Free Republic

It was a busy weekend on both coasts for California Republicans. Fresh from raising taxes and slicing the budgets of fellow consitutuional officers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger headed to Washington, D.C. to attend a National Governors Association meeting and take a bow before the national media. Likening California's budget troubles to an earthquake, the governor defended his decision to raise taxes and said his party's leaders in Washington should be "team players" with President Barack Obama. And if that means violating the GOP's principles, he said, so be it. Grand Old Party members with another point of view, meanwhile, were wrapping...

Sacramento -- With their love affair with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger officially ended, Republicans in the nation's most populous state feuded over the weekend in a long, hard debate about their party's future - and it wasn't pretty. On Sunday, with more than 1,000 Republicans convening at the Sacramento Hyatt Regency for their spring state convention, delegates approved a watered-down measure aimed at chastising the six Republicans who broke ranks to vote last Thursday for a new state budget package, which included $12.5 billion in new taxes. Although the original resolution called for censuring the six legislators, the final version says...

California Republican Party delegates passed a resolution Sunday to deny funding for campaign mailers for six state lawmakers who voted for a budget with tax increases. But the party action, approved in a voice vote at the Republican's state convention in Sacramento, didn't include a formal censure of the lawmakers as originally drafted. The vote may be mostly symbolic because only two of the six targeted legislators are eligible to run for re-election in 2010. But Jon Fleischman, a state party officer and a conservative firebrand who publishes the FlashReport Web letter, claimed credit for passing "a stronger message that...

Sacramento, CA (AP) -- A California Republican Party committee has voted to reprimand six GOP lawmakers who voted for a compromise budget plan that boosts taxes. The measure, which was endorsed Saturday during the party's spring meeting in Sacramento, also denies the lawmakers any financial support from the party during the 2010 elections.

You have got to believe that the California Republican base is dispirited when a delegate at this weekend's state party convention is circulating a resolution to apologize to former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis for recalling him from office. But that is exactly what party delegate Alex Burrola is suggesting. The resolution, underscoring some party activists' seething displeasure with "post-partisan" GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, reads as follows: "Whereas, in 2003 a grassroots effort was begun to recall then-Governor Gray Davis from office on grounds which included gross mismanagement of the budget and finances of the State of California; "...Whereas, candidate Arnold...

Rep. Darrell Issa fired a shot across the GOP bow Friday night at state Sen. Abel Maldonado, who cast the deciding vote in favor of a budget deal raising taxes. Starting out by lampooning the Obama administration for appointing Democrats with tax problems to administrative posts, Issa poked fun at Maldonado in a speech at the opening dinner for the California Republican Party's three-day spring convention in Sacramento. "Do you think Abel will have to pay those taxes now that he is an honorary Democrat?" Issa said.

SACRAMENTO -- A historic loss in last fall's presidential election. Declining party registration statewide. A shrinking minority in the Legislature. You'd think the annual gathering of the California Republican Party would be filled with long faces and head-scratching anxiety. Not so. Party activists are buzzing after a dramatic week that saw most GOP lawmakers hold out against a state budget deal that will raise $12.8 billion in taxes - although it also cuts $15.1 billion from state programs, most of which come from schools. The few Republicans who did support the plan could face a verbal firing squad from activists...

Budget hero – or turncoat? Sen. Abel Maldonado has staked his political future on being the final piece of California's budget jigsaw puzzle. The $40 billion package to ease the state's budget crisis had been stalled, a single vote short, until the moderate Republican flipped to cast the decisive vote early Thursday morning. To secure his support for higher taxes, the Santa Maria lawmaker wrung concessions from resistant Democrats that could launch his ascent via a mixture of populism and tilting the political playing field to his advantage. Those victories, however, came at a political cost. Maldonado had to abandon...

