Free Republic

D.C. and the Constitution Will Democrats let the law get in the way of an extra House seat? The House of Representatives seems set to grow by two Members, to 437, after next year's election. Yesterday the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act passed a key procedural vote in the Senate, making passage of the legislation, which President Obama supports, all but certain. The only thing standing in the way may be the Constitution. ... ... the plain language of the Constitution, ... provides that House members shall be chosen "by the People of the several States" and stipulates...

... sales tax increase take effect...?... [add +1%] ... April 1, .... If the spending cap fails, the tax hike ends June 30, 2011. If the cap passes, the tax ends June 30, 2012. ... ... special election May 19. ... ... spending cap; ... increase annual education funding by $9.3 billion in future years; ... Proposition 63 mental health ...; ... Proposition 10 cigarette tax ...; ... state lottery; and deny pay increases to lawmakers during budget deficits. .... ...... May 19, the vehicle license fee rises from ... 0.65 percent ... to 1.15 percent.... [expires] June 30, 2013....

LOS ANGELES -- Flights in and out of three Southland airports have been halted because of a power failure affecting radar and the Southern California air traffic control system.The affected airports are [Los] Angeles International Airport, Bob Hope Airport in Burbank and Ontario International Airport.

License plate monitors will help Arcadia police track criminals ARCADIA -- Arcadia police officers will soon monitor every vehicle that enters and exits the city's mall and racetrack from the comfort of police headquarters, with a new technology that scans license plates and runs them through criminal databases. The technology effectively multiplies the reach of law enforcement without the expense of hiring officers, said Arcadia Police Chief Bob Sanderson. The Automatic License Plate Recognition technology was developed in England and is distributed locally by Hamilton Pacific, a Pasadena-based security company. It was introduced in 2004, and mobile units are...

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- An appeals court Friday overturned a Superior Court judge's ruling in a property tax lawsuit that could have cost Orange County hundreds of millions of dollars in tax refunds. The county assessor's office may increase property taxes by more than 2 percent in a year following a period when home values dipped or remained flat, justices with the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled. The case involved a lawsuit against the county assessor by Seal Beach resident Robert Pool. Pool, a property tax attorney, alleged the assessor violated Proposition 13 by increasing the taxable property...

More than 300,000 ballots spoiled as Taiwan opposition cries foul TAIPEI: Taiwan's election officials Saturday revealed that more than 300,000 ballot papers were spoiled as the opposition claimed an "unfair" presidential battle and demanded it be annulled. Figures released by the Central Election Commission (CEC) showed that 337,297 papers could not be used for the count, amounting to 10 times President Chen Shui-bian's winning margin. "The KMT is to file a suit with the court for the annulling of the election," opposition Kuomintang (KMT) spokesman Chou Shou-hsun said. "Hopefully the Central Election Commission would double check those spoiled ballots,...

PROBLEMS REPORTED WITH NEW VOTING MACHINES (03-02-2004) - Reports of problems with the new touch-screen voting machines began flooding the Registrar of Voter's office Tuesday within an hour of the polls opening, officials said. Voters experienced problems with the cards used in the voting process, said Monique Roberts, an employee at the Registrar's office in Kearny Mesa. When the card was inserted, a different screen popped up on the computer than the one voters should have been using, Roberts said. Problems were reported in El Cajon, Scripps Ranch, Del Mar, Golden Hill and other communities throughout the county, where...

<p>Former Secretary of State Bill Jones, citing a "call to public service," officially joined the field of candidates vying for the GOP nomination to take on Sen. Barbara Boxer next year.</p> <p>"California is an issue-driven state," Jones said Friday, shortly after filing his declaration of candidacy at the Fresno County Registrar of Voters. "I have a record of 30 years service, I have supported the party and the president," said Jones. "That qualifies me to be a candidate."</p>

Immigration Incident Ignites Debate Police Call Border Patrol After Shoplifting IncidentPOSTED: 5:55 p.m. PST December 3, 2003 SAN DIEGO -- The City Council in National City asked police on Wednesday to investigate a recent immigration incident at a J.C. Penney store. The incident has ignited a debate: Should local law enforcement get involved in immigration issues? "They were just returning a pair of pants," said Anthony Flores (pictured, right), who told NBC 7/39 that he and his family were at the store when a National City police officer approached them about a shoplifting incident. Flores said his aunt and...

