No, its not the famous actor Laurence Olivier – he’s not with us anymore. But there is another Olivier running for California’s top spot – and this one is the former Mayor of Bellflower, Art Olivier (pictured). Today, Olivier announced his candidacy for the Libertarian Party nomination for Governor of California. Olivier is a pretty big deal with the Libertarians, I guess — apparently he was their party’s nominee for Vice President in the 2000 national elections sharing the ticket with Harry Browne, who recently passed away. Olivier, a husband and father of four, is the former Mayor of the City of Bellflower in Los Angeles County. In reading about his announcement, there are a lot of things he says that make a lot of sense. That said, in the United States, we pretty much have a two… Read More

The single most important decision that the legislature will make this year is whether to put a massive infrastructure borrowing plan in front of California voters this year. There is a lot of pressure mounting in the Capitol right now as Secretary of State McPherson has said that the deadline for the legislature to place an item on the June ballot is tomorrow (although many have said there is a week of ‘cushion’ in there).

Everyone in the capitol, the Governor, the Democrat Leadership, the Republican Leadership, all agree on the need for infrastructure investment. However, HOW THIS IS DONE IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT.

When FR contributor Barry Jantz and I met with two Deputy Chiefs of Staff to the Governor in the hours leading up to the State of the State Address in January, a few key points were stressed to us: the Governor would insist that needed reforms (such as revamping the CEQA process) would be in this package, that there would be a 6% hard borrowing cap in the package, and that the Governor was committed to making sure that this bond measure did not get ‘loaded up’ with spending that wasn’t for basic… Read More

The single most important decision that the legislature will make this year is whether to put a massive infrastructure borrowing plan in front of California voters this year. There is a lot of pressure mounting in the Capitol right now as Secretary of State McPherson has said that the deadline for the legislature to place an item on the June ballot is tomorrow (although many have said there is a week of ‘cushion’ in there).

Everyone in the capitol, the Governor, the Democrat Leadership, the Republican Leadership, all agree on the need for infrastructure investment. However, HOW THIS IS DONE IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT.

When FR contributor Barry Jantz and I met with two Deputy Chiefs of Staff to the Governor in the hours leading up to the State of the State Address in January, a few key points were stressed to us: the Governor would insist that needed reforms (such as revamping the CEQA process) would be in this package, that there would be a 6% hard borrowing cap in the package, and that the Governor was committed to making sure that this bond measure did not get ‘loaded up’ with spending that wasn’t for basic… Read More

I have been a subscriber to Human Events Magazine for years. Frankly, it is one of the few ‘paper’ subscriptions that I still maintain. HE gives the perspective on what is really going on inside of the Beltway, from a conservative point of view. The publication is owned by FR friend Tom Phillips, a great conservative leader. You can always check out HE Online via our Websites menu above.

One of the very best reasons to subscribe is to gain the insights of one of the most connected and most insightful people that I know — my close friend of many years, John Gizzi. "Giz" is the political editor of HE, and is renowned for being a walking storehouse of information about all things political around the country. His ability to remember even the most minor pieces of local political gossip is legendary. He and his bride, Colleen, are terrific… Read More

Pierre Prosper has dropped out of the race for Attorney general. this will save Pooch needed funds. Pierre did do a good job getting around to GOP groups and made a positive impression on most. Here is my post about my lunch with him. The money wasn’t there for him to make it work.

Here is the release

(LOS ANGELES) Former Ambassador at Large Pierre-Richard Prosper, candidate for Attorney General of California in 2006, released the following statement today:

“After much deliberation, and with thoughtful counsel from friends and supporters, I have decided to withdraw from seeking the Republican nomination for California Attorney General and therefore will not file on March 10, 2006 to be on the June primary ballot. This was a very difficult decision in light of the mounting support… Read More

Just a little while ago, Senator Roy Ashburn, held a press conference to announce that he is NOT running for Congress (wouldn’t it have been easier to send out a press release?). The decision by Asburn means that the protege of the retiring incumbent Bill Thomas should pretty much waltz into the United States House of Representatives. The Bakersfield Californian has an article up already.

The good news for everyone is that I’ve met Kevin McCarthy, and he is no Bill Thomas. McCarthy is certainly more conservative than Thomas ideologically, as he has demonstrated as the Assembly Republican Leader. McCarthy also has a decent personality. As Kevin and I have joked about over the years, you fight the good fight (for us, it was GOP youth politics) and then go get a beer. No one would ever get a beer with Thomas because he is a self-important jerk.

Anyways, it is always easy for me to digress into a Thomas-rant — let me get back to some analysis. In his announcement that he is seeking re-election to the State Senate, Ashurn endorsed McCarthy’s… Read More

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the appointments of Judge Brad R. Hill as a justice in the Fifth District Court of Appeal, Richard S. Kemalyan to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Patricia M. Murphy to a judgeship in the Ventura County Superior Court, Judge Nora M. Manella as a justice in the Second District Court of Appeal, and Steven M. Basha to a judgeship in the Yolo County Superior Court

Here is how the appointments stack up from a partisan perspective:

BRAD HILL Hill, 51, of Fresno, has served as a judge in the Fresno County Superior Court since 1998. He was previously a judge in the Fresno County Municipal Court from 1991 to 1998. Hill also served as a partner with McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte &… Read More

In an amazing confession of weakness Orange County Democrat Party Chairman Frank Barbaro and Democratic Foundation of OC chairman Wylie Aitken sent a letter to Supervisor Lou Correa back in January, urging him to stay in his current job rather than run for the 34th Senate District.

The letter that just surfaced, says, "As you know voter registration [meaning Democrat voter registration] has severely declined during the last few years and the Republican Party of Orange County and Senate Republican Minority Leader plan to mount a very aggressive race against us this fall. Now more than ever, we need to stand together to unite behind Tom Umberg and work hard to elect him to the 34th State Senate seat. (To see the full letter, click on the link below.)

Certain Republican leaders over the years have been accused of strong arming candidates or being less than supportive of nominees but I have never seen a letter like this come out on official GOP letterhead.

From supervisor Correa’s perspective, this must have been an unwelcome letter, but also one that was… Read More