a survey depends greatly on what you put into a survey. Or put another way – if you ask a slanted question, you will get a slanted answer.

The latest survey out from the Public Policy Institute of California presents a great example of manipulating those being surveyed to skew the results in a particular direction. The issue is on global warming and AB 32 – but first let me walk you through the broader survey manipulation issue…

You can write a whole book (I’m sure someone has) on all of the ways to manipulate the outcome of public opinion surveys. But one way that these kinds of surveys can fall short is that do not sufficiently educate the person being questioned before asking the question – producing a meaningless response. A hypothetical example of… Read More

Generally, when a new “public opinion survey” comes out, I am pretty cynical about it. Having had a lot of exposure to the mechanics behind such surveys, and having had a lot of opportunities over the years to talk extensively with public opinion research specialists, I can say that without any hesitation that what comes out of a survey depends greatly on what you put into a survey. Or put another way – if you ask a slanted question, you will get a slanted answer.

The latest survey out from the Public Policy Institute of California presents a great example of manipulating those being surveyed to skew the results in a particular direction. The issue is on global warming and AB 32 – but first let me walk you through the broader survey manipulation issue…

You can write a whole book (I’m sure someone has) on all of the ways to manipulate the outcome of public opinion surveys. But one way that these kinds of surveys can fall short is that do not sufficiently educate the person being questioned before asking the question – producing a meaningless response. A hypothetical example of… Read More

When it comes to next year’s 36th Senate District contest (Senator Dennis Hollingsworth will be termed out), it’s pretty well known that Assemblyman Joel Anderson is considering his prospects, although a final decision is yet to come.

Where that leaves Anderson’s 77th Assembly District, two years prior to his six years being up, is in the hands of several possible candidates, each awaiting the decision.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve posed the same question to the "anyone I could think of group," i.e. those that have been talked about in the echo chamber and/or those known to be looking at it themselves. The question, in essence: If (and only if) Joel Anderson seeks the Senate seat in 2010, would you consider running for AD 77?

The responses being gathered were to turn into a "handicapping the field" column — and they still will — but in the meantime one of the prospects appears to be the first to quasi-officially announce her candidacy, given the pending "if" tied to Anderson’s "if."

Christine Ribeiro Rubin, most recently the district director for Senator Mark Wyland,… Read More

This Friday, popular Southern California talk show hosts John and Ken will be hosting a rally in the heart of the high-desert end of the 59th Assembly District, which is currently represented by Anthony Adams. It was recently reported that the thriving recall campaign against Anthony — who rather infamously signed a pledge not to raise taxes and then was the deciding vote to increase over $18 billion in higher sales, income and car taxes — had already passed the halfway point in the collection of the necessary approximately 34,000 valid signatures necessary to force a recall election.

I attended John and Ken’s last rally in Corona — which was a rally against the passage of Proposition 1A — it drew thousands of people. The rally they held before that in Fullerton also had many thousands.

Of course neither of them were at a burger joint. Now, in addition to hanging out with fellow overtaxed Californians, you can… Read More

I am really sick of reading idiotic reporting on the State budget, and I can’t take it anymore.

There is never, ever any reporting on anything other than a spending comparison to LAST year. I have not ever seen a five or ten year spending trend in the news. This is a deliberate omission which place the entire debate out of context.

The State is still spending more than five years ago and enormously more than ten years ago. This fact cannot be found anywhere.

Also missing from reporting is population, student enrollment, and other factors which need to be considered.

I don’t know if the MSM is lazy, or just disinterested, but as a loose institution it is incompetently reporting the situation in California.… Read More