Subject: Domestic Policy

• Lock Up Your Daughters' Weaponry

  The Senate has decided that trigger locks suck. A trigger-lock mandate, part of a bill limiting the liability of gun manufacturers in liability cases, has been stricken from the language. Who wants to wait a few moments to fiddle with a mechanism in order to activate their gun? In the immortal words of Homer J. Simpson, "But I'm angry NOW!" Here's a particularly adorable quote from the representative behind the move to make it easier to shoot people: Marilyn "M&M" Musgrave. Read the article

  June 30, 2006

• The Quota System (Friendly Skies Edition)

  Everyone's heard stories, always officially denied, that you're more likely to get a traffic ticket near the end of month because the cops have a set quota of tickets they need to write each month. According to KMGH, the ABC affiliate in Denver, your traffic misery may be following you into the skies, with potentially nastier consequences than a fine. You could be on a secret government database or watch list for simply taking a picture on an airplane. Some federal air marshals say they're repor

  July 26, 2006

• Can You Hear Me Now?

  In this case, the President has acted, undisputedly, as FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] forbids. FISA is the expressed statutory policy of our Congress. The presidential power, therefore, was exercised at its lowest ebb and cannot be sustained. --from Federal District Court Judge Anna Diggs Taylor's ruling issued today declaring the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program unconstitutional and ordering an immediate halt to it. In a similar recent case, a federal court

  August 17, 2006

• Speaking of congressional races ...

  Check out this little ray of sunshine from Bloomberg (the news service, not the mayor): Candidates Ignore $1.35 Trillion Minimum Tax `Bomb' By Ryan J. Donmoyer Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Congressional candidates this fall are furiously debating Iraq, Medicare and extending tax cuts. Most are staying quiet about an imminent legislative challenge: how to stop a tax increase that will hit more than 20 million households next year, some with incomes as low as $50,000. The rest is here.

  October 31, 2006

• Arnold's New Era Begins

  In his inaugural address last Friday, Governor Schwarzenegger announced the beginning of a new chapter in California history, the "post-partisan" era, explaining, "The question is not what are the needs of Republicans or Democrats? The real question is what are the needs of our people?… Post-partisanship is Republicans and Democrats actively giving birth to new ideas together." So, how's that going to work in practice? One answer can be found in the Los Angeles Times today, the first fu

  January 8, 2007

• MLK Day and the Bush administration

  One of the things that fuels the belief of some people in some sort of government conspiracy in the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is the fact that Army Intelligence (along with the usual suspects, the FBI, etc.) was monitoring Dr. King. And now, just in time this year's MLK day comes news that the Bush administration is taking legally dubious steps to make it easier for the Army to spy on American citizens. The New York Times reports: Deep into an updated Army manual, the deleti

  January 15, 2007

• Healthcare and that Jolly Ol' Elf

  There's been a lot of talk about the governor's universal healthcare plan, but once you get past all the talk you discover… well, that plan may be too strong of a word. The governor's universal healthcare good intention may be more accurate. Anthony York explains in the Capitol Weekly. (emphasis added) Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger received international attention when he unveiled his plan for universal health-care coverage. The plan made the front page of the New York Times and the Washin

  February 2, 2007

• Unfortunate Acronym of the Day

  Earlier today, representatives from the Arizona Interfaith Network, Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, Kansas City's El Centro and the United Farm Workers set up a teleconference call to argue why comprehensive immigration reform is necessary. They met under the name Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, or CCIR for short. Of course, the famous CCIR 'round these parts is the Mexican-hating California Coalition for Immigration Reform. Given that CCIR head witch Barbara Coe was recently

  May 23, 2007

• Bang, Bang, Shoot, Shoot

  It's always entertaining reading the Fullerton-based California Rifle and Pistol Association newsletter, The Firing Line. The best section, naturally, is On Target -- the letters to the editor. The March 2006 issue does not disappoint, with letters branding U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein "a loser" (her reign as county supervisor and mayor is somehow linked to the recent city law banning firearms), calling for America's immediate pullout from Washington, D.C. (because there have been 60 firearms d

  March 12, 2006

• Love That Dirty Water

  Troubling news from American Rivers, the 75,000-member strong nonprofit that is trying to save and restore our nation's rivers: The Supreme Court of the United States today handed down a divided decision in the Rapanos and Carabell cases that will lead to confusion on the ground and grave risk for the health of streams and rivers. A centrist opinion by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy now stands as the only impediment to four justices pushing to roll back significant protections of the Clean Water Ac

