California Politics

California Assembly Passes Immigrant-Friendly TRUST Act; OC's Dem Assemblymembers Join GOP in Not Voting for It

The Trust Act made its way once more through the California Assembly yesterday by a final vote of 44-22. The legislation was vetoed late last year when it reached the desk of Democratic Governor Jerry Brown. Supporters say the bill authored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano will limit deportations fueled b ... More >>

Jessica Karp, UCI Adjunct Professor, Seeks to Expose ICE's "Secret" Meetings with Gov. Brown

The American public must be let in on what's going on behind closed doors regarding the federal government's attempts to preserve the full force of its controversial Secure Communities immigration enforcement program, a UC Irvine law professor argues."There's a public right to know about issues surr ... More >>

Diane Harkey Seeks State Tax Board Seat as Husband's Company Goes Belly Up to Stop Suits

After many starts and stops, the day in court seemed to finally arrive Thursday for 80 investors who felt they'd been hornswoggled by the husband of Assemblywoman Diane Harkey (R-Dana Point).But now a fatal blow to the $43 million lawsuit against Dan Harkey and his Point Center Financial has likely ... More >>

OC GOP's Apocalypse Now

The party's over for Republicans in Orange County and California

Governor Jerry Brown's Actions on Immigrant Legislation Draws Ire from Advocates

With a midnight deadline looming, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the Trust Act yesterday calling it "fatally flawed" while singing into law legislation on driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants who obtain work permits under President Obama's deferred action policy. The National Day Laborer Organ ... More >>

Christian Legal Eagles Vow to Fight Enacting of State Law Ending "Pray the Gay Away" Therapy

Governor Jerry Brown over the weekend signed a bill championed by the LGBT community that make California the first state to outlaw therapy to "pray the gay away." "We're grateful to Governor Brown for standing with California's children," reads a statement from Chad Griffin, president of the Human ... More >>

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom To Address Orange County Democrats Tonight in Anaheim

Gavin Newsom--the onetime San Francisco mayor, current California lieutenant governor and possible future governor or U.S. senator--is scheduled to give the keynote speech tonight at the 18th Annual Truman Awards Dinner in Anaheim for the Democratic Party of Orange County.Newsom follows Barney ... More >>

Day Laborer Faces Deportation After Anaheim Employer Who Hired Him Filed False Police Report

Jose Ucelo Gonzalez sought an honest day's work and compensation as many do outside the Home Depot on Brookhurst Street and Crescent Avenue in Anaheim back in March. The day laborer was hired by Michael Tebb, an Anaheim employer who used "Nick" as an alias, for a job in Garden Grove that unfortunate ... More >>

Why Do Mexicans Have So Many Names?

[¡Ask a Mexican!] And your last reminder to buy 'Taco USA' before Gustavo gets deported!

Poets and Politicians: Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera and Governor Jerry Brown

​Governor Jerry Brown named Juan Felipe Rivera, UC Riverside poetry professor of Chair of Creative Writing, as California Poet Laureate on Wednesday, but he's just getting to know the wordsmith. The appointment is a first ever for a Latino in the state and the poet's writings articulate the life e ... More >>

Jon Fleischman's FlashReport For California Republicans Gains LA Times Attention

​Orange County's Jon Fleischman, the grand daddy of powerful California Republican bloggers, earned a noteworthy news story in today's Los Angeles Times.Though he has plenty of critics, routinely treats me with outright contempt (I wasn't good for his onetime boss Sheriff Mike Carona) and strictly ... More >>

California Dream Act Repeal: EPIC FAIL!

