This is a tale of two families who’s air conditioner broke during the dead heat of this summer.

One family was mine, my mother and father who live in Aliso Viejo here in Orange County. They are an active couple dad in his late 70s and mom, well lets just say somewhat younger.

The other family, the Frank Mickadeit’s of Codo de Caza the ritzy gated community in south Orange County.

The… Read More

Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu is a smart man. He does not gamble and he is not an advocate of having a casino in Anahiem (something I would very much appreciate).

But Sidhu is realistic enough to know that someday it might be the right public policy to let one open up that is why he opposes efforts in his city to hamstring future councils from considering gambling establishments as an option…… Read More

I don’t recall even being in a situation where the closer Election Day gets, the less likely I am to vote for the GOP nominee.

Yet, that is where I find myself vis-a-vis Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I’m one of many conservatives who voted for Arnold in the recall, despite my preference for Tom McClintock. I found the prospect of Cruz Bustamante in the governor’s office horrifying and wasn’t convinced McClintock could win. The stakes so too high I though it prudent to back the Republican with the best chance of winning, and so I cast my vote for Arnold. Like other conservatives, I comforted myself with the rumor we’d heard for years that Arnold was really a libertarian. So, although he was squishy on the social issues, at least he’d be hard core on taxes, spending and freedom issues. After all, he was a Milton Friedman fan!

But ever since the Governor’s nauseating policy of apologizing for the special election of 2005, it’s been steadily more difficult to assembly a conservative Republican rationale for supporting his re-election.

He’s signed a non-aggression pact with the government employee… Read More

I don’t recall evenr being in a situation where the closer Election Day gets, the less likely I am to vote for the GOP nominee.

Yet, that is where I find myself vis-a-vis Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I’m one of many conservatives who voted for Arnold in the recall despite my preference for Tom McClintock. I found the prospect of Cruz Bustamante in the governor’s office horrifying and wasn’t convinced McClintock could win. The stakes so too high I though it prudent to back the Republican with the best chance of winning, and so I cast my vote for Arnold. Like other conservatives, I comforted myself with the rumor we’d heard for years that Arnold was really a libertarian. So, although he was squishy on the social issues, at least he’d be hard core on taxes, spending and freedom issues. After all, he was a Milton Friedman fan!

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

Even if the Governor’s team had seen this, there is no doubt they would have still signed the minimum wage bill. For a lazy weekend read, click here.

Mike… Read More

In catching up with some reading, I found this recent op- ed in the Wall Street Journal. I note that no rebuttal has been submitted by the Governor’s campaign.

Read the Op Ed here.… Read More

Jerry Brown has had a very frustrating summer. First, his disingenuous efforts to portray Oakland crime as down when it’s actually been exploding on his watch (homicides up 57% from 1999-2005) were overwhelmed by daily headlines of carnage in the city streets. Yesterday, the Oakland Tribune reported the city now has had more murders this year than all of last year. The aggressive campaign of Senator Chuck Poochigian has been relentlessly pounding on Brown’s (typical) neglect of Oakland as he campaigns full-time for AG while the city is in the grips of what can only be called a public safety crisis. Come to think of it, a public safety crisis is exactly what the Poochigian has accurately labeled the ever-worsening situation in Oakland. Now, Wednesday’s LA Times reports that a new book by an experienced investigative reporter is again raising questions about… Read More

After I do a radio program, I get hate mail from Republicans who want me to swallow the Kool Aid of Republican mediocrity. I won’t do it. The basic principles of this Party are etched in stone in my mind and they aren’t going to be compromised to elect someone that it taking me for granted, paying more attention to my political adversaries than is necessary, and thumbing his nose at his own caucus (see Keith Richmond’s comments)

Yesterday I hosted the Ray Appleton program on Newstalk 580 KMJ. I had Republican Assemblyman Mike Villines on for the first hour discussing the end of session legislation as well as the Governor and his actions in signing several pieces of legislation offensive to mainstream and right of center voters – further depressing the GOP base and creating despair in the ranks.

I had invited the Governor’s campaign to defend itself in the second hour – no response until 1:45 pm – too late to have anything meaningful. The callers I had in the second hour were in a very foul mood over SB 1441 – the gay and transvestite civil rights bill, and greenhouse gas bill, and several other pieces of… Read More