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[6/30/05
Thursday]
[Ken
Masugi - Local Liberty Blog - Claremont
Institute] 12:01 am [permalink]
 Dual
Citizenship Dilemma: Where Does Mexico End? Mexico’s
Congress voted overwhelmingly to permit voting
by mail, thus allowing as many as 4 million immigrants,
legal and illegal, living in the U.S. to vote without returning
to their country (LAT, Chris Kraul, Sam Quinones).
Of course this raises as well the issue of dual citizenship—can
someone belong to two countries at the same time? The issue
is particularly acute with regard to Mexico, because of its
proximity and the past history of border disputes.
Although
no one has exact figures, as many as 10 million Mexican citizens
live in the United States, about half of them believed to
be legal immigrants, many of whom hold dual citizenship,
and about half illegal immigrants. As many as 4 million of
these immigrants, both legal and illegal, may be eligible
to vote next year, according to estimates by the Mexican
Senate.
And this
leads us to wonder about the LAT’s good Opinion ideas:
Where is the immigration
thinking out loud series? Recall this
version of the late unpleasantness.
John
Fonte questioned the legitimacy of dual citizenship in
this essay on the Hudson Institute’s website. Look for his
essay on current immigration issues in the next issue of Local
Liberty, which will feature three essays on immigration.
Subscriptions are, for now, free. See below for an excerpt
from his critique of dual citizenship:
Mexican
legislative bodies have reserved seats for deputies representing
Mexicans living in the United States. The general idea makes
sense, but the problem is the Mexican government has designated
as "Mexicans" naturalized American citizens and even their
children born in the United States. Several years ago, Fox
Cabinet member Juan Hernandez declared "we are betting" Mexican-Americans
will "think Mexico first" to the "seventh generation." Thus,
Mexican government policies directly challenge American national
interests in patriotically assimilating these newcomers. [visit Local
Liberty Blog]
[6/29/05
Wednesday]
[Ken
Masugi - Local Liberty Blog - Claremont
Institute] 12:01 am [permalink]
Walters
on Regional Reform Dan
Walters urges consideration of regionalism--governance
including perhaps several counties on various issues--as
a way of moving beyond Sacramento sclerosis and local weakness.
State
government's political sclerosis is, if anything, becoming
more acute. And given the astonishing breadth of California's
cultural, economic, political and geographic diversity,
perhaps it's impossible for state-level policymaking to
flourish again…
Regionalism
has its potential downside, diminishing an already battered
sense of statewide community. But it may offer California
its only realistic hope for restoring effective governance
because local governments are too parochial and the state
government is completely gridlocked.
But is this
too great a bow to the false god of efficiency? The great problem
with regional government, what makes it efficient, is that
it is in large measure unaccountable. How do you vote them
out of office? The regional government is comprised of officials
elected from an array of constituencies. This is the peril
our politics has brought us to, the temptation to take decisions
out of our hands (our liberty) for the sake of supposedly better
government. [visit Local
Liberty Blog]
[6/27/05
Monday]
[Tom
McClintock] 12:01 am [permalink]
SCOTUS Kelo v. City of New London, Connecticut: Last
week the U.S. Supreme Court broke the social compact by striking down one of
Americans’ most fundamental rights. Their decision nullifies the Constitution’s
Public Use clause and opens an era when the rich and powerful may use government
to seize the property of ordinary citizens for private gain.
The responsibility
now falls on the various states to reassert and restore the
property rights of their citizens. I am today announcing my
intention to introduce an amendment to the California Constitution
to restore the original meaning of the property protections
in the Bill of Rights. This amendment will require that the
government must either own the property it seizes through eminent
domain or guarantee the public the legal right to use the property.
In addition, it will require that such property must be restored
to the original owner or his rightful successor, if the government
ceased to use it for the purpose of the eminent domain action. [McClintock Blog]
[6/25/05
Saturday]
[Chuck
DeVore - columnist] 11:02
am [permalink]
In the “you think we have it
bad” department West Virginia is going to
the polls today (Saturday) to vote on taking out $5.5 billion
in bonds to pay for their under-funded teachers’ retirement
system.
Long known
for its big union infused power politics, West Virginia serves
as a cautionary tale for us out West. With a population of
only 1,815,354 (Orange County has 3 million residents), Democrat
Governor Joe Manchin, III has proposed to add over $3,000 of
bonded indebtedness to every man, woman, and child in the state
to fund its teachers’ pension system. There are 26,000
retired teachers in the state with another 19,313 teaching
and presumably eligible to retire some day. Taking into account
all 45,313 of the retired and active teachers, the $5.5 billion
of debt equals over $121,000 per teacher. (I’m surprised
that West Virginia’s U.S. Senators and kings of pork
Robert C. Byrd and John D. “Jay” Rockefeller IV
haven’t orchestrated a federal bailout.)
To further
place things into context, the entire West Virginia state budget
is $3.19 billion. Unfunded pension liabilities exceed the state
budget in 12 other states too.
Complicating
Gov. Manchin’s low-voter-turnout-on-a-summer-weekend-sneak-it-through-strategy,
Don Blankenship, the CEO of Massey Energy Co., has spent many
thousands of dollars of his own money to urge voters to reject
the ballot initiative. The mining executive argues that the
plan is risky and has attacked the $55 million in fees that
will go to the bankers, lawyers and others who assembled the
deal.
