Powder Blue Report

The rEVOLution Takes Over The CA GOP Convention

2011-09-18T00:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a momentous day at the CA GOP convention down here in Los Angeles. The Ron Paul rEVOLution arrived in force early at the Marriott Live in downtown in anticipation of hearing their leader Presidential candidate Ron Paul speak. I myself have been to many of these state political conventions over the years but I have never seen what I saw happen Saturday morning. Hundreds of supporters of the Congressman from Texas were outside the hotel to greet him as he arrived. Freedom is still popular apparently in the Republican Party.

I would guess that the average age of the supporters that showed up would be in the mid 20s. Who says political candidates can't excite young people. This youthful energy that they are bringing to the party is sorely needed.

So now I want to set the scene for people. It's around 8:30 in the morning and Dr Paul is being escorted to his first speaking event of the morning to the Los Angeles Lincoln Club. For the record he was not invited to speak at any of the formal lunches or dinners at the CRP. As if ignoring him and all the energy we are bringing to the party will make us go away. Just imagine around 500 to 600 noisy supporters following him through the lobby and then upstairs past all the party regulars who had a look of disbelief/and or consternation on their faces. The crowd was chanting "Ron Paul" and "End the Fed" mostly. It was a moment that I will never forget. For a video flavor of this event click here

Later on that morning before his big speaking engagement to the Republican Liberty Caucus of CA, we had a private meet and greet with Ron and all the locally elected GOP Central committee members from all over the state. One of the great untold stories is how many supporters of Dr Paul's ideas and philosophy have been elected to county Central Committees in all 58 counties around the state. Look for many good things to come to the CA Republican Party out of this organizing.

After spending some time with local leaders, we opened the doors to the hundreds of supporters waiting to get a chance to hear the good doctor's message. They were not disappointed. A politician who tells the truth is a very rare commodity in modern politics. This is why Ron is so popular with the young generation in my opinion. He spoke on his bread and butter issues....ending the wars, individual liberty, the folly of the war on drugs, ending the Fed, abolishing the Education Dept, and many more. At the end of the meeting, everyone was encouraged to vote in the Straw Poll that the party was holding, and vote they did.

Ron Paul ended up winning the CA GOP Straw Poll going away with 45% of the vote. The next closest person was Gov Rick Perry with 30%. Whether Ron Paul will get the GOP nomination is anyone's guess, but he has inspired a generation of young activists that will be carrying the torch of individual liberty going forward in the Republican Party. I'm reminded of a famous quote by Samuel Adams...."It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." The fires have been lit in CA. The question is will the party and the voters jump on the bandwagon of freedom before its to late.

OC GOP Dirty Laundry

2011-02-14T12:58:00.000-08:00

I really didn't want to write about this subject so early into the new Central Committee term, but certain people are just begging for a public flogging/shaming. For a lot of people this will be inside baseball stuff, but it is a symptom of what's wrong with some so called leaders in our party.

We have a lot of new young energetic members of the Central Committee. One of these members is Mike Munzing. Mike is all fired up and ready to help. He has been attending Tea Party rallies, Glenn Beck gatherings, DC trips, etc. Well he got an idea to host a local event he billed as "conservative happy hour" on March 3rd down in Aliso Viejo. No big deal right? Ask retired Assemblyman Chuck DeVore to come speak and hang out with good conservative friends enjoying some adult beverages. Well, Mike broke some unwritten rules that Mary Young has. The first of which is why didn't he ask her for permission to do this, LOL! How dare you Mike throw a get together for conservatives and not ask Mary Young. Shame on you.

All kidding aside, Mary Young is way off base in these emails that she sent Mike after she found out about his plans. Have a read...

Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 1:02 PM

Subject: Re: Mike Munzing's Conservative Happy Hour - March 3rd

Mike!

I thought now that the election was over and you are part of the OCGOP team, you would join us and be in charge of a happy hour for the OCGOP, instead of having your very own? We are conservatives and it looks like very few of you new CC members have any intentions of joining us.

It should read; Happy Hour Chairman, Mike Munzing presents the very first" OCGOP Happy Hour Series". Scott would have been delighted to have you take on something such as a Happy Hour. Now that the election is over, I can see, you had no intentions of being part of our team. Maybe because you are too important to you and the good of your Party & Country come after that

I am really disappointed you aren't trying to help the OCGOP or help Lee Lowery & myself try to have a get together.

You wonder why we as the OCGOP can't do all these things? I will tell you why, because people just like you are more interested in yourself then making the Party grow to be bigger and better.

I can see this next year or two, it will be the same people doing all the work (with the exception of Dean Gross, he is already trying to help)for the Party and then you guys will complain we aren't doing enough.

Very sad, Mary

Really Mary? Maybe you were just having a bad day...ahhh, nope. She then sent off this rejoinder...

Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 10:56 PM

Subject: Re: Mike Munzing's Conservative Happy Hour - March 3rd

Mike, I was right about you from the very beginning, but I believed you when you asked for a second chance.

You care about Mike and only Mike and everyone will soon find out, as they already are.

You should be totally ashamed of yourself, but you won't be, because you don't know the slightest about being a good Christian.

I am going to have a long chat with ???? & ???? all about you.

What does this have anything to do with being a good Christian? Holy liquored up emails Batman! This is just pure intimidation and will not be tolerated. I've had my battles with Mary over the years, but in the end I have always just let it go. These emails of hers don't surprise me in the least. Mary always acts like she is the guardian of things about our party. I credit her with doing a lot of good things for the party over the years, but she has to realize when to stop badgering people and playing the victim. We need new active people to come into the party like Mike that want to help make a difference. I hope Mary will apologize to Mike and we can all get this behind us.

Just Say No To Debt Ceiling Increase

2011-01-27T15:00:00.000-08:00

This is one of the most important posts that I will ever write. I don't say that lightly because over the years I have spilled a lot of electronic ink on a lot of different subjects. This one has been building for awhile and it's time for me to unleash it.

The Unites States will soon be bumping up against the statutory limit of the debt ceiling. For those of you in Rio Linda(as Rush likes to say), this means that the United States Treasury can't float bonds over and above a limit set by a law passed by Congress.

Let's go over some numbers and some simple math. I like to say that "math doesn't lie" and it's true. Currently(as of 2010), the United States takes in $2.2 trillion dollars in revenue and spent $3.5 trillion. This means that the US government must borrow the difference of $1.3 trillion($2.2 trillion minus $3.5 trillion = we are deep S***).

If we don't pass a debt limit increase, the Congress will be forced to live within its means(i.e spend only what comes in and nothing more). It would be like passing a balanced budget amendment. The deficit spending would end immediately.

You and I both know that this scenario will never happen. Congress will pass a new increase in the debt limit despite the rhetoric coming out of the new GOP majority. Am I skeptical? You bet I am. I know the track record of all these idiots in both parties. Past performance is indicative of future results.

Some have said that if we don't pass an increase in the debt limit that we would "risk the full and faith and credit of the United States". Bullshit. We are still taking in $2.2 trillion in taxes and various revenue that flows into the Treasury. What would have to happen though is that every line item in the budget would have to get cut by 37%. That's right....37%! Medicare would get cut 37%. Patients would have to make up the difference to doctors. Social Security would get cut 37%. Retirees would see their monthly paychecks get cut by 37%. Spending on defense, foreign aid, FBI, Homeland Security, and all discretionary programs would have to take a 37% whack.

Do you see this actually happening? No way Jose.

My friend John Reed had this to say....

Opponents of not raising the ceiling say the world would lose faith in U.S. government promises if the government reneged on Social Security, etc.

They should. Those bogus promises were made by politicians playing Santa Claus with taxpayers' money. There is literally not enough money in the world to pay Social Security, federal pensions, medical care benefits and so forth that have been promised by federal politicians.

The net worth of the world is minus $34 trillion. The gross domestic product of the entire world is $70 trillion. The unfunded liability (money we should have put in the bank but did not) for Social Security and Medicare alone was $107 trillion in 2008. There is no hope that we can ever pay that.

Would a recovery and unemployment going down to 5% solve the problem? Not even close. That would only increase annual tax revenues by about $150 billion.

Would tax increases solve the problem? Not even close. Numerous experts like Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan have said that. If you could increase taxes 25%, which is probably impossible unless you broadened the base (made the 50% of Americans who no longer pay any tax other than Social Security tax start paying income tax), you would still only get about $500 billion more revenue. Not enough.

Selling all the national parks and federal buildings like the Smithsonian? Not even a dent.

If the U.S. continued to make on-time payments to bond owners, the "full faith and credit" of the U.S. would not be adversely affected. Indeed, I suspect the world bond market would feel relieved that the U.S. government was finally getting serious about living within its means and behaving in a way that will likely result in bond holders being paid back as promised.

No doubt, liberal politicians will say that seniors and the sick should take precedence over bond holders.

Okay. Go with that. But understand it takes you to the same place very rapidly. If the U.S. government defaults on the bonds instead of the Social Security and other federal entitlements, the world bond market will instantaneously impose their own debt ceiling. That is, they will refuse to buy any more U.S. bonds. In other words, defaulting on the bond payments would change the U.S. government's credit from AAA to defaulted. To put it in laymen's terms, the credit card of the Congress and the President would be cut to pieces and canceled.

The "full faith and credit" of the U.S. government would, in that case, indeed, be destroyed.

If and when the world bond market, which mainly consists of U.S. citizens and institutions, stops buying U.S. bonds, those same cuts I described above will have to take place immediately. Basically, there are two entities that can shut down the U.S. government selling bonds and engaging thereby in deficit spending:

• Congress and the President voluntarily
• the world bond market involuntarily

Same result no matter who initiates it.

Furthermore, remember the refinancing of maturing U.S. bonds I described above will also not happen if the bond market stops buying our bonds. In other words, we would have to pay off the $3.5 trillion of bonds that were due this year and we would only have $2.2 trillion of tax revenues to do it. And we could only use that $2.2 trillion to pay off maturing bonds if we totally shut down the entire U.S. government. Even if we did that, we would still have to default on the deficit spending—$1.3 trillion—portion of the maturing bonds because we would not be able to sell the bonds or collect the taxes needed to pay them.

This is a hell of a mess, isn't it? Your elected officials have been building this mess since 1930—both parties albeit more the Democrats.

So what is probably going to happen?

On January 25th, Obama, Paul Ryan, and Michelle Bachman all delivered State of the Union addresses. Obama promised more of the same, calling spending on Democrat pet projects like green jobs "investment." His concessions—three-year freeze on non-defense, discretionary spending except where union contracts exist, cutting back on the requirement to issue tons of 1099s, vetoing earmarks, were all symbolic trivia, no substance.

Ryan said the right things but almost in Federal Reserve code that only an expert on fiscal and monetary policy would truly understand. Bachman gave the best of the three talks with a more militant Tea Party list of plans,. Like Ryan, she was truthful, but failed to tell audiences exactly what it all meant because if she had there would be demonstrations in the streets today.

Surprisingly, the best State of the Union Speech on the 25th was made by John Stossel on Fox Business. He even had a little presidential podium only it said Stossel instead of The President of the United States. He also entered the room shaking everyone’s hand and had lots of flags. But after a pause, he began his speech with, "We're in DEEP trouble."

Stossel said almost exactly what I am saying about what has to be done. But it's not going to happen.

They will probably vote to raise the ceiling. Republicans will probably demand some token spending cuts from the Democrats. They will probably refuse most of them. That will result in the debt ceiling arriving and the government not being able to sell bonds because refusing to vote on the ceiling is the same as voting against it.

During that post-hitting-the-ceiling period, Democrats will probably try to reprise the Clinton-era trick of saying the "Republicans shut down the government." It worked for them back then. I doubt it would work again. If two sides do not agree, you cannot logically blame the lack of agreement to either side. Each side can explain their position and the public can decide which is more reasonable.

Both parties are guilty of succumbing to forgetting their campaign promises and going along with business as usual when they get to Washington. Republican House Speaker John Boehner called voting for the debt-ceiling increase "being adults" and Republican "strategist" David Winston called voting to increase the debt ceiling "governing." Call it what it is: kicking the can down the road—again, stealing from our children and grandchildren, and making sure we have to do "nine" when a "stitch in time" would have saved them. Criminal careerism gets more to the heart of it.

Ultimately, they will all get together and raise the ceiling with some meaninglessly small cuts. If it's not a trillion or more, that means the situation is still deteriorating.

Then the media will start discussing when we will hit our next debt ceiling. Once again, everything I said above will apply only the cuts required to match outlays with tax revenues will be bigger.

In other words, the choice is not 37% cuts now or more borrowing. It is 37% cuts now or bigger cuts next year or even bigger cuts the year after that, etc. etc.

37% is the best offer the American people are ever going to get. And they will almost certainly haughtily reject it.

Congress and the president will not vote to cut federal spending 37%. When they have to choose between personal political suicide or national financial suicide, they will choose national financial suicide. That means we will be hit with bigger cuts in the future.

There is no grown-up in Washington or on Wall Street looking out for you. You have to be your own grown-up.

But the vast majority of Americans are behaving exactly as if they believed some Washington/Wall Street grown-up were taking care of them.

1st Vice Chairman Announcement

2010-11-09T00:25:00.000-08:00

Here is my letter that I sent out today to all the Orange County Republican Central Committee members announcing my intention to run for 1st Vice Chair of the party.

Dear friends & colleagues,

As the dust settles from last
weeks' election, it is now time to look ahead to the future of our
great party. I have spoken with many current and new members of the
committee about the direction the party needs to go in. The words of
encouragement to run for 1st Vice Chairman have been overwhelming. So
after some time thinking about this and in careful consideration with
my wife Lynn, I have decided that I will enter the race for 1st Vice
Chair of our party.

I realize that running against a longtime party activist and candidate
that has the blessing of the current chairman will be a daunting task,
but I believe our members deserve a choice of who they would like to
represent them as 1st Vice Chair on the Executive Committee.

First a little about myself for those who don't know me. I am a
native Californian and lifelong resident of the beautiful city of
Irvine. I have been married for nine years this Dec 1st to my awesome
wife Lynn. If you haven't had the chance to meet her yet, she is a
dead ringer for Sarah Palin. We actually met the night Bob Dole lost
to Bill Clinton in 1996 at the OC GOP election night venue at the Westin South Coast Plaza. Professionally speaking, I am a licensed Series 3 Broker. I am the owner and President of GAB Capital Corp which is a commodities broker - mostly in precious
metals like gold & silver and managed futures. Owning and running a small business
had always been a dream of mine and I am thankful every day that I am able to be my own boss.

My interest in politics goes back to my youth. My father owned a
construction business and he was always complaining about how
the government was too large and intrusive. I remember casting my
first vote ever for George HW Bush when I was 18 years old. As time
wore on and I settled myself and my family in Irvine, I started up my
own political blog at the urging of my neighbor here in Turtle Rock a
few blocks away, Hugh Hewitt. This was back in 2004. The name of my
blog is Powder Blue Report. It's got all my archived postings there
for all to see (www.powderbluereport.blogspot.com). For a time I
also did a stint writing for the local blog Red County. As my activism
grew, I became heavily involved here in Irvine with the local
Republican groups and most recently, with the various local Tea Party groups .
I have been the chairman now for two years of our
county chartered GOP group, the Irvine Republican Council. I was
elected to my first term on the Central Committee in June of 2008 and
was just re-elected again to my second term. As most of you know, I am
also involved in the local tea party organizations. The Tea Party
energy was the impetus that brought our party back to the majority in
the House and elected several new members to the U.S. Senate. We need to do everything we can to nurture and grow this energy for the upcoming presidential
campaign and all the other local races. We also need them to have a voice at the highest level in our local party. I will be that voice.

I am running for this position because I believe it's time for a
change in leadership of our local party. I wish to bring my leadership
skills and experience to the Executive Committee of the OCGOP. As a tea
party activist, I also wish to help the party enhance its image in the
community at large, especially with rank in file Republican voters - our
very important base. I look forward to discussing ways to move forward in
the future that will give members confidence in the committee.

I believe one of the most important jobs of 1st Vice Chair is to help
the Chairman and others represent the Party and raise funds on a
consistent basis so it can run smoothly. If elected I will be able to
tap my wide network of contacts to assist the party in doing just
that. The Chairman has a very hard job. It's up to the other leaders on the Executive Committee to help ease the burden where possible. I pledge to do this
if elected.

There are a lot of things we can improve upon to keep our party
great and be successful at the ballot box. Let's have a dialogue
about that. Please feel free to email or call me at any time. My number is
(949)677-5078. I look forward to speaking to each and every member before the
January meeting.

Sincerely,

Allan Bartlett

Kevin Muldoon For South OC Community College District

2010-10-27T00:26:00.000-07:00

I have a good friend who is running to replace Don Wagner on the South OC Community College District. His name is Kevin Muldoon. This one of the those down ballot races that don't get much notice, but nevertheless are very important. The seven elected trustees of this board control have control over an annual budget of over $450 million. It is important to elect individuals who will be stingy with tax dollars. Everyone has to make due with less in this current economic depression. Here is a link to Kevin's campaign site.

I have known Kevin for a number of years now and he will do a good job if elected to this position. His opponent, Thomas Prendergast is a teacher from Tustin that is beholden to the Teacher's Union. They would like nothing better to get a toe hold in this district to start creating all the problems of a district controlled by union thuggery.

Who is Thomas Prendergast? Well I did a little research and found out that Mr Prendergast has had a recent personal bankruptcy in 1999. This is a guy who wants a say in a $450 million dollar budget who didn't even have the self discipline to control his own finances. This is not someone that should be rewarded with a public trust. When asked for comment, his opponent Kevin Muldoon said, "As an attorney who practices bankruptcy law, I believe in the constitutional right to file for personal bankruptcy. I'll leave it up to the voters to decide how they feel about a candidate who has filed for bankruptcy." We'll all read between the lines here Kevin :)

Lastly, just a personal note on this race. One of Mr Muldoon's opponent endorsers in Tustin City Councilman Doug Davert...a true Republican In Name Only. I edged out Mr Davert for a seat on the OC GOP Central Committee back in 2008. After I heard that he endorsed the union backed candidate in this race, well, I wasn't surprised.

Allan Bartlett's Proposition Recommendations For November

2010-09-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

I received my state issued voter information guide in the mail last week. So it's time to go over my recommendations on the proposed propositions. Most are pretty straight forward. Before I go into the why, here's the quick Cliff Notes version to take into the voting booth...

Prop 19.....YES
Prop 20.....YES
Prop 21.....NO
Prop 22.....NO
Prop 23.....HELL YES
Prop 24.....NO
Prop 25.....NO
Prop 26.....YES
Prop 27.....NO

Prop 19 would allow people 21 years or older to possess, cultivate, or transport marijuana for personal use. I was a little torn on this one because of all the new bureaucracies that this will set up. However that is offset by the fact that prohibition has never worked for drugs and will never work. Marijuana is easier for our children to obtain than alcohol. Why on earth we would keep the black market alive for this product is silly. This is also a bellwether freedom issue for me. So on balance, I am a YES on Prop 19.

Prop 20 would take the power of the state legislature away of drawing the congressional districts for reapportionment. This is a great idea. Our politicians should not be in the business of choosing their voters. A YES vote on Prop 20.

Prop 21. This one is so simple. If you think your taxes are too low in CA, vote yes on this one. If you think that the bureaucracy should make due with the current revenues that come in, then you should vote NO on Prop 21. This proposition will levy a new surcharge of $18 every time you send in your vehicle registration and then supposedly earmarks those dollars for our state parks. The whole reason we have a state budget is to fund things like the state parks with money that already comes in. The beast needs to be starved of money, not be given anymore. Vote NO on Prop 21.

Prop 22. This one is probably the hardest proposition to understand from a voters point of view. It sounds good that the proponents say this will stop the state raiding local jurisdictions of their tax revenue. What they don't tell you is that this proposition is a bonanza for redevelopment agencies that routinely take private property through dubious eminent domain power. Vote NO on Prop 22.

Prop 23. This one is a no brainer...unless you're Meg Whitman and the only advice you take is from your billionaire leftist Silicon Valley environmental extremists. Vote YES on Prop 23. It suspends the recently passed AB 32 unless and until the unemployment rate drops back to around 5.5%. The state is at around 15% to 20% right now depending on which stats you look at. You can see why the global warming alarmists are concerned. CA desperately needs to be more business friendly. AB 32 is a job killer and must be suspended. Vote YES on Prop 23.

Prop 24. Not gonna go into a long dissertation here. This prop would repeal a lot of recent tax breaks some CA businesses have received. Liberals love to say they are "closing tax loopholes", but all they are doing is making our state less competitive when it comes to retaining and growing business. Vote NO on Prop 24.

Prop 25. Ah the liberal Sacramento stealth prop to try and lower the burden to increase taxes. They never stop coming at us. This prop would change the threshold of passing a state budget to a majority vote instead of a 2/3 vote like it right now. Just vote NO on Prop 25.

Prop 26. This proposition will stop politicians from enacting hidden taxes. Liberals and a lot of local RINO GOP councilmen like to get around 2/3 voting requirements to raise taxes by calling their schemes "fees". This proposition will end hidden fees being raised. Vote YES on Prop 26.

Prop 27. This initiative would repeal the recently passed Prop that takes away the power of the CA state legislature to redraw Assembly and State Senate districts for reapportionment. I'll say it again. Politicians should not be able to choose their voters. Vote NO on Prop 27.

