Free Republic

From Sacramento -- Tom Campbell is a rarity. He's a politician who carefully thinks through contentious issues and takes positions based on his notion of good government. Good politics seem to be a low priority, if one at all. Not that all politicians are finger-to-the-wind opportunists. Each varies by degree between being a policy wonk and political survivalist. But Democrats tend to genuflect to labor, particularly public employee unions. Republicans tend to cower before the anti-tax crowd, to name one. Campbell is practically all wonk. And he must have missed the memo to rookie politicians about going along to get...

One of the intriguing early machinations of the still-very-far-way 2010 GOP primary is how Steve Poizner, Meg Whitman and Tom Campbell will come down on the budget package headed to the ballot in May. Yes, the insurance commissioner and former eBay chief have already blasted the package. But both are wealthy and could curry favor with the GOP base by actually spending some of their millions against it. On Wednesday, Campbell, a former budget director for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, officially endorsed the package, offering full-throated support for the spending cap measure, which would extend the tax increases by two years....

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.

Why Republicans should vote no on Prop 8 Republicans often say that courts should apply the law, not create it. It was really quite a stretch for the California Supreme Court to say that the Constitution of California already contains a right for same-sex marriage, when the Constitution doesn't say a word about it. The truth is: It's a new issue. To those who say the Court got it wrong, I say: I agree. It's for us to decide. Now, let's make the right decision. And that right decision, in my view, is to allow same-sex marriage in California.Republicans believe...

Republicans always claim the mantle of the anti-Jihadists. And for the most part, they are. But when a supporter of jihad and terrorism comes to the midst of the G.O.P., that anti-jihadist/counterterrorist mantle comes crashing down. The Republican Party simply refuses to denounce pan-Islamists in its midst...

Former South Bay lawmaker considers run at governorship SACRAMENTO - Former South Bay Republican congressman Tom Campbell - a fiscal conservative, social moderate and respected academic who twice before unsuccessfully sought statewide office, is eyeing a possible run in 2010 to replace Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Campbell, 55, filed papers last week to form an "exploratory committee" for governor, which allows him to begin raising money for a potential bid. He joins two other GOP moderates from Silicon Valley - state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former eBay chief Meg Whitman - among Republicans who have expressed interest in running. On...

Memorandum From Former California Finance Director Tom Campbell MEMORANDUM TO: Interested Parties FROM: Tom Campbell, former California Finance Director RE: Angelides' "Tax Plan" DATE: August 17, 2006 Former California Finance Director Tom Campbell has offered his observations on the Angelides "tax and budget plan" as reflected in the following: The first observation is that Mr. Angelides’ budget would lower the state’s financial reserve. It would decrease the state’s carry-over balance from $1.63 billion to $500 million. The state constitution requires a budget stabilization account in addition to the carry-over balance. Mr. Angelides has combined the two. His budget would leave...

National Popular Vote Announces New Book Entitled Every Vote Equal: A State-Based Plan For Electing the President By National Popular Vote and Its First Legislative Bill in Illinois Former Congressman John Anderson (R-Illinois and Independent presidential candidate), former Congressman John Buchanan (R-Alabama), former Senator Birch Bayh (D-Indiana) and Common Cause President Chellie Pingree announced their support at a February 23rd press conference in Washington, for nationwide election of the President. The group released a book describing National Popular Vote's state-based plan for nationwide popular election of the President, and the filing of its first legislative bill by Democratic, Republican, and...

Utahns are helping finance the campaign of a Texas attorney challenging former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay for his seat in Congress. Tom Campbell, a graduate of Brigham Young University, swept into Salt Lake City on Monday for a whirlwind fundraiser and meeting with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. Campbell is running as a reformer. He says the future of the Republican Party hinges on his race against the embattled incumbent in Texas' 22nd Congressional District. DeLay stepped down from his leadership post last year after being charged in Texas with campaign finance violations. More recently, DeLay has been pilloried...

Freepers--- Since you guys are literally the cream of the crop of political analysis I thought I would ask your opinions about the whole DeLay situation.For the record I don't live in DeLay's district and I haven't followed it that much at all. This post is for informational purposes only. If nothing else it will be a situational report for those interested in such a high profile race. Several candidates have all thrown their hats into the ring...Three of DeLay's opponents — Campbell, Pat Baig and Mike Fjetland — are fellow Republicans. A fourth, Nick Lampson, is a conservative Democrat....