How did West
Virginia get into this mess? Demographically, the state is
old and poor. On the federal level, the rest of America pours
in $1.73 for every dollar paid by West Virginians (California
get about 76 cents on the dollar back from D.C.). But, and
here’s the problem, West Virginia’s business climate
ranks 47th in the nation (see www.TaxFoundation.org)
while since 1990 West Virginia's state and local tax burden
has risen from below the national average to well above the
national average.
Let West
Virginia’s ills serve as a powerful warning to California
that it is impossible to tax and regulate a government budget
back to fiscal fitness and that unbridled government union
power will eventually bankrupt government. Supporting the Paycheck
Protection initiative is one sure way we can check unlimited
government union power. While supporting the governor’s
budget reform and redistricting initiatives are the best way
to make progress on fiscal responsibility in California.[www.ChuckDeVore.com]
[6/23/05
Thursday]
[Nick
Winter-Found
in the ebag] 8:02 am [permalink]
Polling
games a letter from reader Mike Hontz -
I thought it was interesting that in an article by
Gary Delsohn the Sacbee it states that 52% of registered
voters opposed the special election and when told
the cost the percent goes up to 61%. But not once
does the article state what was in the ballot.
If asked, “do
you think children under 17 should get parental consent before
getting an abortion or should rank and file members of unions
be able to be asked if their dues can be used for political
parties” would the poll have changed a bit? [Mark – yep,
selective emphasis, eh?... ‘cause within the poll numbers
those measures are favored to pass AND other numbers that show
the Legislature is lower in poll numbers than the Governor!
- Ed.]
[Ken
Masugi - Local Liberty Blog - Claremont
Institute] 12:09 am [permalink]
Can
Republicans Be Principled AND Victorious? LAT columnist Patt
Morrison ridicules the California Republican Assembly,
a volunteer Republican group that takes principled conservative
stands and endorses candidates.
The
CRA is the bemuscled bouncer of California GOP politics.
You want the nomination, or even an endorsement? You go
through the CRA. By the time a candidate staggers out the
far end of its conservative purity-test grinder, there's
not much electable meat left on his bones.
But the Goldwater
debacle ultimately gave birth to a more principled Republican
party. Why elect Republicans, the CRA has convincingly argued,
who simply acquiesce to Democratic stances on taxes, morality,
and regulation? Why bother with politics at all? Wouldn't it
be better to soak up the sun?
Long-time
CRA member and political theorist Richard Reeb provides a thoughtful
analysis of the CRA in this
essay. His recommendation to big-hatted Patt and the CRA
would be the big tent not of New Majority semi-Republican types
but the colossal tent offered by Abraham Lincoln. [visit Local
Liberty Blog]
[6/22/05
Wednesday]
[Ken
Masugi - Local Liberty Blog - Claremont
Institute] 8:09 am [link]
End
of the Black Dragon Gang? While attention has
been focused on Mexican and Central
American gangs, Asian gangs have proved menacing as
well. With the conviction of three Black Dragon gang leaders,
David Pierson in the LAT writes that the gang "suffered
an inglorious downfall." Oddly, the article, on p.
1 of the California section, is not posted on the LAT website
nor available by Google news.The existence of gangs questions
fundamental authority and morality. Hence, the appropriateness
of the twin themes of the "Gangs of New York"--
the ethnic gangs and the Civil War.[visit Local
Liberty Blog]
[6/20/05
Monday]
[Ken
Masugi - Local Liberty Blog - Claremont
Institute] 11:59 am [link]
LA
Times Editorial Watch LA
Observed notes the noble failure of the LA
Times “Wikitorial” experiment.
Unfortunately,
we have had to remove this feature, at least temporarily,
because a few readers were flooding the site with inappropriate
material.
Thanks
and apologies to the thousands of people who logged on
in the right spirit.
The op-ed
page already has a diversity that makes it more interesting
than the NY Times’. It’s the news coverage that frustrates
acute readers. See NYT editor Bill Keller’s attempts to
address these problems and our comments. [visit Local
Liberty Blog]
[6/17/05
Friday]
[Ken
Masugi - Local Liberty Blog - Claremont
Institute] 9:09 am [link]
Two
Cheers for Direct Democracy What is truly at stake in the Governor’s
call for a special election is whether we remain a self-governing people or are
merely the creatures of Sacramento careerists, public employee unions, the illegal
immigration lobby, and those who see workers and businesses as resources to be
exploited and redistributed to the politically favored. Conservatives have always
and rightly contested whether the initiative is consistent with our deepest constitutional
ideals. Obviously the Founders of this nation rejected direct democracy, insisting
on deliberative, representative institutions. But they also knew about town hall
meetings and their strengths and limitations.
In our contemporary
political condition it might be that the legislature is too
sick to cure itself of fundamental ailments. The most thoughtful
probing of these questions is found in Edward
Erler’s essay in The California Republic. What is
required of statesmanship at this juncture is to refine the
passions of direct democracy into a governing conservative
majority in Sacramento. That would be the ultimate political
objective, not a strategy of pinpricks (or even major body
blows).