​Supporters of a state initiative to repeal the California Dream Act Governor Jerry Brown signed into law last year announced today they failed to obtain the 500,000 signatures required to get a proposition on the ballot. See what happens when you have your Mexican gardener's wife distribute petit ... More >>

State Supreme Court Upholds Abolition of Redevelopment Agencies

​Governor and Norcal Democrat Jerry Brown and Assemblyman and OC Republican Chris Norby don't agree on much, but they do see graying eyebrow to graying eyebrow on abolishing local redevelopment agencies to help close the state budget gap. Today, they and other RDA opponents scored a victory when t ... More >>

Gov. Jerry Brown Funded By OC Unions For 2014; Loretta Sanchez Nabs Dentist Support

Pay to play​Gov. Jerry Brown's trip to Orange County last month for a speech to Democrats nabbed $30,000 mostly from local organized labor unions, according to a report this week in the Sacramento Bee.Among those contributing were the Orange County Employees Association, which organized "a small, ... More >>

Backers of Mandatory Helmets for Kids on Ski Slopes Think Gov. Brown Has Rocks in His Head

​Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed legislation that would have required skiers and snowboarders under 18 to wear protective helmets.State Sen. Leland Yee, a San Francisco Democrat and child psychologist, authored SB 105, which had received bi-partisan support in the state legislature.

Jose Solorio and Tony Mendoza, Assembly Democrats, Blasted for "Anti-Business" Bills

Solorio​A proposed law authored by one Orange County assemblyman is being called a big favor for big labor, while legislation from another has powerful California business interests lined up against it.The legislators are Democrats and California Latino Legislative Caucus leaders Jose Solorio of S ... More >>

Jerry Brown Criticized For Not Going Latino With California Supreme Court Pick

Goodwin Liu​​​Today, Gov. Jerry Brown nominated UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu to the California Supreme Court. Shortly after, Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, whose district includes Buena Park, issued a statement about the pick. In it, he congratulates Liu, yada yada, and then tak ... More >>

Will Gov. Brown Kill Garden Grove's Fantasy Hotel Resort Project?

​For Garden Grove city officials, who've been trying for years to transform their benighted Harbor Blvd. corridor into a world class resort destination, the good news is that Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the state budget last week. If it had passed, the budget would have killed local redevelopment agen ... More >>

"The Don" Wagner Sopranos Crack Leads to Rumble on the Assembly Floor

​On Aug. 31, 1990, state Assemblymen Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) and Steve Peace (D-Rancho San Diego) famously got into a shouting match that got physical in a Capitol corridor in Sacramento, where some witnesses claim not-so-peaceful Peace slapped the retired Marine.Must be something about the ... More >>

OC Fairgrounds: Revenue-Sharing Plan Gains Traction; Governor Releases Revised Budget; Costa Mesa Mayor Would Rather the Land Go to Highest Bidder

In breaking news, Assemblyman Jose Solorio's bill (AB 35) passed the Appropriations Committee--with a vote of 10-2--which allows for a revenue-sharing option if Governor Jerry Brown decides not to honor the $100 million bid by Facilities Management West for the Orange County Fairgrounds.That's but a ... More >>

California DREAM Act Passes State Assembly

​It's a little confusing, but no less a victory for illegal immigrant college students. While the national DREAM Act, an immigration bill aimed at providing a path to citizenship for young people, died in the U.S. Senate--and possibly forever--last year, the California DREAM Act is very much alive ... More >>

Fair Games Over the OC Fairgrounds

The huge swath of public land is in play. But is the whole thing rigged?

OC Legislators Seek Pension Reform, Attack Collective Bargaining in California

​With union-backed Democrats holding the governor's office and both houses of the California Legislature, it's unlikely collective bargaining for public employees will be torpedoed or pension-ending reform will be enacted.But, God bless 'em, three Orange County Republicans are going to try to acco ... More >>

As State Supremes Vow to Rule on Prop 8 Backers' Standing, Tom Harman Tries to Make Matter Moot

Presumably non-gay State Sen. Tom Harman​The California Supreme Court yesterday agreed to analyze whether Proposition 8 proponents have standing to appeal a federal judge's ruling that lifted the ban on same-sex marriages in the Golden State--a legal detour that could delay an appellate decision o ... More >>