A Night That Will Live In Infamy

2010-09-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

Last night at The OC GOP Central Committee is a night that will live in infamy. It was Black Monday and a high water mark for the local GOP ruling class that is on life support. You see, ever since they got crushed in the last Central Committee elections, they have been picking fights with Tea Party activists that have been criticizing the party leadership. The whole current Exec Comm lives in their own little bubble. They have no concept of what is happening out the country this year.

So back to last night. Lynn Schott was trying to win the party's endorsement for the Irvine City council race. She was vetted by the Endorsement Committee and passed by a 5 to 1 favorable vote. This brings us to what happened yesterday. Lynn spoke to the full committee, Tim Whitacre spoke for her, and I spoke for her. No one spoke against her endorsement. So the vote comes up and it was 31 to 16...one vote short of the endorsement. Every single member of the party's Exec Committee voted against her. All it took was for one brave Exec Comm member or ex-officio to stand up and do what's right for Irvine, but alas, all there was, was kool aid drinking going on. The edict came down from high up that this endorsement must be blocked because how dare we dissent from the party leadership the way the party has been run into the ground. I pin the blame on Congressman John Campbell. His representative could have ended all of this and supported reconsideration of the vote, but he would not come off his NO position. Therefore it can be said with clarity that our Congressman representing Irvine supports Larry Agran. It is really that simple.

I saw a bunch of happy faces up there on the Exec Comm that this endorsement was blocked. Adam Probolsky was practically giddy when I spoke to him. Thanks Adam. Stay classy.

Somewhere tonight, Larry Agran is smiling. He should send a thank you card to Congressman Campbell, Mark Bucher, Scott Baugh, Mary Young, Kermit Marsh, Jack Anderson, Marcia Gilchrist, Fred Whitaker, Ed Royce, John Williams, and Adam Probolsky. Thanks guys for giving us at least two more years of corrupt leadership here in Irvine. Hope that was worth it.

I can't wait for next year.

OC GOP Endorsement Committee Update

2010-09-02T04:20:00.000-07:00

For the last few nights, the OC GOP endorsement process has been in full swing for local "non partisan" races(as if there ever was such a thing as a non partisan race). The committee has been holding court vetting many different candidates for city councils, OC Treasurer, school boards, and water boards. Suffice to say that the new process that we have developed seems to be working out well, although there will always be room for improvements.

This term the endorsement committee members are Mark Bucher, Deborah Pauly, Bruce Whitaker, Craig Alexander, Kristine Alonzo, and Mary Young.

This new endorsement process has been hard for some members and candidates to accept. It gets uncomfortable sometimes pitting one Republican against another. I totally understand that, but we need to properly vet these candidates on their track record and their beliefs or else our party brand will not regain believability and credibility as it relates to our stated principles in the party platform. In some cases it pits long time friends & relationships against each other. I for one am for this new process. I believe it is fair and lets the committee really vet our candidates though the questionnaire and direct questioning on their views. I have already had some candidates that I wanted to see get endorsed get shot down. It is what it is.

So far we have had two rounds of early endorsements and two nights of endorsement committee meetings. Regarding early endorsements, each Central Committee member may pull any candidate up for early endorsement off the list and have a separate debate on them. It's happened three or four times each of the two nights. I happened to pull San Clemente City Councilman Joe Anderson off the list this past Monday night for a separate debate. Councilman Anderson had some votes that I wanted to discuss with him. I used a great local website called Liberty First to look through his voting record. H/T to Chris Emami who did a great job researching voting records of these elected officials on our city councils. A few votes really stood out to me. He voted to ban feeding pigeons on the pier, voted to ban walking your dog in public, and he had voted to raise fees on some things. Excuse me, but why can't I feed some damn pigeons and walk my dog when I get home from work? Who the hell does this guy think he is. Ridiculous. I wanted to publicly shame this elected official to let others know in the future that when you start voting against my simple liberties, there will be repercussions and you will not get our endorsement.

The last two nights of the actual endorsement committee meetings has been very interesting. There was a knock down drag out fight between Shari Fredinrich and Keith Rodenhuis for OC Treasurer. Shari won the 3 to 2 vote with one abstention(Mary Young). Shari was blocked of an endorsement by us before the June primary and will likely get blocked again at the full committee. Sup. Moorlach is really pushing hard for Shari. At one point last weekend at CRP I asked John why he was making such a hard push for her when he was the one that gave us Sheriff Hutchens. I got the evil stare after that exchange. I believe Keith is going to win and he is going to do a great job and I support him.

The other big contentious debate was for Orange Mayor. This pitted two friends, Carolyn Cavecche and Jon Dimitru against one another. The first words out of Carolyn's mouth were that she was sorry for her pension spiking votes and later more apologies for supporting local Democrats Jordan Brandman and Tita Smith. I spoke in favor of Jon Dimitru and also pointed out to Carolyn that "it is real easy to come before this body and apologize for bad votes when you're hoping to get our party's coveted endorsement, but I guess it has been hard for you to do the right thing when no one is watching". With that, the committee voted for Jon 4 to 2. I think he has a great chance to get the full endorsement in a few weeks.

The last thing I wanna talk about is what happened Tuesday night regarding Irvine City Council candidate Lynn Schott. There is a lot of back story to this, so I will to run through what happened last night with a measured tone because I am extremely irritated at what happened. First I want to say that Lynn is a good candidate and she is a fighter. She and Jeff Lalloway are exactly what's needed here in Irvine. I spoke in favor of Lynn's endorsement as well as newly minted 70th District GOP nominee Don Wagner. So she is sailing right along until Mark Bucher and Mary Young got their chance to question her. They proceeded to grill Lynn on what happened at the past January Central Committee meeting...also known as the night Scott Baugh gave his big speech. A lot of Tea Party types had rented a room next door to the meeting because they were very mad at the leadership of the party establishment, which BTW is a very legitimate concern and political position to hold. The room was filled with pictures and caricatures of some of these leaders as well as holding a mini town hall type of event to let people angry with the local Republican Party get an earful. So back to the meeting....Mark and Mary(both on the current Exec Comm) were obviously trying to extract a pound of flesh out of Lynn because she along with I was in this meeting listening to all these fine patriots and their concerns about the direction of the party. So instead of vetting Lynn's qualifications for the GOP endorsement, they turned their questioning into a personal attack and inquisition on why Lynn attended this meeting. Excuse me guys, can we talk about beating Larry Agran? WTF! Get your personal agendas outta here. You're obviously bitter because of the almost 40% turnover in the last Central Committee elections. You wanna know why this happened? Just look at your behavior Tuesday night. That's why you lost big because people were fed up with the direction of the party and voted for a massive change in the makeup of the overall committee. In the end though we had the last laugh as Mark Bucher just made a complete idiot out of himself and Lynn held her composure well. The other members of the committee saw through his bullshit personal agenda and voted to endorse Lynn 5 to 1. I hope to god Mark trys to make an issue at the next regular Central Committee meeting so he can be exposed for all to see.

Clarifications From Chairman Baugh Regarding Early Endorsements

2010-08-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

I just received this email from Chairman Baugh. In it, he clarifies the situation regarding candidates receiving early endorsement consideration.

Dear Central Committee Members,

There have been several questions about our new endorsements process that I would like to clarify. First, the endorsement notice that I sent out yesterday is permitted by the rules. When our office receives an application for an endorsement, the By-Laws permit me to send the application to the endorsements committee or to the full committee. If I refer it to the full committee, I am required to provide seven days notice.

As you know, the endorsement night at the September meeting will be a fairly long meeting. Thus, in order to take some pressure off of that evening, I chose to refer several endorsements to the full committee for the August meeting. In order to take the mystery out of why somebody is on the list or not I want to share with you my thoughts.

First, did the candidate have the endorsement application submitted to me or Lauryn? Without the application, there is nothing to process. Assuming the application is covered, I then look to whether the committee knows the candidate, whether candidate is unopposed, whether the committee knows the other candidates if the applicant is opposed, along with applicants general philosophy, including the applicants view on public employee unions – among many other issues. Frankly, one of the “other” very practical issues is whether I believe the endorsement will be controversial and distracting without a sub-committee hearing. I do not want the August committee meeting to get bogged down with a debate to due inadequate vetting.

If you do not know the candidate that I have submitted for endorsement consideration, you can set an appointment with Lauryn and go over their application. You can also feel free to talk to them. I’m certain they will want to talk to you as you hold a key vote for them. Remember, each applicant still needs to get a 2/3 vote from the full committee.

If you know a candidate that wants to be considered for an endorsement, you should encourage them to file the application. The deadline is August 16. After I receive all of the new applications, I will consider noticing another special meeting of the full Central Committee in late August. Again, the purpose here is simply to take pressure off of what I expect will be a considerably lengthy September meeting. All other applications that do not get sent to the full body directly will be forwarded to the Endorsement Committee. There is no prejudice to an applicant for going through the Endorsement Committee. In fact, many applicants are better off going through the Endorsements Committee because a proper vetting and recommendation from that committee will help the applicant get the endorsement in the long run.

I recognize that getting the endorsement of the OCGOP is coveted, and the earlier the better for the candidates. However, the close of filing of August 6 (or later in some cases) presents a very tight calendar for us. Therefore, we are making every effort to process the applications quickly and fairly. The first order of business is to submit your application.

Early Endorsement List

2010-08-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

I just received an email from our chairman Scott Baugh regarding early endorsement candidates for the OC GOP Central Committee to consider. For the most part, these candidates don't have other GOP competition, may be incumbents who have a good track record, and lastly have taken the no union contribution pledge as well as the no tax or fee increase pledge. I will be looking forward to viewing their questionnaires that they all had to fill out and considering these candidates in due course. The list of names are as follows....

Tom Tait - Anaheim, Mayor

Deb Pauly - Villa Park, Council

Jeff Lalloway - Irvine, Council

James Righeimer- Costa Mesa, Council

Baron Night - Buena Park, Council

Ed Reno - Newport Beach, Council

Leslie Daigle - Newport Beach, Council

Fred Whitaker - Orange, Council

Denis Bilodeau - Orange, Council

Kevin Muldoon - South Orange County Community College District, Trustee Area 2

Sandra Crandall - Fountain Valley Elementary School District, Trustee

Anna Bryson - Capistrano Unified School District, Trustee Area 4

Larry Christensen - Capistrano Unified School District, Trustee Area 7

Phillip Yarbrough- Rancho Community College District, Trustee 2

Mark McCurdy - Fountain Valley, Council

John Collins- Fountain Valley, Council

Guy Garrozzo - Fountain Valley, Council

If any one has any issue with this list, they should get in touch with myself or their Central Committee representatives from their district. I know most of the candidates on this list and for the most part have no problems with it, but I would like feedback from people if they have any problems with these candidates as it relates to how they have governed or their political philosophy.

I also should note that these candidates will be taken up at next Monday's Central Committee meeting at the Irvine Hyatt at 7pm. The Chairman needed to give seven days notice to members per our Bylaws to consider early endorsements. All other contested endorsements will go through our Endorsements Committee and be voted on at the September Central committee meeting.

Facebook Follies

2010-06-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist posting this over here at Powder Blue. It's a window into the mind of one Matt Cunningham and all his rationalizations why it's not hypocritical of him to get paid six figures from a big government bureaucracy and have credibility as the editor of Red County. Enjoy

Allan Bartlett: Why does Hugh Hewitt need Matt Cunningham ghost writing for him on the taxpayers dime? This is just shameful. Just remember this when you read Matt talking about "less/smaller government" at Red County.

OC Weekly article

What happens when a hack writes for a hack? Thousands of computer screens groan in digital agony under the dead...

Donna Delano: They worship at the altar of ego, greed and power

Matthew Cunningham: Oh yes, that's exactly it Donna. You're powers of observation are just astounding.

Matthew Cunningham: And Allan, we'll remember your blind devotion to Bill Hunt, defender of union prerogatives, next time you are yammering about the danger of public employee unions.

You got booted from Red County. It's about time you got over it.

Allan Bartlett: Memo to you Matt, as long as you're still the editor of RC and a hired cheerleader for that ultra liberal bureaucracy that pays you, the local OC version of RC will continue to lose credibility. Why on earth would I want to still be associated with that taint.

Donna Delano: Matt, it is spelled your, NOT you're .

Matthew Cunningham: Yeah, thanks, Donna. But my typo doesn't make your opinion any less inane.

Matthew Cunningham: Allan, you need to retire this heroic martyr myth you've erected around your departure from red County. You had no problem being associated with "that taint" when you knew I about my work with the Children and Families Commission of Orange County. Remember, you didn't quit Red County -- you were booted. And not for any of the bogus reasons you have claimed.

Furthermore, the Commission is not an "ultra liberal bureaucracy" but you would rather lean on the crutch of ignorant catchphrases than be bothered to acquaint yourself with the facts.

The most laughable aspect of your manufactured outrage is none of it has anything to do with principle. The truth is that if I had supported Shawn Nelson for Supervisor, neither you nor your creepy pusillanimous friends would give a hoot about it.

Allan Bartlett: So many lies in your last comment Matt, but hey you keep living in your own little world.

Matthew Cunningham: No lies, Allan. Not a one, Alllan. But all you have is blather.

John Gibson: Say it aint so.

John Seiler: Matt should return all the money he took from us taxpayers.

Brandon Powers: Allan, seriously. You need to knock off this nonsensical crusade. Matt has done more and been involved longer in advancing the conservative cause than you and I combined.

Last I checked, there were actually a few Democrats and actual pressing issues facing the County that could use our collective attention more than silly games of "gotcha."

This sniping back and forth among friends is just tired and lame. For the sake of all of us, move on. Please.

Allan Bartlett: Actually Brandon this a good debate worth having. Some of us are trying to bring back credibility and believability to a party that sorely needs it. It doesn't help when the editor of the longest running "center right" blog here in OC just reeks of hypocrisy. That's the issue.

Donna Delano: Seriously, Matthew; why the impotent attempt at bullying and intimidating such an inane person as myself? Threatening Allan or any other voter over whom they supported? Exactly which moron at your secret squirrel club put you in charge of who we are allowed to support? Oh, and nonsensical crusades? Since when is fighting for what is right (as NON PAID, at [Taxpayer expense] volunteers) nonsensical? The old saying is true that one cannot argue with an idiot.

Matthew Cunningham: “Debate... See More”? Don’t make me laugh, Allan. The future of the GOP somehow hinges on one client I do work for?

And for “saving” the party’s credibility we should look to you and the selective application of your ever-morphing principles? The same guy whose disdain for public employee spending for Harry Sidhu was nowhere to be found when it came to the big bucks AOCDS’s laid out for Bill Hunt?

This has nothing to do with philosophy or principle, Allan. You turn a blind eye when it suits your purposes. This is all about you and some other petty characters have a weird personal beef with me and this is an excuse to take cheap shots.

Matthew Cunningham: "Seriously, Matthew; why the impotent attempt at bullying and intimidating such an inane person as myself?"

Huh? I'm the bad guy, Donna? You don't know me. You don't know Hugh Hewitt. Yet you chime in with this heavy-handed judgment about what you think motivates us?

How about this: toss aside the straw man arguments, use a little logic and some facts, then get back to me.

Allan Bartlett: No Matthew, I am not the one getting paid six figures by a big government bureaucracy and then pretending I am the conservative authority on all things Republican in OC. You love trying to change the subject, but it won't work. So as long as you keep running up the tab on the taxpayers by helping great conservatives like Delaine Eastin and Rob Reiner, the mockings will continue.

Dan Chmielewski: I love it when conservatives fight! Makes it easier to turn the county blue. But Allan, since I couldn't tell you how you spend your day handling the investment work for your clients, I do have an idea of how a PR/PA firm works and top firms do even better than Matt's hourly rate. His estimate of hours spent on the activities done is in line with industry standards.

Matthew Cunningham: Dan, Allan finds it easier to engage in "more conservative than thou" posturing than, say, going after Democrats (which is what Central Committee members are supposed to do). And he can't even get simple facts straight (not that he cares).

Allan Bartlett: Dan, I don't care what people do for a living. If Matt wants to work for the Children & Families Commission, it's a free country. My main beef with him is that he is also the lead editor for Red County which up until recently, was a very credible center right blog that influenced a lot of Republicans.

It would be like you working for(insert your most hated Republican group or organization) and also being the lead editor/opinion writer at Liberal OC. What do you think your loyal readers and most rank & file dems think of that arrangement?

Coach Wooden Gravely Ill

2010-06-04T16:10:00.000-07:00

The news is not good from Westwood today. Legendary UCLA Basketball coach John Wooden is at UCLA's Ronald Reagan hospital in "grave condition", but resting comfortably. I don't have enough words to express my awe of this man. Not only was he the best coach in the world bar none, he is also a great human being. I've learned so much about leadership from reading his books and studying his life. For now, coach is still with us. Take a moment to say a prayer tonight for he and his family if you could.

Allan Bartlett's GOP Liberty June 8th primary Voting Guide

2010-05-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

The absentee ballots have been mailed out. People have been asking me about my voting guide for the upcoming GOP primary on June 8th so I figured I would whip up a quick post with all my recommendations and reasons behind them. I'll start at the top of the ticket and work my way down as it reads on the ballot.

Governor...Steve Poizner

This may turn out to be the finest rope-a-dope campaign ever run by a gov candidate. A few months ago Poizner appeared to be dead in the water. Now he's tied with ~~Arnold in a skirt~~ Meg Whitman. My heart lies with Larry Naritelli and Chelene Nightingale, but since this race is close, I will be voting for Steve Poizner.

Lt Gov....Sam Aanestad

This is a no brainer. Abel Maldonado should not be rewarded for being the main reason that taxes are higher CA during the last budget cycle. Vote for Sam Aanestad.

Secretary of State....Damon Dunn

This pick got harder for me in the last month because I was actually had a chance to hear Orly Taitz at our last Irvine meeting and she has a great story of how she immigrated over here from Russia. Unfortunately she has not been helping herself in the media with her over the top stands on Obama's birth certificate and a few other issues where she basically has taken herself out of contention because of the way she has come across to voters. So I'm sticking with Damon Dunn here.

Controller....Tony Strickland

I'm not impressed with Tony's endorsements the last few years, but he is my choice for Controller here.

Treasurer....Mimi Walters

It's either this or leave it blank. I have not been impressed at all with Mimi Walters. The way she handled the firing of my friend Kat Vermelis tells me all I need to know about Mimi Walters and her staff. I'm reluctantly voting for her.

Attorney General....John Eastman

This is a really hard decision because Sen Tom Harman has been a good friend to Irvine Republicans and I really like everyone on his staff. Having said this, elections are about candidates and their views. John Eastman is far and away the best conservative choice for CA Attorney General.

Insurance Commissioner...Brian Fitzgerald

The other candidate Mike Villines was the GOP leader in the State Assembly that helped deliver the largest tax increase in CA history. Don't reward him with your vote here.

BOE 3rd District....Vic Baker or leave blank

I can't in good conscience support Michelle Steel anymore after what she did to Irvine Republicans. She has been giving aid and comfort to our Democratic Mayor Suhkee Kang because they share the same race, they're both Korean. Last time I checked, that's not a very good reason to support anybody, especially if they are idealogically against most everything that you say you are for.

US Senator....Chuck DeVore

This is another no brainer. Chuck gets it. He understands that in the Constitution, there are less than 18 specific enumerated powers delegated to the Congress. He will be a great US Senator and he can beat Barbara Boxer in the fall.

US Rep 48th Congressional District....leave blank, no recommendation

This decision pains me, but really we as voters are left with no other choice when the Congressman that represents us turns his back on the document he swore an oath to uphold. He can not be rewarded for doing the wrong things when the pressure was really on him. What am I talking about? I'm talking about the Congressman's vote in favor of the largest bailout in US history(the TARP).

As for the other OC Congressional races, I would vote to re-elect Congressmen Ed Royce and Dana Rohrabacher. In the 42nd CD, I would vote for Phil Liberatore. Gary Miller also voted for the TARP and he has some ethical issues swirling around him. He deserves to be sent home. The same goes for Ken Calvert. He voted for the TARP as well and has worn out his welcome. Vote for his opponent Chriss Riggs if you live in his district(San Clemente, Coto de Caza, Corona, Riverside). In the 47th CD, this is a no brainer choice in the GOP primary. Vote for Van Tran. Van has a great shot at beating Loretta Sanchez in the fall.

70th State Assembly District....Don Wagner

This was another easy decision for me. Don is a proven conservative. He will continue the excellent representation that Chuck DeVore has given us for the last six years.

The next section is Central Committee elections. I will go through my recommendations for each district. I've been working with a lot of Tea Party people for the last year on this project. I have high hopes that a lot of new people will get elected to our OC GOP Central Committee. I designated whether I knew that certain candidates were Tea Party, Campaign For Liberty, and CRA friendly. Inc stands for incumbent.

56th AD

Only four candidates filed and they are automatically elected. If anyone wants to be on the Central Committee and you live in the city of Buena Park, this would be an excellent chance to get involved since usually not all six seats get contested each cycle.

60th AD (all or parts of Orange, Villa Park, Anaheim, La Habra & Yorba Linda)

Denis Bilodeau
Desare Ferraro.....(Tea Party, CRA friendly)
Mike Johnson....(CRA friendly)
Ray Grangoff....(CRA friendly)
Carol Gibbs(Inc).....(Tea Party,C4L, CRA friendly)
Deborah Pauly(Inc)....(Tea Party, CRA friendly)

It's good to see some young guys running for the Central Committee here in the 60th. Mike Johnson and Ray Grangoff will make great members.