HOUSTON -- U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, who lost his leadership post because of his ties to a disgraced lobbyist and faces felony charges in his home state, now has another worry: an unprecedented four-way primary for the seat he's held comfortably for 22 years. While two of DeLay's challengers in the March 7 primary aren't considered to have much credibility -- one is making his fourth attempt to unseat DeLay and the other has lived overseas much of her adult life -- lawyer Tom Campbell of Sugar Land holds an impressive Republican resume. Campbell worked on the presidential campaigns of...

Tom DeLay isn't just powerful, he's scary powerful. He's so damn intimidating that only the dimwitted and suicidal will dare admit that he's never been more politically vulnerable. DeLay's approval ratings have been in the toilet since September, when he was indicted on felony money-laundering charges and forced to step aside as House majority leader. A recent poll found that 53 percent of voters in his 22nd Congressional District would choose someone other than DeLay if the general election were held today. About 40 percent of those surveyed believe the charges against him are probably true. It's a testament to...

A constitutional amendment setting limits on state spending and school funding When the dot-com boom was upon us, the state was taking in huge amounts of income tax from capital gains on stock options. When the dot-com bust hit, the spending had been locked into permanent formulas. This fundamental problem; one-time money going into permanent spending formulas; is at the heart of Proposition 76, "Live within our means." Because we haven't been living within our means, we've spent more than we had for each of the last six years; we've tapped out our state credit card, raided funds intended for...

Why is a Jewish Republican group hosting a supporter of Islamic terrorism and enemy of Israel? That’s a good question. And one that has been asked before of the Republican Jewish Coalition of Los Angeles (RJC). On Monday, September 26, the RJC will be proudly hosting California Director of Finance Tom Campbell. And while the RJC shirked its responsibility of objecting when Campbell was appointed to this position by Governor Schwarzenegger, it is more outrageous that the Jewish group is now hosting of this man. Why? Because Tom Campbell has been and remains an unapologetic opponent of Israel, and—worse—an unapologetic...

Former Silicon Valley Rep. Tom Campbell brought the fight over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ballot initiatives to San Jose on Wednesday, warning members of the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce that new taxes are "highly likely" if a proposal to curb government spending is not passed by voters in the Nov. 8 special election. Last week Campbell announced he was taking an unpaid two-month leave from his job as the state finance director to campaign for Proposition 76, a proposed state spending cap. "This is the most important thing I can do for our state," Campbell said at a round-table discussion...

State Finance Director Tom Campbell stepped down from his job Wednesday to take a two-month unpaid leave and campaign on behalf of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget control and redistricting initiatives on the November special election ballot. "Tom's ability to articulate the need for budget reform and his knowledge of the budget make him uniquely qualified to be a fantastic asset to the campaign," Schwarzenegger said in a prepared statement about Campbell, who had already been on leave as dean of the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business. Campbell, a former state senator and member of Congress, will be...

San Francisco -- State Finance Director Tom Campbell is stepping down after less than a year in the job to join the campaign team promoting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "year of reform" ballot initiatives. Beginning Thursday, Campbell will take unpaid leave from the Department of Finance to help Schwarzenegger sell his initiatives, which will go before voters in a Nov. 8 special election. The Republican governor wants to cap state spending, strip lawmakers of the power to draw political boundaries and lengthen the probationary period for teachers from two years to five. "Gov. Schwarzenegger is working to change California for the...

SACRAMENTO - New state Finance Director Tom Campbell acknowledged Friday that the state faces an even bigger budget hole than predicted a month ago -- a figure now pegged at $8.1 billion -- and he vowed to present a gimmick-free spending plan next month to solve it. "This will be an honest budget," the former Silicon Valley congressman said, speaking at length for the first time since Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named him budget guru. "This will be a budget that will withstand the careful scrutiny of anyone looking for what sometimes has been called trickery -- without saying whether...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will decide what his budget will contain. But if he follows the lead of his new finance director, Tom Campbell, it should be a more straightforward document than he and other governors have presented in the past.[snip] ... ``This will be an honest budget. This will be a budget that will withstand the careful scrutiny of anyone looking for what sometimes has been called trickery.'' ...Campbell specifically ruled out a number of the tricks that have been used in the past. ...[snip]He will give up on the idea of borrowing almost a billion dollars, by issuing bonds,...

BERKELEY – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today (Thursday, Nov. 4) announced the appointment of Tom Campbell, dean of the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business, as the new director of the California Department of Finance. Campbell, an economist and lawyer who served five terms as a Republican congressman representing the Silicon Valley and also served as a California state senator, will take a leave of absence from his university post and is expected to begin his new job Dec 1. "Tom is a brilliant economist with intricate, first-hand knowledge of public and fiscal policy who shares my commitment to...