Courtesy of the pent-up angst of some of Senator Bob Dutton’s interns. Too bad this isn’t a game. The efforts to raise your taxes are very, very real. Thank goodness for the resolve of our legislative Republicans!… Read More

Yesterday I blogged on rumored circumstances surrounding the very real mid-day locking up of Senator Carol Migden’s Capitol Office.

Well, ace-Capitol reporter Shane Goldmacher turned his talents on finding out what actually took place. You can read the fruits of his labor here (free registration required).

The nickel tour — Migden was apparently yelling at her staff so loudly (who does that?) that Senate officials came over, informed employees of their rights, and sent everyone home. Today a bunch of temp workers are in the office.

I’m no fan of Mark Leno — I think he (and Migden) are whacked out liberals who think socialism is the wave of the future. That said, Leno may be a liberal, but he is not emotionally unstable, which may very well be the case with Migden. So in the context of this whole incident, I guess it’s best that he "took her out" — I don’t think California taxpayers can afford to… Read More

[PUBLISHER’S NOTE ADDED TO BARRY’S POST: I am aware of errors in the scoring of Senator Tom Harmon, and of Assemblyman Bob Huff as well in CW’s ratings. Once we know all of the errors, we’ll get something comprehensive up on the site – Flash]

Assemblyman George Plescia just contacted me about yesterday’s Cap Weekly rankings, which were linked from the FR main page. He is rightfully irked by the scoring, since it incorrectly shows he voted FOR the 2008-09 budget. Per George:

Let’s make it clear there was a HUGE mistake. It says I voted for the 2008/09 budget with a tax increase. I obviously voted AGAINST the tax increase budget. Therefore my score is more conservative than printed. We have made Capitol Weekly aware of the mistake.

Good. And, let’s further make it clear that he voted… Read More

Our developers are cranking away on the new FlashReport Mobile version, to make it oh-so-easy to access the wisdom available on this website from your pda. But I want to ask for your help. If you use a PDA that is NOT a Blackberry, a Treo or an iPhone, and would be willing to help BETA test this mobile feature, please send me an e-mail with your name, and the type of pda you use. Our developers have the above mentioned three pda types covered. The goal is to make sure it works for everyone. We’re looking to take the new feature live sometime next week!… Read More

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

Hasta La Vista, Arnold

Some things never change in the Golden State. Seven weeks into the fiscal year, California still has no budget and faces a Pacific Ocean-sized $15 billion deficit. On Wednesday, Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger offered a "compromise" plan that kicks the legs out from his own party with a big new sales tax increase. "It’s time to put ideology aside," he insisted.

Now he faces a revolt from Republicans in the legislature who think this is precisely the time to be ideological. "Any tax increase plan won’t pass with Republican votes — absolutely not," a… Read More

Jerry Brown vs. Chuck Shumer.

Gentlemen, to your corners!… Read More

UPDATE: 5:06pm — CONFIRMATION — The Senate Rules Committee has confirmed to a source that the Senator’s office has been closed because of the Senator actions concerning a staff member. Nice. The doors to the office of the Senator are locked. Papers laying about outside are dated for yesterday. This is at least partial confirmation of a story that I’ve heard several times in the last hour. In fact, we’re bringing out the trusty "FlashReport Rule of Five" (if we hear something from five reasonably good sources, we’ll throw it into the public marketplace of thought)…

We’ve heard that there was some sort of personnel-related blow out between the Senator and her staff — and while the details I have been given are varied enough to not want to throw them out (they conflict so obviously someone’s got it wrong) — the… Read More

I am always fascinated by what is described as a "compromise" in politics. Is it a compromise when the Democrats demand a bad policy, and they get some of it? It’s still bad, and saying no to bad policy is not being "unreasonable." More important, saying yes to a bad policy is not being "reasonable." A bad policy is a bad policy, and a leader says no to a bad policy, no matter what the political consequences

Second, did the Democrats sign an "I promise to be a Spendthrift" Pledge? I mean, they increase spending every year, and they claim that any reduction in that increase is a "cut." The budget in 2002-03 was $77.4 billion, $78.3 billion in 03-04, $79.8 billion in 04-05 (the last three years of the last budget crisis) and $91.6 billion in 05-06, $101.4 billion in 06-07, and $103.4 billion last year. Yet in each of those years, Democrats screamed about "cuts" in spending. More important, if you look at special fund spending during that same time, it has grown from $20.5 billion in 01-02 to $41.9 billion in 06-07. After the Sinclair Paint decision, state bureaucrats have been shifting… Read More