67th AD (all or parts of Huntington Beach, Sunset Beach, Seal Beach, Anaheim, Rossmoor, Fountain Valley, Cypress, Garden Grove, Los Alamitos & La Palma)

Steve Hamilton......(Tea Party, C4L friendly)
Kristine Alonzo(Inc)....(Tea Party, C4L, CRA friendly)
Valerie Dickerson(Inc)....(CRA friendly)
Matthew Harper....(CRA friendly)
Mike McGill(Inc)....(Tea party, CRA friendly)
Scott Baugh(Inc)....(CRA friendly)

Steve Hamilton and Krissy Alonzo are at the top of my list here in the 67th AD.

68th AD (all or parts of Costa Mesa, Westminster, Newport Beach, Fountain Valley, Stanton, Midway City, & Garden Grove)

Jeff Matthews....(Tea Party, C4L, CRA friendly)
Mark McCurdy(Inc)....(Tea Party, C4L, CRA friendly)
Tyler Diep(Inc).....(CRA friendly)
Bob Green....(Tea Party, C4L friendly)

Whatever you do...please do NOT vote for Janet Nguyen here if you live in Costa Mesa, Westminster, Fountain Valley, & Garden Grove. The Central Committee already has enough primadonnas on it. I'm only recommending four people in this race.

69th AD (all or parts of Santa Ana, Garden Grove & Anaheim)

Tim Whitacre(Inc)....(Tea Party, CRA friendly)
Scott Carpenter....(Tea Party, CRA friendly)
Brett Franklin(Inc)....(CRA friendly)
Lupe Moreno(Inc)....(CRA friendly)
Cam Mangels....(Tea Party, C4L friendly)
Cuong Sinh Cao(Inc)....(CRA friendly)

Again, please do NOT vote for Harry Sidhu the carpetbagger here. He needs to lose this and the Supervisor's race and go back to the 3rd District in Anaheim Hills.

70th AD (all or parts of Irvine, Newport Beach, Tustin, Corona Del Mar, Lake Forest, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Beach & Laguna Woods)

Allan Bartlett(Inc)....(Tea Party, C4L, CRA friendly)
Megan Barth....(Tea Party, CRA friendly)
John Draper....(Tea Party, C4L friendly)
Scott Voights....(Tea Party, CRA friendly)
Tom Fuentes(Inc)....Chairman Emeritus and a good friend (CRA friendly)
Carol Price or Lynn Schott....(Tea Party, C4L friendly)

Many good friends running in this district. If you vote for one person, obviously please vote for me. There's more than six people I would support in this race. There's a few incumbents with whom I enjoy good rapport. No one on the committee is indispensable and it would be nice to get some new people elected.

71st AD (all or parts of Rancho Santa Margarita, Tustin, Irvine, Mission Viejo, Orange, Trabucco & Coto)

Linda Barnes....(Tea Party friendly)
Mark Dobrilovic....(Tea Party, C4L friendly)
Tony Beall(Inc)....(Tea Party, CRA friendly)
Jon Fleischman....(CRA, C4L friendly)
Ed Sachs....(Tea Party friendly)
David Duringer....(Tea Party friendly)

This district has a strong Tea Party candidate movement in it. It's great to see. I hope this entire slate gets elected.

72nd AD (all or parts of Fullerton, Brea, Placentia, Anaheim & La Habra)

Bruce Whitaker(Inc)....(Tea Party, C4L, CRA friendly)
Shawn Nelson....(Tea Party friendly)
Zonya Townsend(Inc)....(Tea Party, CRA friendly)
Rick Rios(Inc)....(Tea Party, CRA friendly)
Marilyn Davenport(Inc)....(Tea Party, CRA friendly)
Micheal Nutto....(CRA friendly)

73rd AD (all or parts of Dana Point, Laguna Hills, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Niguel & San Clemente)

Craig Alexander(Inc)....(CRA friendly)
Mike Munzing....(Tea Party, CRA friendly)
Chandra Chell....(Tea Party, C4L, CRA friendly)
Catherine Richardson....(Tea Party, CRA friendly)
Norm Dickinson(Inc)....a good guy, straight shooter

I didn't endorse for all six spots here, but this is a good slate. Mike Munzing is a rising star in this district.

Superior Court Office #50....Julian Bailey

Mr Bailey's opponent here, Lon Hurwitz has donated to a laundry list of national liberal Democrats.

Superintendent of Public Instruction.....Alexia Deligianni

County Assessor......Claude Parrish

Clerk Recorder....Hugh Nguyen

Please do not vote for the incumbent, Tom Daly. Hugh Nguyen is a great candidate.

District Attorney......Tony Rackauckas

Public Administrator.....John Williams

The BIG ONE....OC Sheriff......BILL HUNT

I've written extensively about this race. Just mark the spot for Bill Hunt and watch the establishment scramble like cockroaches. This is the most important race IMO in this June election.

Treasurer....Keith Rodenhuis

Propositions.....

Prop 13...YES
Prop 14....NO
Prop 15....NO
Prop 16.....YES
Prop 17....YES

Whew

Clerk/Recorder Watch: Another Epic Tom Daly FAIL!

2010-03-11T11:26:00.000-08:00

Another day, another Tom Daly epic fail. At the rate Daly is going, he might not file for re-election. Quick someone call Harry Sidhu and let him know that there are two new potential political openings for him to salivate over....Clerk & Treasurer.

A few years ago Daly persuaded the BOS that he needed more archive space/ and or general space to ever expand the imperial government empire known as the Clerk Recorder. Once again we have to give major props to Friends For Fullerton's Future blog for doing the digging via public records request and blowing the lid off of Tom Daly's epic incompetence and malfeasance.

Back in 2008, a building was purchased for $2.1 million in downtown Santa Ana(433 W. Civic Center Drive) to expand the Clerk's office/archives and for other purposes. The building was purchased "as is" with a caveat that the county "would pay for minor repairs". But nothing is ever minor when it comes to Tom Daly's incompetence. Two years after the purchase, the building is still sitting vacant collecting dust. It seems that a feasibility study was done(at a cost of $100k)and the options to get the building ready for occupancy are....to put it mildly, very expensive.

Here are the three options the architectural firm came up for the building.....ready for this?

1. $2.8 million to remodel the building to make it usable; ADA, structural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, replacement, etc.

2. $5.7 million to remodel as above, and expand the building to accommodate the proposed use.

3. $7.6 million to demolish the building and start over again.

Did you guys get that? At the very minimum, this boondoggle is gonna cost $2.8 million more just to make the building usable again! If they go with the middle option, it will cost $5.7 million for the proposed use. Are you pulling your hair out yet? Lastly we have the nuclear option....junk the whole thing and start over from scratch....at a whopping cost of $7.6 million!

If they wanted to make a video of "Government Gone Wild", you couldn't pick a better topic than Tom Daly. Thanks for nothing Tom.

47th CD Watch: Breaking News.....Quang Pham Suspends His Campaign

2010-03-05T10:11:00.001-08:00

I just spoke personally with my good friend Quang Pham. He has decided to suspend his congressional campaign. I know this was a hard decision for Quang to make, but it was the right decision. He has decided that he will step aside for the good of the GOP team this November. I salute him for this. Here is his press release....

Quang Pham Suspends Congressional Campaign

For Immediate Release

March 5, 2010

Contact: (714) 653-1140 or media@PhamForCongress.com

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. – Quang Pham, fiscal conservative and Republican candidate for California’s 47^th Congressional District, said today that he will no longer seek the nomination. The filing deadline to appear on the ballot is March 12.

“Winning a seat in Congress requires full commitment of time and money,” said Quang Pham. “Yet my business and my employees now need all of my focus. In addition, the dynamics of the race have changed significantly.”

Several senior Republican leaders praised Quang’s candidacy and his political future. “Quang’s energy, passion and intelligence are impressive. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) just enrolled him in our Young Guns Program. Perhaps more importantly, Quang is the consummate team player, and his future in Republican politics is bright,” Congressman Kevin McCarthy, chief deputy whip and head of recruitment for the NRCC, said.

As a business owner and Marine Corps combat veteran, Quang Pham thoroughly impressed many of us in the New Majority,” Tom McKernan, Chairman of New Majority Orange County added. “We admire his desire for unity and his commitment to the long term success of Republican values. We are encouraging him to stay active with the Republican Party.”

“According to recent polling, Quang Pham would have been competitive in the primary election,” Congressman Ed Royce said. “But he realizes that the ultimate goal is to defeat Loretta Sanchez and that a bitter primary fight would leave the winner with fewer resources to accomplish our mission.”

Scott Baugh, Chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, added, “I applaud Quang Pham and I respect and support his difficult decision. We welcome his participation with open arms.”

Finally, Quang Pham recapped, “While campaigning, I have met many wonderful people locally and nationally. I especially thank General William Lyon, a leader among leaders, Congressman Duncan D. Hunter, Rod McDermott, Bill H. Lyon, Doug Hamlin, Tom Davin, Carol Rudat, Jeff Stack, Bob Longpre, Marsh Carter, Marjie Shahani, Jim Harker, Bob Mosier, Ron Martell, and Mike McGill. Thanks to my campaign consultant, Joe Giardiello, campaign manager Nathan Miller, fundraiser Alexandra Wilcox, and to Nick Lecong for his help with the Vietnamese American community and media.

I thank members of the media, activists, and bloggers who have covered this race since last May and who have shown an interest in learning about me, a first-time candidate. Continue to hold elected officials and candidates accountable to taxpayers and voters.

Most of all, I thank my wife, Shannon, my mother, my sisters, and my personal friends who have encouraged me and supported me.”

A resident of Orange County since 1990, Quang Pham is an independent businessowner, decorated Marine Corps combat pilot, author of A SENSE OF DUTY: OUR JOURNEY FROM VIETNAM TO AMERICA, and community leader who was a candidate for Congress in California’s 47th District. For more information, please visit www.PhamForCongress.com.

We Have A Mike Duvall Sighting....

2010-03-04T19:51:00.000-08:00

The guys over at Friends For Fullerton's Future have posted up a great "get" with the first interview of Mike "Drippy" Duvall since his resignation in disgrace last year. I don't know what Mike's motivation is for coming out and spilling the beans at this moment, but I'm glad he did. We all like to watch a good train wreck and this definitely fits the description.

According to Mike, he believes it was a conspiracy to take him down. Quoting from FFFF....

Although he can not fully explain their motives, Duvall stated that he believe the likeliest scenario is that he was set up by a conspiracy involving Jeff Miller, the assemblyman from Corona, and his aide. He believes the whole thing was either orchestrated or exploited by Republican operative Jon Fleischman, likely in retaliation for the forced resignation of Fleischman’s wife, a former employee in Duvall’s local office. He claimed that Fleischman had become extremely hostile to him personally.

According to Duvall the “hot mike” on the day his comments were recorded was Miller’s, not his; that in retrospect Miller seemed to coach the conversation into its lewd direction; and that Millers aide almost immediately went to retrieve a copy of the recording. Duvall stuck to his story that his comments were not a true revelation of anything that actually happened, and in fact he was just repeating stuff told to him about another legislator altogether.

Really Mike? If you didn't "do" the lobbyist, then why did you circle the wagons and then resign? I mean I have to say, you really aren't believable at all here. I'm questioning why you would even want to open up this scab at this time.

I have heard through the grapevine that there is a lot more to this story than meets the eye. For now though, Mike says he is the victim

Lastly, I don't if I should be thanking Mike for the reference to "eye patch underwear", but it sure was funny. Anytime I hear that phrase I will always know where it came from.

Congrats again to the FFFF blog for scoring this interview.

Deal Me In For Online Poker In The US

2010-03-03T21:50:00.000-08:00

There is an effort underway in Congress to end the ban for online Poker here in the US and regulate it. I say that it's about damn time. There's no way that in a free country, that online Poker should be banned.

For a little history on this issue, back in 2006, the Congress passed the Safe Port Act. A provision of the Safe Port Act was the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The UIGEA, as it is more commonly known, made it illegal for financial institutions to process gambling payments, whether it is to a gambling site or to the player.

The UIGEA was meant to go into effect in December of 2009, but a legislative war had erupted nearly six months prior. Barney Frank (D-MA) had begun the fight to overturn the UIGEA. After gathering 65 cosponsors to his bill, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, Frank managed to delay the UIGEA by six months.

So we are getting closer to the June 1st deadline for this act to go into effect. The purpose of this post is to raise awareness of this issue for everyone that loves freedom and doesn't like the government telling them what they can and cannot do in private with their own money as long as they are not hurting anyone else. I'm sorry to say that there are a lot elected republicans that have this vicious authoritian streakin them that want to try and run everyone's lives.

I hope our CA GOP Congressmen and women will get behind this effort to regulate online Poker and keet it safe and legal here in the US.

Lastly I will post a press release I received from the Poker's Players Alliance...

the State of Play of Online Poker

Within the next 6 weeks, Members of the House Financial Services committee will be taking a key vote on legislation related to internet gaming, which includes protections for online poker. Major developments over the last month have created a winning hand for the game of poker.

In November…the Federal Reserve and Department of Treasury extended the deadline for enforcement of online gambling laws until May 1, 2010. This extension was granted in order to give lawmakers and financial institutions more time to clarify definitions contained in UIGEA, as well as develop policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the law.

In December…House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) held a hearing on his legislation to license and regulate online gambling, which will clarify that games of skill like poker (that are already legal offline) are protected under the law. More congressional action is expected shortly in order to accommodate the time frame granted by the Fed and Treasury, and now is a vital time to ensure Members of Congress are educated on the state of poker and how this legislation will impact the right of all American’s to play online.

Key Points on Financial Services Legislation

Enforcing the Law to Protect Consumers - Millions of U.S. consumers currently play poker online through offshore sites, outside of American oversight and thus offering no consumer protections. A recent study conducted by Harvard professor and former law enforcement officer Malcolm Sparrow concludes that a prohibition on online gambling would only serve to push online gambling underground and away from any law enforcement protections. Simply turning a blind eye to protecting American consumers, especially children and problem gamblers, is not a solution.

Increasing Tax Revenue and Economic Benefits - Attempting to prohibit online gambling sites is an impossible task, with sites popping up off shore and away from American law enforcement. These sites bring with them a considerable amount of jobs that are leaving the U.S. to countries with more refined gambling laws. Additionally, more than $50 billion of tax revenue is being left on the table or sent to other countries – funding that could be used to pay for health care, schools, and community interests.

Protecting Internet Freedom - Through licensing and regulation, the rights of individuals to play poker at a time and place of their choosing can be protected, all while keeping those who don’t have that right – namely children and problem gamblers – off these sites. As the Harvard study specifically states, technologies that are currently available and are being used in other countries can reduce the risks associated with underage and problem gamblers, money laundering, fraud, privacy and security.

Pay To Play 101....A Lesson From Tom Daly

2010-03-01T00:42:00.000-08:00

When the going gets tough at county hall, the tough create a pay for play scheme for a phantom sports hall of fame.....so say the guys over at Friends For Fullerton Future.

This one looks like a classic case of political corruption. The protagonists of this story are former 4th District Supe candidate and current OC Clerk/Recorder Tom Daly and OC Water Board member/political consultant Brett Barbre. Just to show that political corruption has no partisan bounds....Tom Daly is a Democrat and Mr Barbre is a Republican.

I will lay out the Cliff Notes version of this story and leave the details to guys over at FFFF.

- Tom Daly hires and pays Mr Barbre $48k in 2008/09 for consulting work on a "sports hall of fame".

- from public records requests it is proven that there is hardly anything of value to show to us taxpayers of what this $48k bought.

- this money was paid out in a time of a huge budget crisis & massive layoffs of county workers

- Tom Daly gets to add a high profile Republican to his list of supporters and reaped campaign contributions from Mr Barbre to the tune of $1000....how about that. What a great return on your investment if you're Brett Barbre. He receives $48k and only has to pay out a $1000 ~~bribe~~ contribution.

- I myself noted Brett escorting Daly's hand picked successor at the time, Renee Ramirez, around at a recent Central Committee meeting.

All this begs the question from us working stiffs out here trying to earn an honest living...does this arrangement seem dishonest & corrupt to the average person out there?

US Senate Watch: Carly Bombs in OC

2010-02-16T00:35:00.000-08:00

I've heard & seen a lot of political speeches over the years. It's safe to say that the one that CA GOP US Senate candidate Carly Fiorina gave at the OC GOP Central Committee this past night will not go down in the history books for its brevity or genuineness.

Not only was her speech boring, she lacks any sort of credibility on her self described political philosophy of "I'm a conservative". Really Carly? Real conservatives don't support massive bailouts like the TARP which I saw you shill for numerous times on the financial channels like CNBC and Bloomberg when you were "giving Sen McCain advice" on financial issues during the last presidential campaign. With help like that, who needs Democrats.

This was supposed to be a brief five minute speech that Chairman Baugh graciously gave her for a chance to introduce herself briefly and talk just a few minutes about her campaign. Instead you burned him and all of us who had to listen to you drone on for over thirty five minutes of stuff we really didn't need to hear. By minute fifteen I couldn't help but to keep looking at the time wondering when she will give us a reprieve. Everyone was getting fidgety and then she would start talking about another irrelevant topic. I was like...."no not another friggin story". Just shoot me. Yeah we get it that you were a businesswoman. My political bs detector has been up with you from the day I heard you were thinking of running. Just because you say you are a conservative, doesn't mean you are. We've seen lots of Republicans the last few years who have all but trashed the word conservative with their wholesale sellouts on issues of smaller government and adherence to the Constitution.

So I guess to sum it up, it was a pretty forgettable speech. Go tilt at some more windmills of Demon Sheep ma'am. baaaaaaaaah

My Thoughts On Scott Baugh's Speech Tonight

2010-01-19T15:01:00.001-08:00

The OC GOP Central Committee heard a rousing speech tonight by our Chairman, Scott Baugh. I want to go through it with the readers and give some of my thoughts about how we will all hold him accountable to his own words (my thoughts will be in italics below the lines of speech I am commenting on).

Ladies and Gentlemen:

This is a very difficult speech to give because it involves an introspective look at our own party and what I see are some very disturbing truths. They are so disturbing in fact that I considered not continuing as your Chairman. Instead, I decided to share my thoughts and my convictions that we must chart a new course for our party, our communities, our state and this nation.

Good start

“These are the times that try men’s souls.” Tonight, we should all fear for our country. While we don’t face the guns, death and sacrifice that confronted our forefathers, we face something far more insidious – a decay and destruction of our liberties. This decay comes from an enemy within which makes it difficult to confront. Unfortunately, this decay comes in part by Republicans who have played a significant role in the advancement of a progressive agenda in this country. The decay is eroding our most fundamental values and must be stopped.

The names of George Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger come to my mind as well as certain legislators i.e. Abel Maldonado, Anthony Adams, Roger Niello, Mike Villines, etc

Our state is severely broken. We face a badly damaged country run by political parties, unions and corporations that are stealing any hope of a bright future from our children. But we do not despair. In all things we have choices.

It was 46 years ago. Citizen Ronald Reagan delivered a speech about choices. In that speech he spoke of excessive federal spending. He spoke of whether we believe in self-governance. He spoke of whether elitists in a distant capitol can plan our lives better that we can. He spoke of -- everything we are facing today. He called the speech, “A Time for Choosing.” In the face of some very disturbing facts, and a generation later, we now face our own time for choosing.

This was a great Reagan speech. We should follow his advice of "trust but verify". Many words and promises have been made in the past. We are going to hold the Chairman and the entire Executive Committee of the party accountable for these words.

Our country is 13 trillion dollars in debt. We will add one trillion dollars in new debt each year in the foreseeable future. Worse yet, there are no consequences for failure. We have a bailout, a loan or an economic stimulus for anything that fails the test of the free market. Let me repeat. We have a bailout, a loan or an economic stimulus for anything that fails the test of the free market.

Again there are certain legislators right here in Orange County that won't pass these new standards because they supported the massive trillion dollar TARP bailout. In fact one of them was going to receive our coveted "Legislator of the Year" award, but I digress.

We are the most irresponsible generation this country has ever known with nearly 120 trillion dollars in debt, unfunded Social Security and Medicare liabilities. This is $400,000 for every man, woman and child in this country. How do we defend or explain this – particularly to those who had no part in the creation of these obligations?

How do we defend this? Answer: we can't

Sadly, our generation is creating indentured servants of our children and of children yet to be born. We make no sacrifices and take no responsibility. We only consume and borrow and then consume more. We are the first generation in the history of this country that has actually chosen not to sacrifice on behalf of future generations. This is unconscionable and immoral.

ditto unconscionable and immoral

In contrast, my grandfather was part of the greatest generation. He was frugal. He never asked for anything and certainly never bragged about anything. Yet he had so much to brag about. He was a decorated World War II hero who was at the invasion of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge where 19,000 fellow American soldiers died. He did tours of duty throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. He bled for our country and he walked away with numerous commendations, including a bronze star and a purple heart. I learned of his heroics only after death when he was 86. I asked my grandmother why she never told me. She replied that she never knew. You see, my grandfather believed his service was nothing more than a duty to be performed and not talked about. How is it that his generation was so great and we have become so selfish, narcissistic and dependent?

These are good questions

Our fifty states are in no better shape than our country with two trillion dollars in unfunded pension liabilities. Why? Because we allow public employees to retire at 50 or 55 with pensions ranging from $100,000 to as high as $250,000 -- guaranteed for life! And, with trillions of dollars in bonded indebtedness, some of our 50 states are flirting with bankruptcy. California is leading the charge. We have ½ trillion dollars in debt – and we are still asking for more.

It might be to late to save CA and the nation from insolvency and bankruptcy

You would think that after running up this massive debt our politicians would stop spending and living beyond our means, but they don’t. They are addicted to power and spending. They will say and do anything to keep feeding their addictions. How often do you hear our politicians say they are fiscally prudent and then vote for more spending?

we hear it all to often

This is not to say that all politicians are bad. We have many honorable elected representatives and patriots in Washington and Sacramento today. I do mean to say, however, that the spending addictions we see in Washington, Sacramento and in cities throughout Orange County know no party affiliation.

It's worse for our party because we are supposed to be the party of fiscal restrait and discipline. We have lost all believability and credibility on fiscal issues.

Many Republicans have been just as guilty as Democrats. In point of fact, under George Bush’s presidency – with a Republican Congress for six of those years – our government grew, entitlements expanded, and our national debt was nearly doubled! This is a very inconvenient truth. And, this is precisely why a recent Rasmussen poll revealed that 75% of registered Republican voters believe elected Republicans are out of touch.

In defense of their spending, I often hear Republicans say that we just need to understand their votes represent the best deal they could get. I know. I’ve been there before when I was in the legislature. I, too, cast some bad votes. Confession of a bad vote is healthy and redeeming. But to simply say that “we don’t understand” is condescending to the people who vote them into office. I don’t need to “understand” your votes if my liberties are reduced while progressive policies are advanced.

I hear this a lot too. Well Allan you just don't understand how things are done up here or back in DC.

Elected representatives are our public servants; they are not our public masters. The problem is that they often become isolated from their constituents; yet, in their arrogance and in the intoxication of capitol politics they claim that they know what’s best for their constituents. It is time they represented “we the people” and stop pursuing their self-interests with preservation of their public office being their top priority.

Our elected officials work for us and not the other way around. They better start remembering this truism.

Unfortunately, we as party officials share in the blame because we failed to confront the duplicity of Republicans who claim to be for limited government and then vote for ballooning debts and increased spending. The question is whether we have the resolve to change this status quo. As a country we have been here before and we know what to do.

After King George passed The Tea Act of 1773, the American colonists dump 342 chest of tea in to the sea. In response, King George passed The Coercive Acts in 1774 to strengthen British rule. These acts were dubbed The Intolerable Acts by the colonists, and led to the first American Revolution.

A massive Tea Party is brewing this November.

Ladies and gentlemen – look to our nation’s capitol. The $800 billion Stimulus bill that no one read, the Health Care bill that Americans do not want, and the Cap & Trade bill that no one can afford are The Intolerable Acts of our day!

It is time for a Second American Revolution.

Ditto

Thomas Jefferson said: “When governments fear the people there is liberty; when the people fear the government there is tyranny.” You need to know that your government and most of your elected representatives do not fear you. That’s why they don’t even flinch when they vote for the Intolerable Acts of our day like failed stimulus packages and certain to fail health care packages.

I love this quote from Thomas Jefferson. Oh and yes it's obvious that our representatives don't fear us.

Our Second American Revolution can only succeed if it obtains its energy from leaders like you here tonight. We cannot count on our elected Republican leadership. I don’t hear from them that they want a revolution. I don’t hear from them that they want to restore our liberties. I only hear they want their power back. What will they do with it?

The only reason to vote Republicans back in power IMO is to hope for gridlock/be a check on the socialist Obama Presidency. I know for a fact that our DC leaders have not learned their lessons.

I don’t just want “Republicans” back in power. I want Republicans who are reformers in power. Having Republicans back in power simply because Democrats have failed in their social experiments is not good enough. What have we accomplished if Democrats and Republicans trade power every few years while we slide into irreversible decline?

Let me be very clear about Democrats. I don’t want Democrats in power at all. The Democrats in Washington today -- from the President down to the members of Congress -- are engaged in a wholesale change of the American landscape that is designed to permanently eliminate our liberty in exchange for their ideal view of the world.

I think all Republicans will stipulate that 99.9% of Democrats are bad.

Here in California we are dominated by a coalition of liberals who engage in rank hypocrisy in the pursuit of their utopian world. They claim they are business friendly while they heap on taxes and regulations that drive business out of this state. They claim they want affordable housing while they prevent new construction with environmental terrorism. They claim they want money for the blind, the disabled, and for school children, yet they routinely bestow more benefits on public employees that are draining our public coffers.

Unfortunately, as bad as these Democratic policies are, we have higher taxes and more debt today because year after year Republicans provide the margin of votes to make it happen. This unholy alliance is destroying our state and our country. Moreover, it undermines our justification as a party for public support.

So true. Prime example is all six Republicans that voted for more taxes here in CA last year.

It is this very real threat to our liberties by this coalition of liberals and accommodating Republicans that makes it imperative for us to clean up our own house, restore our credibility with the voters, and to put this country back on the path of self governance. What good is a big tent if the tent is so big that it collapses the very principles that we hold dear? Abigail Adams stated in 1812 that, “A house divided against itself – and upon that foundation do our enemies build their hopes of subduing us.”

We need to understand the proper purpose of a political party. The purpose is not the raw accumulation of power and technical majorities. Its purpose is to gain a majority in order to implement policies articulated in its platform. Therefore, we in this party, and in party organizations throughout this country, will only succeed if we fundamentally change the relationship between the members of our Central Committees and the candidates and officeholders who we support. We can no longer support a paradigm where we automatically endorse the product but have no say in the condition or quality of that product. We no longer have the luxury of merely registering voters and getting them out to vote – this is unsustainable and with your help – THIS ENDS TONIGHT.

I really want to believe this, but we will see going forward real fast if we are serious about these words.

Your call to action tonight is to meet with your local, state and federal elected representatives. Your call to action is to challenge your representatives when they stray from the path of limited government. Your call to action, quite simply, is to hold them accountable to the limited government platforms that they campaigned on.

So, whether the elected Republican is in Washington chasing pork laden earmarks lacking in transparency and voting for a greater role in government, or in Sacramento supporting higher taxes and bloated bonds for water and stem cell research, or in Orange County voting for outrageous public employee benefits – you will no longer find automatic sanctuary in this party. We will hold you accountable and your protection ENDS TONIGHT.

good red meat applause line

And, if you are a candidate seeking an endorsement or support from this party, the standard for support will not be whether you garnered enough votes in this body by hiring slick consultants and cashing in on friendships.

Whoa! Now were talking. I've learned a sad fact that a few GOP political consultants have way to much power and influence over what goes on here in OC. Glad to hear we are cutting them off....alledgedly.

The standard will be whether you have a proven commitment to limited government, because I am tired of politicians who campaign based on the advice of consultants rather than the conviction of their hearts. I am tired of politicians who have no vision for liberty and no unqualified commitment to its protection. I am tired of politicians who want to occupy a seat of power but do doing nothing to advance the cause of liberty.

Excellent

For example, I don’t want to see Republicans voting the so-called right way on the pension issues facing us today. I want to see Republicans taking political risks by offering pro-active solutions that include creating two or three tier pension systems that would allow us to get our books back in order. For our electeds this means risk and political courage to place your principles above your office, because some unions in this county are threatening city council members who dare to address this problem.

Public Employee Unions are evil. Agreed

The rest of us must return to the concept of sacrifice as embodied by our founding fathers and carried on by generations that followed. I’m not talking about the sacrifice of wounds, loss of limb and death that so many of our honored men and women endured in defense of this country. For most of us this is not the type of sacrifice that we face. But, we do owe it to these brave soldiers to honor their sacrifice by giving up some of our comforts and securities in order to leave a better and stronger nation for future generations.

We can honor their sacrifice by giving resources that we have. For some of us it is money. For many of us it is time stuffing envelopes, walking precincts or making telephone calls. But, we need more than time and money. We need your talent, your ideas and your solutions. We need your technology and communication skills – whatever your asset is, we are asking you tonight to engage -- and measure your sacrifice in this Second American Revolution.

This sounds great. Where do I sign up?

In addition to our duties as Central Committee members, I am asking you tonight to decide if you have a calling for public office. There will be no incumbent Republican protected who is not like minded in the spirit and word of this speech tonight. As Chairman of this party, the doors are open – will you walk through them?

The reason that I asked you to walk through these doors is because even here in conservative Orange County electing people with an “R” behind their name has not yielded freedom based outcomes. There is no clearer illustration of this than the abuses we have seen with public employee unions.

I hope good liberty minded candidates will step up this election and run

Most of you tonight are not offered a pension plan from your employer at all. Some of you receive a modest contribution from your employer in the range of 3-5%. A rare and extremely generous employer may contribute 15% of your salary towards your retirement. Compare your situation with public safety workers in Orange County – you the taxpayers are currently contributing 51% of payroll to their pensions. If you think that is bad, in 2014 the contribution will be astounding 84% of payroll. To illustrate, if somebody is making $100,000, our county will have to pay an additional $84,000 just to cover the cost of their pension.

Pensions are unsustainable at the rate we are going. Something has to give.

It is no surprise that Democrat Willie Brown – the former speaker of the State Legislature and former Mayor of San Francisco – recently stated,

“…at some point, someone is going to have to get honest about the fact that 80 percent of the state, county and city budget deficits [in California] are due to employee costs.”

That time is now.

So, taking a moment to be specific about what we can do here locally to address this imbalance, I am proposing for this Central Committee a couple minimum standards for candidates in order to obtain support from our party.

We're listening....

First, no candidate will be supported by this party who does not endorse and help pass the Paycheck Protection initiative.

Excellent idea.

The Paycheck Protection Initiative is a policy rooted in freedom. It will not in and of itself solve our problems here in California but it will cut the money flow that is used to produce such imbalances in the way Sacramento functions.

Millions of dollars that union bosses spend each year on initiatives and candidate support are nothing more than stolen money from the rank and file. Whenever the union bosses need more money for their agenda, they don’t ask the employees if they will contribute. No, they simply deduct if from their paychecks. Thomas Jefferson said, “To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical.”

With your help, we can end this tyrannical practice.

I'm ready to help charge this hill if we really mean it.

The second item I want to propose tonight as a minimum standard for our support is that no candidate will be supported by this party who receives contributions from public employee unions. If you have already taken their money -- give it back. This proposed prohibition would not apply to money voluntarily donated by union members. You see, union members are honorable, hard working and decent. It is many but not all of the unions themselves and their empires that have a stranglehold on our political systems.

I realize it is possible to take union money and vote against their relentless pursuit of the public purse, but far too many of our elected officials have taken their money or endorsements and then voted with the union bosses. Occasionally, a bright line is necessary in order to restore balance.

These standards are near to impossible, but I'm open to see if this will work. This is one area that we will find out right away if we are serious about all this talk.

In the coming months, we as a Central Committee can work on other ideas and standards for local, state and federal offices that will help put us on the right path.

But in the meantime and in closing, I want you to see that the abuses in our local, state and federal governments are too great to ignore. They are leading to our demise.

On April 19, 1775, a small group of 77 alarmed citizens fought the first battle of the American Revolution in the fields of Lexington and Concord Massachusetts. 235 years later, the first battle of the Second American Revolution will be fought in that same state. Tomorrow, the citizens of Massachusetts will vote on the people’s seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy. An unknown, under-funded, underdog, Scott Brown, has shaken the foundation of every liberal Democrat in that state by threatening to do the impossible – taking the so-called “Kennedy Seat” away from them.

I hope Scott Brown wins as well tomorrow if for no other reason than he says he will be the 41st vote to uphold the fillibuster against Obamacare.

Folks, those 77 daring patriots did not win the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Like Scott Brown, they faced overwhelming odds – 700 British Redcoats and 1,700 reinforcements. But, the Patriots gave them a beating that was only a sign of things to come.

Tonight I want to take you back to the beginning of my remarks and refer you once again to the indelible words of Thomas Paine:

These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.

What will your role be in the Second American Revolution? Will you be a summer soldier - a sunshine patriot? Or, will you give sacrificially in order to restore this country to Freedom?

Let’s move forward together.

This was definitely a great speech by Chairman Baugh. We need to trust him, but verify that he means what he says. I'm ready to back him up for these ideas if he is serious and so should the rest of the Central Committee.

Norby Defeats The Ackermans

2009-11-18T02:15:00.000-08:00

The race for the 72nd AD is finally over. Supervisor Chris Norby has defeated Linda Ackerman and the Republican establishment by an almost 2 to 1 margin when it's all said and done.

There are so many things to talk about in this election. First I want to congratulate Supervisor Norby and his team for running a superior campaign. He knew going into this election that it was going to get ugly early and often, but I don't think even he knew how nasty this race would get. It took a lot of intestinal fortitude to weather all the attacks that came his way via the Ackerman campaign. Chris had the advantage early on in this election and never relinquished it. He pressed this advantage to the point where now he will be the next Assemblyman come January barring any disasters.

As for the Ackerman campaign, I don't have very many nice things to say. She, Dick, and most of the Republican establishment that supported and endorsed her were defeated tonight by an almost 2 to 1 margin. Her campaign spent in the neighborhood of $350k dollars between what she raised and the IEs for her and she only received 2400 more votes than Richard Faher who didn't spend any money at all! LOL! This has to be unprecedented. Her campaign went hard negative right out of the gate before many even knew who she was. That's a great way to introduce yourself...haha. As we see by the results tonight, the blowback from her negative campaign was that she lost big. The voters were smart enough to see through all of her ridiculous negative mailers. I read Linda's statement from earlier tonight that she congratulates Supervisor Norby on his victory. That's very nice of her, but it's not sufficient. She and Dick need to endorse him now for the good of party unity. We'll give you a few days to lick your wounds and get over the bitterness that you and Dick are probably feeling towards Chris right now, but it's time to finally end this ugly chapter in OC political history and endorse Chris for the runoff. It's the right thing to do.

The other big loser in this campaign is most of the establishment in my party that early on, circled the wagons for Linda. How did that work out for you guys? The whole ethics process in the Central Committee was one big joke. Ackerman brought in all her high paid slick lawyers to the first subcommittee hearing and eked out an admonition from the Executive Committee that were in the tank big time for Linda. Now the Dems can say that, look, even the Republicans admonished Norby. That's real helpful. Thanks guys. I argued early on that our party has no business being the referee of an election contest that gets ugly because we as a party, for the most part, have no credibility right now to judge who is ethical. The voters are smart enough to figure these things out. Chris Norby now has ultimate letter of admonishion against Linda Ackerman....it's called victory. I hope this is a lesson learned.

Sheriff Arpaio/Bill Hunt Event Roundup

2009-11-06T01:46:00.001-08:00

Sheriff Joe Arpaio is everything as advertised and more. It was very generous of him to come out from Phoenix to headline the fundraising event for OC Sheriff candidate Bill Hunt. Here's a flavor of what it was like...

So I'm pulling into the parking lot before the event and sure enough there are lots of protesters and media outside the Phoenix Club. It looked mostly like La Raza types and local spanish media. They were all speaking spanish over the bullhorn. I still will never understand that. We speak English in America guys.

The event itself lasted about two hours. I'm gonna say there were about 300 people there give or take. 250 seat had been presold before the event and there were lots of walk ups. We were first treated to a speech by James Madison look a like Dana Parker who gave us some great insights to the Constitution and the parallels of debates going on today and what was being debated during the Constitutional Convention. The one take away I got from Dana's speech was his telling of how some people(liberals usually) like to say that the Constitution is a living breathing document. He reminded us that if we want to update it, there is an amendment process that the founders gave us for times when a broad consensus can be reached on amending the document.

The next speaker was Sheriff Richard Mack. I had seen him speak a few months prior at a previous Bill Hunt event. Sheriff Mack earned fame by suing the federal government over the Brady Bill and he won. He likes to say that "he was the only one to sue the Clinton Administration over a non-sexual matter and not only won, but live to tell about it". He then read a little of the Supreme Court decision that struck down parts of the Brady Bill. He quoted Justice Scalia a lot. One of the best Scalia quotes from this case...

"The Constitution protects us from our own best intentions"

How true this is, especially when we are talking about this Obama Administration. My pocket Constitution doesn't say anything about socialized healthcare.

Bill Hunt was next to speak, but before he spoke, he was given about a ten minute introduction by Tim Whitacre for all the viewing audience at home online. The event was streamed live on Bill's website thanks to James Sugra. Tim gave everyone who doesn't know Bill the cliff notes version of Bill's life the last six years. So Bill got up and spoke for about fifteen minutes. His best line of the night really hit home....

"It may have cost me my career in the short term, but I'm standing before you tonight and the other guy is heading to jail." Obviously a reference to disgraced and convicted former Sheriff Mike Carona.

Lastly we had Sheriff Joe batting clean up....and boy did he deliver. This is one of the most down to earth people I have ever met. Lynn and I had a chance to meet Joe before the event. He noticed that Lynn has a striking resemblence to Sarah Palin, LOL. I told him it would be our pleasure to have Lynn come out to any event he has in Arizona when he needs a Palin stand in. Done deal. The speech itself was awesome. I didn't get the sense that Sheriff Joe does many of these events, but the guy turns out to be a comedian. He had the crowd rolling with laughter. He are some excepts of the speech(H/T to Matt Coker of the OC Weekly)....

1) "I apologize for the protesters outside. They go wherever I go, If you know a good Mexican restaurant, go and tell them where it is. I know in Phoenix I can't go to a Mexican restaurant. When I walk in, most of the workers run out the back door or spit in my food."

2) "[Hunt] and I come from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We are probably the only two Republicans who came from there. We're both out west now. I'm older than he is. When I retire, I'll ride off into the sunset, but I don't ride a horse. I'll use a convertible."

3) "I'm a senior citizen. Sometimes I pick up a lot of votes because of that, especially in Sun City. When I talk in Sun City, I always tell them my age. In Scottsdale, which is snotty, kind of like Orange County, I tell them I'm 45."

4) "When I first ran for sheriff, I made a mistake. I've been married for 53 years. That's not the mistake. I never see my wife. The mistake I made was I said the sheriff should be appointed, not elected. If I had been appointed, I would have been fired 17 years ago. There would be no tents, no underwear, no nothing."

5) [Looking around for Hunt while talking about the candidate] "Where's Bill? Is he trying to get votes outside? I hope he speaks Spanish."

6) "We got Army tents from New Mexico. We made a midnight requisition. We set them up at a waste disposal plant. A half million people have gone through the tents. We only put the convicted people there. The 8,000 innocent people are in jail."

7) "We went to the Supreme Court. I got sued because I took away [inmates'] porno. They sued me, and I won that case. They try to sue me all the time. They can sue my toilet."

8) [After being informed Bill Campbell was the member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors who'd recently visited his tents] "Why isn't he here? I'm here. Your sheriff [Sandra Hutchens] did not come. A captain did. I told the captain, 'Why are you here? Where is the sheriff?' He said, 'I dunno.'"

9) "I'm tough on animal abuse. If you abuse a dog, cat or horse, you are put in pink handcuffs. You go directly to jail. I don't care who it is. We just arrested a 61-year-old lady. She had all these animals. I had a nice jail that was empty and air conditioned because the inmates are in tents. So that's where we put the animals. But I put my foot in my mouth. I said we paid more to feed the dogs than the inmates."

10) "We have 300 dogs. They'll spend 20 years behind bars, then we'll euthanize them. We have a special area for the cats. Someone called it Sheriff Joe's Cathouse."

11) "I'm opposed to house arrest. You get to go have a drink, do porno."

12) "I do get celebrities. My friend [Glen] Campbell did 10 days in jail. I had him do a little concert for me. Mike Tyson had to be isolated a little in the tent. He likes biting ears. Can you imagine the lawsuits if he bit other inmates' ears?"

13) "I spent 25 years in drug enforcement. I'm one of the people who knows what a border is. Most politicians wouldn't know where to find it."

14) "Nine [federal] attorneys came after me, investigated me, because I enforce all of the laws. Sad, very sad. So I kicked them all out. I gave the FBI director pink underwear. They got very quiet."

15) "These guys outside have signs of me with Hitler, Nazis. They brought some of their signs. They hold them in front of my office in Maricopa County. I could pay them to do it every day. I had Al Sharpton come out [to protest]. I raised a lot of money from that. I should have paid for a first-class ticket for him."

16) "I've been sheriff for five terms. . . . I could be governor, but I don't want to be governor. I want to be sheriff. I get more press in one day than the governor does. And, two: I can lock up the governor."

17) "I've stopped human smugglers heading for California. You people should thank me. Why doesn't The Terminator call?"

18) "If they don't like me, don't insult the uniform. That's what they do: insult the uniform. One thing they know is I'm elected, they can't get rid of me. That's why I'm running again. I have a book titled America's Toughest Sheriff. My next one is going to be America's Oldest Sheriff."

All in all, it was a great night in OC. The campaign probably raised in the neighborhood of $50k when all is said and done and Sheriff Joe said it would be his pleasure to make a return appearance in a few months when the campaign starts heating up.

Here's the Register story about the event.

Great Cartoon

2009-10-29T07:58:00.001-07:00

This a funny cartoon dovetailing off of the story of the Northwest airline pilots who flew right past their destination 150 miles last week.

West Coast Movie Premiere of "For Liberty"

2009-10-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow mid morning down at the Lido Theater in Newport Beach, the Orange County chapter of Campaign For Liberty is hosting the West Coast premiere of the movie "For Liberty, How the Ron Paul Revolution Watered the Withered Tree of Liberty". We have a great lineup of local elected officials and candidates that are also going to be down there. A few of the confirmed guests include:

Allan Mansoor...Costa Mesa City Councilman and candidate for the 68th AD, Bill Hunt....candidate for Orange County Sheriff, Chris Norby....OC Supervisor and candidate for the 72nd AD, Don Wagner....South Orange County Community College Trustee and candidate for the 70th AD and potentially a few more as well that are not confirmed as of yet. here are the details:

WHEN: Saturday morning, October 24 ---10am

LOCATION:

Regency’s Historic Lido Theatre

3459 Via Lido

Newport Beach, 92663

(949) 613-8351

You can purchase tickets at the box office starting today for $10 each, or you can go to this link – http://forlibertymovie.eventsbot.com for more details and to purchase tickets in advance.

HERE IS THE SCOOP ON THE MOVIE:

As the 2007-08 presidential campaign cycle offered up the usual slate of Washington insiders, Ron Paul, an obscure Congressman from Texas brought an alternative voice that challenged the political establishment. Advocating a philosophy of sound money, a non-interventionist foreign policy, strict Constitutionalism, and individual liberty, Dr. Paul inspired a unique grassroots movement unmatched in American history – the repercussions of which continue to reverberate today and into the future of the American psyche.

For Liberty: How the Ron Paul Revolution Watered the Withered Tree of Liberty follows this historic campaign from the perspective of grassroots activists, and showcases the unique, often bizarre, yet groundbreaking projects they undertook as they brushed aside traditional campaign methodology. For Liberty features an all star cast of grassroots leaders, organizers, activists, authors, talk show hosts, musicians, media experts, historians, artists, and more.

OC GOP Central Committee Roundup

2009-10-20T01:53:00.000-07:00

What a meeting tonight. I've come to expect some type of excitement and drama at Central Committee meetings, but this one will be etched in my memory bank for a long time. First things first. It was announced tonight by chairman Baugh that an ethics complaint was lodged by Linda Ackerman against her main GOP opponent for the 72nd AD seat, Chris Norby. This is scheduled to be heard Wednesday night at a special meeting of the Ethics Subcommittee. I can also inform the readers that a cross complaint will be lodged by Supervisor Norby against Linda Ackerman. Fun stuff. I had to recuse myself along with Deborah Pauley and Mary Young from participating in the Ethics Sub-Committee meeting to avoid any conflicts of interest.

A lot has been made of the fact that the GOP has lost their way recently. Chairman Baugh gave a fiery speech tonight that it is not going to be business as usual anymore for the OC GOP Party. The speech came at a critical juncture in time. He announced tonight that no longer will incumbent Republicans be given safe quarter for their re-election if they have strayed to far off the reservation. He made it clear that he is not looking for ideological purity per se, but Republicans in the mold of Arnold Schwarzenegger, John McCain & George W Bush for example are not going to be allowed to ruin the party's economic and fiscal credibility anymore. When GW Bush took office the percentage of debt to GDP was at 23%. When he left office, that percentage had climbed to over 28% of GDP. This year alone the percentage of debt to GDP will be over 43%. Clearly this is an unsustainable path we are on and our elected GOP leaders in DC and Sacramento have been part of the problem. So tonight he announced a contract with the OC GOP voters. It's not going to be good enough just to have an "R" by your name if you are a candidate or elected official. The "R" has got to mean something. He says we've swung way to far over to the middle of the political spectrum and a rebalancing is in order to get back our brand believability. Amen to that.

Lastly we had Irvine Mayoral candidate Megan Barth speak to the committee for about ten minutes. She introduced herself to everyone there since most have probably not met her in person yet, even though many know her work of organizing some of the biggest Tea Parties on the West Coast and back in DC. Things were flowing smoothly enough and then she brought up a subject that I knew was going to rear its ugly head sooner or later....our BOE member Michelle Steel. I had no idea Megan was going to go down this road, but she did and now that the issue is out in the open, I want to add some background and paraphrase what Megan said.

It had come to my attention a few weeks ago that BOE member Steel was at a big fundraiser up in Los Angeles for Irvine Mayor and liberal Dem Sukhee Kang. Not only was she at this fundraiser, she is in a picture with a "re-elect Sukhee Kang 2010" poster and she was quoted by the Korean journalist there as strongly encouraging her fellow Korean donors to give money to liberal Dem Irvine Mayor, Sukhee Kang. A couple of things. I understand that blood is thicker than politics for many in the Korean community. I get the ethnic angle. They want to support a person of similar culture and background. Michelle told me flat out that she has not and will not endorse Sukhee Kang. The problem is that everyone in Irvine is finding out about this picture and Michelle's words encouraging her donors to also give to Sukhee. A picture says a thousand words. It is what it is. She may not have "technically" endorsed Sukhee, but functionally she has done the same thing. It's hard to spin. Michelle naively thinks this picture that she is in is not going to be used against the Republican candidates in the next election. That is a false assumption knowing the kind of politician Larry Agran is. Irvine Republicans feel they have been stabbed in the back by a high ranking Republican elected official and they are letting people know they are not happy about it and are not going to tolerate it. Yes we know Michelle has been good for the party most of the time, but we feel offended in Irvine at what has transpired here. It's hard enough to go against the Agran machine in Irvine and it's even harder when you get sabotaged by someone in your own party. Scott's prior speech about it not being business as usual anymore dove tailed nicely with Megan's speech and she received a standing ovation from the members and guests. Here's the picture I was referring to:

Western CPAC Drama & Other Thoughts

2009-10-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

I headed over to the Western CPAC (BTW, you can follow all the tweets coming out of Western CPAC by typing in #wcpac on Twitter) new media/social media panel this afternoon. Apparently I missed all the drama earlier in the day. Former KFI talk show host John Ziegler was conducting an interview with American Conservative Union President David Keene. At some point in the interview, Mr Keene didn't like Zig's line of questions and ended the interview. Zig was asking some questions about Keene's lobbying activity, his recently uncovered pay to play, his unholy alliance with Arlen Specter, and why Mr Keene has been hating on Sarah Palin and calling her anti-intellectual. I find it disturbing that someone who leads a group named the American Conservative Union would be friendly with a turncoat like Arlen Specter, but that's just me I guess. I'm neutral on Sarah Palin. I'm not a big fan nor am I a big detractor. Zig wanted to continue the interview and got up and started following Keene around the hotel in a similiar fashion that those reporters were chasing after Mike Duvall in the halls of the state capital. It was quite a scene I was told.

After this event happened, Ziegler got up at the end of the luncheon and grabbed the microphone and starting going off on some other stuff. At this point either hotel security or the Newport Beach Police were told to escort him off the hotel property and he didn't appear on the 2:30pm panel he was supposed to be on. Here's video that Gateway Pundit did interviewing Zig about what happened.

There was also a little chippy-ness on the new media panel at 4pm. One of the show's sponsors, Floyd Brown has called for Obama's impeachment. Ed Morrissey of the blog Hot Air disagreed with him and wrote up a blog blasting the idea of impeaching Obama. So then another blog panelist who was sitting next to Ed BTW, called him out for being rude by criticizing one of the hosts of the convention! I guess dissent is not allowed at these types of events....who knew! I'm not for impeaching Obama just for the record. I don't think Ed was out of line criticizing the idea of impeaching Obama. So while 99.9% of the people here do not like Obama, leave it to a convention like this to have many differing thoughts on how to move forward.

AD70 Election Watch: Re:OC Taxpayers Assc. Tax OC Amante Endorsement

2009-10-15T01:58:00.000-07:00

I saw that Matt posted earlier a press release from Team Amante that he has been endorsed by the OC Taxpayers Association. What a joke. This is the same organization that sold out their group's namesake and endorsed the recent massive tax hiking Proposition 1A. Whatever credibility they had being on the taxpayers side was pissed away with this endorsement...and now they are endorsing Jerry Amante, LOL!

Memo to team Amante: You may gain some money off of this endorsement, but it is really worth it to associate your name with a group that sold out on such a hugely important Proposition? I mean three fourths of OC voters and two thirds of state voters rejected this huge tax increase just a few short months ago. Do you think you can really lay claim to being "the conservative choice" when you get into bed with this turncoat tax hiking group? You already are way behind the eight ball when it comes to grassroots support. The whisper campaign amongst the true conservative activists is only going to get much louder now after this.

AD72 Special Election Watch: Desperation Time For Ackerman Campaign

2009-10-15T01:57:00.000-07:00

We are barely a week past the filing deadline and already the slime storm from Linda Ackerman has started. Granted we knew this was coming, but that doesn't mean we can't question the ethics of a flier like this. This is a desperate flier from a desperate campaign. The absentee ballots are getting mailed out in a few days. This election will be decided most likely by the first week in November with turnout expected to be IMO 75% absentee versus 25% poll votes. Obviously her campaign has made the calculation that they are not going to talk about the issues that matter to 72nd district voters and instead are going for a scorched earth campaign. I believe this flier and others that are sure to get mailed will have blowback to them. Voters are so turned off right now about the Legislature that they're apt to blame Linda Ackerman for being part of the problem.

So again I get that this campaign was going to be the mother of all negative campaigns recently here in OC, but I hope that it backfires big time on Linda Ackerman. I am proud to stand with Tom McClintock and Chris Norby in this battle for who will represent us up in Sacramento.

OC Sheriff Race Watch: "Sheriff Joe" Arpaio Headlining Bill Hunt Fundraiser

2009-10-15T01:55:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows Sheriff Joe Arpaio as the no BS Sheriff of Maricopa County Arizona. He is coming out to Orange County along with other nationally reknown Sheriff Richard Mack to headline a large fundraiser for Bill Hunt. Sheriff Mack gained fame as the Sheriff who sued the federal government in the mid 1990s over the constitutionality of the Brady Bill. The law was eventually overturned by a 5 to 4 Supreme Court decision. And of course everyone knows Joe Arpaio as the Sheriff who makes inmates where pink overalls, tough on crime, tough on illegal immigration, and is one of the most pro constitution Sheriffs in the nation. Here are the details of the event:

This November 5th

“America’s Toughest Sheriff's” Joe Arpaio

and

Sheriff Richard Mack

Modern Law Enforcement Leaders fighting crime, cutting costs and defending your rights!

a reception supporting

Bill Hunt for Orange County Sheriff

Thursday, November 5, 2009

LOCATION TBD

5:30-7:30 P.M.

5:30 – 6:00 Sponsor and VIP Reception

6:00 – 7:00 Program

7:00 – 7:30 Photo Opportunities $50

Dana T. Parker living historian James Maidson

Sheriff Joe Arpaio: Pink Underwear, Tent City: “The Vacancy Sign is Always on at the Arpaio Inn.” Sheriff Joe is known as “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” a title he has earned as head of Maricopa County Arizona’s Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff Joe is a law enforcement innovator who earned national recognition for his cost saving solutions to the problems facing modern Departments.

Sheriff Richard Mack: challenged the constitutionality of the Brady Bill against the Clinton Administration and won in the US Supreme Court

$99 Posse Supporter (Arrive at 6:00) (1 ticket to Reception and Program)

$150 Marshall Supporter (Arrive at 6:00) (1 ticket to Reception and Program, and 1 Photo with Sheriff Arpaio)

$1,000 Ranger Sponsor (5:30 show up time includes VIP recpetion)

(10 tickets to Reception and premier seating for Program, and 2 photos with Sheriff Arpaio)

Location to be annouced soon due to the high response of requests we are making sure we have a premier location in Orange County

The Economics Class You Never Had

2009-10-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

I can't recommend this video by Peter Schiff any higher. Everyone who clicks on my blog from time to time needs to sit down, grab a drink and a snack and watch this You Tube in its entirety. This is Peter Schiff from Nov 2006 speaking a mortgage bankers conference in Las Vegas. Not only did he correctly call the coming bubble bursting in real estate(like I did on this blog a few years ago) but he correctly points out all the correct reasoning why it collapsed. Austrian Economics rock!

AD72 Special Election Watch: About That Residency Requirement....

2009-09-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

I know I'm probably splitting hairs here and I'm definately not an election law lawyer, but I read an interesting article this morning in the Los Angeles Times about State Senator Rod Wright. Apparently, the Los Angeles DA is investigating him for false statements he put down on his voter registration card. The reason this article caught my attention though is this little nugget half way through the article...

"Article 4, Section 2(c) of the state Constitution says that a person "is ineligible to be a member of the Legislature unless the person . . . has been a resident of the legislative district for one year . . . immediately preceding the election."

Again I'm not an election law attorney, but it seems pretty clear from that language in our State Constitution that one must live in the legislative district for one full year before you are eligible to run for office in that district. I'm wondering if Linda Ackerman's campaign staff realizes this yet? It seems to this blogger that she is ineligible to run for the 72nd AD becaue she currently lives in the 70th AD. BTW, she would meet the residency requirement to run for the 70th AD since she's lived in a "secret gated community" in Irvine for the past few years. I realize that it might be asking a lot for the State Constitution to be followed, but I'm funny like that. This race might be over before it actually begins.

Just for kicks, here's the entire Article 4 Section 2 language in our State Constitution...

(a) The Senate has a membership of 40 Senators elected for 4-year terms, 20 to begin every 2 years. No Senator may serve more than 2 terms. The Assembly has a membership of 80 members elected for 2-year terms. No member of the Assembly may serve more than 3 terms. Their terms shall commence on the first Monday in December next following their election.

(b) Election of members of the Assembly shall be on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbered years unless otherwise prescribed by the Legislature. Senators shall be elected at the same time and places as members of the Assembly.

(c) A person is ineligible to be a member of the Legislature unless the person is an elector and has been a resident of the legislative district for one year, and a citizen of the United States and a resident of California for 3 years, immediately preceding the election.

(d) When a vacancy occurs in the Legislature the Governor immediately shall call an election to fill the vacancy.

AD 72 Special Election Watch: Infamous Video Of The Ackerman's "Secret Gated Community" & Other Thoughts

2009-09-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

Once again the Powder Blue Report must be activated for content to hot to handle over at Red County. Gotta love the drama in the local blogosphere. I put up a post late last night on Red County that drew attention to a video that Jon Fleischman of Flashreport had made back around Christmas 2007. It was the talk of the local blogosphere the day before. In the video which BTW is quite funny, Jon is whispering into the camera and driving to the Ackerman's "secret gated community" deep in the heart of Irvine. Well, I woke up this morning and the video and my post on Red County had already been deleted. Evidently, Jon had taken down the video from his You Tube and Art Pedroza of Orange Juice had saved it onto his You Tube site. He ordered Art to remove the video from his site. Jon expressed to me this morning that he didn't want a video that he had done in good jest two years ago to be used against Linda Ackerman and felt bad it about the video now. It is his property and his right to do this. However the issue of the Ackerman's living in a "secret gated Irvine community" in the 70th AD is public knowledge. It's obvious that they would prefer the voters in the 72nd AD where she is running for Assembly to not know this fact. Fair is fair. If the Ackerman's are going to hammer Chris Norby for non proven allegations of sexual harassment, it's certainly fair to draw attention the Ackermans living in a "secret gated Irvine community".

McConnell & Cornyn In OC Today

2009-08-18T00:07:00.000-07:00

The Powder Blue Report is coming out of hibernation to post this important story that apparently is to hot to handle over at Red County. GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and NRSC Chairman John Cornyn were in socal today meeting with local party leaders and high dollar donors(i.e Lincoln Club). Apparently I'm not high enough on the food chain yet. I didn't even know they were gonna be in town. It's probably for the best that I wasn't there because I would have had words with the the two Senators. My friend Chip Hanlon over at Red County has a fascinating post up about the details of the meeting. Chip is a former Executive Board member of the Lincoln Club. Anyway, the meeting was supposedly off the record because comments of mine outing the unnamed persons on Chip's post that he refers to were deleted. I have it on excellent authority that said GOP leaders McConnell and Cornyn were at this meeting because Chairman Baugh announced at the Central Committee Meeting that the leaders were in town today. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to make this connection. Anyway, the leaders haven't learned a damn thing about the party's staggering loses the last two election cycles. They think we lost only because of the unpopular Iraq War and W's unpopularity...LOL! They cite unnamed internal polls as their evidence. I'm glad Chip asked the tough questions, but our leaders in DC have learned nothing from the loses. This is very disheartening, but not surprising.

I'm Still Here

2009-06-16T00:52:00.000-07:00

I guess this is as good a chance as any to let readers know I am still here. It felt good to take a nice a long break. I am doing some blogging over at Red County as well. A lot has been happening to me in my business career. I decided to leave the Commodities firm where I was at to start my own company up. Needless to say this was a big decision for me, but I have been wanting to have my own Introducing Broker(Commodity lingo) office for a long time and the timing was finally right to make the move. I'll write some more this and other things shortly.

OC GOP Votes To Rebuke Sheriff Hutchens's CCW Policy

2009-04-21T00:06:00.000-07:00

It's late but I just wanted to post the results of what happened about the resolution tonight. A slightly modified version passed by a vote of 41 to 14. Instead of using the committee language of "no confidence" in her CCW policy, the committee of the whole decided to amend the language to "we oppose her CCW policy". All the other stuff stayed in. Some notable NO votes among the ex officio's came from Cong. John Campbell's alternate Lou Penrose, State Sen. Mimi Walter's alternate Kat Vermeil, and Cong Ken Calvert's alternate Ann Rommel.

The good news is that the county party is now on record as opposing Sheriff Hutchens's anti-freedom CCW policy.

Quote Of The Day

2009-04-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

"Our fractional reserve financial system is just a gigantic Ponzi scheme. It can only survive as long as it expands, which is to say, as long as new debt is flushed through the system to finance old debt. But like all Ponzi schemes, the larger it grows the more unstable it becomes. Eventually, it collapses of its own weight."

James Sinclair.

"No Confidence" In Sheriff Hutchens CCW Policy

2009-04-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday the OC GOP Resolutions Committee held a meeting to discuss and debate a resolution submitted by Central Committee member Bruce Whitaker dealing with Sheriff Hutchens CCW Policy. The end result was that the committee voted 7 to 0 to recommend that the full body adopt this resolution of "no confidence" in the Sheriff's concealed carry weapons policy. We also added language that we support AB 357 that would make CA the 41st state to become a "shall issue" state.

How did we get to this point? The hearing lasted well over three hours. I'm not sure what the previous precedents have been for Resolution Committee meetings, but I'm guessing this was one of the longest ones. The committee heard from the maker of the resolution, Bruce Whitaker. We then heard from Sheriff Hutchens herself. I had said at the outset of the meeting that I wanted the speakers to try to limit their time to ten minutes. I ended up giving the Sheriff all the time she needed to make her case and answer questions from committee members and members of the full body that attended. I believe I was more than fair. She was asked twice what she thought about AB 357. It's a very simple bill to understand. She dodged the questions both times with answers of..."I would have to take a look at the specific language of the bill". Tim Whitacre asked her the second time after she declined to answer the first time if "she as a Republican, would conceptually support the bill not having read it". Again she took a pass from answering this. I believe this sheds a lot of light why she has implemented her restrictive CCW policy. She is the one person in the county who has sole discretion over one of our most sacred constitutional rights(2nd Amendment) in the area of CCWs and it is my belief that the burden should be on the government why someone should not get a CCW permit, not the other way around. I'm interested in our party taking the most freedom friendly stance possible.

The next speaker was Mr William Prentice from Ordinary California Citizens Concerned With Safety or OCCCWS. Bill gave a great presentation on the statistics behind the success of the states that have become shall issue. He cited the research that John Lott Jr has done on this issue...more guns equal less crime overall.

Our next speaker was Assistant Sheriff Jack Anderson. Jack gave all committee members a nice booklet that covered the Sheriff's policy and papers to back her position up. Included in the booklet was the infamous 1977 Attorney General letter by Evelle Younger or "Evil Younger" as committee member Marcia Gilchrist referred to him as regarding what his opinion was of what constituted "good cause". We all had a good laugh about Marcia's reference. This letter is not a legal published opinion and is basically a private letter that has no force of law.

The next speaker was Mr Richard Gilbert also of OCCCWS. I'll let his post over at Cal CCW forum speak for itself.

Lastly we had former CRP Chairman Mike Schroeder as a speaker. Mike spoke about the Sheriff's CCW permit revocations. He thinks they are illegal and gave evidence to back up his claim.

Overall it was a great meeting. It was my first time chairing it. We gave every invited speaker a chance to make their best case for their position on the resolution. As I stated in the beginning of the post, we voted 7 to 0 for no confidence in the Sheriff's CCW policy. I will post the language of the resolution hopefully later today. It is still being typed up as I write.

Tom McClintock's Speech Saturday Night

2009-02-23T18:03:00.000-08:00

Here is CA Rep Tom McClintock's speech from Saturday night at the CRP Convention up in Sacramento.

February 21, 2009

When the Virginia Legislature invited Churchill to address them, he said, “Do you not think you are running some risk (by) inviting me to give you my faithful counsel on this occasion? … I might easily, for instance, blurt out a lot of things, which people know in their hearts are true, but are a bit shy of saying in public, and this might cause a regular commotion and get you all into trouble.”

I apologize in advance for serving up some cold and bitter truths with tonight’s dinner, but the events in Sacramento of the last few days simply cannot be ignored.