Report: Tripled Vehicle Registration Cost Sends New-Vehicle Sales Plummeting Retail Sales Drop By 40 Percent This Autumn POSTED: 11:48 a.m. PDT October 23, 2003UPDATED: 12:09 p.m. PDT October 23, 2003 LOS ANGELES -- Since California's vehicle registration fee tripled at the start of the month, new-vehicle sales have plummeted, with luxury-vehicle sales hit especially hard, according to J.D. Power and Associates. Based on retail sales through Sunday, luxury vehicle retail sales in the state dropped by 40 percent from September to October, compared to a decline of 19 percent over the same period a year ago. Total industry retail...

<p>Negotiators for supermarket chains will meet with representatives of grocery clerks today in talks arranged by federal mediators in an attempt to avert a possible strike that could begin as early as Saturday.</p> <p>More than 70,000 supermarket workers across Southern California have been voting this week on whether to authorize a strike against Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons and Vons' Pavilion[s] markets. The results of that voting will be announced this morning. Union leaders and company negotiators will then begin talks this afternoon at offices of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. It will be the first meeting between the sides since a labor contract covering the workers expired Monday.</p>

<p>Wednesday: First televised candidate debate in Walnut Creek. Gov. Gray Davis and five candidates to replace him if he is recalled will be questioned. Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger will not attend.</p> <p>Monday: Absentee ballots become available.</p> <p>Sept. 12-14: Republican Party's state convention in Los Angeles. Candidates Schwarzenegger and state Sen. Tom McClintock will compete for support.</p>

<p>A bill giving an estimated 2 million undocumented immigrants in California new rights to get legal drivers licenses is on its way to Gov. Gray Davis after two days of legislative debates that showed the deep political rifts over illegal immigration.</p>

Drawing determines alphabetical order for Oct. 7 ballotBy Jim Wasserman ASSOCIATED PRESS 1:59 p.m., August 11, 2003 The first letter chosen was R, followed by W, Q and O. The six-minute grab bag of letters seemed more like a lottery drawing than a routine process, which is done every election to help erase the estimated 5 percent advantage a candidate gets from being at the top of the ballot, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley said. The letters H, B and S, were drawn as eighth, ninth and tenth, [my correction: 9th, 10th, 11th] meaning that some high-profile candidates, commentator Arianna...

Congressman might run, too Candidacy declaration first step to getting name on recall ballot By Timm Herdt and John Mitchell, herdt@insidevc.com jmitchell@insidevc.comAugust 1, 2003 To the growing list of potential candidates who may seek to replace Gov. Gray Davis should he be recalled on Oct. 7, add the name of nine-term Ventura County congressman Elton Gallegly. Gallegly, R-Simi Valley, on Thursday filed a declaration of candidacy to run on the recall ballot -- an essential prelude to actually becoming a candidate, but not a formal entry into the race. More than 60 people statewide have filed such declarations, including...

<p>Sacramento -- Top Senate leaders from both political parties and Gov. Gray Davis' administration have discussed a plan that could end the state's budget stalemate without raising taxes but still leave the state with massive shortfalls next year, sources said Tuesday.</p>

<p>Backers of a Republican-led campaign to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis collected 376,008 signatures as of June 16, the secretary of state reported Tuesday, close to half the signatures needed to get the measure on the ballot.</p> <p>The Associated Press surveyed 55 of California's 58 counties on Monday and found 389,337 signatures were being submitted. The sources of discrepancies in some counties' tallies were not immediately clear.</p>

SACRAMENTO -- The Republican-led campaign to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis has collected nearly 400,000 signatures, close to half the number needed to put it on the ballot, elections officials in California counties reported Monday. Recall proponents have claimed they were well on their way to collecting the 897,158 needed valid signatures, but Monday's deadline for counties to report totals to the secretary of state was an important date for them to prove they actually were. The submitted signatures were those collected as of June 16. Many counties said they'd collected thousands of additional signatures since then. Recall supporters...

<p>CONTRA COSTA ELECTION officials have boosted the Gray Davis recall campaign's claim that the signature-gathering effort is being carefully conducted.</p> <p>Only registered voters' signatures count. So, recall backers said, they were at first slow to turn in signatures because they were checking names against voter rolls.</p>

Lockyer, Angelides Won't Join In Recall Frenzy 5:43 p.m. PDT June 17, 2003 SACRAMENTO -- State Treasurer Phil Angelides and Attorney General Bill Lockyer both said Tuesday they wouldn't run for governor if the campaign to recall Gov. Gray Davis makes it to the ballot. The two Democrats have both expressed interested in running for the state's top job, and both are sitting on multimillion dollar campaign treasuries. California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres has asked every Democrat to pledge not to put their name on the ballot, should the recall drive be successful. Angelides, Lockyer and state Controller...