Republican Assemblyman Anthony Adams cast his "aye" budget vote at dawn today with full knowledge that, as he has said, "this will probably be the end of a political career for me." But that doesn't mean the Hesperia Republican plans to go down without a fight. The second-term assemblyman spent much of Wednesday trolling the Capitol corridors, folder in hand, gathering endorsements from his caucus for his 2010 reelection. "I think it's important that people know that my caucus is supportive -- that I'm not making any decision lightly," Adams said on his way into a GOP member's office Wednesday....

The Republican Party needs to abandon the pro-life plank. Let us fact it, the unborn do not vote, and it is not the pro-lifers who have abortions anyway. However, every newspaper columnist in the state agrees that pro-life Republicans can not be elected into statewide office. Reducing taxes and spending to get California moving again is a noble goal. Therefore, since electing Republicans will reduce taxes and spending, electing Republicans is justified by the nobility of the goal. Since abandoning the pro-life plank and leaving the unborn to the mercy of their mothers will help get Republicans elected into statewide...

It's almost done. State senators were approving a deal to close the state's $40 billion budget deficit this morning after agreeing to give Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, most of the changes he demanded in exchange for providing the crucial 27th vote. Here's what he got: * A constitutional amendment establishing an open primary system. The measure will place on the June 2010 ballot an open primary proposal affecting congressional and state races in 2012 and beyond. Under the plan, the top two candidates in a primary would face off in a general election. Candidates would not participate in partisan...

Republican Sen. Roy Ashburn of Bakersfield is invoking the memory of the man conservative love to idolize -- Ronald Reagan -- as he prepares to vote for a budget package that includes more than $14 billion in new taxes.

In what could be a break in state budget talks, legislative Democrats are contemplating a firm offer -- approval of three constitutional amendments -- from Republican Sen. Abel Maldonado as a means to closing the state's $40 billion budget shortfall. Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, could provide the crucial 27th vote necessary to pass a budget package that has been stalled since Saturday. In a lunch meeting at Spataro with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maldonado asked for ballot measures to create an open primary system, prohibit legislative pay raises in deficit years and stop legislators from receiving salaries if they do not pass...

The first GOP leadership challenge resulting from the budget negotiations came and went Saturday night as Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, moved unsuccessfully to unseat Assembly GOP leader Mike Villines. In a closed-door Republican caucus before the marathon floor session, DeVore made a motion to remove Villines as GOP leader (known as "vacating the chair" in Capitol-speak). None of the other 28 Republican Assembly members seconded the motion. "The discussion was a credit to the caucus. Nobody raised their voice, everything was logical, people made their case and I lost," said DeVore, who is plotting a 2010 run for U.S. Senate....

Republicans at this week's state GOP convention in Sacramento will have plenty to talk about - and the discussions won't be happy ones. The party is coming off a record pasting in November's election, when their presidential candidate, Arizona Sen. John McCain, got only 37 percent of the California vote. Republican registration in California is shrinking, and the voter gap with the Democrats is growing. Democrats picked up more seats in the Legislature in the last election, moving them closer to the two-thirds majority that will allow them to ignore the Republican minority completely. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, is...

Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, has joined a growing list of Republicans to denounce the tentative budget deal reached by legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. What makes Dutton's decision significant is that, as vice-chairman of the budget committee, he has been widely viewed as a potential support of the compromise. "I, in good conscience, can not look in the mirror and raise the taxes on the average family of four by more than $1,000, as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has estimated. I can't ask that family to go 10 weeks without groceries," Dutton wrote in an op-ed his...

In an effort to ramp up pressure on Republican lawmakers who might agree to a compromise budget deal, a top GOP official has submitted a resolution for the party's convention later this month to formally censure any Republican who votes for new or higher taxes. "If the Republican party loses the ability to say that we're the party against higher taxes than we've been dealt a grievous blow," said Jon Fleischman, the author of the resolution and a Southern California vice chairman in the California Republican Party. Fleischman, who publishes the conservative FlashReport Web site, said the resolution is meant...