This is not a small or inconsequential matter. This is the biggest tax increase in our state’s history – in the worst economy in a generation – one that is aimed directly at the middle-class voters who have been the core of our support for 40 years – engineered by Republican legislative leaders and a Republican governor. It is a huge chunk – about $1,200 on average – out of the discretionary income of every family in this state just as they are struggling to make ends meet.

If the government has run out of money in these difficult times, what makes them think the people haven’t run out of money also?

We have to discuss this outrage as a party because until we address and redress it, our party will have no credibility to speak on this issue for a decade or more to come. It is this issue more than any other that has defined the binding principle that holds our party together. We may differ on many ancillary issues, but the one thing we have all agreed on is that our government is too big, too inefficient and it costs too much.

Take this proposition away, then what exactly does our party stand for?

Abraham Lincoln reminded the Illinois Republican State Convention in 1858 that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”

So it is with political parties.

A political party cannot stand for two opposite principles at the same time.

A party cannot stand for taxpaying families while its leaders impose crushing new taxes on those families.

A party cannot stand for freedom of enterprise when its leaders impose increasingly draconian restrictions on enterprise.

A party cannot stand for fiscal responsibility when its leaders spend and borrow and tax with reckless abandon.

When our party promises one thing and our leaders deliver exactly the opposite, we lose all credibility with the voters – and rightly so.

When candidates claim our name, and enjoy our organizational, financial and volunteer resources, we have a right as a party to insist that those candidates abide by certain fundamental defining principles. We have a responsibility to remove them from office when they wantonly violate those principles and sully our name.

Fourteen years ago, this party recalled two sitting Republican legislators because they had voted for Willie Brown for Assembly Speaker, an act that didn’t directly affect a single individual in this state.

Fourteen years later, are we going to turn a blind eye to Republican legislators who broke signed promises and voted to hammer California families with an average of more than $1,200 of additional taxes in the midst of the worst recession in a generation?

The Democrats never promised not to raise taxes. We did. And our leaders broke that promise.

The concept of the big tent has always been that however we might disagree over issues such as the right to life, the right to self-defense, degrees of business or environmental, we at least all united in defense of families against the burdens of big government. We were the party of the taxpayers.

Now, in California, we are the anti-taxpayer party – so defined by the actions of our own leaders. To consent to those actions by silence is suicide.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Having spent a few months now in Washington, D.C., I can tell you that our Congressional leaders understand this reality. They understand that when our leaders abandoned our principles, our voters abandoned our party.

The Republican Congressional leadership is bound and determined to win back the trust of American voters by returning to our Republican principles.

We saw that leadership in action last week when every single Republican in the House of Representatives stood against the most reckless spending bill in the history of our nation. They rallied behind a Republican alternative that would have lifted the tax burdens on productivity and created twice the jobs at only half the cost of the Democrats’ spending plan.

In Washington, at least, the Republicans are again acting as the taxpayers’ party.

And it is working. Last fall, Rasmussen reported that a generic Democratic candidate for Congress had a 16-point advantage over the generic Republican candidate.

Last week, after Congressional Republicans stood firm, the same poll reported that this gap had narrowed to within a single percentage point.

Don’t we have a right to insist on the same fidelity among our elected leaders in California?

And don’t we have an obligation to enforce that insistence at the ballot box?

Ladies and gentlemen, there is an ebb and flow to politics that we’ve all seen and felt. Some people call it the political pendulum.

The new Administration in Washington is flush with victory, it is riding high in the opinion polls, and yet Americans are already taking a long, hard look at the policies they are pursuing and are already showing signs of having grave misgivings.

We’ve seen this before. Those who remember the administration of Jimmy Carter remember these same policies – and what four years of them did to our nation. We had to endure double-digit unemployment and inflation, interest rates over 20 percent, mile-long lines around gas stations, American embassies seized with impunity.

It was hell to go through. But the American people awoke and four years of Jimmy Carter gave us eight years of Ronald Reagan. Looking back, that wasn’t such a bad trade, was it?

It was Reagan who then said that, "Our people look for a cause to believe in.” He called for “a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors, which make it unmistakably clear where we stand…”

Lincoln said that if the voters get their backsides too close to the fire, they’ll just have to sit on the blisters a while. Our nation has some very painful blisters it is going to have to sit on, but in the next election, our people will indeed be looking for a new and revitalized second party.

But before we can restore our majority, we are going to have to make it unmistakably clear where we stand.

Great parties are built upon great principles – and they are judged by their devotion to those principles.

The defining principle of the Republican party has always been summarized in one word: FREEDOM. The closer we have hewn to that principle, the better we have done; and the farther we have strayed from that principle, the worse we have done.

The Republican leadership in the House of Representatives is newly re-dedicated to that principle, and the American people are already responding.

Tonight, the people of California are reeling at the news that the party that had promised to protect them from higher taxes has now socked them with a tax increase so great that it will be felt keenly around every kitchen table from Eureka to San Diego.

They are looking to this, the State Convention of the California Republican Party, for an explanation.

The very first answer we owe them, and the very first step in that long and painful road to Republican redemption must be to repudiate the decidedly anti-Republican policies that have been enacted by our leaders in our name.

And now my fellow Republicans, I leave you with this question: What are YOU prepared to do about it?

What's Your Tax Bite If Sacramento Politicians Raise Your Taxes?

2009-02-17T16:58:00.000-08:00

The Sacramento Bee has a site that calculates your increased tax burden. Click here

No Confidence Motion In Sheriff Hutchens CCW Policy

2009-02-17T14:35:00.000-08:00

Last night at the OC GOP Central Committee was set to be a quick meeting because cherry pie was awaiting over at Antonellos for the pre Flag Day sale. As the meeting was getting set to wrap up, Bruce Whitaker rose to make a motion to suspend the rules to debate a no confidence motion in Sheriff Hutchens anti-gun CCW policy. Normally these types of motions go through a Resolutions Committee where they are summarily killed. I've also been told that these types of resolutions are usually not offered that criticize elected officials. I don't understand this. This is good opportunity to show the voters we care about this issue. So last night Bruce asked me to second his motion and I was happy to do so. I've seen and read enough lately about Sheriff Hutchens CCW policy to know that she is not a friend to gun owners and people that would like the opportunity to be issued a concealed weapons permit. A lot of Central Committee members were absent. The vote came down 24 to 14....a couple votes short of a 2/3 majority needed to debate the resolution. A couple of natural 2nd Amendment supporters told me afterwards that had this gone through the committee and been vetted before that they will most likely support it next month. So I encourage Mr Whitaker to submit it to the Resolutions Committee and see what happens. We can then invite the Sheriff to come down and defend her policy and let the chips fall where they may.

Quote Of The Day

2009-02-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it.

H.L Mencken

Why Are Young Voters Not Voting Republican?

2009-02-02T10:38:00.000-08:00

So I fire opened the Sunday Register and right there on the front page of the front section was a big story about why younger voters are fleeing the Republican Party. I'll go over the reasons in a second, but I loved this quote from our Chairman Scott Baugh...

"It is clear the youth (in 2008) were not buying what the Republican Party was advocating," said Scott Baugh, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party. "Whether it was the message or the image is not clear, but the message needs to change and the messengers need to be young dynamic Republicans," Baugh said

First of all, it would be great if our messengers were young and dynamic, but I seem to remember an older very dynamic President by the name of Ronald Reagan that was greatly appealing to a lot of the younger voters back in the day. He is the reason I am a Republican today. So I disagree that the messenger has to be young. I do agree that the younger voters were not buying the GOP brand of George Bush. Hell most Republicans at the end of Bush's term were not buying what George Bush was hocking, namely endless wars, skyrocketing deficits, huge spending, assaults on our liberties, etc. I mean the list is so long. I know one Republican that was running for President that had huge support from the younger generation. Anyone take a guess who that guy could have been? That's right, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas. He captured the hearts of hundreds of thousands of young voters who were tired of eight dark years of George Bush.

Change Is Coming To The OC GOP Endorsement Process

2009-02-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

There is change in the air for the Orange County Republican Party endorsement process. After numerous botched endorsements the last few years, the Chairman of the party Scott Baugh has temporarily deep sixed the Endorsement Committee of the party and has created an Ad Hoc committee made up of myself, Craig Alexander, Nancy Padberg, Deborah Pauly, Valerie Dickerson, Linda Ackerman, and chaired by Mark Bucher. Our mission is to come up with with suggested changes to improve the process. One of the blaring reasons for change in my opinion was the endorsement of former Sheriff and now convicted felon Mike Carona. This kind of thing has to change. More recently was the endorsement last year of San Juan Capistrano Mayor Joe Soto. There were many good reasons not to endorse this guy before this story came out the other day that he is now being accused of over billing the county for landscaping services rendered the last few years. Diane Harkey was adamant that he be endorsed. I was leading the charge to stop the endorsement even though I wasn't a member yet of the Central Committee. I was then accused by some Harkey people of "trying to pick a fight with Diane". That's the furthest thing from the truth. I didn't want the party to endorse someone like Soto who had bad policies and as it turns out now is accused of being a crook. The voters obviously didn't like Joe Soto either because they voted to kick him out of office despite the backing from the party. Maybe it was all the illegal alien coddling or helping to keep the city a de-facto sanctuary city. Who knows. Anyone driven through SJC lately?

How do we then fix the process or can it even be repaired? There is a good argument to be made to just get rid of the beast altogether. A lot of the local elected officials that ask for the party's endorsement haven't done much to promote the party anyways from what I can tell. They just come around during election time hoping to be able to use the GOP brand in their mailers and then are never from again until their next election. I would love to hear from others what their thoughts are about this.

So How Would A 21st Century Gold Standard Work?

2009-01-31T09:40:00.000-08:00

Ron Paul was on Fox Business yesterday and talked about how some type of gold standard would work today.

Quote Of The Day

2009-01-28T17:43:00.000-08:00

"If the American People ever allow the banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property, until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers occupied. The issuing of money should be taken from all banks and restored to Congress and the People to Whom it belongs!”

Thomas Jefferson

The Allan Bartlett 30 Day Action Plan(if I ever became President)

2009-01-20T12:44:00.000-08:00

This would be my 30 day action plan to turn the country around if I was elected President. Apologies to Lew Rockwell who first came up with this list over 20 years ago. It's just as good of a plan today as it was back in 1991.

DAY ONE: The federal income tax is abolished and April 15th is declared a national holiday. The 40% reduction in federal revenues is matched by a 40% cut in spending. The budget is still almost twice as big as Jimmy Carter's.

DAY TWO: All other federal taxes are abolished, including the corporate income tax, the capital gains tax, the gasoline tax, "sin" taxes, excise taxes, etc. Businesses boom, and the few legitimate federal functions are funded with an inexpensive head tax. People who choose not to vote need not pay it. (Note: this was a mainstream view in the 19th century.)

DAY THREE: The federal government sells all its land, freeing up tens of millions of acres for development, mining, farming, forestry, oil drilling, private parks, etc. The government uses the revenue to pay off the national debt and other liabilities.

DAY FOUR: The minimum wage is reduced to zero, creating jobs for ex-federal bureaucrats at their market wage. All pro-union laws and regulations are scrapped. The jobless rate falls dramatically.

DAY FIVE: The Bureau of Labor Statistics, like the rest of the Labor Department, is sent to that big hiring hall in the sky. Without detailed economic statistics, future economic planners will be blind and deaf.

DAY SIX: The Department of Commerce is abolished. Big business has to make its own way in the world, without subsidies and privileges at the expense of its competitors and customers.

DAY SEVEN: The plug is pulled on the Department of Energy. Oil and gas prices plummet.

DAY EIGHT: All regulatory agencies, from the Interstate Commerce Commission to the Federal Trade Commission, are deep-sixed. Competition is legalized.

DAY NINE: HUD is squashed like a bug. There's a building boom in cheap, private, apartments.

DAY TEN: The interstate highways reopen as private businesses. Road entrepreneurs price travel according to consumer demand. Using modern technology, drivers get bills once a month. Credit risks – and drunks and dangerous drivers – aren't allowed on the road. Non-drivers no longer subsidize car owners.

DAY ELEVEN: Government welfare is wiped out. Bums work or starve. The deserving poor find a cornucopia of private services designed to make them independent. Private charity explodes, as the American people, already the most generous in the world, find their incomes almost doubled, thanks to the tax cuts.

DAY TWELVE: The Federal Reserve closes its open-market operations and stops protecting the banking industry from competition. But banks can now engage in all the non-bank financial activities previously forbidden to them. The business cycle, which is caused by monetary expansion through the credit markets, is liquidated.

DAY THIRTEEN: Federal deposit insurance is scrapped. All insured deposits are redeemed from federal assets, which include the personal assets of high-level government employees. The threat of bank runs forces banks to keep 100% reserves for their demand deposits, and prudent reserves on all other accounts. There are no more inherently bankrupt banks propped up by the government, at taxpayer expense, and no more bail-outs.

DAY FOURTEEN: The shaky fiat dollar is defined in terms of gold, with the ratio determined by dividing the government's gold stock by all existing dollars on that day.

DAY FIFTEEN: The federal government sells National and Dulles airports to the highest bidder, and stops all subsidies to other socialist airports around the country. All constraints on airline prices and service cease. It costs more to fly during peak hours than off-peak, but overall, air travel drops in price.

DAY SIXTEEN: All government regulations that create and sustain cartels are abolished, including those for the post office, telephones, television, radio, and cable TV. Prices plummet, and a host of new and unforeseen services becomes available.

DAY SEVENTEEN: Centrally planned agriculture, as imposed by Hoover and Roosevelt, is repealed: there are no more subsidies, payments-in-kind, marketing orders, low-interest loans, etc. Farm prices drop. Entrepreneurial farmers get rich. Welfare farmers go into another line of work. The poor eat like kings.

DAY EIGHTEEN: The Justice Department shutters its anti-trust division. Companies, big and small, are free to merge – up, down, or sideways. Stockholders can buy any other company, or sell their stock to anyone else. Marginal producers can no longer battle their competitors with bureaucratic weapons.

DAY NINETEEN: The Department of Education flunks the constitutionality test, and is kicked out. Private charities set up remedial reading and writing programs for the former bureaucrats. Federally subsidized sex education and other anti-family programs go out of business. Local school districts become responsive to parents or close, pressured by a fast-growing private school sector (which many more parents can now afford).

DAY TWENTY: All federal monuments are sold, in some cases to non-profit groups based on the Mt. Vernon Ladies Association, which owns and runs George Washington's home. The VFW buys the Vietnam memorial. There is much bidding for the Jefferson and Washington monuments. Nobody wants FDR's, so it's torn down and the land sold to a farmer. (With the federal government cut back to its constitutional size, much of Washington reverts to productive uses like agriculture, as in late 18th century.)

DAY TWENTY-ONE: The computerized financial and political dossier maintained by the government on every American is erased. The public wanders through the federal offices to make sure, in a reprise of the East Berliners' visits to Stasi headquarters.

DAY TWENTY-TWO: Equal rights are granted to all Americans, even members of non-victim groups. There is no affirmative action, no quotas, no set-asides, no public accommodations laws. Private property and freedom of association are fully restored.

DAY TWENTY-THREE: The EPA is cleaned out, with all "clean air" and similar big-government laws repealed. Ten thousand lawyers leap from their balconies. Private property is established in air and water. Americans harmed by pollution are free to sue the polluters, who are no longer protected by the federal government.

DAY TWENTY-FOUR: Americans are given complete freedom of contract, restoring rationality to malpractice and product liability law.

DAY TWENTY-FIVE: Government scrambles for more assets to sell (i.e., the National Zoo, also known as Washington, D.C.) to pay off the liabilities of the privatized Social Security system.

DAY TWENTY-SIX: Porno artists have to earn their own livings, as the National Endowment for the Arts tries to raise its budget through sidewalk painting sales.

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN: Foreign aid is outlawed as unconstitutional, unjust, and un-economic. Foreign politicians have to steal their own money. The World Bank, IMF, and United Nations close their super-luxurious doors.

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT: The American people are given the unrestricted right to keep and bear arms.

DAY TWENTY-NINE: The Defense Department is reoriented towards defense. American troops come home from all around the world. We adopt a policy of armed neutrality, remembering the Founding Fathers' teaching that we could not have an empire abroad and a constitutional republic at home.

DAY THIRTY: All tariffs, quotas, and trade agreements are put through the shredder. Americans can trade with anyone in the world, without barriers or subsidies. Japanese car prices drop an immediate 25%.

In just 30 exhilarating days, we have established the outlines of free market. Radical? Maybe so. Me, I can't wait until Month Two.

A Mixed Bag Of Verdicts

2009-01-16T14:02:00.000-08:00

The Mike Carona jury has spoken. He was found not guilty on counts one through five which consisted of conspiracy and mail fraud charges. He was convicted of the sixth count of witness tampering. There's really not much to celebrate here except the fact that Mike Carona is now a convicted felon and his political career is over. How the jury could not convict on the other charges is baffling. Once again I will never try to think I know what will happen in a given trial. It's just way to unpredictable. It remains to be seen if Carona will even receive any jail time.

Standby For Carona Verdict at 11:45am This Morning!!!!!

2009-01-16T11:09:00.000-08:00

OC GOP Central Committee Officer Races Taking Shape

2009-01-15T15:17:00.000-08:00

Over the last few days I have been receiving emails & calls from prospective candidates for First Vice Chair and Assistant Treasurer for the Executive Committee of the Orange County Republican Central Committee. As a newly elected member, I will have a chance to cast my vote in these elections. Fred Whitaker is the incumbent First Vice Chair and he is running for re-election. He is being challenged by former Cypress Mayor Mike McGill. The other race is for Assistant Treasurer. Capistrano School Trustee Anna Bryson is running for re-election and she is being challenged by Zonya Townsend. I have decided that having some competent fresh faces would be a good thing and much needed on the Executive Committee. Therefore I have decided to support Mike McGill & Zonya Townsend.

I have no illusions about what lies ahead for our party. It is going to be a tough road to get the party back to its core message of freedom & smaller limited government. There's also the matter of the party going to the mat for former disgraced Sheriff Mike Carona. Again it was one of the main reasons why I ran for the seat. Most of the current officers on the board supported that endorsement despite a mountain of evidence that said we shouldn't have waded into that race, yet they still rammed through the endorsement. It is going to be an interesting evening next Monday at the Hyatt Irvine. All guests are welcome to attend.

Carona Verdict Could Happen Today

2009-01-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

The trial of former sheriff Mike Carona is about to come to a final conclusion. The jury is back deliberating today after a weekend break. The best place to get the news first of the verdict is by following the Twitter feed of OC Crimescene from the OC Register. All signs point to a guilty verdict, but I'm gonna wait to hear what they say before I start celebrating.

Quote Of The Day

2008-12-12T14:06:00.000-08:00

"At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of ideas which it is assumed all right-thinking people will accept without question. It is not exactly forbidden to state this or that or the other, but it is 'not done'... Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness." …

George Orwell

Irvine Status Quo Election

2008-11-11T07:07:00.000-08:00

Nothing is going to change in Irvine as far as the makeup of the new incoming City Council. There are still a few votes left to count, but I doubt it will affect the races from here on out. Sukhee Kang edged out Christina Shea for Mayor. Beth Krom, Steven Choi, and Larry Agran were all re-elected. Krom and Choi grabbed the two full four year seats and poor Larry Agran got stuck with the two year seat. Knowing Larry, this must have really pissed him off that Steven Choi finished ahead of him. He's not crying to much though. He will still have control of the Council for another two years, but he has been wounded. Hopefully the Team Irvine slate can get their act together for 2010 and finally put Larry into early retirement. The planning has to start today guys. Find some candidates, raise the money, and then get out the vote. 2010 will also most likely be a kinder environment for Republicans to run in.

I do want to publicly thank Pat Rodgers, Eric Johnson, and Margie Wakeham. You guys were again way out spent by the corrupt Agran Machine, but managed to make it close. It's not easy running for public office knowing you are going to be slimed with thousands of dollars by Larry Agran.

Neil Cavuto Interviews Ron Paul On The Horrible Economy

2008-11-07T10:59:00.000-08:00

Where Do The Republican Go From Here?

2008-11-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

Anyone in my party who did not see what was coming this past Tuesday should get out a piece a paper and start taking some notes. The first thing that has to change is for Republicans to reacquaint themselves with the US Constitution. You know, it's that rulebook that must be followed when you're elected to office. Once again the perceived peace candidate, Obama won the election. I don't think our foreign policy will actually change, but the perception that it will really helped Obama. BTW, Bush W won in 2000 because he was the peace candidate that wanted us to have a more humble foreign policy after the all misadventures by the Clinton Administration in Bosnia & Somalia and Nixon won in 1968 because he was going to get us out of Vietnam. You get the point. We have to get back to a non-interventionist foreign policy. Our party has to start understanding that you can't just give lip service to personal liberties and a humble foreign policy. Our message became very stale. We have to start rebuilding credibility with people otherwise it's gonna be a long trip through the wilderness.

A Bit To High Expectations For Obama???

2008-11-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

I think this You Tube is so sad. It has gone viral and has been seen by over a million people. I'm posting it to show people who haven't seen it yet. It's sad because this poor woman actually thinks Obama is going to send her a check to pay for her mortgage and her gas bills. This mentality scares the hell out of me. I don't think it ever occured to this woman that someone else had to produce the income to be taxed and then ultimately redistributed to her through the heavy hand of government.