Steven Greenhut Left The Orange County Register for Sacramento, But His Poison Pen Still Stings Jim Silva

​The Orange County Register's longtime columnist and senior editor Steven Greenhut left the Santa Ana daily in 2009 to open a Sacramento news bureau for the Pacific Research Institute, a free-market, individual liberty think tank based in San Francisco. But it's obvious he misses Orange County, o ... More >>

Long Beach Says Goodbye to Annual Celebrity-Studded Women's Conference

​The annual, superstar-studded women's conference that brought speakers like Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Diane Sawyer, Sandra Day O'Connor, Sarah McLachlan and Suze Orman to Long Beach, along with major tourism dollars, will not be back to the city this year.    It is uncerta ... More >>

Lou Correa Lets Online Poker Bill Ride

​State Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) has introduced a bill that would help cut into California's budget deficit by installing an online poker system that aims to generate $1 billion in state revenues and 1,100 new jobs over the next 10 years.Vegas gives it 3-5 odds to pass--or at least Vegas d ... More >>

Gov. Brown's Proposed Budget Cuts Will Affect State Parks, Including Those in OC

Chasen Marshall/OC WeeklyIt's technically San Diego County, but OC treats San Onofre like its own​Jerry Brown hasn't held the governor title for long, but he's already worthy of our unsupportive scowl. Reasoning? Part of his current suggestions for budget cuts milk state parks for $11 million thro ... More >>

Van Tran Move Makes Sacramento Bee's "Worst" List

Van Tran ​There's no doubt that three months before the November election polling showed Orange County Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez might be in danger of losing to Little Saigon state Assemblyman Van Tran.To thwart Tran's potential rise, Sanchez--already known as a tireless campaigner--doubled he ... More >>

Sacramento Bee Slams OC's Tom Harman On Anti-Gay Marriage Idea

Harman: pro-zealot?​We learned this year that Orange County state Senator Tom Harman shamelessly used personal connections in the local district attorney's office in a plot to steal the weighty if deceitful ballot designation "prosecutor" in his campaign to win the Republican Party primary for Cal ... More >>

Meg Whitman, Chuck DeVore's Choice for Governor, is Now a "Self-Funded Dilettante"

​Chuck DeVore, who is leaving his Irvine-based state Assembly seat for private life after losing the U.S. Senate GOP primary to eventual general election loser Carly Fiorina, posted this on his Facebook page Oct. 4:"If we are to win and provide an opportunity to enact our ideas, we need to vote fo ... More >>

Election 2010: Gustavo Drinks Through the Election, Or: Trashing the Dems and Bashing Whitman

​Updated throughout the day, with the freshest post on top. Click after the jump for vignettes on Barbara Coe, Loretta Sanchez, Meg Whitman, and Borat!Midnight. Drink of choice: Alka-Seltzer...my pockets hurt. Loretta Sanchez has pulled away by thousands of votes, but we'll wait until the official ... More >>

Prop 8 is Illegal Because All California Ballot Propositions are Illegal: Appellate Lawyer

​An appellate lawyer has filed a brief before the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco that argues same-sex-marriage banning Prop 8 should be struck down because all ballot propositions are illegal.As Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino) put it in ... And Justice for All, "You're out of order! You're out of or ... More >>

$100 Million Orange County Fairgrounds Sale OK'd by State, But Fight is Just Beginning

​The state is moving forward with plans to the sell the Orange County Fairgrounds to Facilities Management West, a Newport Beach-based company formed solely to operate the 150-acre property, for $100 million, officials disclosed today.To say the sale, which is aimed at easing California's budget w ... More >>

Meg Whitman, Direct From My Mailbox

​Four fliers delivered to my mailbox this afternoon bring to mind instant images of Meg Whitman, your Republican nominee for governor of California. What follows is the actual order I pulled these fliers out of the box at Casa de Coker:

Loretta Sanchez Pounds Van Tran Again For Sleeping At His Desk

A different sleeping robot​Van Tran must be feeling sore under his chin after Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez slugged him again today with another hostile mailbox piece that capitalizes on the unfortunate picture of a closed-eyed Tran apparently sleeping at his state assembly desk."California's econ ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Will Maid's "Explosive Allegations" Sink Meg Whitman's Latino Outreach?

