A Governor’s appointee with upwards of 40 violations of the Fair Political Practices Act works right in Jerry Brown’s office, and somehow has managed to retain her job while demonstrating an uncanny talent for avoiding major media’s spotlights.

While Deputy Legislative Secretary Martha Guzman-Aceves has served as a public official in the Brown Administration managing legislation and regulatory matters for the governor,her non-profit organization lobbied the Legislature and governor’s office on various issues, including AB1081, federal immigration policy enforcement,” I reported in October 2013.

“California Deputy Legislative Secretary Martha Guzman-Aceves intentionally filed false documents with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars, filed false tax returns, failed to report receipt of payment from a political committee, and omitted third-party relationships that directly conflict with her position and duties as Deputy Legislative Secretary in the Office of Governor Jerry Brown,” the… Read More

Throughout a lengthy interview with Secretary of State candidate Pete Peterson, I was repeatedly struck with how normal he was. And in politics, “normal” is not the word that usually first comes to mind.

Peterson, a Republican, is running for California Secretary of State on a logical, smart, creative and very reasonable platform:

1. “Get what you pay for” government.

2. Quit driving jobs out of California by making life… Read More

Diapers, diapers, diapers for everyone!

If ever there was evidence of the need for a part time Legislature in California, it is now: California Democrats are pushing a diaper subsidy program for welfare parents.

The rationale for this idea is right out of the welfare-state handbook: low-income parents cannot take advantage of free or subsidized child care if they cannot afford to leave disposable diapers with their child at care facilities.

This is nothing more than an increase in welfare payments to welfare recipients, without actually identifying it as an increase. California taxpayers would be livid if Democratic lawmakers were honest about increasing welfare payments.

There are more than 15 different welfare and assistance programs for needy Californjia… Read More

TheCalifornia Legislature’s latest attempt to saddle consumers into paying extra for plastic bags at the grocery store is facing formidable opposition.

The American Progressive Bag Alliance just announced it is launching two new television ads opposing Senate Bill 270, by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima.

SB 270 would ban the 100 percent recyclable, multi-use plastic retail bags while allowing grocers to charge and keep fees for paper and thicker plastic bags. Padilla and supporters call the current plastic grocery bags “single use.”

Ironically, SB 270 bans the currently used recyclable plastic bags and replaces them with heavier plastic bags, five times thicker. It is unclear in this… Read More

The California Legislature, run by a Democratic Supermajority, is noodling Open Meeting laws – again.

Two years ago, I wrote about how theCalifornia Air Resources Board, with help from Democratic Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, figured out a way to exempt itself from the state’s open meeting act, yet another blatant example of California Democrats doing whatever they can to operate in secret.

Government Code 11120, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, is explicitly exempted in the language of budget trailer billSB 1018. ”That was the final nail in the coffin of transparency,” a Capitol staffer commented.

Currently, AB 194, by Asemblywoman Nora Campos, D-San Jose, would allow local agencies, city council and county bodies, to adopt “reasonable regulations” to limit public comment, including time limits. However,According to Campos in January,… Read More

From the “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up” file, a bill currently in the California Legislature would require BB guns and Airsoft Pellet guns painted bright toy colors so they won’t be mistaken for real guns.

Coloring BB guns (“BB” stands for “ball bullet,”) in bright colors will only give parents and children the impression that they are children’s toys, rather than recreational and target sport guns.

And criminals will start painting their AK 47s hot pink.

Last year, Gov. Jerry Brownsigned 11 gun control billsinto law andvetoedseven. More gun bills are on the firing line this year — even banning some BB guns.

In January, the California Senate passed the BB gun bill,Senate Bill 199, by state Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, 23 to 8. In June, the Assembly Public Safety Committee passed the bill, 5 to… Read More

Gov. Jerry Brown announced Tuesday he’d like to build shelters for the thousands of young immigrants from Central America, currently illegally flooding California’s southern borders.

However, this is the same Jerry Brown who in 1975 complained vociferously about the Federal government plan to “dump Vietnamese on” California after the fall of Saigon.

This week Brown said, “Certainly I’d do everything I could to make sure California will do its part to shelter any young children that are in need of protection,” Brown told reporters.

However, in 1975, Brown had a very different view on large groups of homeless, foreign refugees; “We can’t be looking 5,000 miles away and at the same time neglecting people who live here,” Brown said about Vietnamese refugees, Breitbart’s Kerry Picket… Read More

Labor unions are bad for workers and employers. But sometimes the good guys prevail.

The lawsuit filed by a Fresno farmworker against members of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board alleging civil rights violations will move forward to trial, a federal judge just ruled last week.

In February of this year, Gerawan Farming worker Silvia Lopez sued the gubernatorial appointees and regional staff of the ALRB alleging that their refusal to count the Gerawan farmworkers’ decertification votes violated her 1st and 14th Amendment rights.

The Agricultural Labor Relations Board says it exists to protect the rights of all agricultural employees, including those not wanting labor organization representation, as is the case with Gerawan Farming employees. However, Gerawan farming employees say they have not received any assistance from the ALRB.

Whenever they can, labor unions historically try to gain control over entry into the labor market. “Such measures… Read More