I have known Ken Calvert for a very long time. Back when I was a youth activist in politics, he served as Chairman of the Riverside County GOP. I’ve run into him from time to time since his election to Congress. As a matter of fact, he endorsed my candidacy for Vice Chairman South of the State GOP just last year. For my interactions with him, Calvert has been a really nice guy.

That said, there is certainly a tension out there because Calvert is a very big proponent of this Appropriations-driven model of governance that we have in the House of Representatives. It is some sort of mentality that seems to boil down to this: our constituents are taxed so much that our job is to drive home as much federal spending back to our districts as possible. Of course this is a totally flawed outlook — conservatives should not argue to increase spending to "mitigate" high taxes, but should fight to lower the taxes.

Anyways, when the GOP took control of Congress in the big "Contract with America" 1994 sweep that propelled Newt Gingrich into the Speaker’s chair, Republicans started to go down the wrong road with an embrace of the… Read More

While Legislators gear up to battle over the State budget crisis, a new group is emerging as a leader in the anti-tax debate this year.

Americans for Prosperity has been taking the state by storm since kicking off their "Already Taxed to the Max!" (ATM) Tour in May, traveling the state with a giant ATM machine and asking Legislators and citizens alike to sign a petition for "no new taxes" in this year’s budget.

And, as the new Democratic Speaker of the Assembly Karen Bass proposed a whopping 6.5 billion in new taxes last week, Americans for Prosperity’s campaign comes not a moment too soon.

With gas prices at an all-time high (thank you, environmentalists) and grocery prices poised to rise even higher, California families are, in essence, "being forced to choose between a gallon of milk and… Read More

While Legislators gear up to battle over the State budget crisis, a new group is emerging as a leader in the anti-tax debate this year.

Americans for Prosperity has been taking the state by storm since kicking off their "Already Taxed to the Max!" (ATM) Tour in May, traveling the state with a giant ATM machine and asking Legislators and citizens alike to sign a petition for "no new taxes" in this year’s budget.

And, as the new Democratic Speaker of the Assembly Karen Bass proposed a whopping 6.5 billion in new taxes last week, Americans for Prosperity’s campaign comes not a moment too soon.

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

I don’t make it up to San Francisco as often as I would like, as I am reminded by how much I enjoy myself on each visit, even a quick overnite stay like last night.

I came up at the invitation of Dr. Sally Pipes (one of the country’s top experts on health care policy) to speak over dinner to the Board of Directors of the Pacific Research Institute, an outstanding think tank that produces tremendous amounts of useful research on a myriad of policy issue.

I thought I would make a "Top Ten" list of silly or astounding observations made – in no particular order:

— Oakland PD motor officers are now tooling around in Harley Davidsons, stopping crime and making a LOT of noise.

— According to my cabbie, more people are using cabs during this period of high gas prices. But cabbies are still losing money because the City of SF won’t let them raise rates to accomodate for a 100 percent rise in gas prices in one year.

— The "stress releiving" lotion provided in my hotel room did little to relieve my stiff neck from watching the Lakers lose their second straight game to the Celtics.… Read More

The football adage of "If you get into the end zone, act like you have been there before." I would also add — act like you are going to come back.

Since last Tuesday I have noticed that around that state we have some poor sports. A few of the people have been those that lost on Tuesday.

The vast majority of poor sports have been those that have won races.… Read More

It is arguable that no single person has had more influence on the development and popularity of American wines than the late Robert Mondavi. Mondavi, considered the modern-day pioneer of the San Franciso Bay Area’s wine region was an inventor, a businessman, and foremost a visionary. He saw where the wine industry could be, and then lead the charge over decades to take it there.

At the time of Mondavi’s passing, we dedicated much of our main page to this pioneer – who was a master of the politics of wine.

As I pen this blog post, I am with my brother deep in the heart of the Napa Valley. We spent the better part of an hour this morning in the To Kolon Reserve Tasting Room at the Robert Modavi winery, sipping a vertical tasting of some outstanding reserve Cabernet Sauvignon wines, and toasting to the life of one who has made so much impact on an industry so important to California, and one very impactful to the publisher of this website.

To Robert Mondavi — salut!… Read More

Ok, The San Diego Primary Election Contest results are in (see prior post if you missed the opportunity to awe your fellow political hacks with your savvy predictions).

The response was pretty overwhelming for the blogs, with nearly 40 respondents! Before I announce the winners, first a recap of the questions, the correct answers and a brief analysis of the responses on each, as well as some creative comments that were occasionally included:

Question #1: 75th Assembly – Name the winner of the Republican nomination.

Correct Answer – Nathan Fletcher. This one was a throw away, worth zero points if answered correctly, but if wrong I wasn’t going to waste my time with the rest of the guesses. Fortunately, everyone got it right. Actually, one respondent nearly muffed it, initially answering Martin Garrick, only to email again and say "Oops," he had mis-read the district number.

“Cutest” Answer – “Mindy’s husband…I forgot his name.” Question #2: San Diego Mayor… Read More

Besides the November showdown between Senators McCain and Obama, the highest profile item that will be on California’s general election ballot will clearly be the Protect Marriage Act. This is the Constitutional Amendment that would "undo" the unfortunate decision by the California Supreme Court to nullify Proposition 22, which placed into California statute a definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.

When the California Supreme’s made their decision, there was a statement released by Senator McCain’s campaign that was very carefully worded, saying that California residents should decide who can marry "rather than having that decision made by judicial fiat."

Ummmm. If I were a trial lawyer, I would have to raise a question, "Objection! Vague!"

It is great that McCain thinks that the Supreme Court’s decision to nullify… Read More