John McCain Post Mortem Re: Illegal Immigration

2008-11-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

It was pointed out to me by a friend this morning that John McCain is only getting about 13% of the hispanic vote according to the latest polling. What does that say about McCain's & George Bush's vaunted strategy of going all out for amnesty? Boy that is really paying some big dividends there. A whole 13% of the vote. Those pro amnesty hispanic voters have decided to eat steak[voting for Obama] rather than eat hamburger[vote for McCain]. Hope it was all worth it. Thanks for nothing.

PHOENIX (Reuters) – In the final stretch to the presidential election, more than three quarters of likely Hispanic voters say they support Democrat Barack Obama over Republican John McCain, a study found.The Univision/Reuters/Zogby poll released on Tuesday said that 78 percent of a sample of 1,016 Latino likely voters favored Sen. Obama, with 13 percent supporting McCain, an Arizona senator.The poll, which was conducted between October 30 and November 2, found that 54 percent of respondents said the economy and jobs were the most important issue in deciding who to vote for, followed by health care and immigration, with 12 percent and 11 percent respectively

Motion to Strike "The Little Sheriff!"

2008-11-02T20:40:00.000-08:00

OMG! I've just laughed myself to tears reading Scott Moxely's OC Weekly wrapup of the first week of the Mike Carona Trial. The best quote from the article actually came from Federal Judge Andrew Guilford. After testimony about "The Little Sheriff" birthday cards, the judge inadvertently deadpanned to the defense...

“I didn’t hear a motion to strike the little sheriff!’”

LOL! I'm not making that up. He really said it and it's really funny. You knew there was gonna be some good material from this trial, we just didn't know it would present itself so soon. There's still two more fabulous months of this trial. Thank you Mike for standing your ground and not copping a plea.

Quote Of The Day

2008-11-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

"It’s like, you know, all this
shit surrounds n****r money. I mean it’s literally, it’s n****r money"

Former OC Sheriff Mike Carona describing inconsequential amounts of cash to Don Haidl during a wire tapped conversation. Haidl was giving Carona this cash on a monthly basis.

Day 3 Of The Mike Carona Trial...The "Little Sheriff" Makes An Appearance

2008-10-31T20:42:00.000-07:00

Day three of the Carona trial ended with the defense getting denied a motion for a mistrial. The day started with accountant George Feles on the stand continuing his testimony from yesterday. He worked with Carona mistress Debra Hoffman while she still had her law practice going. He said that Hoffman told her that her small "closet sized office" was used for an occasional romp with the Sheriff. Feles told federal agents that he was afraid for his safety because of George Jaramillo. He was worried because he knew Jaramillo was unstable and could lash back at him at any time because of the information he knew and because of Jaramillo's connections in law enforcement.

Next on the stand was Lisa Jaramillo. She hopes by testifying that she can win her husband a more lenient sentence. She testified today that she knew Mike Carona was having an affair with Debra Hoffman and her sister Erika Hill. Then the prosecution began showing the famous "little sheriff" birthday cards. She said Carona would sometimes sign the birthday cards with interlocking Cs...i.e. CC which stood for "cocky Carona" according to her. The next card put up on the big screen was signed by the Sheriff, Mrs Sheriff, and the R. Scott Moxely made famous signature of the "The Little Sheriff", LOL. She testified that Don Haidl was very important for Carona's fundraising. He was known as the "money man". She saw the first 10 $1000 checks that Carona picked up from Don Haidl's house in Newport Beach. She testified that she saw Mike Carona with his arms around a crying Erika Hill outside of Debra Hoffman's law office and overheard him say that if anyone is going to jail over these illegal campaign contributions, it would be him. Then Lisa Jaramillo started crying and addressed Mrs Carona that she wished she was a better friend to Debra Carona and told her about all the things she had seen and heard about her husband the sheriff. She said she was very sorry, but she can't lie. At this point in the testimony, the defense asks for a mistrial. They said the jury has been irreparably prejudiced, but the motion is denied.

The trial will resume on Tuesday and it is expected that after the defense is finished cross examining Lisa Jaramillo, Don Haidl will start testifying as well as the playing of the now infamous audio recordings.

I was also made aware of today that there will be some bombshells upcoming in the trial and to expect some significant collateral damage to some GOP politicos.

Frank Mickadeit Doubts Mike Carona's Guilt

2008-10-30T09:28:00.000-07:00

After reading Frank Mickadeit's Register column this morning about the opening of the Carona Trial yesterday, one can only surmise that Frank has doubts about Mike Carona's guilt. He thinks that all three star government witnesses[all BTW former close Carona associates] against the former sheriff are liars and have credibility problems. Umm, what does that say about Mike Carona Frank? He's the one that chose to associate himself with all these criminals. What does that say about his judgement and character? How is it possible that all these people are liars and have already pled guilty to numerous federal charges, but Carona didn't know anything that was going on? The answer is, it is not possible. I don't know what Frank is thinking. Maybe he got slipped some kool-aid by team Carona? Memo to Frank: I really like your daily columns, but could you lay off the fantasy that Carona is going to be exonerated.

Larry Agran Caught Taking BribesMoney From Great Park Contractors

2008-10-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

Merriam's defintion of bribe:

1. money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust
2. something that serves to induce or influence

The race here in Irvine is coming down to the wire with and what do ya know, Larry Agran is taking ~~bribes~~money from Great Park contractors. Has he crossed the line here? I'll let you the readers be the judge. It's right there in black and white. He's taken almost $60k in contributions from people and firms with business at the GP. He's shameless. He's quoted in the Register article saying that the ~~bribes~~contributions were for Measure R. That is an insult to people's intelligence. These are his own words...

"It is after all a measure that ratifies and implements two to three years of work in planning, designing and building the Great Park and charts a path to move forward," Agran said. "I'd be shocked if people who are involved in that effort on a daily basis aren't keenly interested in Measure R's success."

This is also the same guy that puts an ethics charter amendment through on lobbyists. Words escape me right now to convey how slimy this guy is. The Grand Jury should be all over this story. It's a blatant quid pro quo....Larry gets campaign ~~bribes~~money and contractors get awarded projects by Larry at the Great Park. Anyone who can't see this or denies it is living in Fantasyland.

As usual, Stephen Smith over at the Irvine Tattler had the story first.

tylerh over at Red County has also joined the fray

Carona Trial Is Getting Started

2008-10-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

They are finalizing the jury pool today and the next few days. After that I expect the trial to start probably at the end of next week it looks like. I can't believe this guy hasn't cut a deal yet with the prosecution. I still feel in my gut that we won't get the benefit of a very public trial. I hope I am wrong. Carona must be made an example of. This was one of OC's most corrupt officials ever....ahhh alledgedly. One of the main reasons I ran for the OC GOP Central Committee was the endorsement that my party bestowed upon him before his last re-election in 2006. It stunk to high heaven. It was obvious this guy was on the take and a dirty cop, yet all the stops were pulled out to get him endorsed because power was what mattered the most. I've been getting a lot of "sorry Allan you guys were right about this guy" lately from people in my party. I only wish they would have stuck up for what was right when it really counted the most. Nevertheless, I'm happy that most have admitted they were wrong on this issue. There are still a few people defending this guy out of the principle of innocent until proven guilty. I can understand that, but it still doesn't excuse the known factual behavior of the Sheriff. I guess these are the ones that will need to hear a poll of the jurors after he is convicted to finally admit they were wrong.

Update On My Sister Amy Bartlett

2008-10-25T23:06:00.001-07:00

It has been one and half years since my sister Amy was diagnosed with with stage 3B Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. She is now in remission and doing great. In fact this next weekend, she will be running in the NYC Marathon with the Lance Armstrong Livestrong Team. She emailed me earlier this week to ask me what song I would dedicate to her for her iPOD marathon playlist. Without hesitation I choose Bruce Springsteen's "No Surrender" from his Born In The USA album. The title speaks for itself...not to mention it is a great song to workout to. Amy was interviewed by Lance's foundation before the race. Without further ado....

Click here to watch her video

Quote Of The Day

2008-10-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

On taxes, the Democrat candidate favors a top tax rate of 39.8% and the Republican favors a top rate of 35%. Well ain't democracy grand. We get to debate a whole four and half percentage points. We better spread this system all over the world!

Professor Thomas Woods speaking at the Rally For The Republic

Picture Of The Day

2008-10-06T11:12:00.001-07:00

New Hedge Fund...Strategery Capital Management

2008-10-02T16:54:00.000-07:00

Strategery Capital Management

About Strategery
Strategery is a unique hedge fund.

It is the largest in the world, with expected initial capital of $700 billion. It has a free and unlimited credit line should it need more. It has no fixed mandate, though it is expected to initially focus on mortgage-backed securities. And it is the only fund backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.

Strategery is a way for you to be more patriotic. Supporting this fund is an American duty. Many people have already taken to wearing a green, red, and blue ribbon to symbolize and broadcast their support for this newest American institution.

As They Say, A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words

2008-10-01T16:47:00.000-07:00

Quote Of The Day

2008-09-30T13:52:00.000-07:00

"Truth is treason in an empire of lies."

Ron Paul

The Markets Will Work...If They Let Them

2008-09-28T22:43:00.000-07:00

As I write this post Sunday night, the S&P futures are down 15 points. Tomorrow morning the US House of Representatives will vote on the $700 billion bailout bill. It's clear from the futures indicator that the vote is very much in doubt right now. My sources are saying that they are about 20 votes short right now to pass this thing. Let's hope so. The House is the only hope of stopping this bill. If they do not pass it, I believe the stock markets of the world will almost certainly start selling off...as they should. It's clear that Mr Market needs to go lower to find a reasonable equilibrium. What's not clear yet to me is how low it will go. My prediction is 800 on the S&P and 7500 on the Dow.

Clandestine Bailout Of Big 3 US Automakers Passes

2008-09-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

You gotta hand it to the lobbyists and representatives who engineered a $25 billion bailout for the big 3 US automakers yesterday. While everyone has been rightly concentrating on the mother of all bailouts, another bailout sailed through Congress with nary an opposition. So another $25 billion of taxpayer money is going down the drain to prop up a dying industry. Both McCain & Obama support this idea. It's not their money so what do they care.

Another Austrian Economics Lesson For Ben Bernanke...Courtesy Of Ron Paul

2008-09-24T11:57:00.000-07:00

Note From Ron Paul About The Bailout

2008-09-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,
Whenever a Great Bipartisan Consensus is announced, and a compliant media assures everyone that the wondrous actions of our wise leaders are being taken for our own good, you can know with absolute certainty that disaster is about to strike.

The events of the past week are no exception.

The bailout package that is about to be rammed down Congress’ throat is not just economically foolish. It is downright sinister. It makes a mockery of our Constitution, which our leaders should never again bother pretending is still in effect. It promises the American people a never-ending nightmare of ever-greater debt liabilities they will have to shoulder. Two weeks ago, financial analyst Jim Rogers said the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made America more communist than China! “This is welfare for the rich,” he said. “This is socialism for the rich. It’s bailing out the financiers, the banks, the Wall Streeters.”

That describes the current bailout package to a T. And we’re being told it’s unavoidable.

The claim that the market caused all this is so staggeringly foolish that only politicians and the media could pretend to believe it. But that has become the conventional wisdom, with the desired result that those responsible for the credit bubble and its predictable consequences - predictable, that is, to those who understand sound, Austrian economics - are being let off the hook. The Federal Reserve System is actually positioning itself as the savior, rather than the culprit, in this mess!

• The Treasury Secretary is authorized to purchase up to $700 billion in mortgage-related assets at any one time. That means $700 billion is only the very beginning of what will hit us.

• Financial institutions are “designated as financial agents of the Government.” This is the New Deal to end all New Deals.

• Then there’s this: “Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.“ Translation: the Secretary can buy up whatever junk debt he wants to, burden the American people with it, and be subject to no one in the process.

There goes your country.

Even some so-called free-market economists are calling all this “sadly necessary.” Sad, yes. Necessary? Don’t make me laugh.

Our one-party system is complicit in yet another crime against the American people. The two major party candidates for president themselves initially indicated their strong support for bailouts of this kind - another example of the big choice we’re supposedly presented with this November: yes or yes. Now, with a backlash brewing, they’re not quite sure what their views are. A sad display, really.

Although the present bailout package is almost certainly not the end of the political atrocities we’ll witness in connection with the crisis, time is short. Congress may vote as soon as tomorrow. With a Rasmussen poll finding support for the bailout at an anemic seven percent, some members of Congress are afraid to vote for it. Call them! Let them hear from you! Tell them you will never vote for anyone who supports this atrocity.

The issue boils down to this: do we care about freedom? Do we care about responsibility and accountability? Do we care that our government and media have been bought and paid for? Do we care that average Americans are about to be looted in order to subsidize the fattest of cats on Wall Street and in government? Do we care?

When the chips are down, will we stand up and fight, even if it means standing up against every stripe of fashionable opinion in politics and the media?

Times like these have a way of telling us what kind of a people we are, and what kind of country we shall be.

In liberty,

Ron Paul

Quote Of The Day

2008-09-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

"They may pass a law to issue paper money, but twenty laws will not make the people receive it. Paper money is founded upon fraud and knavery."

George Mason in a letter to George Washington.

Tustin City Council Majority Has Run Amok

2008-09-23T17:20:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post my thoughts on what happened last week at the Tustin City Council meeting regarding their proposed anti freedom ordinance against people parking on the street where they live, but I haven't yet had a chance to put electronic pen to ink because I've been so busy at work. Let me set the stage here. The Tustin City Council is composed of five councilmembers. All five are Republicans, but not all five are friendly to freedom. In fact at least two were openly hostile to Mr Ray Grangoff of the Orange County Apartment Association last week. The Tustin City Council proposed an ordinance to compel their residents to get a parking sticker on their vehicles lest they risk getting towed. I'm not making this up. This is like having a Nazi Homeowners Association on steroids. If you live in Tustin and this passed as it was written, you would have had to go down to the city and beg and plead for a stupid parking sticker to put on your car. That's not much of a hassle or anything(snark). So you had a situation where Mr Grangoff and a few other residents put out hundreds of flyers out made to look like parking tickets. Click here to see a copy of the flyer.This got peoples attention. Low and behold, almost 300 angry residents showed up at the city council meeting wearing bright yellow stickers with "no parking ban" on them and demanded that this ridiculous ordinance be killed. This clearly flustered anti freedom councilmembers Jerry Amante and Doug Davert. These guys are your typical league of cities overbearing politicians that think they're real smart. In reality they're just a couple of politicians masquerading as "conservative republicans". We seem to have a lot of these guys lately here in OC. So Amante and Davert tried to browbeat Mr Grangoff into submission when he was speaking. It didn't work. Here's a choice quote from Mayor Amante...

"the littering of our streets with your disingenuous tripe."

Excuse me Jerry, but how is wanting to park outside where you live "disingenuous tripe"? Here is the link of the video of the event. I wish it was You Tubed, but just fast forward to about one hour and eight minutes into the video to see the fireworks start. It's the September 15th special workshop video part 1 of 2.

Is Hank Paulson A Nigerian Scammer In Disguise?

2008-09-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

This is hilarious. I'm sure everyone who gets spam email has taken the time to read some of the ridiculous Nigerian 419 scam emails every day. You know...the ones asking if you will help them transfer millions of dollars out of some bogus bank or Treasury and in return you will get to keep half of the millions. So i just saw this posted over at Lew Rockwell... check it out:

Request For Urgent Business Relationship

DEAR AMERICAN:

I NEED TO ASK YOU TO SUPPORT AN URGENT SECRET BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH A TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF GREAT MAGNITUDE.

I AM MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY OF THE REPUBLIC OF AMERICA. MY COUNTRY HAS HAD CRISIS THAT HAS CAUSED THE NEED FOR LARGE TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF 800 BILLION DOLLARS US. IF YOU WOULD ASSIST ME IN THIS TRANSFER, IT WOULD BE MOST PROFITABLE TO YOU.

I AM WORKING WITH MR. PHIL GRAM, LOBBYIST FOR UBS, WHO WILL BE MY REPLACEMENT AS MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY IN JANUARY. AS A SENATOR, YOU MAY KNOW HIM AS THE LEADER OF THE AMERICAN BANKING DEREGULATION MOVEMENT IN THE 1990S. THIS TRANSACTIN IS 100% SAFE.

THIS IS A MATTER OF GREAT URGENCY. WE NEED A BLANK CHECK. WE NEED THE FUNDS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. WE CANNOT DIRECTLY TRANSFER THESE FUNDS IN THE NAMES OF OUR CLOSE FRIENDS BECAUSE WE ARE CONSTANTLY UNDER SURVEILLANCE. MY FAMILY LAWYER ADVISED ME THAT I SHOULD LOOK FOR A RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY PERSON WHO WILL ACT AS A NEXT OF KIN SO THE FUNDS CAN BE TRANSFERRED.

PLEASE REPLY WITH ALL OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, IRA AND COLLEGE FUND ACCOUNT NUMBERS AND THOSE OF YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN TO WALLSTREETBAILOUT@TREASURY.GOV SO THAT WE MAY TRANSFER YOUR COMMISSION FOR THIS TRANSACTION. AFTER I RECEIVE THAT INFORMATION, I WILL RESPOND WITH DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT SAFEGUARDS THAT WILL BE USED TO PROTECT THE FUNDS.

YOURS FAITHFULLY MINISTER OF TREASURY PAULSON

Here's What The Bailout Is Going To Look Like Next Week

2008-09-19T15:31:00.002-07:00

Thank you to the patriotic person who leaked this to me. Everything in bold are my comments and thoughts.

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR TREASURY AUTHORITY
TO PURCHASE MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS

Section 1. Short Title.

This Act may be cited as the "Screw The Taxpayer Act of 2008"

Sec. 2. Purchases of Mortgage-Related Assets.

(a) Authority to Purchase.--The Secretary is authorized to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, on such terms and conditions as determined by the Secretary, mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United States.

(b) Necessary Actions.--The Secretary is authorized to take such actions as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the authorities in this Act, including, without limitation:

(1) appointing such employees as may be required to carry out the authorities in this Act and defining their duties;

(2) entering into contracts, including contracts for services authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, without regard to any other provision of law regarding public contracts;

(3) designating financial institutions as financial agents of the Government, and they shall perform all such reasonable duties related to this Act as financial agents of the Government as may be required of them;

(4) establishing vehicles that are authorized, subject to supervision by the Secretary, to purchase mortgage-related assets and issue obligations; and

(5) issuing such regulations and other guidance as may be necessary or appropriate to define terms or carry out the authorities of this Act.

Sec. 3. Considerations.

In exercising the authorities granted in this Act, the Secretary shall take into consideration means for--

(1) providing stability or preventing disruption to the financial markets or banking system; and

(2) protecting the taxpayer.(what an effing joke!)

Sec. 4. Reports to Congress.

Within three months of the first exercise of the authority granted in section 2(a), and semiannually thereafter, the Secretary shall report to the Committees on the Budget, Financial Services, and Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committees on the Budget, Finance, and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate with respect to the authorities exercised under this Act and the considerations required by section 3.

Sec. 5. Rights; Management; Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.

(a) Exercise of Rights.--The Secretary may, at any time, exercise any rights received in connection with mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act.

(b) Management of Mortgage-Related Assets.--The Secretary shall have authority to manage mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act, including revenues and portfolio risks therefrom. Portfolio risk here means that the paper has no value!

(c) Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.--The Secretary may, at any time, upon terms and conditions and at prices determined by the Secretary, sell, or enter into securities loans, repurchase transactions or other financial transactions in regard to, any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act. Who do they think they are going to sell this crap to? Even USC graduates wouldn't buy this paper

(d) Application of Sunset to Mortgage-Related Assets.--The authority of the Secretary to hold any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act before the termination date in section 9, or to purchase or fund the purchase of a mortgage-related asset under a commitment entered into before the termination date in section 9, is not subject to the provisions of section 9.

Sec. 6. Maximum Amount of Authorized Purchases.

The Secretary’s authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to $700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time until such time as we decide to make another trillion available to buy when this doesn't do anything

Sec. 7. Funding.

For the purpose of the authorities granted in this Act, and for the costs of administering those authorities, the Secretary may use the proceeds of the sale of any securities issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, and the purposes for which securities may be issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, are extended to include actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses. Any funds expended for actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses, shall be deemed appropriated at the time of such expenditure. we don't have any money, but it will be created out of thin air as per the Federal Reserve playbook

Sec. 8. Review.

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency. don't bother trying to put a check on my power suckas because I just gave myself godlike authority under this act to do whatever I damn well please

Sec. 9. Termination of Authority.

The authorities under this Act, with the exception of authorities granted in sections 2(b)(5), 5 and 7, shall terminate two years from the date of enactment of this Act.

Sec. 10. Increase in Statutory Limit on the Public Debt.

Subsection (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking out the dollar limitation contained in such subsection and inserting in lieu thereof $11,315,000,000,000.

Sec. 11. Credit Reform.

The costs of purchases of mortgage-related assets made under section 2(a) of this Act shall be determined as provided under the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, as applicable.

Sec. 12. Definitions.

For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) Mortgage-Related Assets.--The term “mortgage-related assets” means residential or commercial mortgages and any securities, obligations, or other instruments that are based on or related to such mortgages, that in each case was originated or issued on or before September 17, 2008. this means that all those worthless liar loan, subprime, Alt-A, teaser rate, neg am pieces of crap will now gladly be bought by Uncle Sam

(2) Secretary.--The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Treasury.

(3) United States.--The term “United States” means the States, territories, and possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia.