One illuminating
recent book that defends direct democracy is John Matsusaka’s For
the Many or the Few : The Initiative, Public Policy, and American
Democracy. It will be reviewed in the next issue of
our newsletter, Local
Liberty (subscriptions free, for the time being). He
argues that direct democracy cost the taxpayers more in the
early 20th century, but it has held down government spending
in more recent years. A summary of John’s political argument
can be found in his LAT op-ed this
morning. As he observes,
Politicians
are having the hardest time adjusting to the idea that their
job is to follow the will of the people and not the other
way around. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles),
for example, said "another election is not the solution;
it's the problem." [Peter
Schrag agrees.]
But what
would he say about initiatives that tax millionaires? Doesn't
the old objection that direct democracy threatens rights still
deserve respect?
Matsusaka
is President of the Initiative
and Referendum Institute and a professor in the school
of business at USC. His Ph.D. is from the University of Chicago,
which published his book. I recently discovered that we share
the same high school, Woodrow Wilson, in Tacoma, Washington.
There are more notorious alumni than we, but I'll relate that
story at another time. [visit Local
Liberty Blog]
[6/16/05
Thusday]
[Eric
Hogue - radio talk show host KTKZ -
Sacramento] 12:01 am [link]
State
Senator Campbell's 2001 Vote on Immigrants Tuition Members
of the OC Blog have
been riled up over a John Campbell affirmative vote why he was in
the Assembly in 2001, offering in-state tuition benefits to illegal
immigrants and their children.
Monday I
had the State Senator, and candidate for the 48th Congressional
District, in studio and asked him about his vote on this legislation
in 2001. Here is the text of the conversation...
Hogue - Numerous
bloggers in Orange County are commenting about a vote that
you offered in 2001 on the Assembly side, when you were there,
that would give 'in state tuition' benefits (favors) toward
illegal immigrants, or the children of illegal immigrants
in California. Do you remember that vote sir?
Senator
Campbell - I do remember
that vote, and let me...let me start out by saying basically
that was first few months in the Assembly, and I can
tell you why I was convinced at the time to make that
vote...because of a clause in there which wound up being
'weakened' and unenforceable.
(The
original clause) Which was going to say, that the people
had to be actually...recognized by the US Government,
and in the process of citizenship. But, that ended up being
a non-enforceable thing. So, basically that vote was not...well
it was a mistake.
And
if you look, I never made any other vote...I learned from
that vote, and to make more (of an example)...it was in
my first few months as I said, to analyze these things
more and make no vote since then.
Also, to
the rumor that John Campbell hired an illegal immigrant while
he was operating his car dealership in Orange County, after
describing the events surrounding this story on my morning
show - this rumor is simply that, a rumor...and the charges
are pointless. [Hogue Blog -
email: onair@ktkz.com]
[6/15/05
Wednesday]
[Ken
Masugi - Local Liberty Blog - Claremont
Institute] 12:01 am [link]
LA: "the
fate of humanity"? Rick
Cole, Ventura city manager and former mayor of Pasadena,
takes Los Angeles, “mother of all sprawl,” to be a model
city for the world. “On that hope rests the fate of humanity”,
as mega-cities increase their portion of the world’s population.
Will LA be another GM (did he mean Chrysler)?
Cole is skeptical
of decentralization. See our thoughts on LA secession and the
proper size for LA here and here.
That is certainly no formula, but Joel
Kotkin supplies some sober advice on how LA can thrive
outside of anyone’s formulas.
Your neighborhood
focus runs counter to the promotion of downtown.
A lot of
our so-called elites have what you might call a case of envy. "Oh,
we've got to look like Manhattan." What is Los Angeles, chopped
liver? We've managed to be a great city without a great downtown.
Today, cities like Houston and Phoenix are growing without
major downtowns.
So Southland
sprawl is a good thing?
Los Angeles
is like the Internet, a bunch of random access points. People
are amazed [at] who lives here. Ray Bradbury, Al Toffler … many
Nobel Prize winners, many amazing artists. But there's not
a coherent sense of that. It's hard to get a rise out of L.A.
We don't care who the mayor is, particularly. We care about
our neighborhood, and then we live in this organism, Los Angeles.
[visit Local
Liberty Blog]
[6/14/05
Tuesday]
[Jon
Fleischman proprietor of FLASHREPORT daily political
email] 2:15 pm [link]
You can subscribe to Fleischman's FlashReport updates
for free - drop him
a line
at jonflash@earthlink.net
Replacing Chris Cox The
race to succeed Chris Cox has had more twists and turns in its infancy than anyone
could have predicted. With State Senator John Campbell's announcement on the
Hugh Hewitt show last Friday that he is running for the seat, along with yesterday's
big news that State Senator Dick Ackerman will not run for the seat, and retired
Senator John Lewis' announcement that he, too, is taking a pass... The field
of candidates is at two -- Campbell and self-described moderate former Assemblywoman
Marilyn Brewer. There is at least one survey out in the field right now, so we
may soon get some numbers on how this match up would go with probable voters,
but it is likely premature to assume that
this is the full field of candidates.
I spoke briefly
last evening with a very excited John Campbell. He is clearly
very enthusiastic about this race.
Worthy of
note was the interesting candidate-shuffling that took place
late last week by GOP consultant Dave Gilliard. Gilliard has
represented both Ackerman and Campbell in past elections, and
was on-board coordinating activities with Ackerman for this
race. To everyone's surprise, Gilliard was quoted in last Friday's
Orange County Register being not so supportive of an Ackerman
bid. This raised a lot of eyebrows. My understanding is that
Gilliard and Ackerman have parted ways -- presumably Gilliard
is still on board with Campbell...
