From the House floor…remarks in opposition to Klamath dam removal.

September 22, 2011

Mr. Speaker: This generation is facing spiraling electricity prices and increasingly scarce supplies. Californians have had to cut back to the point that their per capita electricity consumption is now lower than that of Guam, Luxembourg and Aruba.

What is the administration’s solution?

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced yesterday that the administration is moving forward with a plan to destroy four perfectly good hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River capable of producing 155,000 megawatts of the cleanest and cheapest electricity on the planet – enough for 155,000 homes.

Why would the administration pursue such a ludicrous policy?

They say it’s is necessary to help increase the salmon population. We did that a long time ago by building the Iron Gate Fish Hatchery. The Iron Gate Fish Hatchery produces five million salmon smolts each year – 17,000 of which return annually as fully grown adults to spawn. The problem is, they don’t include them in the population count!

And to add insult to insanity, when… Read More

There is a story about three governors that should be told because it highlights the choices we face as a party in who we nominate to carry our banner in 2012.

The September 2007 California Republican Party convention provided a moment of the clearest possible contrasts in how we can define our party.

On Friday evening of the convention the delegates heard from three governors at one dinner, and it turned out to be the most unusual political dinners in the recent history of the state Republican Party.

Shortly before the dinner, walking with Governor Schwarzenegger down from a private suite in the Renaissance Esmeralda hotel, a member of his staff asked if I had been briefed on what the Governor was planning to say that night. I indicated I had not been. Surprised, the staffer went on to explain that the Governor would have some “tough things to say about the party.” This struck me as unusual, since conventions are an opportunity to thank volunteers and activists for their hard work, and inspire them… Read More

Apparently Governor Jerry Brown, in a speech yesterday, was once again lamenting that he is having trouble getting Republicans to support his public policy agenda. Never mind the fact that the center-piece of his “ask” of Republicans was a massive (vastly so) increase in the state’s income, sales and car taxes.

But my attention was particularly drawn to this statement, appearing in the New York Times…

“They are afraid that letting the people vote on a tax extension that, in a mailer, can be stigmatized as a vote for taxes. Four people control the Republican Party. Jon Coupal, who works for Howard Jarvis; Grover Norquist; the Ken and John talk show; the guy who does the Flash Report. Any two of those can stop any bill in the Legislature where Republicans are needed. They basically work for them. They are like, when I was growing up, the Catholic Church had something called the Legion of Decency. The Legion of Decency rated the films. And if you got it condemned… Read More

The former California Congressional seat 11 has seen three consecutive hard fought battles, with Jerry McNerney defeating Richard Pombo, Dean Andal, and then, barely, David Harmer. But the new seat, numbered California 9, is a different seat. This time around it is almost wholly within the conservative San Joaquin Valley. Looking at the numbers, Republican Attorney General candidate Steve Cooley won the district, which Republican US Senate candidate Carly Fiorina narrowly lost. After the drubbings Democrats took last Tuesday, one could predict that CD-9 would be already moving into the NRCC crosshairs.

It gets worse for Democrats eager to hold the seat. Jerry McNerney has decided to move 60 miles from the East Bay to defend the more conservative portion of his seat. Note to readers: yes this is the same Jerry McNerney who is a former wind farmer. He has been busy touting green jobs (such as those at Solyndra) and the Obama stimulus for the last three years. Unemployment is 17% in the new district, and probably more like 20% when you consider the seasonal farm work.

The Republican who may finally retake the district was only 18 years old when Jerry McNerney first… Read More

The President’s latest proposal to make “the rich pay their fair share” is just another awful idea in a series of awful ideas from this Administration. First of all, it again defines a taxpayer making $200,000 as “rich”. I know a number of such people and I suspect you do too. They live comfortable lives, but I don’t think they deserve the suddenly pejorative term “rich”, particularly if they come to that income by way of 2 working spouses and some investment income because they have saved money over time.

But, the new wrinkle here is the so-called “Millionaires” tax on incomes over $1 million. Obama’s rhetoric explains that he will only require that these incomes pay the same tax rate as “middle class families”. Well, obviously, the tax rate on these incomes is already much higher than for lower tax brackets. Most deductions for higher income people have already been largely eliminated through the alternative minimum tax and other tax laws over the last 20 years. There are really only 2 ways to get the tax rate on your $1 million income down. The first is if a bunch of that income is derived… Read More

I have been barraged with requests since the convention with questions about who this person or that person voted in the Platform Committee meeting. Thankfully the fine staff of the California Republican Party were able to furnish me with the roll call vote that was taken, which replaced the drafting committee’s watered-down platform with the conservative platform. So this is as good as it gets in understanding how things were split. I should add that if you don’t see someone on this list who is on the Platform Committee, that means that they were not at the meeting.

Again, a “Y” vote was for retaining our current conservative platform. A “N” vote was to use the watered down draft. “NV” means that the individual signed in at the beginning of the meeting, but did not respond when their name was called.

Susan Abato – N Adam Abrams – Y Linda Ackerman – NV Walter Allen – N Ivan Altamura – N Christian Amsberry – N Joel Anderson – Y Martin Avila – Y Darlene Ayers-Hohnson – N Hector Barajas – N… Read More

Last weekend at the California Republican Party’s biannual convention in Los Angeles, I stopped in to the hospitality suite of Presidential candidate and gay rights activist Fred Karger. Just as I got their, the program began, and so I took out the Flip cam and recorded it. Former California Log Cabin Republican President Len Lanzi introduces Former State Senator Roy Ashburn (who came out of the closet in his last term, and also was the deciding vote for the largest tax increase in California’s history. One action made him famous, the other infamous. You can decide). Then Karger speaks for about 16 minutes. If you watch all of it, towards the end, takes a break from his gay rights theme to critique President Obama — for around a minute…

LINK TO THE VIDEO.… Read More

There is much to be said about the California Republican Party’s Fall Convention held in downtown Los Angeles last weekend. Presidential candidates and a straw poll, great workshops and townhalls, tributes, speeches and more. The better part of a thousand GOP activists, donors and leaders descended on the L.A. Live! Marriott-Ritz hotel, across from the Staples Center (we were the pre-show for the Emmy Awards, I guess).

This column, however, is devoted to only one aspect of the convention – the ongoing process of the quadrennial adoption of the California Republican Party’s platform. One step of that process occurred at the convention, but a very important one.

By way of background, once every four years the CRP adopts its platform. I have been a member of each platform committee going back to 1992 – so this will mark two decades of direct involvement in this process. It has been since 1992, I believe, since there was a bona fide fight over the platform with party conservatives and moderates battling it out. Conservatives won the day back then, and while the platform has gone through changes over this intervening years (it was much… Read More