“Politicsis show business foruglypeople.” – Paul Begala

The soon-to-be-replaced California Assembly Minority Leader Chad Mayes – the turncoat Republican lawmaker who colluded with Democrats for the passage of a 10-year extension of the cap and trade program — made drastic changes in the Assembly committee assignments Tuesday, that would appear vindictive even to political novices.

In a move that can only be described as “burn it down and leave,” Mayes stripped important committees from the conservatives in his own caucus who opposed his cap and trade vote manipulations, and reassigned them to… wait for it… himself.

Mayes’ failure to lead on the disastrous cap and trade manipulations and vote allowed the cap and trade program to be voted on prematurely by two years, saved, and… Read More

My 2016 article,Why Can’t California Farmers Get the Water They Need?, exposed Gov. Brown’s shadow government appointees at the State Water Resources Control Board that ordered the release of massive amounts of water from the New Melones Reservoir and Lake Tulloch, to save a dozen fish, and how Gov. Brown systematically booted a number of qualified people off of the California Water Commission, the body that is deciding how to spend $2.7 billion in public funds for Prop. 1 Water Bond water storage projects.

Also revealed was Gerald Meral – a shadowy figure continuously involved in a series of dubious parks, natural resource and water bond ballot initiatives. Meral is also the highly controversial Natural Resources deputy secretary who famously claimed, “BDCP [Bay Delta Conservation Plan ] is not about, and has never been about saving the Delta. The Delta cannot be saved,” as, in April 2013, he directed the BCDP for Gov. Jerry… Read More

While I am a political analyst more comfortable with legislation and policy, occasionally the personal lives of politicians become entangled with politics and even policy. The affair of Republican Assembly Leader Chad Mayes and former Assembly Leader Kristen Olsen is one such situation where personal lives intersected with politics. This is personal and difficult to write about however, it is necessary.

The shamelessness exhibited in politics today is not new. But the current willingness by Republicans… Read More

With President Donald Trump reportedly* pulling the United States out of the Paris climate accord,heads must be exploding inCalifornia’s Democratic supermajority State Capitol. However,Trump’s decision fulfills a very important campaign promise he made to “cancel” the accord.

California Gov. Jerry Brown issued anExecutive Orderin 2015 for a drastic new target for greenhouse gas emissions cuts, coinciding with the international… Read More

There are numerous news articles about University of California President Janet Napolitano apologizing to legislators this week over a state audit which found $175 million squirreled away in a secret account, while the UC universities were increasing tuition costs on students.

The problem is, her apology is hollow, meaningless, worthless, or any number of synonyms for her senseless drivel. She knows nothing will happen to her.

“UC President Janet Napolitano apologized to a joint legislative oversight committee on Tuesday, a week after a blistering… Read More

Gerawan Farming just filed a motion with the ALRB to disqualify former Sen. Isadore Hall from making any decisions related to their pending cases. And for good reason. Not only does Sen. Hall have no experience in or relatedto agriculture,Hall even voted for the “farmworker overtime bill”to force morefarming employersinto United Farm Workers union contracts.

… Read More

Democrats in the State Senate Thursday confirmed former Sen. Isadore Hall (D-Compton) to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board on a party line vote.

You’ll recall Hall’s recent “obscenity-laced tirade” and threats to use his position to ‘get’ several farmers who opposed his confirmation:

“Are you the mother******s here to testify against me tomorrow?” Hall then allegedly said, “I have a memory and… Read More

Democrats just passed the largest gas tax increase in California history. The deal is so bad they needed $1 Billion in payola to buy enough votes to pass it. And shamefully, only 60 percent of the gas tax collected from SB 1, authored by Democrat Senator Jim Beall (D-San Jose), will actually be used for road maintenance and repairs. Environmentalists got plenty of taxpayer-funded payola as well including money for more public transit, and for walking and bicycling projects.

SB 1 does nothing to relieve traffic congestion or expand highway lane capacity. If Democrats and Gov. Jerry Brown are… Read More