When I spoke
with former Congressman Bob Dornan last week (at length), he
indicated that he would likely support Ackerman. With Dick
out of the race, what will B-2 do now? Speaking of former Congressmen,
Jim Rogan is also still a factor out there, preferring to wait
until after Cox's confirmation before making his intentions
known...
Jim Lacy
is still leading The Successor Project, pulling together conservative
groups towards the goal of uniting the ideological right behind
a strong conservative candidate... More groups keep joining
-- look for more on this in my next update.
Finally,
James Gilchrist, leader of the Minuteman militia project where
citizens watched the borders in Arizona, looking out for illegal
crossings, has been a rumored potential candidate for this
seat. I incorrectly reported (bad info!) that Gilchrist is
a GOPer -- he is in the American Independent party (assuming
this info is any better than the last). Still, in an open-primary
special, he would be a factor. Gilchrist is giving a major
address on Thursday night to the Saddleback Republican Assembly
in Mission Viejo All will be listening to see if he is going
to get into the race... [email to
subscribe to FLASHREPORT]
[Eric
Hogue - radio talk show host KTKZ -
Sacramento] 12:01 am [link]
Assembly
Member Chuck DeVore
to the "Red Carpet"? So
who will be come the "new" State
Senator
from John Campbell's District? The Early bets are on current Assembly
Member Chuck DeVore. He is new to the Assembly, but dearly loved by his constituents
in the OC Neighborhood.
There are
also mentions of Assembly Member Van Tran,
the first Vietnamese-American elected to the State Assembly.
Van Tran is a good guy, as is Chuck DeVore -
both solid conservatives for the Republican Party.
Then, if
either run, who enters for the Assembly seat? It never ends
folks[Hogue Blog -
email: onair@ktkz.com]
[6/13/05
Monday]
[Jon
Fleischman proprietor of FLASHREPORT daily political
email] 2:07 pm [link]
The Race to Succeed Christopher Cox: ACKERMAN DECIDES TO
STAY ON AS STATE SENATE GOP LEADER - LEWIS OPTS OUT OF RACE - OPENS THE WAY FOR
JOHN CAMPBELL AS NEW FRONT-RUNNER It is getting hard to keep up with the
ever-changing landscape of candidates lining up to succeed Congressman Christopher
Cox, once he is confirmed by the United States Senate as Chairman of the Securities
and Exchange Commission.
Just
a week ago, the FlashReport and others were hailing the early
and strong candidacy of State Senate Republican Leader Dick
Ackerman. Now, the news of this afternoon is Ackerman, after
a weekend of reflection with his family, has decided NOT
to run for Congress after all. In a conversation with him
this morning, Ackerman shared that he wants to continue to
work along side Governor Schwarzenegger, as Senate Republican
Leader on the issues and challenges facing California.
Former
State Senator John Lewis, who represented the 33rd State
Senate District for many years prior to Ackerman's election
to the State Senate, was also looking very seriously as a
bid for Congress. He, too, has decided against running. Below
is a release issued from his office. When I spoke with Lewis,
his concerns about the potential disruption in the lives
of his two young children, as well as possibly playing a
role in splintering the conservative vote were paramount
in his decision.
I
have been playing phone tag with State Senator John Campbell,
who now finds himself suddenly being a candidate, and a front-runner. [email to
subscribe to FLASHREPORT]
[Jon
Fleischman proprietor of FLASHREPORT daily political
email] 1:25 am [link]
From the FlashReport: STATE SENATE SHAKEUP... Over
the past few days, a lot of politicking has been taking place amongst the members
of the GOP State Senate Caucus, with the news of Senate Republican Leader Dick
Ackerman's candidacy to replace Chris Cox as the Congressman from the 48th District. Cox
has been nominated by the President to serve as Chairman of the Securities and
Exchange Commission and is now awaiting Senate confirmation. In order to
sort out what occurred amongst the Senators, I had to talk with quite a few legislators
and insiders. Without going into too much detail and 'burning' sources,
the story goes like this...
While
consensus exists among the Senators that Dick Ackerman is
doing a great job as leader, and should remain in that post
until his candidacy for Congress makes it impossible for
him to responsibly carry out the duties of that post, the
members of the Senate Caucus started, late last week, to
talk to each other, figuring out who will take the big fancy
office when Ackerman moves out. An early contender
was newly elected State Senator George Runner. Liked
by all, Runner spent six years in the State Assembly, and
had existing relationships. Apparently, though, for
reasons unknown the FlashReport, Runner decided not to pursue
the post. By the time the weekend was over, there were
three State Senators overtly interested in the post - Jim
Battin of Palm Desert, John Campbell of Irvine, and Dave
Cox of Fair Oaks, who is a former Assembly Republican Leader.
Battin
came out of the chute with a large number of supporters. I
heard from several sources that Cox really had no other ardent
supporters (maybe one) and that Campbell also had very few
committed votes. At some point yesterday, Ackerman
and Poochigian apparently weighed in on behalf of Battin,
pretty much sealing the deal that this Palm Springs area
conservative will assume the top post when Ackerman moves
on...
WINNERS
AND LOSERS?
Well, the big winner here would be Battin of course! Congratulations. It
is an especially sweet victory for him because he and Ackerman are on the same
timeline towards term limits. So, prior to all of this, Battin was really
looking at being a part of Ackerman's team until his departure from the legislature,
with no chance to become Leader himself.