John Campbell Likes Bailouts

2008-09-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

I really didn't wanna have to call out my own Congressman for selling out the conservative principles he promised to uphold if elected, but it's obvious the Congressman likes giving away trillions of yours and my tax dollars to people who made bad financial decisions. He has declared war on free markets. He announced today that he will be voting for Hank Paulson's trillion dollar bailout of his Wall Street buddies. These are the geniuses that convinced banks & mortgage brokers to package up their newly created subprime, Alt-A, negative amortizing, teaser rate loans, & every other exotic(or toxic)mortgage and securitize them them to be sold around the world. Now that they have rotted to the core and are causing massive panic on Wall Street, the Congressman thinks its a good idea to bail all of these people out with our money. Since he's declaring war on our wallets, why don't we make life for him real difficult in the upcoming election if he doesn't change his mind. He also voted for the Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac bailouts. I don't know what has gotten into him, but it's safe to say that he is no longer a friend of the taxpayer.

Ron Paul On The Global Financial Panic

2008-09-18T11:28:00.000-07:00

Overdue Makeup Call Coming For OJ Simpson

2008-09-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

A jury has been seated for the upcoming Las Vegas OJ Simpson trial. Most of the jury is made up of white people...unlike the all black one back in 1995 that let the murderer go free. Well it's time for a little payback for the "Juice". In sports parlance, it's what's known as the "makeup call". Sometimes in the heat of a basketball, football, or baseball game the refs or umps blow the call. Sometimes its benign, but sometimes it costs the other team the game. So to make up for these "blown calls", the refs will have a makeup call later in the game to offset the bad call from earlier. They missed a hack on one end, and now they're whistling him for an offensive foul on the other. In my opinion, this is going to happen out in Las Vegas. It's obvious that the jury back in 1995 made the wrong call for whatever their motivation was. This is going to be jury nullification in reverse. Pretty soon OJ can look for Ron & Nicole's killer in the Nevada penitentiary system(or he can look in the mirror, LOL).

It's Friday Afternoon...That Can Only Mean One Thing....More Bailouts

2008-09-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

Yep right on cue as soon as the markets closed today the Feds announced that they are close to an agreement to bailout Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. A bailout here a bailout there, pretty soon we're talking about real money. This move has been telegraphed for months. Freddie & Fannie are insolvent. Once again the risks get socialized and the profits privatized. You're welcome Bill Gross. Your crappy investments in Fannie & Freddie bonds are now risk free thanks to the US taxpayer. Of course this will cause more major bouts of inflation with all the money needing to be printed, but who's really counting anymore...the government is not. They ended giving out M3 numbers a few years ago. Oh yeah and for everyone in the 48th CD, let's all go ahead and thank Rep John Campbell for his precious little vote to bailout Freddie & Fannie. After all, we wouldn't want the whole fractional reserve/fiat paper money system to come crashing down. That would be very bad.

Bill Gross Just Yelled "Fire" In A Crowded Theatre

2008-09-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

Folks you know this credit crisis is getting real serious when Pimco's Bill Gross aka "the bond king" is calling for the Treasury to bail his ass out of his toxic investments in Fannie, Freddie, & Ginny Mae bonds. The unmitigated gall of this guy to ask the taxpayers for a bailout is breathtaking. What's even sadder is that Hank Paulson will probably do exactly that.

Ron Paul Colbert Show Appearance Tonight

2008-09-04T23:28:00.000-07:00

GOP Roll Call Convention Vote Is A Sham

2008-09-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

I was saddened to see the roll call vote at last nights RNC Convention turn into an exercise of raw political power. Who does the RNC think they are...the Orange County GOP Central Committee? They need to learn how to count votes. It's one thing to get beat in a fair fight, but for the RNC to try(and succeed) to silence almost all of the Ron Paul delegates at the convention and pretend there were no dissenting voices in that hall...well it was pretty pitiful to watch. But that's alright, I'm just gonna file this event away in my memory bank and use it to galvanize supporters of our movement...The Campaign For Liberty. It was just so obvious that the McCain people were worried sick that Ron Paul might mess up the script of their well planned silencing of him. The Secret Service is going around confiscating stuff from Ron Paul delegates. They wouldn't even give him access to the floor of the convention! This is a man that raised over $35 million dollars and has brought in hundreds of thousands of young new supporters of the party. Then they had the gall to ask us for our list of supporters. Simply amazing.

On the flip side, I thought Sarah Palin gave a great speech. She has definitely energized our party. I just got home from Minneapolis and I will have a post up about my last couple of days hopefully up by tonight or tomorrow at the latest.

I Made It To Minneapolis

2008-08-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

Advice on taking a redeye flight...don't do it. I hated it. I left LAX last night and got into Minneapolis/St. Paul at 6 am this morning. I've just awakened from trying to catch up on some sleep, but I still feel fatigued. Oh well, I'm gonna rally tonight and head downtown to see what's happening around the city. The "Ronulans" have invaded the city from all things I have seen so far. The Northwest flight out of LAX was packed with em and my hotel out in Brooklyn Center is full of us. I get the feeling that Tuesday is gonna be a huge showing at the Target Center. I've never been to a National GOP Convention so I am looking forward to seeing what the atmosphere is gonna be like. The word is filtering through the Ron Paul community and from some news reports that St. Paul/Minneapolis is a defacto police state right now with numerous arrests and raids of protesters and where they are staying. That's to bad. It's one thing if these guys are genuinely breaking the law, but I get the sense that the word has gone out by team McCain to squelch any kind of protest that may be going on or is set to happen. Here's a link to Glenn Greenwald about the police raids.

McCain VP Speculation

2008-08-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

As if McCain himself wasn't a bad enough nominee for the GOP, now the word is he is seriously thinking of tapping his good Democratic Senator buddy Joe Lieberman for Vice President...on the Republican ticket! What...was Barbara Boxer unavailable? This is unbelievable. If he picks Lieberman, say goodbye to any chance of consolidating the conservative/libertarian base of the party. Say goodbye to any chance of getting volunteers to man phone banks, walk precincts, etc. Why would any Republican wanna volunteer for this potential ticket? It makes no sense at all, but then again it makes all the sense in the world. McCain has been very good at sabotaging the party the last few years in the Senate. He might as well take it all the way.

OC Register Interview

2008-08-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

I spoke with Martin Wisckol of the OC Register the other for a story he's doing on Ron Paul's big Rally For The Republic event in Minneapolis September 2nd. They even sent along a staff photog to my office to take a few pics of me. Look for the story to run in Friday's paper.

******************Thursday 8/21/08 UPDATE*******************

The article is up on the Register's website. Click here

The Eagle Has Been Grounded

2008-08-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

An article in today's Wall Street Journal covers the US Mint's suspension of selling gold & silver eagle coins because they have run out of supply! It was only a matter of time. When the prices get pushed down artificially to low, basic economics take over. A lot of people including yours truly have been buying physical gold & silver bullion on major dips. This has in turn cleaned out the available retail supply of physical bullion for the time being. The only thing that will cure this shortage is higher prices. Here's a portion of the WSJ piece...

As gold prices tumbled from their highest level ever, investors and collectors loaded up on one-ounce "American eagle" gold-bullion coins. The buying spree came to an abrupt halt this week after the U.S. Mint stopped selling the coins for the first time since production began 20 years ago.

"Due to the unprecedented demand ... our inventories have been depleted," the Mint -- part of the U.S. Treasury Department -- told its dealers Friday. "We are therefore temporarily suspending all sales of these coins."

The move shocked sellers and collectors of the coins, which are the most widely traded in the U.S. Suppliers became angry as they turned away customers. Theories about the decision's underlying cause ran rampant -- from investors in gold futures to Russia's invasion of Georgia.

"This whole thing started about the time the Ruskies made their move," a collector noted in an Internet chat room called goldismoney.info. "It may very well be that the USGovt is preparing for the real financial meltdown by hoarding all remaining gold flows."

The Mint says it simply was wiped out. It has sold 311,000 ounces of the coins this year -- about 50% more than in all of 2007. In the first few weeks of August alone, buyers snapped up 63,500 ounces.

"We are working diligently to build up our inventory and hope to resume sales shortly," the Mint wrote in a memo to dealers.

The American-eagle bullion program was launched in 1986 with the sale of gold and silver bullion coins. One-ounce coins have a face value of $50 and $1, respectively, although the coins trade close to the market value of the underlying metal. After the 2008 silver coins, known as silver eagles, surged in popularity earlier this year as silver prices rose, the Mint began rationing them.

Dealers were upset by the latest blow. "If I don't have something to sell, I lose business," says Rand LeShay of A-Mark Precious Metals, a Los Angeles dealer.

The Mint announced the suspension Friday, the day prices of gold-futures contracts -- bets on what gold will cost later -- finished below $800 an ounce for the first time this year. The drop accelerated a buying spree among investors. Gold began bouncing back and late Wednesday traded at $810.30. In March, gold futures hit a high of $1,003.20 an ounce.

American-eagle gold-bullion coins are made from 22-karat gold mined in the U.S. The front side's design was inspired by August Saint-Gaudens' $20 gold piece, minted from 1907 to 1933. On the reverse side is a nest of American eagles.

The coins are sold by the Mint to 10 dealers world-wide for a premium above the price of gold. These dealers resell the coins, which now fetch about $815.

The American Precious Metals Exchange, an online gold dealer, posted an alert about the Mint's move, generating confused and angry responses. Many customers said they were mystified because the silver-coin rationing followed a price surge, while the gold suspension followed a drop.

"The situation is strange and doesn't fit the 'normal' supply & demand economic model," the firm wrote to customers.

The Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee, an advocacy group, said the Mint's move proved financial institutions are colluding to set prices.

"The suspension is overwhelming evidence ... that the commodities exchanges are being used ... as part of a massive scheme of manipulation of the precious metals, currency, and bond markets," the group wrote on its Web site.

It's Official...Arnold Is Now Worse Than Gray Davis

2008-08-21T07:36:00.000-07:00

You really gotta hand it to our governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He's a great actor. His whole tenure as governor has been one big acting job. His final act of transformation is his proposal to raise the state sales tax by 14%...something he said he would never do. What suckers we are. I blame myself for not voting Tom McClintock in the recall. In our fervor to recall Gray Davis, we fell for the guy that was "electable" but had no track record of being who he said he was, namely a fiscally conservative Republican. We know now that he is a liar. It was his "no new taxes" pledge that got reluctant conservatives to vote for him. He was going to be a backstop/goalie when the liberal legislature wanted to raise taxes. Now he has become an enabler. The California Republican Party needs to take a stand on this governor at the upcoming fall state convention. If we become a party that tolerates tax increases because the politicians failed in their duties, than we have no reason for such existence as a party.

Cost Of Great Park Balloons(no pun intended) By $377 Million

2008-08-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

An independent audit of the projected cost to build the (not so)Great Park has found that the city has underestimated the cost by over $377 million dollars! My first comment about this...is anyone really surprised by this? Here's the LA Times story from this morning. This council majority is hellbent on building this thing no matter what the cost is to the Irvine taxpayers. To say they have bitten off more than they can chew would be an understatement. It's funny to read quote's from our clueless Mayor Beth Krom say that

"We are talking about converting a military base into a great metropolitan park," she said. "That's an extraordinary restoration project, and the notion that there are any absolute numbers that would be unchangeable in the evolution of this project is sort of absurd."

She also said that this was "an internal document" and

"that bringing it before the Board for public discussion was “an insult to the process.”

Yeah, how insulting of us to talk about this majority's incompetence Madam Mayor and question your ridiculous policies. No wonder Larry is desperately trying to pass his Secrecy Ordinance...Measure "S"ecrecy. They might want to rename their slate this November from "Keep Irvine Great" to "Keep Irvine In A Sea Of Red Ink"

Irvine Secrecy Measure Assigned Letter "S"

2008-08-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes in politics, it's the luck of the draw. The council majority in Irvine muscled through a ballot measure this November that claims to protect privacy, but it's real intention is to shield from the public information that is protected by the California Public Records Law. So the Measure is now named Measure S...as in Measure "S" for secrecy. I'm not a genius political consultant, I just play one on the internet sometimes. My slogan will be...Vote NO on "S"ecrecy.

I signed onto the argument against Measure S along with Stephen Smith and Jeffrey Lalloway. It reads like this:

Argument Against Measure S, named
"City of Irvine Personal Information Privacy Act"

This proposal should have been named the SECRECY ORDINANCE. It's crafted so that Irvine elected officials can deny you access to documents guaranteed public scrutiny by the California Public Records Act. VOTE NO TO ASSURE OPEN, HONEST AND TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT AT CITY HALL.

Councilman Larry Agran proposed this Secrecy Ordinance after newspapers reported that he tried to hire a longtime friend from Chicago to be the new CEO at the Great Park. Council members Steven Choi and Christina Shea demanded to see the résumés of other candidates, but Mr. Agran withheld them, claiming the documents were personal information. Mr. Choi and Ms. Shea filed a lawsuit to enforce their right under state law to view the résumés, and said they found far more qualified candidates than Mr. Agran's friend.

This Secrecy Ordinance, if enacted by voters, could be used by City Hall to deny the public and the press access to important documents such as these that keep elected officials and City employees accountable to us.

The proposal states that city officials will decide "on a case-by-case basis" what is "personal information" that can be withheld from your scrutiny. Nothing in the ordinance requires City Hall to tell you what has been withheld or why. And there is no means of appeal.

Mr. Agran said during the July 22 City Council meeting that if Irvine is sued all the way to the state Supreme Court because this ordinance may be illegal, "so be it."

The California Public Records Act already protects your personal information, so there is no reason for this Secrecy Ordinance other than to circumvent state law.

VOTE NO TO STOP SECRECY AT CITY HALL. VOTE NO TO STOP THE SECRECY ORDINANCE.

For more information, visit www.nosecrecyordinance.com

That Was A Fun Earthquake

2008-07-29T11:55:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting in my office pondering my trades and typing out an email to someone and BAM...ohhh that's an earthquake. A 5.8 centered in Chino Hills according to preliminary reports. No damage here in Newport to my office building...just some frayed nerves for some. We now return you to you to your regularly scheduled program.

Ramos & Compean Convictions Upheld By Fifth Circuit

2008-07-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

This is very disappointing news today. It seems that the Fifth District Court of Appeals has upheld the convictions of Border Patrol Agents Ramos & Compean. This goes to show that you never know how a court will rule. I was on record that I thought the oral arguments went very well back in December and that a reversal was near certain. Boy was I wrong. Here's the decision

On a releated note, on Saturday the CRA had a chance to get together for a BBQ and Congressman Rohrabacher gave a stirring speech about what has been happening in DC. He cracked back big time on John McCain, calling him "a political whore". He said he will not endorse the GOP nominee unless he promises to give Ramos & Compean clemency.

John Campbell Votes To Bailout Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac

2008-07-23T17:20:00.000-07:00

I got a press release from Congressman Darrell Issa explaining why he voted against bailing out Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. Here it is in whole:

For Immediate Release Contact: Frederick Hill 202-225-3906 (office)

July 23, 2008 202-225-6473 (cell)

Issa Votes ‘No’ on $25 Billion Taxpayer Bailout of Mortgage Lenders

Washington, DC – Rep. Darrell Issa, today, made the following statement about his vote against H.R. 3221, legislation bailing out mortgage lenders:

“I strongly oppose this taxpayer-funded bailout of the mortgage industry. This bill rewards Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other firms that played key roles in the housing crisis. It will be paid for on the backs of millions of American taxpayers who pay their mortgages on-time, rent their residences, and played no role in creating this financial boondoggle.

“In our free market system, when companies make risky business decisions they keep the profits when their judgment is right and they are expected to accept responsibility when they make poor business decisions. I voted no, today, because it’s wrong to have a massive taxpayer funded bailout of the lending industry that leaves stockholders fully intact and taxpayers empty-handed.

“I recognize that both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have become cornerstones of our housing market and also see a legitimate need to help Americans, who have played by the rules and find themselves in need of temporary assistance, keep their home. My first and foremost concern in this housing crisis is protecting a system that provides the long-term availability and affordability of mortgage loans to Americans. By bailing out lenders who made bad business decisions, we’re setting a very bad and expensive precedent that will encourage future risky lending schemes, undermine confidence in future home loans, and make credit less affordable. We can use market forces and give regulators better tools to regulate the mortgage industry without writing such a massive check.”

Nice job Con. Issa. This led me to check how our other OC reps voted. Let's see Ed Royce & Dana Rohrabacher both voted NO, Loretta voted Yes...no surprise there. John Campbell...YES. What? After all the press releases and public statements about how we must end pork and start to live within our means, he goes and votes YES on a $25 billion bailout of Fannie & Freddie? As former Cong. Jim Traficant used to say...Beam me up! This $25 billion is just jacks for openers. Some say this is going to end up costing the taxpayers over a trillion dollars! This is a major disappointment Congressman. I'd love to hear his explanation. Oh yeah and Ken Calvert also voted this ridiculous bailout.

Quote Of The Day

2008-07-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value 100% of the time....at zero

Allan Bartlett

Required Viewing....Jim Rogers Putting the Smack Down on CNBC

2008-07-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

Please watch this CNBC interview of Jim Rogers. Mr Rogers is one of the very few persons who has been right about which investments to hold over the last ten years. He puts the smack down on show host Bertha at around the 3:50 mark, it's hilarious. I quote...

If you're blaming all of this on short sellers, then you should have another job!

Watch the whole segment below

Ron Paul: No More Bailouts Please

2008-07-18T08:58:00.000-07:00

I'm Back

2008-07-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

I took a well needed vacation this past week up to the Eastern Sierra. Despite dire weather up there(more an that later), we went up there anyways. I had permits to climb Mt Whitney. We had an awesome time. I got to see some amazing scenery and watch some daredevil feats. The highlight of the trip had to be watching some hang gliders launch from Walt's Point at 9000 feet on the road up to Horseshoe Meadow. These guys were nuts. They were running off a perfectly good cliff. It's just not a natural act, but it was absolutely amazing to watch. Apparently, Walt's Point is the best spot in the world to hang glide for distance. When I asked one of the guys chasing the hang gliders where they were going to land...he deadpanned.."Austin, Nevada". I go..."how far is that"?...."oh about 200 miles from here" he says. Okay. Later on when we were back at the Whitney Campgrounds, I was talking to some hikers that had just came down off the trail. I told them about watching the hang gliders launching off at Walt's Point. They said they saw some hang gliders cruising over Mt Whitney. Simply amazing. Here's a You Tube of a launch at Walt's Point...

Their object after launching is to catch the world famous Owens Valley Thermals and attain an altitude of 12 to 18,000 feet.

As far as the hike...how can I explain it...it was the hardest physical thing I've ever done in my life and I didn't even make it to the top. It was awesome. Bad weather up at the top of the mountain kept us from summiting. I plan to do this hike next year as a day hike when the monsoon season is over. It's just to unpredictable up there in July from all the longtime Whitney people that I spoke with.

In addition to all that, we were up there when the running of the Badwater Ultra Marathon was happening. These guys are wired differently that do this race. They start the race down at Badwater in Death Valley and finish the race up at Whitney Portal. The course is over 135 miles long! I don't know how it is possible for the human body to do something like this, but people do it. I've heard & read about this race over the years, but to actually be up there when it was happening...well, I'll just chalk it up to good ole fashioned luck. I can safely say that I will never attempt doing this in my life, LOL.

You Better Keep Your Mouth Shut About Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac or else.....

2008-07-13T13:27:00.000-07:00

the feds will really, really, really be angry with you! Here is their press release from the SEC stating as much. You can't say things things like they are insolvent or they will have to get bailed out because that would be rumor mongering and just wrong. God forbid someone tell the truth about our imploding real estate and mortgage market & the economy in general. The Asian markets will be opening up here in a few hours. It should be an interesting next couple of days & weeks.

Indy Mac Bank Is Done

2008-07-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

They got taken over today by the FDIC. I like how they saved this news until after the stock market closed. Boy they really pulled a fast one on us there. Wouldn't want to release market crashing news while trading is still happening. Good luck to all you Indy Mac customers out there. I guess you'll find out firsthand if FDIC insurance is what its cracked up to be. Hell if they don't have the money they'll just print it for you and screw over all the people like they have been since the Fed was created. Treasury Sec. Paulson has also been out there saying there is no solvency problem with Fannie and Freddie. If he has to say there is no solvency problem for these two...well let me translate that for you, run for the hills! Bear Stearns said they were fine a few days before they were no more. My advice, don't believe anything the government says going forward about this crisis.

I really just don't care anymore. This story has put me over the top. This is probably the start of the dominoes all collapsing on our monetary/financial system. I have a feeling in my gut that Monday is not going to be pretty for the financial stocks and the DOW/S&P in general. It's ruining my vacation plans to. I'll probably end up canceling it to make sure I'm in the office next week. I'm really in a foul mood at the moment.

I'm sure there will be strategy sessions all weekend for Federal Reserve & Treasury people. It will be funny to see how they rationalize all the new "term lending facilities" and any other trick they may have up their sleeze. I'm out.

New Blogger In Town

2008-07-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

I'd like to welcome my good friend Jim Righeimer to the local blogosphere. The name of his blog is called Rigonomics. Jim is a long time GOP activist. He ran for the State Assembly back in 2000 and barely lost to current State Senator Tom Harman. Riggy actually received more GOP votes than Sen. Harman, but at the time, California was operating under an open primary. Currently he resides in Costa Mesa and serves on the Planning Commission there. Welcome to the electronic Town Square Jim.