First the pro-Wal-Mart council majority call off a recall election using a recent liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on the Voting Rights Act. (BTW: Thisruling creates lots of possible problems forcitizen democracy in the future.) See it here.Then one of the majority’s members changes sides and votes to have the recall election. See it here.Now one of those being recalled went to federal court and successfully got an order stopping the recall process— for now. See the local story here.

If Wal-Mart can only get the bulldozers started.… Read More

The State of the State Address is just about over, and so now is a chance to share some initial thoughts. There are other places to get the gist of the policy proposals in the Governor’s speech, although for your perusal I am attaching a summary (though it was prepared byproponents of the proposals, so take that into account when reading it). The way the system works is that the print and televised media have a briefing from the Governor’s staff hours before the actual speech. There is a practice called "embargoing" where the media folks understand that they … Read More

Rather than recount the sell out of small government Republicans by the Gov. in his State of the State speech. I want to ask some questions about a different speech I heard Aug. 31, 2004. In it he describes what it is to be a Republican and what traits he like in Pres. Bush. You can read the whole thing here.

First he starts out describing the Soviet threat and about his coming to America. then he leads into why is a Republican. Some are about foreign policy, but here is a really good one

"If you believe your family knows how to spend your money better than the government does, then you are a Republican!" Please, someone tell me how the Arnold $222 billion dolllar plan fits that statement.

And what about this from the RNC Speech "Now they say India and China are overtaking us. Don’t you believe it! We may hit a few bumps — but America always moves ahead! That’s what Americans do!" What has changed Governor, now we are to emulate Red China’s optimism.

Then on Pres. Bush.… Read More

Arnold Schwarzenegger is showman. He likes to thing big. REALLY BIG. (Think T1, T2, and T3). Running in a controversial recall election — big. In California – big. A complete overhaul of California – big. "Blowing up boxes" – big. A special election to take on the special interests – big. Now, "Mr. Hollywood" has come up with his BIGGEST idea yet…Massive spending (including bonds) to finance BIG state infrastructure needs. His proposal is SO BIG that we really should make the word big into like 50 point font. We’ll get to the big "strategic growth plan" in a moment. The point of talking about Schwarzenegger’s fascination with big things is that it might go a long way towards explaining why he is introducing such a BIG proposal… Jon and Barry met with… Read More

When I met Steve Schmidt in 1998, he was one of three very smart young Republican communications specialists working in California politics, all of whom were far too talented for their work environments. Like Rob Stutzman in Dan Lungren’s office and Nicolle Devenish at the Assembly Republican Caucus, Steve’s job on the Matt Fong for Senate campaign made him a rare bright spot in a tragically flawed political operation.

All three staffers had such superior political and messaging instincts to their colleagues that it was almost painful to watch them struggle to implement an inept strategic plan on a daily basis. Lungren and Fong were the frontmen for two of the worst-run and most strategicaly incoherent statewide campaigns in California history: both were political juggernauts when measured against the paralysis that had taken over the Assembly Republicans at that point in time. But the three young operatives not only survived their mediocre surroundings, but they all developed talents for political communications that have allowed them to achieve extraordinary successful careers in a field that has not historically been an area of Republican… Read More

Some observations on the Governor’s State of the State speech:

The Governor said we need, "More, more, more." Those are three of the scariest words any elected official with the ability to spend our tax dollars can string together.

He compared California’s economy to China’s suggesting we could be more like them. He failed to mention anything about their pesky communist system of government.

He said to, "Think of California as a mutual fund." If CA was truly a publicly traded company, even I would encourage Elliot Spitzer to investigate that stock.

Note to Assemblyman Chuck DeVore: I noticed you not clapping at the Governor’s new proposal for $70 million dollar in bonded indebtedness. Way to stand your ground. I hope you didn’t eat the little spinach hors devours at the reception out of protest too.

Watch out. The Governor wants space to house another 83,000 criminals in prison. I am not sure who he has in mind for taking up residency, but my advise is to lay low, avoid eye contact and pay your taxes on time.… Read More

Here’s my question for angry Republicans, especially my colleagues who post to this website:

If Schwarzenegger had not named a Democrat to be his chief of staff last month, would you be this upset about his speech tonight?

Let’s assume that he doesn’t raise taxes, or exceed the six percent limit for debt service. He can then argue that this bonding would have happened anyway over the next ten years, but better to plan it out rather than doing it piecemeal.

And let’s assume that the Retailers’ Association, the State Chamber, etc continue to support the minimum wage increase. (Which I don’t remember anyone going crazy about last summer when Schwarzenegger offered the same deal to the Democrats that he proposed tonight).

Obviously, no true-blooded fiscal conservative is going to love these things, but would they be grounds for a primary challenge if he’d hired Curt Pringle instead of Susan Kennedy?

(And by the way, I’m still waiting for the name of a plausible challenger who can make more of an impact as Ron Unz against Pete Wilson.)

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not taking… Read More

I just returned home to Oakland after two fun days in Sacramento where I was lucky to attend a couple of events celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Republicans taking control of the State Assembly. Ten years ago this month, Assemblyman Curt Pringle united his caucus and was elected speaker, giving then-Governor Pete Wilson a GOP majority to push through key conservative issues. Today, Pringle is putting those same limited government, free market principles to work as mayor of the city of Anaheim.

The first event of the celebration was a reunion dinner of the personal staff who helped Pringle implement the policies of the new GOP majority. Pringle fondly recalled the hard work of his team, thanking them for their dedication and ideas. Others told stories of the good times working together, which included lots of breast-feeding jokes about Deborah Gonzalez (who gave birth shortly before Pringle took power and then promptly showed up to work, bringing her newborn with her. Pringle then created a special breast-feeding room in… Read More