A Democratic district plagued by low turnout winds up going to a Vietnamese-American Republican. It happened in New Orleans in 2008. Could it happen in Garden Grove in 2010? Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La.) shocked everyone last month by winning a heavily Democratic seat in New Orleans, becoming the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. But before that, many thought that distinction was tailor-made for California Assemblyman Van Tran (R), who had been the highest-ranking Vietnamese-American in U.S. politics. Tran has been eyeing a bid for Congress for a while now, and in 2010 many expect him to make a run at Rep....

WASHINGTON – Tom McClintock arrived in Washington last week, ready to say no. He'll say no to President-elect Barack Obama's plan to spend roughly $800 billion to rev up the economy. He'll say no to spending billions to bail out the auto industry. And he'll say no to his home state of California and others looking to Congress to get out of their budget messes. He said the federal government doesn't have the money and needs to spend less to avoid "the same folly" as California, which is projecting a $40 billion shortfall in the next 18 months. "My state...

SACRAMENTO — Freshman Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, has barely dipped her toes into the roiled waters of the Legislature but is already facing heat from Republicans — for a vote she didn't take. She and three other Assembly Democrats, all of whom won seats previously held by Republicans, did not vote on the first major piece of legislation that came their way: the Democrats' proposed $9.3 billion revenue increase as part of an $18 billion deficit reduction plan. The plan was approved by the Democratic-controlled Legislature but vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, though the two sides are in the midst...

It's safe to say Tom Campbell, the former congressman exploring a run for governor in 2010, is not your typical Republican. . . . "The price of gasoline has now fallen in our state. Last June it was about $4.60. If you were to put on a gasoline tax of about 18 cents, so we'd still be well under two dollars a gallon," Campbell said.

SACRAMENTO — Republican lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a Democratic proposal for a temporary 1½-cent sales tax increase despite pleas by their colleagues across the aisle to look beyond political partisanship in the face of California going broke. GOP members in the Assembly, however, stood united against tax increases on the argument that it would hurt the down economy and cost more jobs in a heavily taxed state. What Democrats called an investment in the state's education system, Republicans characterized as bloated government. "People are hurting, jobs are on the line," said Assemblyman Ted Gaines, R-Auburn, before a largely party-line vote....

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger opposed Proposition 8, has openly hoped that courts will now overturn it and has encouraged opponents to "never give up."In the process, he's ignited a battle within his own party. Christian conservatives are using him as a foil, to claim that they, not the Republican governor, represent the party base. That Schwarzenegger is "condoning street protests and supporting judicial activist scams to overturn a popularly approved state constitutional amendment approaches advocacy of anarchy," said an action alert from the Family Research Council, which urges conservatives to contact Schwarzenegger's office. With Republicans out of power in both houses...

While legislative Democrats dreamed for much of 2008 of pulling within one seat of a supermajority in the state Senate, they will find themselves even further away than they started when the new Legislature convenes on Dec. 1. First, the party appears to have failed to pick up a seat in the upper house in the fall campaign. Second, Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, a Los Angeles Democrat who is taking a seat as county supervisor, must resign his post in Sacramento in the next week. Combined, that will leave the majority party with only 24 members in the Senate for at...

Hey FReepers, I am looking for other FReepers in Orange County. We are starting a new action oriented grassroots conservative group to provide support (and opposition) for local issues. It will be very action oriented (rallies, precinct walks, phone banks, etc.) and will hold regular monthly meetings in the Saddleback Valley. If you live in the area please let me know. We are holding our first meeting a week from tonight to discuss forming the club, it will be in Rancho Santa Margarita on Monday Dec 1st at 7:00 PM. Email me if interested in getting involved jesse@joinjesse.com Thanks!

SACRAMENTO — Some California Republicans are saying they have found a key to expanding their fast-shrinking base, and it lies in the most glaring aspect of the Proposition 8 election results: the minority vote that went overwhelmingly for it.With seven in 10 blacks and 53 percent of Latinos voting in favor of the ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage, Republicans say they are confident that their common interests with minorities on traditional family and social issues can help forge new political alliances."It shows there are issues the Republican party and minorities can agree on," said Mike Spence, president of the...

