I am happy to report that the new House Republican strategy to address illegal immigration is picking up steam. Last week the conference unveiled a series of bills focused on border security and enforcement that we will be taking up over the next few weeks. Most of these proposals were included in the broader House bill we already passed, but by breaking them up we will be able to send them to the Senate and hopefully circumvent the current stale mate with them over the guest worker issue. This strategy will take the focus off of “comprehensive” plans and force the Senate to evaluate each piece of border security for their individual merit. So far, it looks like it is working. Last week, the House passed a bill to create 700 miles of border fence. This leaves the Senate with no choice but to take up the bill, and they are expected to hold a vote later this week. In the mean time, the House is scheduled to vote on three bills focused on border security and enforcement priorities: H.R. 6089 – Combines the Dangerous Alien Detention Act and the State and … Read More

Today I received a fundraising letter in the mail from United States Senator Elizabeth Dole, on behalf of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, of which she is Chairman. It took me about a minute to open the letter, take out the pre-postage-paid return envelope, and put the reply card in it, clearly labeled: REMOVE FROM LIST. Then I threw in an additional note that said:

I am happy to report that the new House Republican strategy to address illegal immigration is picking up steam. Last week, the conference unveiled a series of bills focused on border security and enforcement that we will be taking up over the next few weeks. Most of these proposals were included in the broader House bill we already passed, but by breaking them up we will be able to send them to the Senate and hopefully circumvent the current stalemate with them over the guest worker issue. This strategy will take the focus off of “comprehensive” plans and force the Senate to evaluate each piece of border security for their individual merit. So far, it looks like it is working. Last week, the House passed a bill to create 700 miles of border fence. This leaves the Senate with no choice but to take up the bill, and they are expected to hold a vote later this week. In the mean time, the House is scheduled to vote on three bills focused on border security and enforcement priorities: H.R. 6089 – Combines the Dangerous Alien Detention Act and the State and … Read More

UNIONS HAVE ONE MAIN FOCUS – MORE GOODIES FOR THEIR MEMBERS I am very pleased for my friend Bruce McPherson that his campaign yesterday was able to trumpet the endorsement of the California Professional Firefighters in his first election to the position of Secretary of State (he is the appointed incumbent, so this is his first run for the office – though he did run statewide for Lieutenant Governor last go-around). It is a good endorsement to have — it is a major public employee union, and as we saw in the 2005 special election, the unions are a powerful force in politics. He also has the endorsement of the California Teachers Association. McPherson’s union endorsements gives me an opportunity to express my concern about employee… Read More

POMBO LOOKS OUT FOR STATE’S RIGHTS – WITH THE DOER ACT! Right now, there is no federal law that bans drilling for oil off of the coastline of the United States. There are two temporary bans — one that is passed annually by Congress, and another which is even more tenuous, an "executive order" of the President which the Chief Executive can undo with the stroke of a pen. There are many who believe that drilling for oil offshore is a bad idea, and some that think it is a good idea. California Congressman Richard Pombo has been pushing hard to pass legislation that simply makes the issue of whether such oil drilling should happen off of the coast a state’s rights issue rather than a decision made by politicians in Washington, D.C.

The political reality is that the California legislature would never approve such drilling on its own coastline, but that doesn’t mean that other coastal state governments might choose to… Read More

POMBO LOOKS OUT FOR STATE’S RIGHTS – WITH THE DOER ACT! Right now, there is no federal law that bans drilling for oil off of the coastline of the United States. There are two temporary bans — one that is passed annually by Congress, and another which is even more tenuous, an "executive order" of the President which the Chief Executive can undo with the stroke of a pen. There are many who believe that drilling for oil offshore is a bad idea, and some that think it is a good idea. California Congressman Richard Pombo has been pushing hard to pass legislation that simply makes the issue of whether such oil drilling should happen off of the coast a state’s rights issue rather than a decision made by politicians in Washington, D.C.

The political reality is that the California legislature would never approve such drilling on its own coastline, but that doesn’t mean that other coastal state governments might choose to… Read More

The Long Beach Press-Telegram has an article detailing what County Supervisors get in LA County. Of course we lead they way. I like the $2,200 they get to spend on plants myself. See the article here.… Read More

Conventional wisdom suggests that politics at the upper echelons, is a rich man’s game. And you can find plenty of examples including our own governor.

However, having money does not necessarily mean you have political acumen. Warren Buffett is a fine example of this. Back in 2003 during the heat of the Recall Election battle, Schwarzenegger announced that Billionaire Warren Buffett would be a key economic adviser.

Buffett’s first act as adviser: tell the media that taxes were too low in California.

Flash forward to September 25th, 2006 and the Governor has pulled Buffet into a day-long fund raising effort starting in San Francisco, in LA for lunch and Orange County for an evening reception.

I hope the Join Arnold folks haven’t forgotten that Buffett is so rich that he tends to say things that us little people just don’t understand and that perhaps he should keep he public… Read More