  June 19, 2006

• Ed Royce Makes a Run for the Border

  The San Diego Union-Tribune, whose editorials typically lean solidly to the right, has come out firmly against mixing illegal immigration with the war on terror--and with "The Wrong Mix," they more specifically chide OC's own Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) for chairing an Imperial Beach congressional hearing that did just that. Rep. Royce said his special hearing panel would focus on whether America's porous border makes it more vulnerable to another terrorist attack. That should have been our firs

  July 7, 2006

• The OC GOP Way: extending taxes is NOT raising taxes

  Besides spam for our riches locked in a Nigerian prince's bank vault, a better head of hair and just plain better head, Clockwork's virtual mailbox has been filling lately with messages from the Committee to Renew Measure M. Now, normally when PR maven Meg Waters, Congressman John Campbell (R-Newport Beach) and the Orange County Business Council have a meeting of the minds on something, we RUN FOR THE HILLS! AIIIIEEEEEE!!!! Just kidding. These moral high horsers most certainly stand against rais

  September 7, 2006

• Illegal Immigration: Follow the Bouncing Logic

  When it comes to examining the root causes of illegal immigration, some Republicans work overtime to reconcile their hatred of "illegals" (cough—Mexicans!—cough-cough!) with the Bible—something that's not always easy to pull off given that the Bible preaches goodwill to those who are less fortunate. Take the Oct. 29 opinion piece that appeared on the Republican Party of Orange County's website. Rosie Avila starts off on a promising note, stating that the issue cannot be resolved until

  November 12, 2007

• Monday's Headlines. No Surprises: Shaky ground for the mayor-who-would-be-governor

  Preparing for deportation: In the past fiscal year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement made almost twice as many arrests (30,396) in its fugitive operations program as it did the previous year, reports the Register. ICE also picked up more than 4,000 illegals in workplace raids - up 11 percent from 2006. The increase in raids have immigration rights advocates urging families to plan for a deportation. On the to-do list: "taking care of property records and finances and making clear plans for w

  November 26, 2007

• Funniest Quote of the New Millenium

  "They came legally, though." --Idiot Iowa woman whose ancestors invaded the Americas on the Mayflower, in response to the issue of illegal immigration.

  December 6, 2007

• Funniest Register Poll of the Year...

  ...has to be the one they ran last week asking readers what "is the most effective way to stop illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border?" Reporter Amy Taxin sure knows her audience--of the options available, none included "open the borders ala the European Union," "reform the current immigration system to encourage more legal migration" or "turn over the southwest United States already." About the closest opinion to such immigrant-friendly options was "there is no effective way to sto

  December 26, 2007

• Times editorial goes straight to Zell

  The Los Angeles Times today on its editorial page gave Tribune Co. Grandmaster and indelicate asshole Sam Zell the finger when it criticized Prop. 98 and asked readers for a big No vote. The Times sent out a press release mentioning how they weren't going to bend to the pressure. While noble, it really isn't anything other than what should be expected from what is widely considered one of the preeminent newspapers in the country. But in these trying times, doing it right is always appreciated.

  May 12, 2008

• Shot in the Arm

  April 1, 1999

• Barbara Coe Upset Sarah Palin Doesn't Acknowledge Her

  On Sept. 15, California Coalition for Immigration Reform head Barbara Coe sent off a questionnaire to Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. "The California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR) is a nationally recognized nonpartisan grassroots organization representing thousands of patriots nationwide," Coe wrote to Palin. "Our goal is the enforcement of our immigration laws, protection of law-abiding Americans from illegal alien invaders and the preservation of the U.S. as a sov

  October 16, 2008

• Welcome to Orange County, Now Go Home

  March 15, 2001

• As State OK's Tough Global Warming Rules Should Diesel Be Next?