SACRAMENTO — Orange County conservative Assemblyman Chuck DeVore's decision to challenge U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer in 2010 wasn't exactly what some Republicans had in mind when thinking about revitalizing an image that took a bruising in the Nov. 4 elections. A darling of the hard-right wing of the party for his positions on abortion, taxes, regulations and energy, critics say the Irvine Republican is tied too closely to past battles already waged and lost. He doesn't do what they need, they say, to expand the party beyond its shrinking base. For one, his staunch anti-abortion stance is a hurdle that...

It's official: Republican Assemblyman Chuck DeVore will run for the seat of U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer in 2010 - and he has a message for Arnold Schwarzenegger if the lame-duck governor covets the seat as well: Bring it on. "Hey, let's do it," DeVore said of Schwarzenegger minutes after the Orange County legislator formally launched his congressional bid Wednesday via an Internet news conference. "I welcome the competition," said DeVore, R-Irvine. "I think that in a closed Republican primary between a governor who's trying to enact the largest tax increase in California history vs. a guy leading the charge in...

This Tuesday, following the Public Advocate national citizens survey on Marriage protection, supporers of both presidential candidates, McCain and Obama, also voted in favor of Marriage Protection initiatives. States where marriage protection measures were approved by voters included California and Florida. Public Advocate of the United States conducted a citizen survey, which is now posted on Youtube, which proves that most citizens favor the national definition of marriage as being ONLY between a man and a woman. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCzxLpn4E5A Even in New York state, citizens overwhelmingly proved to favor marriage protection. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzvkvEuYrFY During this year's national debate on marriage protection, Public...

Assembly District 15 — the bulk of which lies in Contra Costa County but portions of which also fall in Alameda, Sacramento and San Joaquin counties — is not even close to being the same district it was in 2002, when now termed-out Republican Assemblyman Guy Houston was elected to the first of three two-year stints in office. That the political make-up of the once predominantly Republican region has changed — a fact reflected in shifting voter registration trends — was evidenced Tuesday by Democrat Joan Buchanan's clean victory in the race over Abram Wilson, the well-liked Republican mayor of...

If you would like to see a couple of websites that talk about the great impact of Propostition 8 in California, see http://protectmarriage.com/ and http://marriagematterstokids.org/. What it really comes down to is that in the end only one marriage model will be left standing since they are mutually exclusive. If Americans approve marriages between homosexuals or whatever kind of arrangement, departing from what God ordained from the beginning of the creation of mankind, the traditional, Christian marriage between a man and a woman will be looked down upon and those who do not accept this non-Christian form of marriage will...

Tom McClintock, a conservative Republican in a Democratic-dominated state Legislature, is the only state lawmaker to fail to shepherd a single piece of legislation into law in the past two years. Not that he seems to mind. As the Thousand Oaks state senator asks voters for a promotion to Congress, McClintock proudly touts his record. A fighter against government spending, McClintock was among the first to sound the alarm on the state's budget crisis. In short, he said he pushes public debate, if not specific legislation. "I came to the conclusion a long time ago that minority legislators have a...

I went on line to find the phone number of my local GOP headquarters and I googled California GOP. What I got was a list of valid GOP sites but every one has a warning stating that the site may harm your computer. I notified the GOP rep. about this. He believes a hacker is at work. No such problem with Yahoo.

Sacramento, CA (AP) -- The Sacramento County Republican Party removed images from its official Web site that compared Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and urged people to "Waterboard Barack Obama," after state GOP leaders complained about the content. The Sacramento Bee on Wednesday posted an image it said was captured from the Web site that showed Obama in a turban next to bin Laden. It said: "The difference between Osama and Obama is just a little B.S." State Republican Party spokesman Hector Barajas said the party asked Sacramento GOP officials to remove the offensive material on...

