SCA 10,a vehicle to move into a conference committeetheresumption ofthe legislative discussion of reforming the corrupt present system of redistricting, passed off the Assembly floor today.Any redistricting proposal would likely be geared for the post-2010 census and the 2012 election. It also contained the term limit extension/restructure discussion thathas beentossed about for some time and more so lately, and which may or may not be joined together with the redistricting proposal. The conference committee would be the last minuteshot at doing something on thisNovember ballot on these issues. Of course, any product of the committee would still have to come back to both houses for a 2/3 approval and the Governor’s signature tobe placed before the voters. Havinga discussion on these issues is fine, more specifically on the corrupt way districts are now drawn. I’m much less excited about the idea of legislators initiating talks on fiddling with their own term limits. It seems that if there was a lot of clamoring for longer or different term limits from the public, who will have to be asked to vote on it, that maybe the… Read More

Welcome to the last month of the legislative session. You know what this means, right? You got it – this is where a lot of great legislative proposals that are geared towards empowering individuals die in committee, and legislation that centralizes power in Sacramento (at the expense of individual freedom and liberty) passes out of the Democrat-dominated legislature. Thank goodness we have a Republican Governor who has pledged to oppose any tax or fee increases. That said, the Governor and his team should be prepared for an onslaught of horrible bills. In the newspapers today, several ‘bad idea bills’ are profiled including a Hillary-care style government-run healthcare system takeover, further regulations on firearms manufacturers that will raise the price for law-abiding citizens to purchase a gun, and the legislature wants to tell pet owners how to treat their animals – seriously. I’m penning a column due out shortly on a real choice piece of legislation. As we all focus on eminent domain reform, and the… Read More

Metnews is reporting that George Runner is giving up his bid to force district elections for judges in LA County.

When voters conslidated Municipal and Superior courts they did harm to large counties like LA. It made sense not to duplicate services in small counties with two sets of judges. The net effect in large counties is to ignore regional representation in judges. Pomona, Palmdale, West Hollywood and Compton are all different and are no longer represented.

Look at the reasons for opposition below. If judges are to sit in one place services would have to be provided there. Oh my!

The article portions relevant to this are pasted below.

By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer

A proposed constitutional amendment that would have required that Los Angeles Superior Court judges be elected by district, with each district to elect no more than 36 judges, was withdrawn yesterday by its sponsors.

A statement distributed by the office of Sen. George Runner,… Read More

Local government everywhere generally lacks dynamic leadership. And Orange County is no different.

We have some very nice people in local government, but most are not the kind of people you’d want leading you through a time of crisis or could ever see ascending to higher office.

So when leadership presents itself, it gets a lot of attention and usually some arrows shot at it, lest everyone else look bad.

There is a Troika of leadership in local government in OC that includes Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and Irvine Councilman Larry Agran. Say what you will about this Republican, Democrat, Democrat (respectively) team but they are indeed dynamic leaders.

They represent their constituencies well and rule in many cases over a council majority that allows them to accomplish big things.

In Anaheim Pringle has amassed a huge war-chest and most people respect him and all that he has accomplished. No serious challenger (with money or position) has stepped up to challenge him for re-election in November.

However, Pulido of Santa Ana who has been mayor for 12 years (Santa Ana has term limits on city council… Read More

I enthusiastically celebrate the defeat of liberal Republican Congressman Joe Schwarz at the hands of a more conservative Republican last night in Michigan. I participated in the funding of the independent campaign by Club For Growth and am proud of it – and will most certainly do it again.

The bar has moved over the years. The GOP used to define liberal Republicans based on one or two issues – usually on abortion. That has changed due to the leftward move of the GOP Congress almost continuously since 1998. The budget deficit, new entitlements such as Medicare part D, a lack of leadership on border security, failure to extend the tax rate cuts, and a general concern for re-election over problem solving puts a TON of Republican incumbents into the RINO category – as measured against the Party’s stated platform and icons such as President Ronald Reagan.

For two years, because of the way Congressional Districts were rigged in the last gerrymandering, I’ve beenwriting and opining on local talk radio here in the Central Valley that the REAL problem for Congressional Republicans would not be general elections losses but… Read More

FR READERS HELP TOPPLE SCHWARZ The top story today on our "All California Politics All of the Time" is a bit of a stretch, because it is about a liberal Member of Congress from Michigan last night who lost his primary — but this was most notable because this liberal was a REPUBLICAN – Joe Schwarz. You can read the piece for more information, but let me just say that on a weekly basis, I participate with a large group of conservative activist bloggers from around the nation on a conference call (sponsored by the Heritage Foundation and Human Events Magazine) where we attempt to coordinate our activities when possible. Sinking Schwarz and electing conservative Tom Walberg in this overwhelmingly GOP House seat was set out as one of the first coordinated projects of our group. Of course it is relevant to all of us in California because it is liberal GOPers like Schwarz, who oppose the basic economic platforms of the party (among other things) that endanger our Republican majority. Schwarz opposes making the President’s tax cuts permanent. Anyways, FR readers stepped up to… Read More

FR READERS HELP TOPPLE SCHWARZ The top story today on our "All California Politics All of the Time" is a bit of a stretch, because it is about a liberal Member of Congress from Michigan last night who lost his primary — but this was most notable because this liberal was a REPUBLICAN – Joe Schwarz. You can read the piece for more information, but let me just say that on a weekly basis, I participate with a large group of conservative activist bloggers from around the nation on a conference call (sponsored by the Heritage Foundation and Human Events Magazine) where we attempt to coordinate our activities when possible. Sinking Schwarz and electing conservative Tom Walberg in this overwhelmingly GOP House seat was set out as one of the first coordinated projects of our group. Of course it is relevant to all of us in California because it is liberal GOPers like Schwarz, who oppose the basic economic platforms of the party (among other things) that endanger our Republican majority. Schwarz opposes making the President’s tax cuts permanent. Anyways, FR readers stepped up to… Read More

Tiny Maywood in Los Angeles County has become famous or infamous for declaring themselves a sanctuary for illegal aliens. The council unamiously opposed the House immigration bill and supports SB 60.

They also voted to disband the traffic enforcement division including DUI checkpoints because too many illegals without licenses were losing their cars. (If only Mel Gibson knew he could have drunk Tequila there and drove around in Maywood with no problem.)

Here is good rundown on the city.One of the councilman Sergio Calderon has filed for a seat on the Directors of the Water Replenishment Board of Southern California.

If he beats the incumbent, maybe they will be delivering water for illegals in the desert in no time.… Read More