Much has been said already about the betrayal by Assembly Republican leader Chad Mayes, pushing for enough republican members to pass Jerry Brown’s cap and trade extension. He’s been trying to justify the vote and coercion of fellow republicans ever since, mostly with a ‘it could have been worse; it’s insurance; California needs to lead’ theme. Mayes claims he’s just doing the right thing, but fails with doing the thing right. Most of the recent debate is centered on the existential threat to the Republican brand in California. Calls are increasing for Mayes to resign his Assembly leadership slot or face removal, up to calls for him to resign his Assembly seat. In deciding which side is right, I looked to see what Mayes did and why. Was there any logic to reneging on his campaign promises and Republican principles?

First is Mayes lie that “things would be worse”, under an inevitable… Read More

With 2/3 Democrat majorities, the California two state legislative houses theoretically can pass any bill they want — veto proof. Here’s one of the more bizarre bills they’ve come up with this year.

EXCERPT:According to the text ofSB 219, titled the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Long-Term Care Facility Resident’s Bill of Rights, “it shall beunlawfulfor a long-term care facility or facility staff to…. willfully and repeatedly fail to use a resident’s preferred name orpronounsafter being clearly informed of the preferred name… Read More

My 2016 article,Why Can’t California Farmers Get the Water They Need?, exposed Gov. Brown’s shadow government appointees at the State Water Resources Control Board that ordered the release of massive amounts of water from the New Melones Reservoir and Lake Tulloch, to save a dozen fish, and how Gov. Brown systematically booted a number of qualified people off of the California Water Commission, the body that is deciding how to spend $2.7 billion in public funds for Prop. 1 Water Bond water storage projects.

Also revealed was Gerald Meral – a shadowy figure continuously involved in a series of dubious parks, natural resource and water bond ballot initiatives. Meral is also the highly controversial Natural Resources deputy secretary who famously claimed, “BDCP [Bay Delta Conservation Plan ] is not about, and has never been about saving the Delta. The Delta cannot be saved,” as, in April 2013, he directed the BCDP for Gov. Jerry… Read More

Following the Assembly vote in July on the Governor’s bill extending the California Cap and Trade program, Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes participated in a “bipartisan” press conference with Governor Brown and Democrats. During his time at the podium, he announced his pleasure at being there since Republicans don’t get many chances to stand with the Governor in his press room.

In response to questions about why he and his fellow Republicans “jumped ship” to give the Governor his needed 2/3rds vote, thereby protecting Cap and Trade from further legal challenges, Leader Mayes reportedly said, “California Republicans are different than national Republicans.”

While Mr. Mayes may have had a point at that moment in time, it wasn’t long until Republicans in Washington proved that turning into useful idiots of the Democrats was far from just a “California thing.” A couple of weeks after Mayes serenaded a third of his caucus over the regulatory/taxation cliff in support of an unelected bureaucracy, Republicans in the U.S. Senate voting on Obamacare repeal also proved to be as feckless as the Mayes posse in California.

These events,… Read More

Progressives are quite defensive about businesses fleeing California, and understandably so. One lame excuse that they pull out of their “We’re all right, Jack” playbook is to blame the departures on the taxpayer subsidies provided by states courting these California businesses.

Poppycock. A number of states DO offer such subsidies, but that’s not why California businesses flee the Golden State. Not ONE company moves out of California because of these subsidies. But such windfalls can indeed be a factor in the decision concerning WHICH state to move to.

The decision to move a California business is really a two step process:

1.Should we leave California?

2.Which state (or occasionally which COUNTRY) should we move to?

Truth is, almost no one in a California business is enthusiastic about leaving the state — from the company CEO down to the lowest paid employee. California is blessed with the nation’s best climate, terrific beaches and wonderful mountain recreation options. The lack of humidity and bugs is a huge reason to stay in California. Just not huge enough, when it comes to… Read More

The following is a press release from California Republican Party County Chairmen on the Cap and Trade Debacle. Several Republican Party County Chairmen are disgusted with the betrayal by 8 Republicans in Sacramento. Republican State Assembly leader Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley) and seven other Republican legislators have deeply angered grassroots activists across the state with their vote to join Democrats in extending the faulty cap-and-trade scheme.

“We campaign for you, we give you money, we make phone calls and walk precincts, and then what do we get in return? No wonder the GOP in California is lacking in enthusiasm and registrations. You take our goodwill and toss it overboard for your own careers and agendas,” stated County Republican Party Chairmen.

Governor Jerry Brown was aided by the Republicans in receiving the two-thirds majority he needs to shield the law’s extension from legal challenges and extend cap-and-trade to 2030. Ignoring the damage to jobs and the economy and with no proof of a positive environmental effect by cap-and-trade, the Republicans have stuck their thumb in the eye of county Republican Central Committees and… Read More

In November 1996, California voters passed Prop 209 “to prohibit public institutions from discriminating on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity.” It passed with a 54.6% vote, and has stood up well against constitutional challenge in court. https://ballotpedia.org/California_Affirmative_Action,_Proposition_209_(1996)

Sadly, if today a measure were put on the California ballot to REPEAL Prop 209, I suspect it would pass equally as easily. I’m sure that many are surprised that Democrats haven’tput just such a measure on the ballot.

The ONE reason I think the Democrat leaders choose not do it is that it would cost them most of the CA Asian vote in the foreseeable future. Asians constitute about 15% of the California population. Our state has by far the highest percent of Asians — except, of course, for Hawaii. The national average (including California which has a disproportionate effect on the average) is 5.6%. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/CA and… Read More

Last week, the ostensibly nonpartisan California Fair Political Practices Commission agreed to remove a long-standing campaign contribution limit so that Democrats could better fight an upcoming recall election against one of their own. And you thought things were bad in Venezuela.

Earlier this year, frustrated taxpayers in Senate District 29 initiated a recall of state Sen. Josh Newman because of his vote to impose over $5 billion annually in new taxes on cars and gasoline. Within months, over 100,000 signatures were submitted in support of ousting Newman.

In a move to bolster Newman’s chances of surviving the impending recall, the Senate Democrats last month requested that the FPPC allow elected officials to contribute more than $4,400 — the legal limit — to Sen. Newman’s recall committee. Since 2003, the FPPC has maintained that the contribution limits that apply to candidate committees during regularly scheduled elections also apply to recall elections. In fact, back in 2008, that rule was applied against a Republican legislator, Jeff Denham, when he was fighting his own recall challenge. The justification for the limit is to prevent legislative… Read More