Health care was topic of the day at the State Capitol today. Democrats unveiled their latest “compromise” proposal, which, of course, will lead to billion of dollars in higher taxes. Their new plan (which looks a lot like their old plan) imposes a jobs tax on California businesses, mandates all Californians buy health insurance, raises the tobacco tax by $2 to pay for health care subsidies and imposes a new tax on hospitals. I guess by “compromise” they mean they are proposing one tax increase in lieu of another. Whatever you call it, their plan is bad for California. It would raise taxes, place enormous new burdens on businesses and make the deficit even worse. But would you expect anything less from them?

Alternatively, Assembly Republicans announced our own health care reform plan today. Our plan does not raise taxes or grow government. Instead, it puts people in charge of their health care decisions, not the government. The Assembly Republican plan allows for more choices when it comes to meeting the individual health care needs of families, such as allowing tax deductions for out-of-pocket medical expenses, providing workers and businesses with the more… Read More

The Orange County Board of Supervisors rejected a proposal today to put a charter amendment before the voters that would, if passed, give the board the authority to place county-wide elected officials on administrative leave–effectively remove a district attorney or county clerk for example from office, if 4/5 of them so choose.

It was a bad idea and I applaud the majority for their vote.

One of the most compelling speakers at the board meeting was Assemblyman Todd Spitzer–a former county supervisor and former deputy district attorney. Spitzer is known as a law and order Republican–someone who puts cop and prosecutor on a pedestal (more so than my libertarian sensibilities allow me to).

But Spitzer argued against the proposal because it is inappropriate for the supervisors to serve as judge, jury and executioner. DA Rackauckas also made similar and well put remarks recommending that the board reject the proposal.… Read More

This morning, Steve Poizner made it official – he is now heading up the statewide efforts to oppose Proposition 93, the end-run on California’s Term Limits for State Legislators. Poizner’s opening ante… $1.5 million, matched with another $1.5 from the US Term Limits folks. Given the plummeting poll numbers for 93 when there was no opposition funding… Probably not a good sign for Don Perata and Fabian Nunez, who will have to find employment elsewhere come next December. That is music to the ears of California taxpayers…… Read More

This morning at a conference room across the street from the State Capitol, advocates in the campaign against Proposition 93 (the Nunez-Perata Term Limits Weakening Measure) will hold a press conference — the star attraction? California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. While nothing "official" has been announced, we are just hours away from a likely formal commitment from Poizner that he has not only signed the official ballot argument against Proposition 93, but that he will be playing a key role in opposing 93, including a starring role for Poizner’s checkbook. For those who are unaware, before his entry into politics, the soft-spoken Poizner was very successful as an entrepreneur and inventor in the Silicon Valley. His company developed some technology that has been incorporated into virtually every cell phone on the planet, and in selling this technology to one of the largest communications firms in the world, Poizner came away with a net worth approaching a billion (with a "b") dollars. Poizner has already shown a willingness in the past, separate from his own campaign for office, to donate from… Read More

This morning at a conference room across the street from the State Capitol, advocates in the campaign against Proposition 93 (the Nunez-Perata Term Limits Weakening Measure) will hold a press conference — the star attraction? California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. While nothing "official" has been announced, we are just hours away from a likely formal commitment from Poizner that he has not only signed the official ballot argument against Proposition 93, but that he will be playing a key role in opposing 93, including a starring role for Poizner’s checkbook. For those who are unaware, before his entry into politics, the soft-spoken Poizner was very successful as an entrepreneur and inventor in the Silicon Valley. His company developed some technology that has been incorporated into virtually every cell phone on the planet, and in selling this technology to one of the largest communications firms in the world, Poizner came away with a net worth approaching a billion (with a "b") dollars. Poizner has already shown a willingness in the past, separate from his own campaign for office, to donate from… Read More

How would you like to open your local newspaper, and have a sealed condom fall out of it and onto your lap? If you are a student over at my alma mater, California State University, Fullerton, this could have been your fate… But for the well timed complaint of a few students, everything was in place to fold thousands of condoms into issues of the Daily Titan. With a h/t to the Orange County Register’s Marla Jo Fischer for the ‘heads up’ on this story, check it out. And this is in conservative Orange County. Lord knows what’s been distributed to students up at U.C. Berkeley via the Daily Californian paper. Seriously, we don’t want to know…

P.S. If you are a Titan, and still want your free condom, they’ll be putting coupons for free ones in the paper…… Read More

The Sacramento Bee, which is not generally friendly to Republicans, did a recent profile of County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan and her husband, County GOP Chair Craig MacGlashan. (Disclaimer: Roberta is a client)

Roberta recently came under fire from left-leaning columnist Marcus Breton for daring to suggest that the County of Sacramento should not be providing free healthcare for residents of other countries (read her opinion attached to this post) has become the conservative conscience of the Board of Supervisors.

She’s earned kudos from conservatives and taxpayers — and criticism from liberals — for standing up to… Read More

In the real world (that means outside of Washington, DC), productivity is measured by comparing the output received to the effort/cost expending to produce something or perform a task. Or, as the dictionary describes it, "rate of output per unit of input." So far, the House of Representatives this year has taken over 1,000 separate votes, which has surpassed the most recorded votes ever in the history of Congress. We also have been "in session" voting for 146 days so far, which is also headed to a record number of days in Washington, DC. So, that’s the input. But what about the output? So far, only 107 bills have been signed into law. Over half of these were either naming something (like a post office) or extending an existing law that was scheduled to expire. Several more were simple land transfers from government to government. National Review has suggested that there has been only one piece of legislation of any significance that has passed and been signed into law which was the increase in the minimum wage. This Congress is on track to pass the fewest bills since electronic records have been kept. Furthermore, Congress has… Read More