Slow starting but gets really good really fast...

California Republicans who consider themselves the party's conservative "conscience" will consider bucking their own party's governor this weekend to endorse the proposed recall of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The board of directors of the California Republican Assembly will gather during the state party's convention in Anaheim for the recall vote. "It's one of those issues that we need to talk about," said Mike Spence, the president of the arch-conservative organization and consistent Schwarzenegger critic. "The governor has been a failure when it comes to fiscal issues of California." Earlier this month, the well-heeled state correctional officers' union filed paperwork to begin the...

Sarah Palin was virtually unknown around the country up until a few weeks ago but she is NOW a household name and many Republicans in Monterey County believe that Palin is responsible for revolutionizing the party. David Finkelstein resident of Salinas said "I think her stand right or wrong she is honest and is comfortable with her position" The Monterey Republican Party has offices in Salinas but had to open another location in Seaside in order to meet the demands of GOP supporters in the area. Supporters are coming out of the woodwork. Katherine Dolbec of the Monterey County Republican...

Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner made official Monday what's been expected for months: He's running for governor in 2010. The state's only Republican statewide officeholder besides Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he will file paperwork today to open an exploratory committee to succeed Schwarzenegger in two years. The move is the first formal step taken to enter the race. "I am taking the first formal step toward running for governor in 2010 because I believe in California and I understand that meeting the challenges of the 21st century requires new and innovative ideas," Poizner said in a statement. Poizner, 51, sold a...

Ever since the California Taxpayers' Association endorsed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget -- which includes a temporary 1-cent sales tax hike -- conservative Republicans have gone on the offensive to discredit the 82-year-old taxpayers organization. The president of a rival taxpayer association said the group had been "rolled" by the governor. A regional vice-chairman of the Republican Party mocked them as "TaxCal." And on Tuesday, 31 of the 32 Assembly Republicans co-signed a letter blasting the group for making "a cynical political calculation" in supporting the governor's plan, which calls for the a permanent quarter-cent sales tax decrease after the...

Yesterday I went over a couple questions from the Saddleback Church Interview done with Rick Warren, where John McCain answered clearly and concisely and Barack Obama did not. A very clear example of why Obama backed away from his "Anytime, anywhere" challenge and refused to conduct 10 townhall style forums with John McCain. Obama stinks one-on-one, without his teleprompter. Yes, it is that simple. The good news is that Obama, his campaign and his supporters know how badly he did and better news yet, they understand how good McCain did, which is why they are in desperation mode to make...

I've never seen anything like it. The latest controversy has it that Barack Obama did so poorly at Saturday's Saddleback civil forum that left-wing commentators and members of the Obama entourage have made allegations of cheating against John McCain. I first saw the story at Newsbusters, which noted that NBC's Andrea Mitchell suggested to her colleague the possibility of McCain cheating by overhearing Pastor Rick Warren's interview with Obama. Betsy Newmark responded to the Newsbusters piece: These guys are so full of themselves and their guy's miraculous abilities that they can't imagine John McCain would actually come off as more...

Ernie Scherer of Pleasanton, who was found brutally murdered with his wife on March 14 in their home, has been elected posthumously to the Alameda County Republican Central Committee. Scherer had received 4,758 votes as of Monday’s tally at the Alameda County election web site. Voters were to choose six people among nine candidates and Scherer came in third place behind David Latour and Douglas Miller.The Central Committee must now vote to appoint someone to fill the vacancy.In order of votes, the other candidates were: Brian Eschen, Deslar Patten, Christopher Kuhn, Daniel Byards, Andrew Latour and Gregg Byars.The police still...

