Senator John McCain accepted his party’s nomination for President in St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center last night in front of an enthusiastic audience. However, the excitement meter was turned down a bit from the previous night when Governor Sarah Palin spoke to the convention.

McCain’s address did not provide the drama, anticipation or the curiosity that the little known governor of Alaska offered the previous night. Then again, more drama was expected from a person that the Senator’s wife, Cindy, described earlier in the evening as “a pistol packing mother of five.”

As to McCain’s speech, the reviews from the California delegation were mostly positive. McCain was lauded for his direct approach and straight talk. I was told McCain understands the need to move the government forward with 21st century ideas. Others said he delivered the speech he had to give and did it well.

There are two things that almost all Californians agree on. First, our public education system is failing its most important constituents – the students. Second, the California State Legislature, California Teachers Association, along with entrenched bureaucrats and administrators scattered throughout the public school system, have effectively blocked incremental, meaningful reform.

Efforts to stop significant and lasting change could not be any more staunch or selfish than those that have thwarted mere incremental reform, meaning we’ve seen the worst the irradicable can do. Therefore, it’s time to be bold and enact four dramatic measures that would transform public education in California and make it a source of pride, not embarrassment.

The recent collapse of international trade talks in Geneva makes it clear that the United States must become more bullish in forging ahead with its own trade agreements with developing nations. On the heels of President Bush’s trip to South Korea, where President Bush and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak reiterated their support for building robust bilateral trade, our Congress needs to take serious steps toward enacting a free trade agreement with this vital and emerging trade partner. The Administration is hoping that the President’s trip to Korea served as a catalyst for Congress to see the real benefits of free trade with South Korea and enact an agreement that has been sitting in limbo—mired in partisan debate—since the summer of last year.

South Korea is a key ally with strong diplomatic ties to the United States. Improving trade relations with our seventh largest international partner—a country that now produces a trillion dollar economy—would bring new energy and vitality to a U.S. - Korea partnership and could help Korea become our third-largest free trade partner -- exceeded only by the European Union and NAFTA.

Vice-Presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska lit up the Republican National Convention last night and turned anxious delegates into wild cheerleaders. Many delegates admitted waiting with unease for what amounted to a coming out party for the little-known governor. If Palin didn’t perform well, the delegates felt the campaign for President would never gain momentum.

But measuring the feelings of delegates who witnessed the speech in the Xcel Center, all concerns were put to rest. Former California Governor Pete Wilson said she was subject to “uncharitable speculation” before the speech that she would not do well. He said he was confident going into the speech that she would succeed. After he heard the speech, Wilson said, “My confidence was more than vindicated. She connected with the audience here in the hall and in the living rooms all over America.”

Political strategist Jeff Randle said that Palin had no room for error after the pounding she had taken since John McCain’s announcement that he had chosen her as a running mate. Randle said she made no error. Anaheim mayor Curt Pringle admitted to being anxious about her performance before the speech but concluded after the speech that it was “great and she over-performed.”

I struggle in writing for Fox and Hounds to not constantly sound like a curmudgeon...always criticizing Sacramento elected officials for their partisan antics, illogical behavior and otherwise nonsensical undertakings. I try to write about the positive and offer glimmers of hope that our government is working for us not against us. It’s a challenge, believe me.

But, after enduring almost three months of budget stalemate, I’m so frustrated I could scream. There’s no incentive for the Legislature to fix the budget mess. No carrots or sticks exist that can subvert partisan politics. Governor Schwarzenegger can encourage, scold and attempt to embarrass the Legislature…but, in the end, if both parties can’t move beyond partisan rhetoric, there’s no compromise to be had.

It’s completely logical for Democrats and Republicans to propose budgets that fit each party’s ideological preference. For Dems, minimize cuts and raise taxes on everyone…but position tax increases as taxing the rich. Unfortunately for all Californians, in the Democrats’ mind, we’re all rich. For Republicans, we’re witnessing an all-too-common phenomenon. Hold the line on tax increases but offer dramatic budget cuts and heavy borrowing to close budget gaps – in the short-term. Such positioning by both parties was perfectly acceptable in June and July. But, as August is now behind us and we’re almost a week into September, partisan rhetoric at this point is so empty there’s an echo.

Both parties are misguided. The phrase, “politics is the art of compromise,” is completely lost in Sacramento.

What started as a fairly simple and laudable goal – cleaning up the pollution at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles – long ago devolved into a mess. That mess now is getting bizarre.

It’s also a tragedy in the making. Hundreds, maybe a thousand or more little trucking companies that have long served the ports are in danger of being wiped out. And it’s unnecessary. This mess could stop. That’s what makes it bizarre.

The issue at hand is the Clean Trucks Program. The ports want to get rid of the thousands of old, fume-spewing trucks that ferry shipping containers into and out of the ports. They want new, clean-burning trucks. Many of the trucks that call at the ports are driven by their owners, many of whom are scraping by, and so the ports decided to subsidize the purchase of the new trucks. They came up with a fee on shipping containers that would help raise the considerable amount of money to subsidize the new trucks. The truck owners would still have to pay some, of course.

Fred Thompson rocked the house at the Republican Convention last night in St Paul, Minnesota, but Sen. Joe Lieberman left a larger mark on the delegates at the convention.

Democrat Lieberman went farther than he was expected to go in support of Republican McCain according to a number of delegates in the hall. Despite a host of previous speakers, it fell to the Democrat Lieberman to first mention by name Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama.

“Senator Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who can do great things for our country in the years ahead. But eloquence is no substitute for a record -- not in these tough times,” Lieberman said. He added, “In the Senate he has not reached across party lines to get anything significant done, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest groups in the Democratic Party.”

Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association will be in court today seeking an expedited hearing schedule for its suit challenging the ballot material for Proposition 1A which seeks voter approval for $9.9 billion for a controversial "high speed rail" system.

Proposition 1A was placed on the ballot just last week as a replacement for Proposition 1. Both would authorize a massive $9.9 billion bond as seed money for a controversial "high speed rail" project from San Francisco to Los Angles. But the switch from Prop 1 to Prop 1A will cost the state over $5 million just for the supplemental ballot - and serious questions have been raised about whether the Secretary of State even has enough time to comply with federal laws designed to permit overseas military personnel to vote on the election.

Proposition 1A is flawed both procedurally and substantively. The manner in which the title and summary have been prepared, the false and misleading information in the ballot material and the fact that this project will be one of the biggest boondoggles in American history render Prop 1A a taxpayer nightmare.