"’Schwarzenegger is what conservatives think the future is,’ says Gerald Dorfman, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and an expert on British and European politics."

What?

Are these think tank guys mental? Let’s put aside social issues. We knew what we were getting there. How is running a structural deficit in any way related to what conservatives think our future is. I respected the Governor until November, 2005. Now, I don’t at all, politically. You cannot reward his spending all of our record revenue increases, continued borrowing, and stumping for necessary but unnaffordable bond measures as "business savvy". It isn’t. And we will be paying dearly for all of this inside of 18 months. Take it to the bank.

The Governor could have won re-election easily and balanced the budget at the same time and made a conscious decision not to. That is not conservatism, nor is it its future. It’s the same failed policy that led to our ouster in Washington last November.… Read More

A few thoughts…

When scarcity of resources drive energy costs up in California, look back to yesterday’s vote by the State Lands Commission to reject a proposal by BHP Billiton to place a liquefied natural gas facility about 15 miles off of the coast of Los Angeles County. And when you do that, remember that it was John Garamendi and John Chiang who cast the two "no" votes (the Governor’s representative voted for the proposal). Ask yourself whether Lt. Governor McClintock or Controller Strickland would have made a difference…. Is there a groundswell movement in California for the potential Presidential candidacy of Law & Order actor and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson? Much is being made of an upcoming speech he will give in May to the Lincoln Club of Orange County. Keen observers will see that there is now a Draft Thomson ad up on the right side of the FlashReport… The new Schwarzenegger doctrine of ‘shared responsibility’ is a pseudonym for government expansion. Instead of focusing on how government can mandate Californians to buy insurance, we should be figuring out… Read More

A few thoughts…

When scarcity of resources drive energy costs up in California, look back to yesterday’s vote by the State Lands Commission to reject a proposal by BHP Billiton to place a liquefied natural gas facility about 15 miles off of the coast of Los Angeles County. And when you do that, remember that it was John Garamendi and John Chiang who cast the two "no" votes (the Governor’s representative voted for the proposal). Ask yourself whether Lt. Governor McClintock or Controller Strickland would have made a difference…. Is there a groundswell movement in California for the potential Presidential candidacy of Law & Order actor and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson? Much is being made of an upcoming speech he will give in May to the Lincoln Club of Orange County. Keen observers will see that there is now a Draft Thomson ad up on the right side of the FlashReport… The new Schwarzenegger doctrine of ‘shared responsibility’ is a pseudonym for government expansion. Instead of focusing on how government can mandate Californians to buy insurance, we should be figuring out… Read More

This came in today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary e-mail, titled in their table of contents as "The GOP’s Al Gore"…

The Greening of Arnold

Arnold Schwarzenegger likes being called "the Green Giant" for his take-charge attitude on global climate change. He’s on the cover of this week’s Newsweek and jets to Washington D.C. today to participate in that magazine’s environmental forum, where he will unapologetically claim the mantle of federalism to push a California-only solution to limits on carbon emissions. "Look, we don’t need Washington," he told Newsweek.

But the Governator is having less luck in… Read More

Legal opinion needed:

The Washington Times says Congressman Hunter’s son, Duncan Duane Hunter, may be called back into active duty in the Marines Corps and redeployed. Canhe run for Congress while on active duty?

In the Washington Times he says "if deployed I will run for office as an active duty Marine serving a combat tour".

My reading of the rules indicates that if on active duty he cannot run, cannot solicit votes, and cannot encourage anyone else to run.

Anyone?

Update… well several lawyers calls and emails later the short answer is I don’t have any better idea on any of htisthan I did two hours ago. First, though, I’d point out, none of this matters IF Hunter Jr. is not redeployed or IF he gets back before filing.… Read More

Imagine a scenario where the Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission is frustrated because four different times in recent months, "his" Commission has over-ruled the recommendations of his staff, in granting approvals for fractional-ownership hotels in California’s coastal development zone. Then imagine that the Executive Director, rather than talking with the staff about adjusting their guidelines to stay in concert with the majority of the Commission, instead goes out and recruits a liberal extremist State Assemblyman to introduce legislation to have California ban the very type of "condominium hotels" that were being approved… Sound like the classic story of the tail wagging the dog? Well that may be, in fact, what you have with Peter Douglas, the longtime Executive Director of the Coastal Commission (pictured on the cover of City Beat magazine). At their… Read More

Yesterday’s Washington Times headline, "Hunter’s son to run for dad’s seat," kind of missed the point. We already knew that.

Considering the story’s lede clearly points it out, a more appropo headline might have been, "Hunter’s son to run for dad’s seat from combat zone."

As Duncan Duane Hunter told me, "I found out recently that I might be called back to active duty in the Marine Corps and I might deploy this year to Iraq or Afghanistan. This is not affecting my plans on running for Congress, in fact it reinforces my desire to serve the people of San Diego supporting our President and troops in this time of war. If deployed, I will run for office as an active duty Marine serving a combat tour…it will be interesting."

Interesting, to say the least. As one local consultant put it, "If there are a dozen GOP candidates he can win from… Read More

I’m pleased to be reporting from Houston where I’ve just presented a seminar on election law and nonprofit rules to one of our clients, a national organization in favor of tax reform. And I must say, this city, which eschews many of the normal rules of urban development, looks pretty darn cool. Downtown Houston is undergoing a "Renaissance" that has included moving the Houston Astros from the old Astrodome to a new field, "Minute Maid Park," which is just steps away from major hotels and shopping and which include significant private sector support, unlike many of our new stadiums in California. The Rockets play basketball at a new stadium largely funded by Toyota (helping to keep some jobs, at least, in America!). And when I discuss the rules of election and nonprofit law here, the locals ask really great questions, such as "Why in tarnation would the government do that!?"

The last time I was in Houston was in 1981. Today, parts of the city look like Michigan Ave. in Chicago, the Galleria shopping area is great, the art museums are top drawer, and the tex-mex is outstanding! No wonder, with California, from 1976 to… Read More