​UPDATE: New details throughout . . . Billionaire Meg Whitman exploited a Latina housekeeper the GOP nominee for California governor knew was in the country illegally, alleged celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred this morning, setting off an array of charges and counter-charges.

Jose Solorio, Assemblyman Recommends Governor Drop Sale of OC Fairgrounds

​When it comes to the Orange County Fairgrounds, state Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-Santa Ana) is "now recommending to the Governor that he consider dropping the sale altogether," according to a statement released by his office.Solorio had been working to get legislation passed in the Legislature ... More >>

Governor Loretta Sanchez?

Is Sacramento ready for Loretta?​Never underestimate Loretta Sanchez.Yesterday, the Sacramento Bee reported that the veteran Orange County congresswoman opened a bank account for a 2014 campaign to become California's governor.But is Sanchez, OC's lone congressional Democrat, serious about a race ... More >>

Solorio: Latino Lawmakers Won't Block OC Fairgrounds Sale

​We told you here that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed off on selling the Orange County Fairgrounds to Costa Mesa but that the California Legislature's Latino caucus was still threatening to block the deal because of the city's stance on illegal immigrants. Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-Santa ... More >>

Today's Best Quote

Goodbye guv​"He calls himself the green governor and I would agree with that. He's molding."--Irvine insurance broker Ira Forkish in today's Washington Post article, "Arnold Schwarzenegger on the outs in California's Republican Party." Among other points, Sandhya Somashekhar's story notes that Sch ... More >>

Schwarzenegger Signs Off on OC Fairgrounds Deal; Latino Legislators Still Vow to Spike It

​Stung by a failed auction in January, the Schwarzenegger administration announced Wednesday it has signed off on the deal to sell the Orange County Fairgrounds to Costa Mesa for $96 million.However, standing in the way of final approval is the state Legislature, which includes Latino members who ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Today's Important Unimportant Election, From My TV Screen to Your Computer/Phone Screen

​11:15 p.m.: Don't be surprised if KOCE is accused of turning over its election coverage to that rare Orange County bird known as the "Democrat." The "live, election night edition of Real Orange" came from the Artists Village in Santa Ana, OC's version of Havana. Their election expert was the Voic ... More >>

Arnold Schwarzenegger's Indian Tribe Tax Idea Slapped Down

screenrant.comBarbarian Tax Man"We find all of the state's arguments unpersuasive."--From the Ninth Circuit's ruling this week that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's made strong-arm efforts to force the Rincon San Luiseno Band of Mission Indians to accept an illegal tax on tribal gambling ... More >>

Ross Johnson "The Reformer" Retires

Kenn Minter​In November 2008, the Weekly presented "The Reformer: Longtime OC GOP legislator Ross Johnson finds new life as a campaign-finance watchdog in Sacramento."Well, The Reformer is hanging up his cape.

OC Republicans Think Tom Campbell Is Running For Governor!

R. Scott MoxleyNote the lower left corner of the OCGOP website​Earth to Republican Party of Orange County Chairman Scott Baugh. 

California Republican Negative Nabob of Negativity Party Opposes Pot Legalization

Compassionate use conservatism​The California Republican Party has made it official: no on legalization of the devil's weed.

Chuck DeVore's Quixotic Attempt to Twitter and Parody-Video His Way Into the U.S. Senate

A Strange Man, Indeed, but a Pervert?

Lawsuit alleges top Schwarzenegger donor sexually harassed woman in OC

The Abortionist Who Funds Pro-Life Republicans