Texas businessman Tom Hicks points out that Texas was recently noted in The Economist for its many successes, including a low tax burden, tort reform, the state’s $9 billion rainy day fund, a high credit rating by Standard & Poor, and a friendly business climate.

To quote Hicks: “Our state has a special standing not only in the country but also among the nations of the world.”

We used to be able to say that about California. But now, as the article mentions, we are writing IOUs and have received downgrades on our credit ratings. Read more here.… Read More

Much has been made about the mercurial nature of California’s current tax structure – most specifically the fact that a vast percentage of our state’s revenues are heavily reliant on income taxes – especially on those wealthiest Golden State residents. During times of “plenty” – such as the dot com boom, this system brought record amounts of taxpayer dollars into the state treasury. For the past few years, however, with the real estate bust, the collapse of the dot coms, and the country moving into a recession, we’ve seen state tax revenues plummet.

Governor Schwarzenegger signed an Executive Order creating a Commission on the 21st Century Economy – laying out the following mission for this group: “Stabilize state revenues and reduce volatility; Promote the long-term economic prosperity of the state and its citizens; Improve California’s ability to successfully compete with other states and nations for jobs and investments; Reflect principles of sound tax policy… Read More

This just in from State Senator Bob Dutton…

Misguided Logic Drives Dangerous New Prison Plan The California Legislature is considering a dangerous new prison plan under the pretext of solving the state’s prison woes. And in support of this effort, soft-on-crime Democrats are wrongly heralding the recent Chino prison riot as proof why a radical revamp of California’s prison system is necessary. The liberal logic goes… Read More

This just in from the organizers of this Friday’s massive Tea Party rally at the State Capitol… You should plan on attending!

Massive Tea Party Set to Converge on State Capitol Central Valley water issue, Government over-regulation, and AB 32 among topics of protest By Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association This Friday, the masses will converge on the State Capitol in Sacramento.… Read More

The Sacramento Bee trumpeted it as good news that the rating agency Standard and Poor’s chose not to downgrade California’s long term credit rating, but in the same article Standard and Poor’s says the state’s structural deficit is still $15 billion per year. Also in the same article, the Schwarzenegger administration admits the structural deficit is at least $7.4 billion. But wait, just a month ago Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders claimed they had successfully dealt with the entire $26 billion deficit. And the press must have been as tired as the Legislature and Governor when it swallowed this claim. In another story last week, the LA Times reports as good news that Controller Chiang is suspending IOU payments earlier than planned. This seems like good news, but not so fast. The reason the Controller can stop issuing IOUs is not because the state is doing better financially, but because JPMorganChase has agreed to lend the state $1.5 billion dollars. The only… Read More

Tomorrow at 11 AM, Turlock Irrigation District Board Member Mike Berryhill declares his candidacy for U.S. Congress against Dennis Cardoza. Berryhill, the cousin of current Assemblymembers Bill and Tom Berryhill will be a strong candidate against the newly vulnerable Cardoza.A farmer, Mike Berryhillhas served on the TID Board for over 25 years. With a formidable resume that includes an MBA from Northwestern, President of the California Young Farmers and Ranchers and two terms on the Ceres School Board, Berryhill has the backgroundto highlight Cardoza’s failures on many issues. This race ups the stakes considerably in the very competitive Central Valley. (Disclosure: He is a client)

With his move to Maryland and his vulnerability on the healthcare and cap and tax bills, Cardoza will be a new concern for Nancy Pelosi and the DCCC as Kevin McCarthy expands the battlefield to a district where Cardoza ran unopposed last cycle in a district won by President Bush in 2004.

More details to follow….including website… Read More

Some news of note from the past week…

Poizner Hi-lites GOP Elected Officials Tribute… Thursday night’s Republican Party of San Diego annual "Salute to Republican Elected Officials" at the Bahia Resort was well attended, with Insurance Commissioner and Governor hopeful Steve Poiznerkeynoting the event. Hisarea visit resulted in a KUSI news story on the governor’s race, also including video clips from Meg Whitman’s San Diego stops a couple of weeks ago.

KUSI Reporter Steve Bosh notes that all three GOP candidates for Governor, including Tom Campbell, are "distancing themselves from Arnold Schwarzenegger." Wow, now there’s a stretch.

Here’s the KUSI story.

Heating up in 77th AD… If you missed it, on Thursday another candidate announced for an anticipated open Joel Anderson seat. It’s now four candidates that have decided they would each rather get a head start on 2010 than wait for an Anderson senate run confirmation.… Read More

It seems the Chronicle, whose concern about the health of the State’s GOP is well documented, is now worried about who votes in Republican primaries. Excuse me if I don’t worry about the Chronicles opinion about our party. We have a bigger problem.

Rod Lapsley, of the State’s Chamber of Commerce, commented that prohibiting decline to state voters from voting in Republican primaries would relegate the party to "permanent minority status." Excuse me if I don’t care what the Chamber thinks, either. The Chamber is as much responsible for Democrat hegemony in this state as any other group. They demand absolute fidelity from Republicans, but have little problems hopping into bed with the other side if it suits their purpose. The Democrats have a faithful spouse in the unions; the business community, to whom the Republicans seem to have married their future, cheat on the Republicans all the time. They do not have our best interest in mind either.

Republicans’ problems go deeper than who votes in their primaries, and the sooner Republicans understand that, the better we will be. In the same day as the Chronicle story… Read More