[Cross-posted from OC Blog]

If you haven’t yet read Saturday’s "Capitol Watchdog" column by the OC Register’s Brian Joseph, then you ought to.

Brian delves into the twilight zone of how taxpayer-funded governmental associations like the League of Cities engage in campaign spending out of the public eye and on-the-clock.

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore has introduced legislation to force the League O’ Cities and its kindred associations to disclose the sources of their political spending.

Yesterday evening, Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle e-mail out Brian Joseph’s article, accompanied by this intriguing and forceful commentary zeroing in on the… Read More

The great thing about a Congressional District opening up only once in 28 years is that when the County GOP holds a candidate debate in East County, several people show up that few times in their lives have ever stepped foot east of I-15. Well, okay, unless they were first on a plane leaving San Diego County. Last night, 257 folks hit El Cajon’s Crystal Ballroom for the Republican Party of San Diego’s monthly meeting. Tony Krvaric and Co. had the vision to move the proceedings to East County for perhaps the first and last time until Congressman Duncan Hunter’s current 52nd District seat is vacated by the next incumbent. Whether that will be another quarter of a century or more remains to be seen, but Hunter’s son Duncan D. Hunter, Santee Councilman Brian Jones and County Board of Ed President Bob Watkins are all hoping to at get at least a first term under their respective belts. After State GOP Chairman Ron Nehring effectively rah-rahed the crowd, and Bob Ilko gave a heartfelt unity speech about his decision to not seek San Diego’s 5th District city council seat (in deference to Carl DeMaio), the… Read More

From the County GOP…. Survey Shows Judge Jan Goldsmith Strongest Candidate Versus City Attorney Mike Aguirre San Diego, Calif. – March 10, 2008: An important new citywide voter opinion survey demonstrates that Superior Court Judge Jan Goldsmith is the strongest candidate to defeat incumbent San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre.

In the poll, conducted by Competitive Edge Research, Judge Goldsmith is shown to easily defeat Aguirre in a one-on-one match-up in a November run-off election. In the survey, Judge Goldsmith beats Aguirre by 23 points, capturing 52% of the vote, while Aguirre receives only 29%.

Neither San Diego City Council President Scott Peters nor San Diego City Councilman Brian Maienschein come close to that result. In fact, the survey shows Aguirre within the margin of sampling error when paired with Peters.

"While Judge Goldsmith is our official endorsed candidate, this race is not about partisanship or politics. A majority of San Diegans agree that we need a change in the City Attorney’s office, and we invite everyone to support Judge Goldsmith. Judge Goldsmith is not… Read More

Did the title of this post grab you? For those who follow California politics, the "Spitzer" on our headline is not Republican California State Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, but rather his evil-nemesis, New York Governor Elliott Spitzer, a Democrat.

According to breaking news at the New York Times, the Governor has been implicated as being part of a prostitution ring in the city.

Whoops!… Read More

In light of the Second District Court of Appeals decision last week, I feel it is my duty to publicly confess to my blog boss a deep, dark secret. Jon, when you hired me, I failed to disclose that I am the product of a “cloistered” education that failed to provide “interaction with people outside the family.” Astonishing, I know.

You see, I am a California homeschool graduate. My parents began homeschooling my brother and me when we arrived in California back in 1992. And as a homeschool graduate, I am deeply offended and troubled by Justice H. Walt Croskey’s opinion of those who are home educated. We are not “cloistered,” nor do we lack “interaction with people outside the family.” In fact, we are some of the most active citizens in our communities. While I was still homeschooling, I somehow managed to become the Orange County Republican Party’s volunteer of the month and a delegate to the Republican National Convention. Many of my homeschool friends have gone on to attend prestigious universities and lead… Read More

Several days ago, I posted about how LA-based public affairs powerhouse consulting firm Cerrell Associates is fighting the completion of the 241 toll road on behalf of one client — the California State Parks Association (CSPA) — while serving as media and public relations consultants to the pro-241 Southern California Association of Government (SCAG) to the tune of $250,000.

Besides the obvious question of a conflict of interest, it occurred to me at the time how this triangle creates an odd situation regarding media inquiries to SCAG about the 241.

After all, SCAG’s website lists a Mr. Jeff Lustgarten at Cerrell Associates as their contact for media inquiries. So if you are member of the media contacting SCAG about why they support completing the 241, you contact the PR agency that is trying to convince the public that… Read More

I’ve already editorialized plenty on the blog site about how lame and ill-advised I think the President’s "Economic Stimulus" package was — the idea that we are shipping out well over a hundred billion dollars in one-time mini-checks to Americans (whether they pay taxes or not — can you say "welfare") and that this is going to somehow "meaningfully stimulate" the economy is absurd.

That said, you’ve LOVE this. Now its been reported that the Internal Revenue Service is spending a whopping $48.1 million bucks to send a "your check is on the way" mailing to 130 million American households. Earth to President Bush, why don’t you pick up the phone and call the I.R.S.? Instead of sending out a "your check is coming" mailing, why don’t you just include a "here is your stupid check" letter IN with the checks?

It does boggle the mind how a REPUBLICAN President, with many votes from REPUBLICAN members of Congress, can support a wealth redistribution scheme that sends BILLIONS of dollars in… Read More

I’ve already editorialized plenty on the blog site about how lame and ill-advised I think the President’s "Economic Stimulus" package was — the idea that we are shipping out well over a hundred billion dollars in one-time mini-checks to Americans (whether they pay taxes or not — can you say "welfare") and that this is going to somehow "meaningfully stimulate" the economy is absurd.

That said, you’ve LOVE this. Now its been reported that the Internal Revenue Service is spending a whopping $48.1 million bucks to send a "your check is on the way" mailing to 130 million American households. Earth to President Bush, why don’t you pick up the phone and call the I.R.S.? Instead of sending out a "your check is coming" mailing, why don’t you just include a "here is your stupid check" letter IN with the checks?

It does boggle the mind how a REPUBLICAN President, with many votes from REPUBLICAN members of Congress, can support a wealth redistribution scheme that sends BILLIONS of dollars in… Read More