The Sequester: I would wager that just a few months ago very few of you knew what the word “sequester” meant. Maybe you didn’t know how to pronounce it either (see-kwes-ter). I can tell you that I had never heard the word before I was elected to Congress. And, it took me a couple of terms on the budget committee to become familiar with it.

But, now we all know. It is a budgeting mechanism by which across-the-board spending reductions are enforced. And, it went into effect on March 1st.

Listening to the president, you would think that the Mayan calendar was off by a couple of months and that the end of the world was really coming as a result of the Sequester. From the dramatic rhetoric in his perpetual campaign swing, it sounds like life as we know it will cease because of a 2% reduction in the growth of planned government spending. What you are not hearing is that even with the Sequester cuts in effect, total federal spending this year will be higher than last year. So, why all the drama? Because it is clear that the president wants to increase spending and increase taxes and he wants you to think that the… Read More

February 26, 2013 officially marked the secondanniversary of the California Young Republican Federation!

The Young Republicanshave actually existed in some form in Californiaat least since the 1950s. However, as most readers know, there was a major YRelection dispute 20 years ago, causing the organization to split into the California Young Republicans (CYR) and the Young Republican Federation of California (YRFC). Approximately four years ago, I assumed the position of CYR Secretary, under then CYR-Chair Jenniffer Rodriguez. Jenniffer and I decided that there was no need to continue the split when the original people behind it were by and large no longer of YR age, so we approached YRFC’s leadership at the time, headed up by then-Chairman Shawn Fago and then-National Committeeman Adam Abrahms, to begin merger negotiations.

Unfortunately, some leaders of CYR, primarily in Kern County,did not wish to merge with YRFC, because growing the size of the organization’s membership and Board of Directors meant they would lose some amount of power. So, these Kern County YRs resorted to various tactics to try and block the merger, ultimately… Read More