Santa Clara City Clerk Rod Diridon Jr. was considered one of three serious candidates for Assembly District 22. His fundraising has lagged behind his opponents in the Democrat primary — Paul Fong and former Republican staffer Dominic Caserta.

He sent the message below to his supporters last week..

Many in the business community feel that Fong was not a good vote for business but that Diridon and Caserta were going to hand him the election. They are both young moderate candidates from Santa Clara.

Now the whole race has changed. Republican staffer Caserta is now in the running to win this seat. With Diridon in the race he would have been splitting a similar base.

Oh — did I mention that Caserta is running as a Democrat?

Dear Friends, First, let me say how much I have appreciated all of your support and friendship during my campaign for the State Assembly. Our effort is in good stead, with major supporters, a large fundraising base still to be utilized, and polling numbers that show us in the lead. With great forethought, and respecting your trust… Read More

Who knows what evil lurks in the text of the Governor’s health care plan?

"The Shadow knows…"

With a h/t to Shane Goldmacher over at the now-free-but-you-must-register Capitol Alert Blog at the Sacramento Bee, Goldmacher tells the tale about the maneuvers that have taken place in the State Capitol to have the Governor’s big-government health care plan introduced into bill form — without and actual author! It must be The Shadow!

We’ll chalk this up to one more reason to oppose Proposition 93. If Fabian Nunez, who seems to be brainchild this authorless bill idea, thinks that this kind of gimmickry Under the Dome is good public policy, well, then it IS time for him to retire. The end of next session can’t come soon enough!

Well, I guess when you come up with a dumb idea that nobody likes, it takes a devious mind like Nunez has to figure out… Read More

You don’t have to guess – GOP Porkbuster Jeff Flake (R-AZ) will tell you… … Read More

In the United States, we advocate a limited role for our government in order to ensure as much liberty and freedom for each and every American. Of course, with individual liberty comes individual responsibility. So we have to be very cautious about those times when the government, at any level, assumes responsibility in place of the individual person or business. When we apply this very basic principle to the current situation with the sub prime mortgage industry, where a seemingly vast number of people took out loans that, in hind sight, they may not have been able to afford. In many cases, these folks stretched too much, and bear an unfortunate responsibility for making a poor decision. In some cases, those who took out these loans were victimized by predatory lendors who "crossed the line" in their methods of getting people to take out these loans when they should not have done so. No matter whether the blame lies with the consumer who bought the loan, or a predatory lending company, you can be sure that who is not to blame is "the American people" as a whole — or their government, which is financed by their tax dollars.

I am… Read More

In the United States, we advocate a limited role for our government in order to ensure as much liberty and freedom for each and every American. Of course, with individual liberty comes individual responsibility. So we have to be very cautious about those times when the government, at any level, assumes responsibility in place of the individual person or business. When we apply this very basic principle to the current situation with the sub prime mortgage industry, where a seemingly vast number of people took out loans that, in hind sight, they may not have been able to afford. In many cases, these folks stretched too much, and bear an unfortunate responsibility for making a poor decision. In some cases, those who took out these loans were victimized by predatory lendors who "crossed the line" in their methods of getting people to take out these loans when they should not have done so. No matter whether the blame lies with the consumer who bought the loan, or a predatory lending company, you can be sure that who is not to blame is "the American people" as a whole — or their government, which is financed by their tax dollars.

I am… Read More

Here is the question. I guess I will commit the heresy:

Is this Governor really any better than Gray Davis was? Set aside Workers’ Compensation reform for a minute, his single greatest policy achievement.

He has spent more, borrowed more, wasted precious resources chasing idiotic greenhouse gas legislation, run the State GOP into debt, ignored his down ticket running mates in 2006, pandered to left wing social interests, and up until this year, dissed Republican lawmakers and their legislative priorities.

The State budget we are in now will go down as the second worst in history, right behind the disastrous 2000 budget. Finances are cratering. Spending roars on, and we haven’t’ even sold 25% of the approved bonds yet from the "infrastructure" package. Once those bonds are sold, the state’s payment will skyrocket – without the revenues.

Finally, the Governor is chasing his tail on health care. Employer mandates are a serious part of the discussion. Meanwhile, the health care market continues to reform itself, without government intervention. My guess is that there are two reasons why health care… Read More

In an episode of The Office, the tactless boss, Michael Scott, looks to Wikipedia to learn the art of negotiation.He seems to think that he’s getting reliable information: “Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject, so you know you are getting the best possible information.”Well, yeah, anyone can add to this site. And in some cases, your tax dollars are paying people to do so. A report released by The Sacramento Bee (October 17, 2007) revealed that “Sacramento government workers are doing their part to shape how we all see the world – inflating reputations, dabbling in pornography and whiling away work hours.” Shouldn’t we be proud that our state workers are (re)writing history? … Read More

Yes, I am a Rudy Giuliani supporter. Let’s get that out of the way.

Yesterday a political bombshell hit the media. Former Christian Coalition leader and 700 Club personality Pat Robertson endorsed Rudy Giuliani for President.

In its reports yesterday the Washington Post called Pat Robertson one of the most influential figures in the social conservative movement. They said Robertson’s endorsement of Giuliani is a significant blow to Mitt Romney, who has worked hard to court evangelical leaders.

I have been reporting here for some time that national and state polls have consistently favored Giuliani for the Republican nomination. Rudy has never been behind in a Republican poll. I have also been reporting that national polls, including in liberal states like New Jersey, show Rudy neck-and-neck with Hillary Clinton, who will be the Democrat nominee for President. Rudy can beat the Democrat. Polls show the other Republicans can not.

So, with just a few weeks until the California Republican presidential primary, who do we want to be the next President? Bill and Hillary… Read More