From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary E-mail… … Read More

A brief commentary on the state budget, and the request of Governor Brown for a GOP term sheet… (Disclaimer: This is only my second attempt to cut video at my desk.)

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With a h/t to commenter Colin Parenton a blog post over at the venerable SD Rostra website, we present to you the banner across the top of Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher’s official website — containing a tremendous panoramic view of the San Diego city skyline! Of course, downtown San Diego isn’t exactly a stone’s throw from Fletcher’s home and his Assembly District. Yet another sign that a run for San Diego Mayor is in the cards for the second-term Assemblyman…

We’re actually not compulsive-obsessive about Nathan’s future plans here at FR, we just thought it a fun observation, and a great way to give a shout out to the Rostra.… Read More

Assembly Speaker John Perez is a product of his environment. He spent his entire adult life working full time for labor unions (most recently the United Food and Commercial Workers) before being elected to the legislature (he never even lived in his Assembly District until he moved there to run). If you look at his voting record, he votes the left-wing/union position 100% of the time.

As the Speaker, Perez should be focused exclusively on figuring out how to resolve California’s short-term and long-term state budget mess, right? Wrong. (Apparently).

While I won’t criticize him for his odd habit of collecting ducks (seriously), it seems like every legislative session he introduces a bizarre, obscure piece of legislation about which he becomes… Read More

This column appears today in Capitol Weekly… GOP Convention: Opposition to Special Election Taxes By Jon Fleischman Last weekend about 1,500 Republican leaders from all around California gathered at the Hyatt Regency Hotel across the street from the state Capitol for our biennial organizational convention. As is pretty much always the case, if you read the headlines blazing across MSM newspapers and reporter blogs, you might think that the convention was a bloodbath of epic proportions. It was not, of course. I spent a lot of time at the convention talking to delegates… Read More

U.S. Representative Tom McClintock has sent the following letter to President Obama concerning recent U.S. military actions in Libya… March 23, 2011 The Honorable Barack Obama President of the United States The White House Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear Mr.… Read More

In redistricting some districts draw themselves. The population and geography just work out that way.

Consider the City of Sacramento. The incorporated area is 814 people more than the ideal population for an Assembly District.

This district would place two newly elected Members of the Assembly together in the same district. Assemblyman Richard Pan and Assemblyman Roger Dickinson both live in the incorporated city so one would have to move or they would have to run against each other in this Democrat controlled district.

The other thing that this would do is pack most of the solidly Democrat areas into one district. The other two districts that are likely to come from the remainder of Sacramento would at least be competitive for Republicans.

I plan on publishing a number of maps in the coming weeks but this is the first one.… Read More

Haven’t we see this movie before? The anti-hero makes an unacceptable take it or leave it proposition to the heroes. Being nice people they politely say No. The chorus aka the media chimes in declaring that No is not an answer. So the heroes say how about an idea that lets the voters decide if taxes should go up or should go down? True democracy at its finest where the people decide their own fate. But the anti-hero rejects this proposal and while the chorus declares him wonderful.

In the next scene the chorus declares our heroes to be inflexible, anti-democratic, not worthy of their paychecks somehow this pricks them enough to make them take the risk of bargaining with the anti-hero. Lets trade an election on taxes for pension reform? No. For spending limit reform? No. For environmental review reform? No For regulatory reform? No. After each rejection the chorus declares the anti-hero to be unbelievably flexible and our heroes to be terribly naive. How dare you make a pledge to your constituents and now refuse to ignore it!

After weeks of alternate romancing and threatening the anti-hero… Read More