Yesterday afternoon, I had the great honor of serving as emcee for a ceremony celebrating the inauguration of Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado. Our new LG is the first Latino Republican to hold California statewide office in 130 years (yes, that many). The last gentleman, Romualdo Pacheco, Jr., served in the Legislature, as state treasurer and even spent a year (in 1875) as governor of our great state.

Abel was surrounded by his lovely and delightful wife Laura, his children, his family and his friends; eldest daughter Erica led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Abel opened his remarks in flawless Spanish – directed primarily at his father, Abel, Sr. – and closed with a long list of ‘greats’ for which California is renowned (creativity, tech, work ethic, values, etc.). It was an incredibly proud moment for me.

Our 47th LG assumes office, finally, in June. His confirmation was blocked, on the first attempt, by the California Assembly,… Read More

The Poizner Campaign has released a new survey, and here is their pre-spin and followed by the spin from the pollster… The Whitman Collapse Whitman’s Lead Shrinks to 10 points; Down to 5 in Targeted Markets Team Poizner today announced the latest internal polling showing Meg Whitman’s once 48 point lead down to just 10 points. The poll proves that Poizner’s messaging is moving numbers fast, while Whitman’s messages have been ineffective. Whitman’s 48 point lead has shrunk to five points in all markets outside of the San Francisco Bay Area. While Whitman has poured millions into television and radio in the San Francisco media market, Poizner has yet to launch his broadcast TV campaign there, but will soon.… Read More

Over on the San Francisco Chronicle’s Politics Blog, ace reporter Carla Marinucci is sharing that there is word out there that new polling shows that Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has significantly closed in on GOP gubernatorial front-runner Meg Whitman.

Here is what Marinucci has deduced thus far. Also in Marinucci’s piece is a new ad put out by the Whitman campaign, which we have embedded below.

The Poizner campaign is holding a 1:30pm press call (which FR will be on) to get more details…

… Read More

I’ve heard a lot of outrageous Big Government stories in my day, but here’s one that wins the prize. LA Times’ Steve Lopez reports that owners of a mom and pop Chinese restaurant in the San Fernando Valley are under deep (and questionable) scrutiny by California state auditors, specifically the Board of Equalization, for allegedly under-reporting sales taxes.

As a candidate of the BOE (2nd district), I can assure you that I oppose tax evaders and cheats. The under-ground economy has disastrous consequences for society – look no further than Greece. However, I am equally opposed to big government harassing small business owners.

Let’s break down Lopez’ facts: 1.The owners, Sander and “Mama” Ho, are the sole workers at the Tasty China, the restaurant under scrutiny. 2.Lopez’ lunch for two, with tax and drinks, came to just over $12. 3.Many customers buy only a $1 carton of white rice. 4.The restaurant is small and rarely filled to capacity. 5.The Ho’s dwell in a one-bedroom North Hollywood… Read More

You can see the ad below…

… Read More

Today, in advance of the Poizner campaign holding their telephonic press call to announce their internal survey showing that the race for the GOP nomination for Governor has closed up, the Whitman campaign held their own briefing with reporters. They’ve gone ahead and released some excerpts of the briefing with Whitman campaign honchos Michael Murphy and Jeff Randle…

Here are some excerpts from that call, courtesy of FR friend Sarah Pompei of the Whitman campaign… Mike Murphy: “The Goldman Sachs ad I know is a big spin item to the Poizner campaign but, I don’t know, I think it’s kind of spin heavy and the full Goldman story has not been told. First, it’s a distortion of Meg, she was on the board briefly seven years ago, before any of the current investigations. She’s for tough investigations of Goldman Sachs, she said it was a bad fit, it’s why she left the board. As far as IPO’s are concerned it’s curious to me that Steve Poizner, who was a client of the… Read More

On occasion I get press releases that are good enough to pass along, verbatim. I got one yesterday from the campaign of Mark Lunn who is running for Ventura County Clerk/Recorder. Lunn, a conservative, currently serves as Chief of Staff to Supervisor Peter Foy — a second career for him, after retiring from the California Highway Patrol.

Lunn’s opponent in this open-seat race (the incumbent is retiring) is none other than Peter Foy’s former opponent in his run for Supervisor four years ago, Jim Dantona. I could devote a whole blog post to Dantona, but that isn’t the purpose of this post. It’s to highlight how Lunn has brought to light, with thorough documentation, how Dantona wants to be elected to an office of public trust, can’t keep his personal finances in order. The example in this release has to do with property taxes. But having been at this for a while, trouble paying one’s property taxes is the big "red flag" for opening up the hood and seeing a lot more trouble.

The moral of this story… Pay your property taxes on time, especially if you want other people to trust you to be their… Read More

Prayer has always been a component of American history. You need not be a person of faith to know that prayer has influenced our history and that Presidents have honored and called for prayer during times of national crisis. It is ingrained into our national traditions. It is in that spirit that the National Day of Prayer was created by a joint resolution of Congress and signed by President Truman in 1952 to annually recognize prayer’s importance.

Since then, there have been 57 Presidential Proclamations for a Day of Prayer. Last year, all 50 state governors including Governor Schwarzenegger signed similar proclamations encouraging citizens to pray. The Day of Prayer serves to remind all Americans, of all backgrounds, to reflect on the blessings and challenges that have shaped our nation. It is a wholesome call to pray for the well-being of our communities, country, and those serving in our Armed Forces.

Unfortunately, for a small and vocal minority largely comprised of atheists and agnostics, the safe guards in the First Amendment are not enough. A group called the Freedom From Religion Foundation believes that the National Day of Prayer leaves… Read More