Free Republic

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That adage has more application than usual in California, where Democrats hold all of the statewide offices and supermajorities in the legislature. They can enact any policies they want, with only the judicial branch offering belated checks on their power. And when I say belated, that’s literally the case with state Senator Rod Wright, whom a jury found guilty in January of committing eight felonies regarding his residency and eligibility for the office he held.Normally, politicians who get that kind of a verdict have the decency to resign. If not, the body in...

Beginning in early 2011, state Sen. Leland Yee repeatedly solicited bribes to fund his San Francisco mayor and California secretary of state campaigns, according to the FBI agents who brought him down last month. But he appears to have devoted more time and energy to a far more lucrative pursuit: crafting or carrying legislation benefiting special interests who supply campaign contributions. It's a practice that's all too common in Sacramento, but Yee was a master. :snip: Yee introduced 20 bills from 2011 to 2014 that advanced a special interest over the public interest, according to this newspaper's review of his...

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A story that sounds like a movie script is slowly grinding its way to trial. All of the 29 defendants in the massive corruption case involving suspended State Senator Leland Yee and reputed gangster Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow appeared in federal court Thursday. With so many defendants, lawyers, and documents, the judge is trying to set up a system to manage what could be an unwieldy trial. What makes it even harder is that not everyone's on the same page. The frustration is beginning to show. There are 29 defendants, even more lawyers, a 137 page...

State senator accused of gun charges SAN FRANCISCO — A California state senator who authored gun control legislation asked for campaign donations in exchange for introducing an undercover FBI agent to an arms trafficker, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday. The allegations against State Sen. Leland Yee were outlined in an FBI criminal complaint that names 25 other defendants, including Raymond Chow, a onetime gang leader with ties to San Francisco's Chinatown known as "Shrimp Boy," and Keith Jackson, Yee's campaign aide. The affidavit accuses Yee of conspiracy to deal firearms without a license and to illegally import firearms. Yee...

GLENDALE, Calif. (KABC) -- Proposition 37 is a measure to require mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food. There are two sides to this contentious issue.

California Budget's Going To Be Dreadful Until long-term structural issues are fixed, there is no way legislators can produce an honest spending plan so the state lives within its means. George Skelton Capitol Journal November 23, 2009 The Capitol's budget oracle projects $20.7 billion in new red ink for the next 19 months. Here's my projection: More punting, "kicking the can down the alley" and numbers-rigging. Hope we're both wrong. Hope there's an economic miracle or political heroism, which would require sacrifice to the demagogues. But, based on history and facts, that's too much to hope for. Here's how nonpartisan...

So it might be the cynic in me or call me crazy for not trusting the government, but I cannot believe that there was not more attention paid to the state’s latest accounting gimmick to save the state’s budget. Starting Sunday you may notice a few less dollars in each paycheck, 10 percent less to be specific. While the state says that the money will be returned in April, something does not sit right with me when the government helps itself to even more of my paycheck especially when so many people are already living paycheck to paycheck. Read the...

On Nov. 1, the government of the state of California began withholding from workers' paychecks 10 percent more than what it had been withholding. The Los Angeles Times described this move -- prompted by California's fiscal calamity -- as "a forced, interest-free loan" from taxpayers to the government. The Times explained to its California readers that "You'll be repaid any extra withholding in April. Those who would receive a refund anyway will receive a larger one, and those who owe taxes will owe less." The ostensible purpose of withholding is to better ensure that taxpayers actually pay the taxes they...

The Democratic Party's dominance of California politics over the last decade can be attributed to a series of interrelated demographic, economic and cultural forces, but one person - someone most Californians didn't even know existed - could be rightfully credited with recognizing and seizing the opportunity those forces provided. Miguel Contreras was probably the state's most influential Democrat when he was felled by a heart attack Friday, having transformed the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor into a powerhouse that moved the county sharply leftward and tipped statewide politics toward Democrats. Ironically, however, the one-time San Joaquin Valley farmworker's death...

Remember Adlai Stevenson, III, and his failed run for Governor of Illinois in 1982? Of course you don’t; nobody does. But here’s the relevant story from that. A fair number of people, including the Republican who eventually won, questioned whether Adlai was “a wimp.” So he called a press conference to deny that he was a wimp. Helloooo. If you have to call a press conference to deny that you’re a wimp, it pretty well establishes that you are. Hold that thought and fast forward to last week. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in a war to the death with the...