Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo is finding out that running statewide has its bumps.

First the story about his favors for "slumlords". Now the LA Weekly is exposing his firing of a tough deputy attorney that may have helped let a child molester go. Read it here.

And there is still 7 months before the primary!… Read More

I got a lot of comments on my OC Power Broker Series published yesterday. So I am continuing with it today. I want to make a few things clear. 1) These people are listed in no particular order. 2) You can be important, elected and or rich but that does not make you an OC Power Broker. To be one, you have to possess extra-ordinary ability to navigate the political and more specifically the government scene.

So below is the list continued without numbers…

Brett Barbre. Elected member of the Municipal Water District of Orange County and chief-deputy to OC Treasurer John Moorlach. Barbre is a leader in the effort to build a tunnel between Orange and Riverside counties. With Moorlach running up-opposed for OC Board of Supervisor, watch for soon to be COS Barbre to gain influence.

Gary… Read More

I’m embarrassed that Congressmen Dennis Cardoza, a Democrat from the Central Valley, would be able to get ‘ink’ in the newspaper attacking the Republican leaders of Congress for running up deficits and poor fiscal management.

"The Republican Party has abandoned fiscal conservatism and embraced a budget system with no accountability," he said. (The short article is linked on the FR main page.)

Why embarrassed? I’m embarrassed for the opportunity lost. That the Republican Party nationally has an elected GOP President and members of our Party hold a majority of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, yet, there has been growth, not reduction, in federal spending in Washington.

The GOP watched and decried the Democrat controlled Congress who, for years, increased the size and scope of the federal bureaucracy. In 1994, after two years of Bill Clinton, the voters had enough of this irresponsibility, and put Congress in the hands of the GOP. I can understand, with Clinton in the White House for another six years, the challenges of trying to reduce spending (kind… Read More

Those of us who live and work in the political scene are more likely to remember which of the board members on a random school district are up for re-election next year, than our mother’s birthday.

It is in that spirit that I launch the OC Power Broker Series and encourage my fellow FR contributors to do the same in their region. If you landed in Orange County and needed to get a quick lay of the land of government and politics and media or you needed help on a political/government related issue here is the beginning of the list of go to people (in no particular order).

1. Me. I say this not because I am the solutions to your problems/answer to your dreams, but I know one thing for sure–my limitations. Like most of the people listed below, I would never take on a project that was outside their sphere of expertise. Rather true power brokers know when to refer to the right talent.

2. Scott Baugh. As chairman of the… Read More

Rarely is there actually some exciting floor debate to watch on C-SPAN but Thursday and Friday were exceptions.

Thursday was the debate over the Deficit Reduction Act, a bill to reduce federal government spending by $50 billion. If you saw the debate around midnight, you saw Arkansas Democrat Marion Berry (no, not the former DC mayor) call Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling “Howdy Doody” and youthful Florida Republican Adam Putnam “boy.” That exchange led to a flurry of back-and-forth involving Rep. David Dreier who did receive some criticism for failing to call for Berry’s remarks to be stricken from the record.

But last night was something to behold. Republican leaders, who previously committed to bring Rep. Bill Thomas’s tax reconciliation bill to the floor withdrew the bill. Instead, they chose to call the bluff of Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha’s proposal for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Rep. Duncan Hunter, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, introduced… Read More

GOVERNOR & LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR SHOULD RUN AS TICKET The California State Constitution provides for the electorate to vote on the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor separately, each then being independently elected officials. Often times, this has led to our top two officeholders not only being from different political parties, but it has also resulted in their being virtually no professional relationship between these two top constitutional officeholders. Fresno Bee political writer and columnist John Ellis pens a column today illustrating the lack of relationship between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Cruz Bustamonte.

This is a tragic waste of what could be a key position in the state government. I often cite Florida as a state from which California could learn many things. In the Sunshine State, the candidate for Governor picks a Lieutenant Governor… Read More

Former GOP Assemblyman Steve Samuelian was back in the news today, although I think unfairly so. Those of you who follow State politics know that Samuelian was a long time GOP political operative, District Director for Congressman Radanovich, and then served one term in the Assembly before electing to not run for re-election. I will not go into the issues which led to Samuelian’s decision to not seek re-election. They are widely known and if you don’t know do a Google search and learn for yourself. Although he was one of my very good friends and political allies for several years, I have not seen or spoken to him for almost three years.

Since his decision to leave the Assembly he has started a lobbying firm and has been hired by many of the Central Valley’s top companies to represent their interests to State and local government. This isn’t surprising to me. For all of his previous difficulties, he is one of the hardest workers I have ever met, and he deserves a chance to make a living and support his family. The… Read More

Here is how Orange County’s legislators stack up as rated by the various Sacramento interests groups. A special thanks to Chuck DeVore for compiling these results and for being a conservative superstar. Mimi, way to go!

California Chamber of Commerce Ratings – this is a basic measure of how pro-business a lawmaker is, defined here as against higher taxes and more regulations. A higher percentage should be considered an indication of votes for free-enterprise.

State Assembly R- Bob Huff: 100% R- Chuck DeVore: 100% R- Mimi Walters: 100% R- Lynn Daucher: 92% R- Todd Spitzer: 92% R- Van Tran: 92% R- Tom Harman: 91% D- Tom Umberg: 33% D- Rudy Bermudez: 17%… Read More