I have to admit, I was a little mystified by Governor Brown’s comments this last week. He appeared in front of the budget committees (a little outside the norm, to be sure) to say that, if those tax increases were not on the ballot, and if they did not pass, he would only sign a budget with $25 billion in cuts, or at least that is what the paper reported he said.

The whole event was reported as a threat to Republicans, vote for my tax increase initiative or I’ll cut the budget by $25 billion.

Huh?

And the problem with that is……what? Let’s see, I’m a Republican legislator, and the Governor has given me the choice of a vote that angers all of my supporters, friends, and most Republican constituency groups or a vote that angers most government unions, left wing activists, and the Democrats in the Legislature. Is there a problem with this choice? What is it? Why would the Governor pose such a challenge to Republicans? There really is no reason now to vote to put the taxes on the ballot. Don’t throw me in that briar patch Governor. I really don’t know what to do… Read More

Well, it didn’t take long for the politics of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s patriotic showdown against the public employee unions in that state to become injected into the politics of a local Assembly campaign here in California. I just got the following release from the Beth Gaines for Assembly campaign (if I get a response to it from the John Allard campaign, we’ll let you know). Oh yes, this just goes towards rule #23 of campaigns for partisan office — being a local elected official can do nothing but hurt you in your quest for higher office.

The release from the Gaines Campaign…

John Allard is Roseville’s anti-Scott Walker in AD 4 ROSEVILLE, CA — While Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and other Republican Governors around the country are courageously taking on public employee unions in his state in order to balance the state budget, State Assembly candidate John Allard is reaping the rewards of years of… Read More

Looks like GOP fundraiser John Bovee has branched out into the wide world of fiction with the publication of "Jesus of Bakersfield". Anyone who knows John’s wry sense of humor will want to pick up a copy. I got mine on Amazon.… Read More

It is being reported over at the Los Angeles Times website that the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce is going to endorse Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed budget, including his call for the largest tax increase in the history of this (or any state) — hammering voters for the next five years with higher income, sales and car taxes, and a reduction in the child tax credit.

The response from the greater political community to this "stunning" (I say sarcastically) move by the LA Chamber should be a collective yawn — it’s just not significant.

In 2009 when these very same "temporary taxes" on income, sales and cars were included as part of that year’s terrible budget deal, this very same Chamber of Commerce (and the State Chamber of Commerce as well) weighed in — supporting these… Read More

President Obama could be a constructive part of trying to solve America’s debt problem. But, he has chosen not to participate. Here is my theory as to why: In his first 2 years, the President showed his true colors – enormous increases in spending and deficits and government intrusion through the stimulus plan; ObamaCare as a move towards socialized medicine; and national energy taxes in furtherance of a radical environmental agenda, to just name a few of his way left-of-center initiatives. And, although he won’t admit it publicly, I believe that he understands that the "shellacking" (his word not mine) that his party took in last November’s elections was the result of the public’s disapproval of his policies and his agenda. This is, after all, a center-right country. So now, as his re-election bid approaches, he needs voters to forget what he really believes and what he really wants to do. Since he can’t bring himself, as President Clinton did, to adopt a centrist or center-right agenda, he has chosen to simply do and propose nothing of substance. His State of the Union speech laid out… Read More

Sitting in the Governor’s spartan office, Jerry Brown and wife/senior advisor Anne Gust can take out their "hit list" of Republican legislators, and also get out a big fat red marking pen. Once they have done so, they can use the marker to scratch out the names of thirty State Senate and Assembly GOP legislators who yesterday joined the California Taxpayers Caucus. While all of these legislators had already signed the Americans for Tax Reform No New Taxes pledge, when joining this new Taxpayer Caucus, all of these legislators specifically pledged to oppose placing ANY tax increase measures on the ballot (with the only exception being spelled out in writing being a vote to place taxes on the ballot if that same ballot would also include tax cuts of an equal or greater amount).

I flew up to the Capitol yesterday to cover the press conference announcing the formation of the Taxpayers Caucus, which took place on the steps of the State Capitol (somehow the Brown Administration… Read More

Governor Mitch Daniels, recently encouraged others to bolster his name asa Presidential possibility. That is all snuffed. Sadly, somewhere deep in the Republican psyche there is a strand that allows some to melt into oblivion under pressure. We’ve seen this regularly amongst some Republican legislators for the last 20 — probably longer– years.

These Republicans who cave into union or democrat pressure, come from a variety of backgrounds. All too often, they see themselves as pragmatists or ‘problem solvers’. In fact, they are ‘situationists’ —much like Arnold Schwarzenegger. They believe in very little, excepting compromise. Values are relative. They accomplish very little. Their lives are literally meaningless. Think Doris Allen or Paul Horcher. Sad pathetic individuals.

MItch Daniels is descending into the unremarkable.

… Read More

SB X1 2 passes off our floor, encasing in law the requirement for not yet existent wind and solar power procurementto be required forCalifornia users. The present standard of 20% by 2010 [not quite met by 2010 except withaccounting tricks] will now be pushed to 33 [or is that 33 1/3] by 2020. An army of green jobs is expected to follow…… Read More