For what it’s worth, I wanted to share some thoughts about the quasi State of the Union last night:

There’s no doubt Obama is an exceptional orator, but much of the content was a mile wide and an inch deep and it will be hard to translate so many policy priorities into first year accomplishments.

First some general audience observations. Rep. Sanchez was falling out of her chair to hug, handshake and buss the president; despite what some say we are a nation at war and Congress could do better to keep the celebrity president hysteria to a minimum. I also noted several familiar GOP and Democratic members seeking autographs toward the end of the ceremony. Speaker Pelosi on more than one occasion seemed uncertain when to applaud–reforming social security, good idea–oh wait. One reporter we heard said members got their as much as 12 hours early to hold their aisle seats for a handshake chance. Fortunately Congress’ results are not matched against billable office hours.

President Obama repeated the phrase or iterations of "we inherited" on three occasions that I counted. We all know what he was saying and for… Read More

The Republicans’ new leader in the Senate, Dennis Hollingsworth, announced his new leadership team today. Congratulations to Senators Walters, Strickland and Wyland. It’s noteworthy that freshmen senators Walters and Strickland hold such important positions:

SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER HOLLINGSWORTH TAPS MEMBERS FOR KEY POSITIONS Sacramento—Senator Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth (R—Murrieta) announced today his new selections for roles within his Senate Republican Leadership Team. Effective today, Senator Mimi Walters (R-Laguna Hills) is assuming the duties of the Assistant Senate Republican Leader. Senator Walters is well known for her commonsense fiscal discipline and commitment to governmental reform.

“Senator Walters is a talented and gifted individual with unwavering principles who is best known for her conservative principles. As our state continues to tackle the serious fiscal issues plaguing California, I am confident that Walters will provide a sound fiscal approach that best represents California working families,” stated Hollingsworth.

Senator Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks) has been… Read More

At the California Republican Convention Ivisited with former Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney. As FR readers probably know, Governor Romney bought a house in La Jolla.

We talked about various things over the 20 minutes or so we spoke. One thing really stood out. He said he was not going to be in California more than six months less one day.

Why? He didn’t want to be declared a resident because there is about a 5% difference in the tax rate for “wealthy” people between Massachusetts and California. And that was before the surtax and increases recently approved by the Legislature and Governor Schwarzenegger.

Massachusetts fondly referred to, as Taxachussets by conservatives is now a tax haven for Mitt Romney.

California doesn’t get it. If you tax the “wealthy” more than those around you they will leave or make sure they pay their taxes in another state. Ask Mitt Romney, Tiger Woods or go door to door in Incline Village.

California needs a new sign on our border.

Welcome to Taxifornia!… Read More

Last weekend at the GOP convention, just 72 hours after casting the deciding vote to pass a massive tax increase out of the State Senate, Senator Abel Maldonado actually had the moxie to show up. I ran into him in a hallway there, and we shared some words — the kind of "street theater" reminds me of the "old days" when I was an activist with Young Americans for Freedom…

I had told a few people about it — but now everyone can see it, as Carla Marinucci from the San Francisco Chronicle apparently had her handy-dandy video camera on at the time. You can read more of her observations on the convention here. I’ve reposted the video below… … Read More

There have been many voices heard since the state budget was passed with the help of a handful of GOP legislators last week. I waited to digest the news, listen to the debate coming out of the Republican convention and think about the future of the Republican Party in our great state. It’s crystal clear to me now what change we need for the California Republican Party. We need a divorce from our governor.

There is great outrage—and much deserved—at the GOP legislators that voted for the budget. But we need to also put ourselves in their shoes. They are members of the minority party (and a minority party that is significantly shrunken in size). There was incredible pressure for them to vote for a budget. Democrat legislators, members of the press, educators and others from their local districts and—let’s not forget—the governor, were all pressuring them to “do the right thing.”

So I find it interesting that we, as a party, took action against the handful of legislators who voted for the budget but didn’t take any action to remove Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from the CRP board.

The legislators would not have been in the… Read More

I am no sure what rock I was under when Outrageous Hero: The B.T. Collins Story came out last year. When a friend mentioned the book to me I knew it was going to move to the front of the line of books I needed to read.

I was a young Capitol staffer when Collins died of a heart attack in March 1992. i talked to him a few times but don’t pretend that I knew the man. He was a legend.

This is a man that grew up in New York, joined the Army during Vietnam and spent two tours there. On June 20, 1967 as an Army Captain he lost an arm and a leg to a grenade. This one day defined his life to a degree but did not stop him from going on to Santa Clara Law School, becoming a staff member for Governor Jerry Brown, running the California Conservation Corps, serving as Chief of Staff to Governor Brown, running the California Youth Authority for Governor Wilson, and then winning a special election for the Assembly and getting re-elected before suffering a massive heart attack… Read More

Despite all the angst among Republican legislators and activists from earlier in the week, this weekend’s Republican organizing convention was remarkably upbeat. I was impressed with the enthusiasm of the party volunteers to take a look at the candidates who are already campaigning for office in 2010. With the knowledge that the controversial Bush and Schwarzenegger administrations will not be on the voters’ minds in 2010, there is renewed hope for Republican gains. There is also an understanding that voters will turn quickly on new officials who do not deliver on their campaign promises, and there is ample evidence that this will hit the new Obama administration by the 2010 elections.… Read More

This last weekend’s California Republican Party Biennial Organizational Convention in Sacramento was a busy one, and so it will take me a few blog posts to really talk about all of the aspects of it, and ultimately provide a comprehensive recap. As conventions go, it was a tremendously successful one. It was a extremely well attended by delegates and guests (this is especially notable due to the absence of hotly contested races for statewide party office) and the lineup of speakers was top notch.

Speakers at the convention included South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, Chairman of the National Republican Governors Association, former United National Ambassador John Bolton, gubernatorial hopefuls Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman, Lieutenant Governor candidate State Senator Jeff Denham and talked about potential candidate Bill Simon, U.S. Senate candidate Assemblyman Chuck DeVore and rumored potential candidates Carly Fiorina and Larry Elder, Congressmen Darrell Issa and Tom McClintock and also national conservative leader Bill Bennett. As I pen more from the… Read More