Today I am quite pleased to present this special guest commentary from long-long time FR friend Christopher Lauer… Flash The "Liberal"-tarian Party of Death By Chris Lauer

Recently, I had an interesting political discussion with an old friend who is a proud, card-carrying member of the Libertarian Party. He was urging me with great enthusiasm to vote Libertarian in this year’s presidential election.

I explained to him that while I have sympathy for the Libertarian Party (and consider myself somewhat of a libertarian); I could not associate… Read More

As I write this, nearly a hundred Republican activists have been evacuated from the Sacramento GOP Heaquarters on Madison. Apparently a strange, unknown man came into the HQ with a box, and left the package and split. The police are on the scene and the bomb squad is rolling… Good grief!… Read More

When I served as the Mayor of Woodland I attempted to get an ordinance passed that would have prevented "public education" campaigns with city funds for any issue pending on the ballot during the sixty days prior to the election. I could not even get a second for my motion.

What happens is that a government entity really wants a bond, parcel tax or other revenue increase to pass a vote of the electorate. In an attempt to "educate" the electorate they send out mail, e-mails, do forums or other things to tell the electorate all the good things that will happen if the measure passes.

I think this is wrong. It is legal but wrong. All of these efforts don’t directly advocate for the passage or defeat of the measure — they just provide information.

Today I got an e-mail from the High Speed Rail Commission. Here is the link so you can get all the good information too. It does not advocate for the passage of Prop 1A or even mention it but it certainly tells me all the good things that come with high speed rail.

As we… Read More

As always, someone or two are on my flights to or from Sacramento. On my flight home with me are CRP Treasurer Keith Carlson and former LA Times Reporter turned OC government bureaucrat Jean Pasco. I'll be spending my time talking to Jean!… Read More

I always say that public employee unions exist really to accomplish two goals, and that anything else that they do is ancillary to these goals. First and foremost to increase salary and benefits for their union members, and second to pursue any state policies that would increase the number of members of their union.

Pretty simple, right? This is why public employee unions are so insidious.

Well, apparently there is an exception to my theory. Apparently yesterday the California Teachers Association donated a staggering $1,000,000.00 (a cool million bucks) to the No on 8 Campaign. Proposition 8 is the Protect Marriage Act.

So you have to start scratching your head, and wonder why the state union that looks out for the salary and benefits of teachers is spending its member-dollars on a ballot measure that is about defining marriage in California?

One has to conclude that the decision making body of the CTA PAC is not only filled with union-hacks (as you would expect)… Read More

Sorry if my blogging has been on the light side — I’m actually in Sacramento for a couple of days. And while you might intuitively think that would lead to MORE blogging, not less, most of the meetings and conversations that I have up here are "off the record" as I continue to nurture the relationships that let me bring you breaking news, and accurate "intel" on the inner-workings of the Sacramento political scene.

Today I have a meeting of the California Republican Party Board of Directors that will take most of the day, as we go over and approve the final stages of the State GOP Victory Program.

I have to run right now — but I will try to blog later. Oh, and for those who have asked about my chat with Senate President Don Perata yesterday at the Hyatt (word moves around this town), that conversation was way off the record — but very entertaining.… Read More

The FPPC’s general take on IE spending, with McCann vs. Block in the 78th pegged as the barn burner it was anticipated to be, and "Opportunity PAC" leading the way in spending hard-earned union dues……

Special Interest Spending Tops $2.4 Million in Ten Races Independent Expenditures balloon to over $100 million With three weeks to go until the November election, the Fair Political Practices Commission today released information showing that special interests have already spent more than $2.4 million on general election “independent expenditures” in ten contested legislative districts.… Read More

[Cross-posted from OC Blog]

It’s been a couple of weeks, but I believe it’s important to respond to the OC Register’s October 1 editorial against Proposition 8.

There have been rumors the OC Register and the Los Angeles Times are discussing joint ventures, but after reading that editorial against Prop. 8, I have to wonder if those discussions include the editorial page.

Growing up, I derived cognitive nourishment from intellectually robust OC Register editorials defending freedom within the framework of the American Founding. But this editorial is more a mish-mish of wishy-washy LA Times liberalism and the stunted libertarian… Read More