The
big loser? Well, it might be a tie -- between John
Campbell and Dick Ackerman. Campbell, of course, made
it clearly known when he expressed his endorsement of Dick
Ackerman for the Congressional seat that he was interested
in being Senate GOP Leader. Failing to achieve this
goal (an apparently not even coming close) was unfortunate
-- but this bright and up and coming newly elected State
Senator still has a promising career ahead, only six months
into his first term...
Dick
Ackerman has to be sitting in his big cushy leader's chair
yesterday afternoon, wondering how this all happened... "All
this" refers to John Campbell's swift and direct response
to Ackerman weighing in for someone besides him for leader
-- within hours, Campbell, while on a regular appearance
on the nationally-syndicated talk show of FR friend Hugh
Hewitt, said that he is reconsidering whether or not to run
for the Republican nomination in the special election to
replace Congressman Chris Cox and withdrew his endorsement
of State Senator Dick Ackerman for the congressional nomination.
When asked why he withdrew his Ackerman endorsement, Campbell
said he was not pleased with some things that have gone on
recently in this regard. [Thanks to the 34 readers
who all emailed me upon hearing this on Hugh's program]. I
had an opportunity to speak with Ackerman, who certainly
feels like he did the right thing here, although (appropriately)
he didn't discuss too many details, as these matters are
'internal' to his caucus.
I
placed a call to Campbell to touch base with him, and here
is his statement (released through a top aide): "I
have decided that I need to re-examine the potential candidates
in this congressional race, due to the importance that this
seat holds; I want to make sure I support a candidate who
effectively represents the unique interests of this district.
As you know, I have represented nearly the entire 48th Congressional
district in his time in the Assembly and Senate."
How
this all shakes out up the Senate Caucus is yet to be seen...but
now you know what I know...based on the contacts that spoke
with me...
UPDATE
ON THE 48TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT RACE...
Well, John Campbell's pulling of his endorsement of Ackerman doesn't help our
frontrunner's candidacy. Ackerman still enjoys a tremendous advantage
over Marilyn Brewer (the only other credible announced candidate) in the field
of endorsements. Still, one of the challenges of being the first out
of the barrel is maintaining forward momentum. This next week will be
very important for Ackerman, who will need to show that he can raise the money
to earn his 'front runner' status...
MARILYN
BREWER KICKS IN $150,000 TO START OFF HER CAMPAIGN...
Brewer, who was spotted by many politicking earlier this week at event for
Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher in Fullerton, has seeded her candidacy with a personal
contribution of $150,000, reports Josh Kurtz in today's Roll Call Magazine. Kurtz's
article also heavily quotes political consultant Harvey Englander, who has
apparently been hired by Brewer. Kurtz notes that Englander is fresh
off the campaign of Bobby Shriver (Maria's brother) who won a seat on the Santa
Monica City Council. Englander consulted for Brewer in her successful
1992 Assembly run. Brewer, of course, is looking for a wide primary field,
and will undoubtedly seek to try and be the only moderate GOPer in the field. She
was elected to the State Assembly in 1992 when two conservatives split the
ideologically right vote, so her tactic has merit...and this race will allow
her to campaign for votes from Democrat and Decline to State voters...
"B-1" BOB
DORNAN NOT RUNNING
Retired Congressman Dornan called me on Monday, to take issue with how I characterized
him in an earlier issue. I was quite negative. The two of us cleared
up a misunderstanding between us, which was good. He made an apology
as did I, and to my readers, sorry for being negative about him. That
having been said, Bob went on for some time about his moral and ideological
justifications for his 2004 primary challenge to Dana Rohrabacher (I won't
recount them here) and then went on a tear about his extreme dislike (hatred)
for John Lewis. Lewis, readers may recall, was the consultant/advisor
in 1996 to attorney Lisa Hughes who ran a pretty nasty primary challenge to
then-Congressman Dornan. Dornan attributes his general election loss
that year, in a large part, to the negative rhetoric of that primary battle. What
does any of this have to do with CD48? Bob told me that is not running,
and would be very inclined to support Dick Ackerman.
MINUTEMAN
LEADER TO JUMP INTO THE RACE?
A tip from a FlashReport reader: James Gilchrist, the "project coordinator" for
the now-famous Arizona Minutemen, the citizen-volunteers who spent time posted
along the US/Mexico border to suppress illegal border crossings, lives in the
48th (in Aliso Viejo) and is thinking about throwing his hat into the ring. That
would certainly at an extra level of drama to the race. Of course, I'm
sure everyone's wondering the same as me...other than the issue of border control,
who is Gilchrist and what does he believe? I did check, though, and he
is a Republican...[email to subscribe
to FLASHREPORT]
[Eric
Hogue - radio talk show host KTKZ -
Sacramento] 12:01 am [link]
Battin Around the New Senate Leader I've
heard that the support for State Senator Jim Battin to
be the next leader of the Minority Party in the State Senate has
much to do with his ability to raise millions of dollars, and use
the cash to seed other Republican candidate up and down the California
Coast. This is great, but if you study the 'money train' of State
Senator Battin you notice that a majority of his cash comes from
the Indian Tribes and the CCPOA Union.
A simple
question; how can you have a Senate Republican Leader who
finds his fuel from the coffers of Indian Tribes and Public
Employee Unions when you have initiatives on the 'special
election' ballot trying to limit one, and legislation soon
to arrive removing the other from campaign contributions?
