If the work product of the legislature really irks me all the way down here in Orange County, I can only imagine how the Governor feels.

One piece of legislation that is 1) totally unnecessary and 2) bad for America, is AB1778 Lieber (D). The law would make it extremely difficult for military recruiters to identify interested high school graduating seniors.

The law gets way more specific than the heavy hand of government ought to. It creates a new box on the emergency contact card all parents fill out at the time they enroll their kids in a school. The new box could be checked by parents who do not want the information shared with the military.

Opponents of the legislation might argue that especially in this time of tumult–the War on Terror we should not limit recruiters in this way. That is a good point.

Republican Senator Abel Maldonado was the only GOPer to support the bill, he voted for it in the Senate Education Committee. His office says he supports all efforts to give parents more control over the affairs of their children and cites other legislation that he supports such laws that require parental notification. That is a not… Read More

If the work product of the legislature really irks me all the way down here in Orange County, I can only imagine how the Governor feels.

One piece of legislation that is 1) totally unnecessary and 2) bad for America, is AB1778 Lieber (D). The law would make it extremely difficult for military recruiters to identify interested high school graduating seniors.

The law gets way more specific than the heavy hand of government ought to. It creates a new box on the emergency contact card all parents fill out at the time they enroll their kids in a school. The new box could be checked by parents who do not want the information shared with the military.

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

Since the House passed our version of the immigration reform bill in December, our position has been to pass a bill that focuses on border security first. Today, as part of our efforts to communicate this position and ensure we don’t end up with a bill like the Kennedy-McCain bill that passed the Senate, the Republican Conference unveiled five principles that reflect our position. Our goal is to send a bill to the president that reflects these principles:

•Republicans strongly support initiatives to secure our borders and provide additional resources to federal and state authorities to strengthen border patrol efforts. •Republicans strongly support strengthening enforcement and stiffening penalties for illegal immigrants who break our immigration laws. •Republicans support enforcing the law on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants and holding them accountable.

Word is that the $500 million for health care for illegal children that the Democrats added to the budget during conference committee has been dropped. Also, yesterday afternoon, Bill Bradley was reporting on his New West blog that the governor has dropped his plans to increase the Healthy Families programs by $23 million (some of this spending would have been used to provide care for illegal immigrant children).

Writers on this website, talk radio hosts and others in the grassroots rightly expressed outrage about the health care spending for illegal immigrants and effectively killed the proposals. Now it is time for the Democrats and the mainstream press to hear the same amount of outrage about the roughly $150 million the Democrats cut from public safety spending Schwarzenegger included in his May Budget Revision. Senator Chuck Poochgian has been especially vocal on this issue, but he needs support from folks inside and outside of the Capitol.

We are now one week past the… Read More

In today’s GOP conference, Speaker Hastert said that even in small towns in Illinois, securing our borders is now the number one issue. The Kennedy/McCain amnesty bill looks like it will a non-starter in the House. I now believe that the most likely scenario is that the House will not appoint conferees and that no bill will get to the President on immigration this year unless the Senate decides to allow some border security only bill.

On another front, we may pass permanent death tax reduction in the House as soon as tomorrow. I prefer complete elimination of the tax. But since we can’t get that from the Senate, the proposal that Chairman Thomas has put forth is a good one.… Read More

I saw on the OC Register’s Total Buzz political blog that Phil Angelides has a MySpace.com page.

Actually, it’s an unofficial page, according to the Angelides campaign — which is good thing considering who some of the 1,876 "friends" of the Angelides for Governor MySpace page are.

For example, there’s Nam, The Harlot, Devilishly Conceited, Lu Cifer — just for starters.

An interesting coalition you’re building there, Phil.… Read More

Here’s something a little different…as we countdown to the ‘next’ budget deadline.

Since I was a kid I’ve been a big fan of racing andsports cars and of driving them. Stock Car racing has been my favorite. The roots going back to these guys in the South ‘runnin shine’ has grown into the biggestone day event in sports wherever it’s held. Its fan base is huge across the country and the loyalty is fierce, just witness the #3 and #8 stickers amongthe many "W" stickersyou see on the backs of cars, pickups and trucks as you travel the highways. The loyalty to the sponsor products is very high as well. Coke drinkers don’t drinkPepsi, Pepsi drinkers don’t drinkCoke. Even men will buy Tide detergent fortheir home use if they like that driver they sponsor.

If you’re around the Capitol on Thursday, tomorrow, we have a NASCAR Festival lined up for the general public. This is to highlight stock car racing in California… Read More

Last week I began a discussion of whether or not the GOP Base is ready to be energized. It appears that after several dreadful months the Republicans in Washington have stopped the bleeding (maybe its because they are out of town), and there is a presumption now that Governor Arnold is the favorite for re-election due to his drawing a poor opponent in Phil Angelides. I disagree with any premise that Republicans have momentum presently. The absence of additional blood on the ground does not spell momentum in politics. All that has happened in the past couple of weeks is that the bleeding has stopped for a time being. There is nothing to celebrate. So, is the GOP base ready to be energized? The answer is – YES. And our needs are so simple, its embarrassing, but here they are:

Balance the State Budget Protect us from crazy liberals Be not afraid to define the unions before they define you Appoint pro death penalty, pro property rights judges Respond to attacks laid out by Democrats Pledge to veto specific forms of legislation you know you will see in a… Read More