The stakes may be high for the six candidates vying for the District 15 Assembly seat of termed-out incumbent Guy Houston, R-San Ramon, but there may be more on the line for the four Republican candidates. With three-termer Houston being the only Bay Area Republican serving in Sacramento, the region's Capitol contingent could become GOP-free if the Democrats win District 15 in November. Four Republicans and two Democrats have been campaigning hard for the June 3 primary, each hoping to earn their party's nomination for the November general election. Both parties recognize the need for a candidate who can appeal...

The Republican free-for-all to replace retiring GOP Rep. John Doolittle is ugly and getting uglier, with the campaigns spending plenty to tag one candidate as a greedy carpetbagger and the other as a big-spending liberal. Those are fighting words in the Fourth Congressional District, which rambles from the Sacramento suburbs of Rocklin and Roseville east to Lake Tahoe and north to the Oregon border. Former Rep. Doug Ose and state Sen. Tom McClintock are brawling for the GOP nomination in a district where Republicans outnumber Democrats 47 percent to 30 percent and the incumbent is leaving after being named in...

WASHINGTON — Congressman Jerry McNerney, a freshman Democrat, has emerged as one of the Republicans' top targets in Congress this year, making the race in his district that rarity in California politics — a national battleground contest and a true tossup. In 2006, McNerney pulled off one of the big upsets of the year when he knocked off Republican Richard Pombo, a committee chairman who earned the ire of environmental groups. Now, efforts by the GOP to retake the district, which stretches from Stockton through Alameda County to Morgan Hill, ensures an expensive campaign and should be one of the...

WASHINGTON — Local congressman Jerry McNerney, a freshman Democrat, has emerged as one of the Republicans’ top targets in Congress this year, making the race in his district that rarity in California politics — a national battleground contest and a true toss-up. In 2006, McNerney pulled off one of the big upsets of the year when he knocked out Republican Richard Pombo, a committee chairman who earned the ire of environmental groups. Now efforts by the GOP to retake the district, which stretches from Stockton through Alameda County to Morgan Hill, ensures an expensive campaign and one of the state’s...

Peninsula GOP leaders asked Atherton Republican Greg Conlon "to take a bullet for the party," he said, and run against Jackie Speier in the special election to replace the late Rep. Tom Lantos earlier this month. The 75-year-old Conlon played the good soldier, dutifully finishing second with 9 percent of the vote, as Democrat Speier grabbed 79 percent for an easy - and expected - victory. Across the Bay Area, more Republicans are being asked to face that same electoral firing squad, marching into legislative contests where they have little or no chance of winning behind an increasingly tattered GOP...

LOS ANGELES, (AP) -- A splinter group of Republicans with ties to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and financed by six-figure donations will recruit candidates with hopes of reversing the party's disappointing record in recent statewide elections. Disclosure of the group Tuesday — California Republicans Aligned for Tomorrow — comes at a time when the California Republican Party has been struggling with financial and management problems and factional strife between moderates and conservatives. A list of supporters comes from across the party's political spectrum, but the organization appears geared to promoting Republicans who can compete statewide in a state that leans Democratic....

Bryan DeWinter spent his summer vacation in Israel, speaking with convicted terrorists at a maximum-security prison and venturing to the Syrian and Lebanese borders, where signs of the 2006 war with Hezbollah still remained. In Washington, D.C., he spent winter break meeting with Department of Homeland Security officials, analyzing government tactics to quell terrorist activities. Although young Democrats have dominated the spotlight this presidential election, helping to swell the ranks of new voters, college Republicans like DeWinter are just as impassioned about the 2008 presidential campaign. But instead of demanding a change of course from the Bush administration's policies, young...

Husband in double slaying had gambling, real estate, political ties; deaths appear 'motive specific,' official says -- The man who was killed alongside his wife in their Pleasanton country club home was a "complicated" and, at times, controversial local figure with political, gambling and real estate ties, those who knew him said. Ernie Scherer, 60, was a passionate conservative who once worked for former Republican Congressman Bill Baker. He dabbled on the professional poker circuit and was an active real estate investor who bought and sold homes across the country. "Local politics was as much a hobby to him as...