The Indian
Tribe money was the straw that broke the camel's back for
me during the recall campaigns, with both a Republican and
the Democrats.
How can you make
an argument about tax dollars burdens for illegal immigrants,
when we look the other way and take the Indian Tribe's
(sovereign country, right?) political campaign cash and
think nothing of the costs, development, land grab and city
infrastructure burdens (tax dollars) the ever growing
Indian Casinos cause? Not to mention the political power
they have to influence each and every race in the state.
I thought
we (the GOP) were hard at work trying to limit the growth and
control of the Indian Tribes? Why are they allowed to contribute
to another sovereign countries political campaigns in the first
place?
I also thought
we were trying to support the passing of the "Employee
Consent Initiative" (the Paycheck Protection Act) as
a party, how can we do this when one of the major sources of 'green'
for the 'red carpet' is coming from one of the largest public
employee unions in the state?
I happy to
read that State Senator Jim Battin has publicly supported
the "Employee Consent Initiative", but where does he stand
with the Indian Tribes - a group that has offered him $1.5
million dollars over the past few years.
Yet, there
are also a few investigations surrounding Senator Battin's
use of the Indian Tribe dollars, the same type of investigations
and concerns that have surrounded Lt. Governor Cruz
Bustamente's political operations.
Out of great
respect, the Senator contacted me this week, and we have agreed
to meet for lunch to discuss these issues. I've heard nothing
but praise for Senator Battin, one of the Republican politicos
that I have yet had the pleasure to meet.
I'm hoping
there is more to the story that I'm failing to see and understand,
we all want a good leader in the State Senate and if Senator
Battin is the guy, then I (we) want to be supportive. [Hogue Blog -
email: onair@ktkz.com]
[6/10/05
Friday]
[Eric
Hogue - radio talk show host KTKZ -
Sacramento] 12:01 am [link]
State Senator Campbell to Announce Today CONFIRMED:
State Senator Campbell's announcement comes today, (Friday)...
An announcement
from State Senator John Campbell is coming - and it is now
clear from my perspective, that Campbell is in the race and
John Lewis is out.
Considering
that this race will cost nearly $5-8 million dollars, the Lewis
cash-flow will offer John Campbell the boost he'll need to
gather the money (fuel) to get up and running ahead of the
others.
Campbell
will be the leader, and Marilyn Brewer will be the competitor
- State Senator Dick Ackerman will be playing third fiddle
early in this race. The risk for Ackerman, he runs for the
seat, offers up his 'minority leadership' in the Senate, and
loses the congressional to return the State Senate as a 'roll
call' Senator for the Republican Party.
State Senator
John Campbell's risk, other than a few bruised relationships
- none! [Hogue Blog -
email: onair@ktkz.com]
[6/9/05
Thursday]
[Eric
Hogue - radio talk show host KTKZ -
Sacramento] 12:05 am [link]
Who Replaces Janice Rogers Brown? I've
stumbled upon another great 'political blog' for the "Belly of the
Beast". It's called the Hack
n' Flack Blog, and its contributors are; Jose Gregorio
Esparza, Josh Lyman and Ray Kinsella.
Great blog guys, you've been added to the prestigious "Hogue
Blog Roll". May your hits continue to climb.
The Hack
n' Flack Blog starts tonight with a conversation we've
been having with numerous individuals in and around the governor's
administration, who will replace Janice Rogers Brown
on the California State Supreme Court?
Justice Janice
Rogers Brown FINALLY was just confirmed by the
U.S. Senate for the Federal Appeals bench.
Now let's
get on to the real battle...Who will take her place on the
CA Supreme Court? Who will Arnold pick?
Sacramento
D.A Jan
Scully could be on the list...or San Diego D.A. Bonnie
Dumanis...I guess you can also throw in former Congressman
and Deukmejian appointed Judge Jim
Rogan. [Hogue Blog -
email: onair@ktkz.com]
[6/8/05
Wednesday]
[Eric
Hogue - radio talk show host KTKZ -
Sacramento] 12:05 am [link]
Fabian
Nunez's 'Attack of the Rich' When
you hear Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez offer his rhetoric toward
the "rich", just remember this from Towhall's
Larry Kudlow yesterday:
Nations
engaged in punishing the rich and leveling income and wealth
through high taxes and resource redistribution have always
failed. These were the goals of the socialist and communist
regimes following WWII, in particular old Russia and its
satellites. The size and scope of these failures, and the
related deprivation of democracy and human rights, ultimately
led to the downfall of communism and the rise of free-market
capitalism, with its attendant privileges of free-election
democracy and sweeping new human rights. This very transition
is now occurring in the once darkest corners of the Middle
East.
The
economic failure of income- and wealth-leveling is more
and more apparent today. The stagnant economies of socialist
Old Europe are falling further and further behind the free-market
capitalist models of the U.S. and Britain. Milton Friedman’s
great 1962 book, “Capitalism and Freedom,”
should be read by all inhabitants of Old Europe. He offered
a way out. Twenty-odd years later, Ronald Reagan and Margaret
Thatcher put Friedman’s ideas into political
and economic action. The startlingly positive results are
being copied by India and China, if not inevitably by France,
Germany, and Italy.
