California’s 10th Congressional District is "Ground Zero" right now — with voters in that East Bay District preparing to choose between either Democrat John Garamendi or Republican David Harmer to replace Rep. Ellen Tauscher who vacated the seat to take a position in the Obama Administration.

The question is whether this seat, carved out to be held by a Democrat, is vulnerable to a GOP pickup or not. The Harmer for Congress campaign has just released some new polling data that suggests that this race is going to be a lot more competitive than Lt. Governor Garamendi or the DCCC want it to be.

Let’s preface the new polling data with a look at the generic Republican vs. Democrat numbers from a survey taken August 2/3 (350 person sample). When voters were asked would they vote for a Republican or a Democrat, 29% said Republican, and 52% said Democrat.

Fast forward now to just a few days ago, and a survey conducted by the… Read More

What do South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska, Nevada, Florida, Montana, New Hampshire, Delaware, Washington and Utah all have that California doesn’t? According to the Tax Foundation, these statesproudlypossessa national Top 10 business climate rating.

California, on the other hand, continues to rank at the bottom thanks to Sacramento’s job-killing machine known asState Government. Thanks to a bureaucracy that sends businesses packing to neighboring states, and a regulatory environment that makes it difficult to flourish in California, the Tax Foundation ranked California 48th amongst all states. While the nationwide economic crisis has contributed to tough times in our once Golden State, we must come to terms with the overregulation that needlessly drives our state further and further into disrepair. Unfortunately, due to policies that place special interest groups ahead of hardworking Californians, the liberal majority in Sacramento have constructed a business climate in which it has become near impossible to exercise one’s entrepreneurial spirit and successfully operate… Read More

You have to wonder about the political dynamic of President and Mrs. Obama traveling to Europe to personally pitch and lobby for the Unites States to host the 2016 Olympic games in the President's home city of Chicago.

The news that the US was not chosen to host the 2016 games was bad enough (politically), but to be eliminated early in the process…

So… Either the President knew Chi-town was out, but felt he needed to show the colors (lest not being chasen be layed at his feet) or he didn't know and that is sad.

Either way, it is good news for taxpayers in Chicago, Illinois and perhaps the country. You see, at some point, the International Olympic Organizing Committee put an outrageous requirement into place that the host country's GOVERNMENT has to indemnify the IOOC against an Olympic Games that loses money. That's right — if an Olympic Games hosted by the U.S. loses money, taxpayers are on the hook! The people of Greece are still reeling with the debt absorbed by their government because the Olympics in Athens in 2002 lost money.

On a side note, as someone who likes to attend Olympic Games… Read More

I’ve been away from a computer since early this morning. Seems appropriate to note that ex-Assemblyman Mike Duvall has jumped out of the frying pan, and it remains to be seen if he falls into the fire.

As Barry Jantz noted below, ace political reporter Carla Marinucci, anxious to let all Republicans who missed her at convention that she is back in town, blogged about GOP candidate Meg Whitman’s having supported Barbara Boxer early on in her 2004 re-election. For my part, reading about Whitman’s check to Boxer was not news — that had been out for a while. But it was the fact that she was visibly out there, with her name on media release put out by the incumbent whacky-left Senator that startled me (see it below).

In reading the Marinucci story, Whitman’s spokesperson says, get this, that her support of Boxer was anti-tax. Nice.

A lot of… Read More

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has sent water policy novice Assemblywoman Anna Caballero to Washington D.C. to as one of the Democrat's “chief negotiator” for California's water crisis.

Why does the Assembly Speaker Karen Bass believe Asm. Caballero is one of the top negotiators on water for the Golden State, when Asm. Cabellero has only introduced two water related bills and the one that seeks to improve the Central Valley water crisis, Asm. Caballero lifted 90% of the language from Senator Cogdill's bond bill?

This doesn't make Asm. Caballero and expert in water. It makes her an expert in photocopying and taking other people's ideas.

With Asm. Caballero in Washington D.C., what immediate actions will our damaged region receive? Will the pumps be turned on, or will there be another study, more delay and empty promises, and more lost jobs? The people in the Central Valley were hopeful when the Assembly Leader Alberto Torrico stated the that Latino Caucus in supporting a proposal that puts the people over politics and improves the Central Valley, not special environmental interests. … Read More

According to Forbes Magazines just-released "Top 400 Wealthiest People" list, Margaret "Meg" Whitman of Atherton, California, comes in at #326 with an estimated worth of $1.2 billion.

Well, you may have to subtract a couple of bucks from that as she recently bought me a cup of coffee. Though I suspect it won’t bump her down to #327.… Read More

Affecting my old Assembly district, Siskiyou and Modoc Counties, comes todays news that the PacifiCorp group, who owns a series of dams on the Klamath River which runs basically parallel to and near the Oregon-California border, has agreed to surrender its ability to produce clean renewable Hydro power, which does not bode well for new projects of any kind in California.

This settlement agreement has been a long time in process, about nine years, with farmers, fishermen, local tribes and a plethora of environmental groups all wrestling along with many government agencies of 2 states and the federal level and the actual owners of the dams. 4 dams now are slated to be destroyed and removed if the provisons ofthe agreement come to fruition. Indeed there are 29 signers to this settlement agreement draft. The net loss to Californians and Oregonians will be low cost, renewable, green hydroelectric power that serves about 75000 customers, power that will have to be replaced. With theever tightening noose of regulations of how and where electricity is sourced for… Read More

Republicans are big supporters of law enforcement. We believe in the fair and just application of the law and support our men and women in law enforcement. However, Republicans also have a healthy distrust of big government and irresponsible prosecutors. Prosecutors wield immense power and this power can do severe damage to the average citizen when it is not exercised justly.

The recent case of the State of California v. Joel Angeles is a perfect example of how unjust the system can be when corrupted by an irresponsible prosecutor. The case surrounded events which occurred outside the June 18, 2008 Tony Strickland fundraiser featuring Mitt Romney. The race to replace State Senator Tom McClintock was hotly contested. Both sides spent nearly 6 million dollars each and when the dust settled Tony Strickland had prevailed by less than 1500 votes (or as Strickland likes to say, he won by about one vote per precinct).

It was in this environment that a group of Democrat protesters arrived at the Strickland event. It became clear that the intention of the group was to engage with the Strickland supporters who were gathered in front of the hotel.… Read More