Shane Goldmacher at the Sacramento Bee reported that Sam Wakim (a GOP candidate to replace Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa) resigned from the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board for posting a faux illegal-immigrant drivers license on his personal web site.

Thank goodness he had little chance to defeat former Assemblyman/State Senator Jim Nielsen (who already has the support of incumbent Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa).

The image is posted on a rather weird personal site that has a mix of items that cause me to scratch my head and wonder why a candidate and appointee would put this stuff on the internet:

1. He calls college basketball legend Bob Knight "a good friend and former boss" but then goes on to say that he was an employee at the IU ticket office. I’m sorry but "good friend and former boss" to Bob Knight is probably somebody like Coach K at Duke not the guy sitting behind the glass at the Will-Call booth.

2. He seems to have a very strange obsession for Miss Lebanon — posting almost a dozen photos of… Read More

Test of uploading audio file… Read More

Democrats have targeted Sen. Jeff Denham for a recall. Why have the Dems who were against the recall of Gray Davis doing this? Jeff won’t vote for an unbalanced budget. How should Republicans respond? Let’s recall Lou Correa. He barely won, in a district that is getting more GOP registrations. In a recall he can’t use third party campaigns like Otto Bade to distract voters. A recall of Correa would give voters a clear choice. Vote no on the recall and support ongoing unbalanced budgets or vote yes on the recall of good old Lou and send a message for balanced budgets. Is there anybody out there willing to take this on? … Read More

While the overwhelming majority of Americans are thankful for the apprehension of suspected terrorist and al-Qaeda operative Jose Padilla and clearly understand his conviction by a federal jury, there are some who incredulously suggest that the real victim in Padilla’s saga are not the countless numbers of innocent American citizens Padilla wanted to maim and kill, but rather Padilla himself. According to a posting on membership-driven Daily Kos, what happened today was an outrage. No, it is not outrageous that an American citizen was planning, plotting and scheming to kill as many of his fellow citizens as possible, but it is an outrage that convicted terrorist Padilla was “subjected to this kind of ‘justice’." Read it here. Of course, it is worth noting that … Read More

Just a quick break from the excellent coverage of the California State Budget Debate of 2007:

News on a very competitive race forming in San Bernardino County’s Third Supervisorial District. The district, which includes the cities of Redlands, San Bernardino, Loma Linda, plus many rural and suburban communities. The longtime incumbent is controversial local political figure Dennis Hansberger, who has held the seat for the past twelve years (and did a stint on the board from 1972-86). Hansberger is being challenges by San Bernardino City Councilmember Neil Derry, who has vast public policy experience as an elected official and a top district staff member to then-Assemblymember Fred Aguiar of San Bernardino County.

No one else is expressing an interest to stand for this seat, meaning the race could be decided in the June 2008 primary. While the candidates are bringing their credentials to the electoral battlefield, the talent each team has lined … Read More

In response to one of the articles on the front page of the Flash Report today, I must vehemently disagree with GOP lawmakers who call for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics. The U.S. should not be guilty of making the games a political or diplomatic weapon. We have grown ups with big salaries who are supposed to be professionals at diplomacy. If they are so inadequate that we have to shield them with hard working, stellar young American athletes, then I say we need to clean house in the embassy.

I’m frankly aghast that GOP lawmakers would follow in the steps of President Carter. His Lilly-livered relationship with the Soviets in 1980 was a disgrace, and what we should have done was send our athletes to the Moscow games to kick some tail and break every record.

The U.S. should never shirk from being represented on the world stage the Olympics afford. Our lawmakers should insist on competent diplomats rather than sideline our young superstars.… Read More

Credibility is really important in our elected officials. After all, when they run for election (or re-election) much weight is placed on what they tell us they will do in office. I must tell you, as someone who endorsed, supported and encouraged others to do the same for Arnold Schwarzenegger in the recall election of 2003, and his re-election in 2006, I am starting to feel like a chump. It’s not that I am mad at him, it’s more like I am hurt. I feel like he made a promise to all of us, and now he’s not keeping his word.

Arnold’s embrace of a large tax increase as part of a big state-government foray into the healthcare marketplace the size of which would make Milton Friedman cry was so unbelievable that I still am in shock. Worse yet was the ‘justification’ used — that raising actual taxes is somehow netted out by a reduction in a so-called "hidden tax" that Californians already pay. Combine that terrible method of justification with any liberal spending program and I guess you can justify tax hikes all day long. But it doesn’t make it right, and this is not the policy agenda of a… Read More

Credibility is really important in our elected officials. After all, when they run for election (or re-election) much weight is placed on what they tell us they will do in office. I must tell you, as someone who endorsed, supported and encouraged others to do the same for Arnold Schwarzenegger in the recall election of 2003, and his re-election in 2006, I am starting to feel like a chump. It’s not that I am mad at him, it’s more like I am hurt. I feel like he made a promise to all of us, and now he’s not keeping his word.

Arnold’s embrace of a large tax increase as part of a big state-government foray into the healthcare marketplace the size of which would make Milton Friedman cry was so unbelievable that I still am in shock. Worse yet was the ‘justification’ used — that raising actual taxes is somehow netted out by a reduction in a so-called "hidden tax" that Californians already pay. Combine that terrible method of justification with any liberal spending program and I guess you can justify tax hikes all day long. But it doesn’t make it right, and this is not the policy agenda of a… Read More