SB 924 was vetoed tonight by the Governor. Appropriately, in his veto message, he leaves it to the President and military experts to determine military deployment.… Read More

Incumbent Fresno County Supervisor Bob Waterston announced today that he is not seeking re-election to a third term today, in front of a stunned crowd at the annual "State of the County" breakfast this morning in Fresno. The embattled Waterston has been the subject of numerous unflattering news and opinion pieces in the Fresno Bee as of late, and had hired an attorney to investigate his own business dealings for potential conflicts of interest.

Waterston’s departure creates a two candidate race with local political heavyweights Nathan Magsig, former Mayor and current councilman in Clovis, CA, and Debbie Poochigian, wife of former State Assemblyman and Senator Chuck Poochigian. Poochgian, a veteran political operative and fundraiser, raised over $325,000 tonite at a fundraiser in downtown Fresno. It is conceivable that the race between Magsig and Poochgian will be the most expensive in Fresno County history, with projected expenditures of well over $1,000,000.

Well known Sacramento political consultant Johnson Clark is… Read More

It is no small thing that the Governor vetoed the bill that would put the Iraq deployment on the California ballot, and he is to be praised for the courage and conviction it took to take this action.

No one can deny that Iran is the biggest threat in the region.Fromtheir illegal nuclear weapons ambitions, their funding of terrorist groups like Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihadto their open calls for the destruction of Israel and the United States, their aims could not be clearer and they cannot be ignored. We currently hold positions on their western and eastern fronts, and can pull carrier battle groups in to deal with their southern front. None of the countries in the region want to see Iran fill the vacuum we would leave by pulling out of Iraq, but they are afraid of them. We will continue to build allies in the region through a show of strength and determination; therefore, we must not pull out now. Mistakes have been made in every war throughout history, but the fact that we’ve made some in this war is no reason to retreat.Despite those who wish to deny the truth, it is not hyperbole to realize thatthis war will determine the fate of… Read More

We are done until January 7, notwithstanding any special session action on water and health. The process of going though bills at the end wasvery fast and furious, not a great way to debate or contemplate bills. Workingtill 3:30 AM, whether trying to disc a straight line in a rice field, or do legislation, can get marginal results. … Read More

IS PHIL ANGELES CRYING? I’m sure Phil Angelides is crying somewhere right now, depressed that he is not in Sacramento to sign the outrageous shift towards socialized medicine that has been passed by legislative Democrats and placed on the Governor’s desk. Much time has been spent on this page criticizing Governor Schwarzenegger for his own proposal to significantly increase the size of government and state government’s role in health care. That said, today is a good time to take a pause, and appreciate that the extreme agenda of Don Perata and Fabian Nunez is too far to the left, even for the port-side shift of Schwarzenegger. The Governor has vowed to veto AB 8 and he should be applauded for doing so. Perhaps if Mr. Angeles is bored, he can print out a copy of AB 8 on his computer, and sign the bottom of it. That’s about all of the relevance that he will have in this process — thank goodness! THE LINE IN THE SAND ON REDISTRICTING REFORM Lost… Read More

Cal Grant financial aid, fee waivers,for illegal immigrants in a bill, SB 1, passes off of our floor tonight, 45-29.… Read More

Just six years ago, our two oceans protection strategy crumbled.Radical Islam’s resurgence came swift and deadly.Central Europe faced the same resurgence just 324 years ago.

My family visited Vienna last summer. When we asked the hotel’s concierge where we would find Monuments of Vienna’s most important day, the Siege of Vienna by Muslim Jihadists in 1683, the otherwise bright guide didn’t understand my inquiry.

In Sept 11 and 12th of 1683, the Ottoman Turks, after years of planning, had Vienna under siegeby hundreds of thousands of soldiers. After hundreds of years and countless victims conquering Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Albania and most of eastern Europe, the Turks were determined to conquer Europe. The most effective soldiersfor the Turks armies were the legendary Janissary. Mostly composed of Greek and eastern European Christian boys seized from their families to create a "new soldier". Much like the modern day totalitarian armies, boys, as young as… Read More

I keep hearing persistent feedback that there are some legislative Republicans who think that the legislature granting a big pay raise (plus) to the CCPOA is a grand idea. Clearly the Governor does not, I and I have been critical.

This is the Governor’s statement: "I did not veto $700 million from the budget to give it all to CCPOA in a backroom deal. This bill makes an end run around negotiations and mediation, reverses an arbitration decision that saved the state hundreds of millions of dollars, kills any hope for management reform, and reinstates, in full, the contract signed by Governor Gray Davis. This is the same contract that Republicans and Democrats derided as the biggest sweetheart deal in California history." Please educate me on the CCPOA side of this equation…. Someone? I am truly open to hearing both sides of this issue. Drop me a line here.

Thanks in advance.… Read More