So, we have
the Socialists Party inside of the Democrat Controlled Legislative
Body in Sacramento - again, trying to repeat history by attacking
the "high income earners", the 'rich', in an attempt to 'make
things fair for all in society'. [Hogue Blog -
email: onair@ktkz.com]
[6/7/05
Tuesday]
[Found
in the ebag-California Resource Institute] 12:21 am [link]
Gay Marriage bill defeated - barely: At the end of the day on Friday,
AB 19, the homosexual marriage bill, was defeated 36- 37.
41 votes (a majority) are necessary to pass bills from the Assembly Floor. Thank
you for your flood of phone calls and faxes to the swing-vote legislators. You
made a tremendous difference to preserve and protect traditional marriage in
California!
All 32 Republicans
in the Assembly voted "no" on gay marriage and they
were joined, in the final vote, by five Democrats. Here is
the final breakdown of the votes:
36
NOES: Aghazarian, Arambula, Baca, Benoit, Blakeslee,
Bogh, Cogdill, Daucher, De Vore, Emmerson, Garcia, Harman,
Haynes, Shirley Horton, Houston, Huff, Keene, La Malfa,
La Suer, Leslie, Matthews, Maze, McCarthy, Mountjoy, Nakanishi,
Niello, Parra, Plescia, Sharon Runner, Spitzer, Strickland,
Tran, Vargas, Villines, Walters, and Wyland
37 AYES: Bass, Berg, Bermudez, Calderon, Canciamilla,
Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cohn, Coto, De La Torre, Evans, Frommer, Goldberg,
Hancock, Jones, Karnette, Klehs, Koretz, Laird, Leno, Levine,
Lieber, Liu, Montanez, Mullin, Nation, Nava, Oropeza, Pavley,
Ridley-Thomas, Ruskin, Saldana, Torrico, Wolk, Yee, and Nunez
7 ABSENT, ABSTAINING, OR NOT VOTING: Dymally,
Gordon, Jerome Horton, Negrete McLeod, Richman (voted "no" earlier
but was gone when final vote taken), Salinas, and Umberg
While it
is a relief that homosexual marriage was defeated this year,
we still have plenty of work cut out for us in California!
The battle to preserve traditional marriage will not go away
any time soon. We must be ready to fight homosexual marriage
licenses in the state legislature next year and we must also
go on the offensive to protect marriage. Plans are already
underway to place an initiative on the ballot in 2006 to amend
the state constitution to protect marriage and CRI is part
of a broad-based coalition to help make this happen. Final
note: Please check back with us, on our website, in a few days
for a complete update on the status of all legislation. At
this time, we are putting together a new master summary to
include all of the bills that are still active.
[6/6/05
Monday]
[Found
in the ebag-State Senator Bill Morrow] 11:11 am [link]
Legislative Follies – Assembly Bill 756, authored by Assemblywoman
Goldberg of Los Angeles. This bill passed out of the Assembly and now awaits
action in the Senate Education Committee, which I am a member of.
If enacted,
AB 756 would prohibit the state board or a local governing
board from adopting textbooks that exceed 200 pages! I recently
grabbed my nine year-old son’s Algebra book and it contained
over 700 pages. How, in heaven's name, can our educators squeeze
a year's worth of learning into 200 pages? Unless Assemblywoman
Goldberg wants parents to purchase four algebra books instead
of one, our students are going to soon acquire a huge gap in
their schooling.
Goldberg
must think books are boring. She must want students to focus
more on computers and less on books. Somehow she found 41 other
Assembly members to buy into that philosophy, even during one
of the most hotly contested budget battles in our state’s
history.
I believe
that our kids need the best resources available to them, but
restricting a schools’ flexibility by barring any book
that exceeds 200 pages is neither a sound nor a reasonable
approach to accomplish this, especially when we should be focusing
our efforts to reform how our state spends its budget.
Rest
assured, I will vote against this measure when it is presented
to the Senate Education Committee.
[6/3/05
Friday]
[Ken
Masugi - Local Liberty Blog - Claremont
Institute] 12:01 am [link]
Immigration
Column Idea for LAT Columnist Steve Lopez I’ve whacked Steve
Lopez in the
past. I thought his column on a scholarship-winning
illegal immigrant was nuanced, though sympathetic to her. Lopez reacts to
critical readers in his
column Thursday, which insists
I didn't
set out to glorify Ann. She did things it's hard to justify,
like staying in the United States after her student visa
expired and lying about her residency to get lower tuition
rates and even a scholarship.
But
it seemed to me that she added something a little different
to the discussion on illegal immigration. That's why I
shared her story, along with her take on the rancor aimed
at illegal immigrants, sometimes by the very hypocrites
who benefit from their presence.
Later on,
Lopez adds, to display further even-handedness:
… I
want all the soft-headed Democrats to acknowledge the social
costs of illegal immigration and its impact on wages. I
want grandstanding Republicans to acknowledge that cheap
labor is part of a package that includes some form of work
visas. And I want President Bush to broker a deal while
taking a carrot and stick to Mexico and other sending nations.
But Lopez’s
evident sympathies for the conniving Ann make him, like it
does with other journalists, part of the story—the acceptance
of the culture of illegality, the first step of which is their
illegal entry. Thus, even-handedness becomes a cover, intentionally
or not, for acceptance of an unjust policy. "Ann" by herself
is not going to destroy America, even though her getting into
a prestigious graduate program may have displaced another deserving
student.
