The visit to thisstate and ourLegislatureby a foreign head of state is always a noteworthy occasion. The western state swing by Presidente Vicente Fox of Mexico left many in quandary and some in no quandary at all. To show respect for this foreign leader or make a firm statementto him with your absence. Our Assembly Republican CaucusLeadership requested an audience with President Fox to have a frank and constructive dialogue about how his policies and rhetoric are affecting this state, its business and its citizens lives. His promotion of illegal immigration and offensive statements about our sovereign nation trying to get a handle on it, his non-cooperation on extraditing cops killers back to us for proper disposaland a litany of other issues worthy of discussion with a few of us Assembly Republicans would’ve been a positive sign of two neighbors trying to work thingsouttogether. Of course, there is great potential for our two countries to do great thingswhen there is a mutual… Read More

Why don’t I trust the Bush Administration on illegal immigration? Well, besides the Administration’s history of saying one thing and doing another on illegal immigration, and besides every administration person I’ve met to date rolling their eyes at me when the topic comes up, we have today’s press conference wherein new Press Secretary Tony Snow compares being caught for breaking and entering into our nation to getting a speeding ticket.

“If you had a traffic ticket and you paid it, you’re not forever a speeder, are you” said Mr. Snow. To quote the Examiner: “The ‘traffic ticket’ analogy raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill, where many House Republicans regard illegal immigration as a grave crime.”

Uh, yeah. And one would note to Bill Sammon, reporter, that it isn’t just House Republicans who regard illegal immigration as a ‘grave crime’ – its many if not most Americans. And hopefully more than a few of our elected Democrats in the House and Senate and Republicans in the Senate.

To continue from the Examiner:

“I don’t know if Tony (Snow) meant to… Read More

Prop 81 is a library bond. I’ve done three TV interviews on the no side. It will cost 600 million dollarsin principal and another 600 million in interest. That is unless you have the nifty Spanish voter pamphlet that details it as 600 billion dollars plus the interest. See article here

Maybe they translated Dollars into Pesos.

Click here for more info against Prop. 81.… Read More

Both my wife and I a permanent Vote-By-Mail voters. The only problem with that is that Riverside County Registrar of Voters has not sent us a ballot with seven mailing days to go before the election. When I called to inquire they said they mailed it, well where is it? Funny how all my other mail arrives at my house and yet my ballot does not. Now this rant is not just about me, it is about many other voters in Riverside County that I hear have yet to receive their ballots. Something is very wrong when you can’t even get the permanent Vote-By-Mail ballots out the door and into hands of voters. I am now going to be forced to drive to the Registrar of Voters office and vote in person, a huge inconvenience to myself. Someone needs to look into this matter, because not getting the ballots delivered is a VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM. Are you listening County Elected Officials?… Read More

Friday Afternoon Pop Quiz

(The 9th Circuit Court just ruled that passing this quiz is NOT required for graduation from the Jerry Brown Institute for Greater Self-Awareness and Consciousness. Whew!)

1. Which of the following offenses is most offensive to the Mainstream Media?

A. Support for Israel B. Support for fundamentalist Christian values C. Support for a balanced approach to the environment D. Forcing someone to choose among the first three choices

2. If you had to choose between hitting a tree with your car or hitting a baby in the road, what would you do?

A. Hit the tree and live with the guilt. B. Hit the tree but immediately plant one of the saplings you keep in the trunk of your hybrid car for such emergencies. C. Hit the tree but only if it wasn’t an old growth tree because then you’d be killing an endangered species and bad karma would haunt you. D. Hit the object less likely to make your hydrogen car explode upon impact .

3. If a tree falls in the rainforest, but no developer is there to hear it, doesthe… Read More

In what seems like another lifetime I was a lawyer. I can hear the jokes now “lawyer, political consultant, what’s next – used car salesman?” My first solo political campaign was electing conservative Republican Tim Casserly to the bench. Since then, I’ve elected a new Republican judge every cycle.

I write all this to preface the point that I watch San Diego judicial races fairly closely. This time around we have one important judicial race that will be determined in the June primary – Democrat David Rubin v. Republican Paul Phingst. This has all the makings of a grudge match. See, Phingst is the former San Diego County District Attorney. He lost a bitter campaign a few years ago to Republican Judge Bonnie Dumanis. As such, it’s no great surprise that Dumanis and her allies in the law enforcement community are supporting Rubin, who is a local prosecutor. So are a number of Republican Judges, including Bostwick, Ervin, Smyth, Whitney, and Fraser (most of whom were elected with the Republican Party endorsement).

But this gets more interesting. By any account David Rubin is a liberal Democrat. He is a sustaining member of… Read More

Yesterday, Mexican President Vicente Fox continued to demonstrate his willingness to actively represent his constituents in America. That’s right – President Fox has millions of his country’s citizens in the United States, and he is intent on representing them while they are here. I am sure that Fox spoke about many things in his address to the state legislature, and in his private meeting with the Governor. But I have to admit, and this is speaking for myself, that after Fox came out in support of the President’s amnesty program (you know, where we let those who illegally cross into the country pay a couple thousand bucks and call it a day), I really didn’t care what he had to say about anything else. As far as I am concerned, we should cut off any foreign aide to Mexico(whether direct from the U.S. or via the U.N. or World Bank) and start to make up a penalty list of how to make Mexico realize that we are not pleased with their Chief Executive’s aggressive pro-illegal immigration posture. I was particularly proud of the dozen-or-so California legislators who chose to boycott Fox’s speech out of principle. I also… Read More

Yesterday, Mexican President Vicente Fox continued to demonstrate his willingness to actively represent his constituents in America. That’s right – President Fox has millions of his country’s citizens in the United States, and he is intent on representing them while they are here. I am sure that Fox spoke about many things in his address to the state legislature, and in his private meeting with the Governor. But I have to admit, and this is speaking for myself, that after Fox came out in support of the President’s amnesty program (you know, where we let those who illegally cross into the country pay a couple thousand bucks and call it a day), I really didn’t care what he had to say about anything else. As far as I am concerned, we should cut off any foreign aide to Mexico(whether direct from the U.S. or via the U.N. or World Bank) and start to make up a penalty list of how to make Mexico realize that we are not pleased with their Chief Executive’s aggressive pro-illegal immigration posture. I was particularly proud of the dozen-or-so California legislators who chose to boycott Fox’s speech out of principle. I also… Read More