We have spent a considerable amount of electronic ink on this page criticizing California Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis (pictured) for embracing the "culture of big spending" that we believe played a large role in the eventual collapse of Congressional Republicans into minority status. Lewis, who served as Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and now serves as the top Republican, has a very unsavory attititude about even the most egregious pork earmarks dished up on Capitol Hill — I’ll vote for yours if you vote for mine. That, combined with a rather imperious attitude when in comes to the primacy of "Appropriators" as the dominant class in Congress, make him the kind of Republican that is indistinguishable, most of the time, from a Democrat. (Check out this startling CNN video on Lewis). … Read More

We have spent a considerable amount of electronic ink on this page criticizing California Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis (pictured) for embracing the "culture of big spending" that we believe played a large role in the eventual collapse of Congressional Republicans into minority status. Lewis, who served as Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and now serves as the top Republican, has a very unsavory attititude about even the most egregious pork earmarks dished up on Capitol Hill — I’ll vote for yours if you vote for mine. That, combined with a rather imperious attitude when in comes to the primacy of "Appropriators" as the dominant class in Congress, make him the kind of Republican that is indistinguishable, most of the time, from a Democrat. (Check out this startling CNN video on Lewis). … Read More

Today, I alongside Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) announced that we will actively oppose and challenge any attempt to earmark more federal dollars to Chairman Charlie Rangel’s ‘Monument to Me’.

The Washington Post reported yesterday that Chairman Rangel has secured a total of three earmarks for the City College of New York’s proposed Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service, totaling close to $3 million.

Last year I offered an amendment to strike the largest earmark worth $1.95 million for the Charles B. Rangel School Center for Public Service. 316 members voted to allow this earmark to stand. I am interested to see, in the current anti-earmark climate how many of my colleagues will continue to side with this egregious use of taxpayer dollars.

It also should be known that Chairman Rangel has been soliciting donations throughout the business community, touting his status as Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which has broad jurisdiction over tax policy, trade, Social Security and Medicare.… Read More

If you were to look up "dysfunctional legislature" in the dictionary, you’d a photograph of the California State Capitol. We’re now a couple of weeks into the fiscal year without a state budget, and outgoing Senate President Don Perata has apparently dismissed Senators from Sacramento, advising them to be "on call" to come back and vote on a budget on short notice. Last I checked, we are paying every single member of the State Senate, and also the State Assembly for that matter, a full-time wage. If there is no state budget, the last thing that I want to have happen is for all of the legislators to go back to their districts, and leave budget nogotiations to small group of legislative leaders, to primary take place in a back room. Frankly, every legislator has a responsibility to be in Sacramento, at the Capitol, and working together to try and solve this overspending crisis.

State government is huge, and complex, and the negotiations surrounding an income and spending plan should be broadly approached by our legislators. Democrat and Republican State Legislators should be rolling up their sleeves, taking portions… Read More

Floyd Brown has produced a new advertisement thatcontrasts on Barrack Hussein Obama’s recent lament that Americansdon’t know enough foreign languages. You can see it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W7srmHLclw.… Read More

If you were to look up "dysfunctional legislature" in the dictionary, you’d a photograph of the California State Capitol. We’re now a couple of weeks into the fiscal year without a state budget, and outgoing Senate President Don Perata has apparently dismissed Senators from Sacramento, advising them to be "on call" to come back and vote on a budget on short notice. Last I checked, we are paying every single member of the State Senate, and also the State Assembly for that matter, a full-time wage. If there is no state budget, the last thing that I want to have happen is for all of the legislators to go back to their districts, and leave budget nogotiations to small group of legislative leaders, to primary take place in a back room. Frankly, every legislator has a responsibility to be in Sacramento, at the Capitol, and working together to try and solve this overspending crisis.

State government is huge, and complex, and the negotiations surrounding an income and spending plan should be broadly approached by our legislators. Democrat and Republican State Legislators should be rolling up their sleeves, taking portions… Read More

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aide of their country. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aide of their country. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aide of their country. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aide of their country. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aide of their country. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.… Read More

Today’s front page of the Wall Street Journal offers a perfect example of the idiom "fiddling while Rome burns." At the top of the page, there’s an article about the run on IndyMac bank in Burbank, accompanied by a picture of worried customers trying to withdraw their money. Let your eyes drift down the page and you’ll see another article about California—-a front page story about Senator Jack Scott’s proposed ban on foil balloons. So let’s recap: California is experiencing a horrible fire season, and our national and state financial system is in dire straits, but our lawmakers are busy stopping teenagers from singing the national anthem in the capitol rotunda and trying to ban metallic balloons. Oh, and as Jon wrote about today, our legislators still haven’t passed a state budget. What exactly are we paying these people to do for us?… Read More