We received this commentary from Assemblywoman Audra Strickland…

A State Bureaucrat’s License to Lie“Truth in Government” measure on Governor’s desk would penalize Department Heads up to $20,000 for knowingly lying Today, State bureaucrats are not required to tell the truth to the public – unless they are giving testimony under oath in a legislative committee hearing or in a court of law. This is amazing since one of the most common type of legislation that we see in the Capitol are measure requiring state department to study an issue and report back to the Legislature on their findings.

The Governor has on his desk a “truth in government” bill that would change that if he signs it into law.

I, along with… Read More

Do you still have your tax return from 1998? How about your calendar? I don’t.

Well, Congressman John Doolittle and his staff have been hit by federal investigators with subpeonas with requests for documents going back eleven years…… Read More

A lot of folks know that I live a few blocks from the border between my own 18th AD and the 15th, and I’m frequently asked/pestered about why I’m not blogging on the race…so I’m coming clean.

I’m bored out of my mind.

I see all the press releases for the candidates, and they all basically fall into three categories: * I’m having a fundraiser * Here’s my latest bank statement * Here’s a list of my friends who say nice things about me

That’s the typical stuff that interests the lobbyists and Sacramento folks, but the community can’t even work up a full-fledged yawn over this.

Candidates, you are following a very tough act. Assemblyman Houston gained strong support each election cycle, despite his GOP registration numbers falling off the map. Yes, he had fundraisers, demonstrated a healthy bank account, and had a long list of endorsements. But to the community, his outreach was about community issues.

Folks, you’re running in a district that could go to either party. If you want to be the break out candidate, start sending out press releases that talk about what voters care about. Keep raising money, and all… Read More

Xavier Alvarez, a member of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District has been charged with…publicly saying he was a Medal of Honor Winner when he wasn’t even in the military. Oops. See Xavier, most Medal of Honor winners don’t get it while alive.See story here. Not to compare the two, but it should be a crime to run for office as a "conservative" and then vote for big bloated budgets and earmarks. But, that would cause another prison crises.

By the way Alvarez is a Democrat.… Read More

Imagine a place where bank robbery is not a crime. Where people can walk up to teller windows and take money to spend on any outrageous, egregious thing that they want, and no one stops them. That’s the problem that we have with egregious pork barrel spending on Capitol Hill. To make matters worse, the only people that can make this form of robbery a crime, are the same people who are robbing the bank! Well, then imagine that the public, who are the depositors at the bank, are becoming more and more outraged that their savings are being withdrawn "at gunpoint" to be spent on billions of pork-barrel projects. So, these robbers, who happen to be the Board of Directors of the bank, have to do something to try to mollify the concerns of their depositors. So what do they do? You would think that they would simply STOP robbing the people’s bank, and put an end to this terrible self-defeating practice? No. Instead, they have engaged in a sidebar discussion that is not about whether we ban… Read More

Imagine a place where bank robbery is not a crime. Where people can walk up to teller windows and take money to spend on any outrageous, egregious thing that they want, and no one stops them. That’s the problem that we have with egregious pork barrel spending on Capitol Hill. To make matters worse, the only people that can make this form of robbery a crime, are the same people who are robbing the bank! Well, then imagine that the public, who are the depositors at the bank, are becoming more and more outraged that their savings are being withdrawn "at gunpoint" to be spent on billions of pork-barrel projects. So, these robbers, who happen to be the Board of Directors of the bank, have to do something to try to mollify the concerns of their depositors. So what do they do? You would think that they would simply STOP robbing the people’s bank, and put an end to this terrible self-defeating practice? No. Instead, they have engaged in a sidebar discussion that is not about whether we ban… Read More

A few weeks ago, I wrote about AJR 29 a joint resolution that asked for passage of a federal "hate" crimes bill that usurped local control and made specially created classes of victims. Only two GOP lawmakers voted no. (Anderson, Hollingsworth). See previous post here. The link has a letter to President Bush signed by all GOP Assembly members except Horton that renounces support for the bill. Mimi Walters collected the signatures. Way to go to correct a mistake. See letter here.… Read More

Earlier today the following was reported on Red County/ San Bernardino:

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani’s Deputy Campaign Manager for Fundraising is dun.

Breaking news reported by the New York Daily News confirms that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has sacked the head of his fundraising department, California’s Anne Dunsmore. Dunsmore, who was tapped to lead Giuliani’s finance effort in May 2007, was quoted as a Team Rudy campaign official in publications as recently as yesterday on the progress of Rudy’s presidential campaign.

Today, as news broke that Dunsmore has been unceremoniously fired from her role with Rudy Giuliani, a Giuliani aide stated that the California-based political fundraiser… Read More