I love local Government. That is where the fun is. Check this out courtesy of the Rio Hondo Community College Board here in LA County.

The Board President wants to discuss the Superintendent’s evaluation. She attacks him for ordering her to book a ocean view room for a conference in Hawaii and he tells her to…..

Better than a soap opera. Read it here.And stuff like this makes local government everything the Founders intended. Right?… Read More

Eminent domain reform taking place in many states has Iowa now as a bellwether of what regular folks think of what EmDo has morphed into.

An eminent domainreform bill, passed overwhelminglyby the Iowa legislature this spring, was vetoed by Democratpresidential hopeful, Governor Tom "No Chance" Vilsack (pictured) in June. This bipartisan effort in response toKelo vs. New London that OK’d taking private property for other private use, with the ‘public use’ fig leaf justification being more tax dollars for the government. Iowa’s House passed it by 89-5 and their Senate by 43-6.

Nice career move Guv. This ignited a prairie fire that culminated in their legislature reconvening from adjournment for the year [they would’ve been out for six months, ahem] for consideration… Read More

The following piece with my thoughts on urban runoff ran today in the Orange County Register:

Putting urban runoff on the run Ocean-bound water can be cleaned without Draconian measures The ocean water quality off Orange County’s beaches needs to be improved. There isn’t much debate about that. Whether you are a surfer who has experienced sickness after catching rights on a Saturday morning; or a businessperson suffering losses after another summer day with the beach closed by high bacteria levels in the ocean; or someone who just believes it’s the right thing to do, there is agreement that our economic and environmental health is well-served by dealing with the problem of urban runoff polluting our beaches.

So, how do we do it?

This blog entry falls squarely into the category of, "You’ve GOT to be kidding me, right?

A great resource on the internet to find out what is really going on Inside the Beltway is Human Events Online (I actually subscribe to the print edition). There are a lot of great feature columns on the site, one of which is the Taxpayer Rip-Off Of The Week.

Well, this week’s highlighted rip-off is yet another example of the "Earmarker in Chief" Congressman Jerry Lewis (so dubbed by the Wall Street Journal), who is Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Lewis is a California Republican, and a moderate who clearly has a difference of opinion from this publisher on the proper scope and role of the federal government, as demonstrated by this column below…

After you read it, you’ll be scratching your head, and asking how a Republican could support such a boondoggle earmark. But before you throw all of… Read More

Two California Republican Congressional Representative voted against protecting marriage. A total of 27 Republican voted no while 34 Dems voted the right way. LA County based Congressman David Dreier and Congressman Mary Bono voted with Barney Frank, Maxine Waters and others that want to undermine traditional marriage in the states. As we can see courts have invalidated several marriage laws and the Supreme Court can do the same thing. I agree with critics that we shouldn’t have to pass these types of amendments. There right we shouldn’t have too, unfortunately activist liberal judges make it a necessity. To find out what other liberals Dreier and Bono voted with click here.Good news is that Newest Congressman Brian Bilbray voted yes on the amendment.… Read More

Just hearing the word conflict gives government watchdogs a warm fuzzy feeling and the media just can’t help themselves from writing a story ANY time someone suggests a conflict exists.

Few people, even those engaged in the business of government and politics and public policy can cite what, under the law, actually constitutes a conflict. Thus every time someone lobes an accusation of conflict, it becomes news.

Not being a member of the State Bar I cannot offer legal advise, but I do know that there is NO law that would put a political consultant who is not on the government payroll in the position of having a legal conflict.

So you can imagine my frustration when I read a story in the LA Times today with an Internet link that reads: Conflict of Interest for Gov.’s Aide?

Folks, I will let you in on a little secret. I use the same technique in political direct mail. The devise: framing the damning accusation as a question. This way you are not making an… Read More

Just hearing the word conflict gives government watchdogs a warm fuzzy feeling and the media just can’t help themselves from writing a story ANY time someone suggests a conflict exists.

Few people, even those engaged in the business of government and politics and public policy can cite what, under the law, actually constitutes a conflict. Thus every time someone lobes an accusation of conflict, it becomes news.

Not being a member of the State Bar I cannot offer legal advise, but I do know that there is NO law that would put a political consultant who is not on the government payroll in the position of having a legal conflict.

So you can imagine my frustration when I read a story in the LA Times today with an Internet link that reads: Conflict of Interest for Gov.’s Aide?

**There is more – click the link**… Read More

Last month in the Napa Valley, I had a chance to meet a lot of interesting people while participating as a panelist at a California Chamber of Commerce post-primary retreat. One of those people was Democrat operative Darry Sragow. I found him to be quite interesting. A bit more subdued than I thought he would be – at least as he came across at this event. Then again, given that his audience was mostly Republicans… I bring up Sragow because he is apparently gifted with the ability to understate the obvious. Today in the Sacramento Bee is a story entitled, "Campaign 2006: For Angelides, the path ahead is mostly uphill," in which Sragow is quoted: