Four California Ballot Measures Worthy Of A ‘Yes’ Vote
Most of the oxygen in the room for this November’s election is being sucked up by the prolific and particularly vitriolic presidential showdown between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. You may be focused on that race because of your desire to make everything great again, or just a morbid fascination with reality TV-meets-American politics. That […]
Tax Breaks For Olympic Medalists? No Thanks!
Last week Democrats in Sacramento killed a bill by conservative Assemblyman Brian Jones (R-Santee) that would have exempted Olympic medal winners from paying state taxes on their winnings. The U.S. Olympic Committee gives out bonuses to medal winners — $25,000 for gold medals, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze. Your first reaction might be frustration that […]
Proposition 57: Jerry Brown’s Early Release For Violent Criminals
Just a week ago, California Attorney General Kamala Harris released an alarming report detailing how violent crime in California is on the rise, increasing 10% over the last year. Violent crimes were up last year by about 15,000 to a high of 166,588. Homicides went up 9.7 percent, robberies 8.5 percent, aggravated assaults 8 percent. Rapes increased […]
Sacramento Democrats Target Munger Transparency Measure
Bay Area billionaire and moderate Republican mega-donor Charles Munger, Jr. has proposed a transparency measure, the California Legislative Transparency Act, likely to qualify for the ballot this November. However, Democrats in Sacramento may try to stop it first. Munger’s measure would require that proposed legislation be published in its final form and available to the public at […]
Free Speech Prevails; AG Rebuked by Court
Despite the best efforts of Kamala Harris, the First Amendment is alive and well in California. Federal Judge Manuel Real made that much clear recently when he ruled against California Attorney General Kamala Harris in a lawsuit brought by Americans for Prosperity Foundation. It serves as a reminder that constitutional rights can never be taken […]
Brokered Convention Likely Means Trump Goes Third Party
If you are Donald J. Trump, you are not very excited about the idea of a “brokered convention.” Aside from falling short of the delegates needed to win the Republican nomination for president outright, the way delegates are chosen, and the nomination process itself, are not ideal for someone running an outsider assault on the party. A […]
June Ballot Measure a Reminder of Capitol Corruption
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla has assigned a number, Proposition 50, to the only measure to appear on the upcoming June primary ballot. If passed by the voters, Prop. 50 would amend the state constitution to allow either chamber of the legislature, by a two-thirds vote, to suspend a member of that body without pay […]
Speaker Ryan Needs to Reach Beyond the Beltway
On Thursday, the House of Representatives elected Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as its Speaker. As the telegenic 45-year-old from Wisconsin was sworn into office, Speaker Ryan gave a speech just shy of fifteen minutes long to his 434 colleagues-but the American people were watching as well. Snippets of Ryan’s remarks aired on the evening news, and quotes appeared […]
Unified Republicans in CA State Capitol Block Tax Increases
Early Saturday morning, after midnight, the California legislature ended its regular session, and two special sessions. Despite an immense amount of pressure on them from the Governor, their Democrat colleagues, and powerful special interests – Republicans held the line and successfully stopped billions of dollars in proposed tax increases from being enacted. I spoke with California Republican Party […]
Republicans In Sacramento Are About To Face A Key Decision On Taxes
Will the beleaguered California Republican Party, fresh off some modest legislative pick-ups in the 2014 elections, head into the next campaign season unified, and positioned to hold those gains and perhaps make a few more? Or will the GOP limp into next year’s campaign season reeling from massive internal warfare and conflict? The answer to […]