Another example
of such coverage, abounding in euphemism: The LAT’s story
Wednesday, “TV, Radio Give Legal Advice to Immigrants” (Anna
Gorman). It’s clear from reading the story that the bulk of
this Spanish-language media legal advice is how illegal immigrants
can stay in this country—for example, “At KTNQ-AM (1020), the
vast majority of listeners are Mexican, many of whom have recently
arrived in the U.S., program director Santiago Nieto said.” “[R]ecently
arrived”? (Recall the billboard.)
The Lopez
column and the Gorman story contribute, each in its own way,
to the construction of a culture of illegality. (See also this NYT story
on an illegals employment
agency, by Anthony DePalma.) Cardinal
Roger Mahoney's LAT op-ed, displays this tendency
as well, suppressing the difference between illegal and legal
immigration, while claiming "not [to] condone undocumented
migration." These articles also serve as reminders of the myth
of the objectivity of journalism. The way journalists cover
a story and the selection of stories and columns editors make
are parts of an overall story the media world tells about us.
And this is a story with a moral. The LAT and
the NYT (not
to speak of CBS) have gone too far, and they are seeking reforms.
Whether patients this ill can minister to themselves remains
a question.
My column
idea for Lopez: How the LAT strengthens the culture
of illegality in the way it covers "immigrants." My view of
the situation, in a nutshell: The problem is not too many immigrants;
it is one of not enough Americans. [visit Local
Liberty Blog]
[6/2/05
Thursday]
[Eric
Hogue - radio talk show host KTKZ -
Sacramento] 12:02 am [link]
Janice Rogers Brown's Replacement? With the
removal of Judge Janice Rogers Brown from the California State Supreme
Court this Fall, who will Governor Schwarzenegger nominate to replace
her?
As it stands
right now, the governor has nominated 29 'conservative' judges,
20 'liberal' judges and 7 who have not claimed party or ideology.
Why is this
such an important issue, because the State Supremes will be
debating and determining these issues:
- Tobacco
companies liability for their advertisements
- Indian
tribes immunity as it relates to campaign donation during
election seasons
- The domestic
partnerships, after the signing of AB205 by then governor
Gray Davis
- Gay couples
from San Fran challenging the reversal of the 'same-sex marriages'
due to constitutional violates by Mayor Gavin Newsome
Current "State
Supreme Robes" hold a (6-1) advantage; Republican
nominees versus Democrat nominee - considering that Schwarzenegger
is a Republican that ratio will not change, but the 'make-up'
of the bench most definitely will.
Yet, the
governor will be hard pressed to find another conservative
judiciary member like Janice Rogers Brown.
Add to this
fact that Judge Brown was a minority conservative judiciary
'leader' for California, no matter who the governor picks,
the replacement will be a step or two to the center of Janice
Rogers Brown.
Governor
Schwarzenegger's nominee will be announced this Fall and face
the Commission of Judiciary Appointments, before placed on
the bench. The nomination could 'help or hurt' the "Special
Election" as we go down the stretch.
Idea
for the Governor's Office: If there is a Latino/Hispanic
conservative judge (the likes of an Alberto Gonzales,
or Miguel Estrada) to be nominated, find him/her
and ready them for the confirmation process. [Hogue Blog -
email: onair@ktkz.com]
[6/1/05
Wednesday]
[Ken
Masugi - Local Liberty Blog - Claremont
Institute] 12:01 am [link]
The
Reformer Governor's Opportunities: Our reflection on two opinion pieces
leads us to conclude that The Terminator may need to think more like The Octopus.
Debra
Saunders wonders whether any boxes have been repackaged,
much less blown up. What has the Governor done to reform
the bureaucracy? Interviewing Schwarzenegger adviser Mike
Murphy, she thinks the facts point to an opposite conclusion: “Schwarzenegger
is shaving expenditures, but not going after his campaign
nemeses: fraud, waste and abuse.”
In a rather convoluted
editorial, "Reassessing the 'Octopus,'" the LAT thinks
that “Schwarzenegger hasn’t cemented his own place in history,
but he has far to go to earn his self-comparison to Hiram
Johnson.” Progressive Governor (and later Senator) Hiram
Johnson denounced the Southern Pacific Railroad, a clash
portrayed in the melodramatic
novel, The Octopus, by Frank Norris (yet another
book that would be effectively
banned in public school classrooms by Jackie Goldberg’s
latest bill.) But, following historian Kevin Starr’s assessment
of a new book, the LAT editorial allows that the Southern
Pacific may in fact have been the model for the agenda Progressive
government would later impose: employee health benefits,
environmental concerns, the public interest. Historian
Richad Orsi has written a kind of revisionist history
of the Southern Pacific that may serve to undermine the case
for Progressivism in California and nationally. One might
conclude—I haven’t read Orsi’s book—that Johnson came to
his lengthy career and Progressivism arose more on demagoguery
than on the facts. Lesson for today: Business sense, not
government mandates, should be the logic leading the reform
of our State—and businesses are being driven out of the state
by taxes and regulation.
The would-be
reformer Governor has plenty of facts to work with, as Saunders
notes. Schwarzenegger is in a good position to eclipse Johnson
in his significance for California, and not just because we
are seeing a truer picture of Johnson. [More on the Governor's
politicking-- going
local (Jean Pasco, LAT). [visit Local
Liberty Blog]
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