Where there is SEIU, there is voter fraud, so we should have known. Fresno County Supervisor Phil Larson found himself in the crosshairs of a $500,000SEIU barrage of false and negative advertising for six straight weeks leading up to the June primary election. Still, he survived and is headed to a November runoff against SEIU backed candidate Cynthia Sterling, a member of the Fresno City Council.

Now we find out that a Sterling volunteer probably committed voter fraud, submitting false registrations. The Bee has the story today. Why is this significant? Larson fell 20 votes short of winning this race outright. The false registrations numbered over 100. Now we need to see if those 100 votes were cast. If they were, the election should be awarded to Phil Larson.

I’ve uploaded some of SEIU’s handiwork in this race. They are first class dirtbags, that crew.

Phil Larson is a proven conservative and the swing vote for a conservative majority on the County Board. This is the most crucially important race in the County this year.… Read More

I’m on the run this morning — but this press release is worth sharing. Sorry for re-posting verbatim (I’m sure Team Carly won’t mind) — but prominent Democrats backing Fiorina is a big deal…

Former Assemblywoman Nicole Parra and Former Kern County Supervisor Pete Parra Endorse Carly Fiorina Parras to Spearhead the Democrats and Independent Voters For Carly Coalition

SACRAMENTO, CA – In reflection of the broad-based support building behind her campaign to defeat Barbara Boxer, U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina today earned the endorsement of former Kern County Supervisor Pete Parra and former California State Assemblywoman Nicole Parra.… Read More

The ‘must watch’ of the day (and perhaps the week) is from Reason television. Ted Balaker of Reason sits down with Steve Greenhut for a thoughtful interview that runs about nine minutes long. Greenhut heads up the Pacific Research Institute CalWatchdog project, which provides reporting on California state government with the healthy perspective of skepticism…

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It now appears that FinReg is the generally accepted shorthand name for the financial regulatory reform bill that the president will sign into law this week. As most readers of this missive know, I opposed this bill because it will not solve the problems that led to the 2008 financial crisis and it will make consumer and small business credit more difficult to get and more expensive. Therefore, it will be another addition to the list of bills (health care, cap and trade, stimulus, etc.) which will increase taxes, lower growth, and destroy even more private sector jobs in this country. The bill has 3 basic elements which I will describe briefly below. Also, I will tell you what I think the economic and societal effects will be. When all of this becomes apparent during the next 12 months, remember that this is the piece of legislation driving it.

Derivatives regulation: I support much of this effort, unfortunately however, the bill fails to create sufficient exceptions for end users of derivatives (such as farmers), who do not use derivatives as an investment, but rather as a “hedge” to insure against market volatility in an … Read More

TONY STRICKLAND ISSUES THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT ON SACRAMENTO COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE PATRICK MARLETTE’S RULING Friday’s ruling likely galvanizes John Chiang’s political operation but it unfortunately continues to highlight the fact that we wouldn’t be in this situation had John Chiang used the millions taxpayers gave him to upgrade his payroll system over four years ago. According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, as of last year Chiang had spent over $70 million dollars “with few tangible deliverables to show.” Instead of legal challenges to mask over his failure to get the job done, Chiang owes the … Read More

Los Angeles Times: Some experts say California’s payroll system ‘puzzle’ doesn’t compute They say it should not be as hard as the controller says it is to reprogram the computer system to cut state employees’ pay to the minimum wage as Schwarzenegger has demanded while there is no budget. Read the entire story here: http://bit.ly/df7QAP … Read More

Today at the Newsweek Magazine website, Pulitzer Award winning columnist George Will has an outstanding commentary on the U.S. Senate race here in California between incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer and challenger Carly Fiorina. I reprint the first few paragraphs of the column below, then a link to the full piece. Take the time to read it!

Is California Irredeemably Blue? Yes, if Barbara Boxer wins in a year like this. George Will … Read More

Conservative political law observers have been rather pleased with the U.S. Supreme Court’s series of fairly recent rulings that have recognized the primacy of the First Amendment in political speech and have rolled back some infringing rules, namely, most of the McCain-Feingold "reforms," which would have had the Federal Election Commission actually banning books that mention people who are candidates for Federal office.

But the Roberts’ Court’s stalward support of free speech hasn’t resonated well at the Fair Political Practices Commission in Sacramento, which is apparently trying to revive in California the type of book-banning rules the Supreme Court has turned back nationwide. Today at 10:00 am, the FPPC will be holding an "interested persons" meeting at its headquarters to "elicit public input on possible Commission action focused on the Commission’s interpretation of ‘express advocacy.’" In nonlawyer talk, that means "hold onto your wallets" if you care about free speech.

"Express advocacy" is generally defined as a communication that… Read More