  As expected, the state this afternoon put teeth in its landmark regulations enacted in 2006 to combat global warming, adopting the nation's most comprehensive plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Such emissions must be cut 30 percent by 2020. But that is not enough for the editorial board of the San Jose Mercury News, which called on the state to follow up Friday with tough new rules to clean up diesel truck emissions. "The trucking industry is one of the last remaining major sources o

  December 11, 2008

• True Liar: Gov. Schwarzenegger brings deceit to real life

  "All [California lawmakers] know how to do is spend, spend, spend . . . Then they realize they are spending too much and so they tax, tax, tax. I will not raise your taxes. I will not cut education."--Arnold Schwarzenegger in October 2003, while campaigning to unseat then-Gov. Gray Davis in a recall election because Davis wanted to raise taxes to end an $8 billion budget crisis. Fast forward to today and Gov. Schwarzenegger, the liar, has proposed raising taxes by a whopping $14.3 billion and cu

  December 31, 2008

• Telcom Critics Could Have Issues With Obama Pick

  A telecommunications executive today resigned from his director's seat at Newport Beach-based Mindspeed Technologies to work at the White House as Barack Obama's director of presidential personnel.Obama can thus expect heavy scrutiny from net-neutrality advocates fearful of Donald H. Gips' closeness to power. Neutrality proponents, who include Google, warn that telecom companies are heavily lobbying U.S. politicians to impose a tiered service model at the expense of other companies and the gener

  January 16, 2009

• Read Curt Pringle's Lips: He'll Take New Taxpayer Dollars

  Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle has long been the golden boy among Orange County Republicans. He got elected to the party's Central Committee in 1986, and two years later became the GOP nominee for the Garden Grove area state Assembly seat. The party, under the leadership of then-Chairman Tom Fuentes, hired uniformed security goons to stand outside Latino-heavy polling places in Santa Ana and demand identification from the mostly Democratic voters while carrying signs in English and Spanish that

  March 3, 2009

• John and Ken Go After Red County Blog (Again)

  *Originally posted on March 13; moved up by Gustavo 'cause the conversation is HOT!The hosts of KFI-AM 640 The John and Ken Show are ripping Orange County's right-tilted Red County blog once again. (You can listen here.) What set off the anti-tax crusaders--whose recent live Tax Revolt 2009 broadcast (pictured) drew 8,000 people to the Slidebar Café in downtown Fullerton--was a post by Assemblyman Paul Cook (R-Yucca Pie) shilling for Prop 1A.Like Cook, our Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

  March 16, 2009

• John Campbell Targeted By Withering Democrat Copy-Pasting

  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent out a press release yesterday pointing out that South County U.S. representative John Campbell, by opposing the federal stimulus bill, opposed funding for local transportation projects:Representative Campbell Votes Against Major Road Improvements in Orange County In a remarkable move, Representative John Campbell voted against major improvements that will put Southern Californians to work and upgrade Routes 1 and 73 in Orange County. "Twi

  March 24, 2009

• [¡Ask a Mexican!®] Cherry-Picking César Chávez

  July 3, 2008

• Im a Complete Intellectual Fraud

  January 20, 2005

• A Portrait of the Plaintiff as a Young Victim

  November 20, 2003

• A Higher Fire Power

  July 8, 1999

• Letters

  'And when I say "you," I am referring to white America. I purposely left that "white" uncapitalized'

  April 26, 2007

• Osama's Gun

  How to not build bin Ladens AK-47 without even trying

  November 9, 2006

• Gracias, OC!

  May 18, 2006

• !Ask a Mexican!

  December 29, 2005

• Why Does Daystar Hate Jesus?

  The religious broadcaster fighting for KOCE is already under federal investigation for abuse of the airwaves

  July 14, 2005

• High Frequency

  January 22, 2004

• Letters

  November 6, 2003

• Deadly Plants

  February 27, 2003

• No-Show Perot

  May 25, 2000

• Green With Anger

  April 27, 2000

• Bankruptcy? What Bankruptcy?!

  December 9, 1999

• FBI Spy: "Islam Itself is a Threat to National Security"

  John Gilhooley / OCWCraig MonteilhIf Craig Monteilh was hoping the Weekly's recent cover story about him would provide a springboard to media fame, he probably wasn't thinking of Inside OC with Rick Reiff on KOCE. But that's exactly where Monteilh found himself last week when Reiff interviewed Hussam Ayloush of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for his thoughts about the FBI using a con artist--that'd be Monteilh--to infiltrate Orange County mosques. As he did with the Weekly, Mon

  May 21, 2009

• Orange County Clergy Goes Hollywood for Obamacare

  Yes, the people popping up everywhere to disrupt explanations of Obamacare by congress people and administration folk seldom get covered these days. A favorite was two days ago on CNN, when the anchorwoman cut to such a town hall where a U.S. senator was detailing the plan. Without hanging in long enough so viewers could figure out what the senator was explaining about the plan, CNN cut back to the doe-eyed newscaster, who said she'd check back in should "something happe

  August 11, 2009

• Where Have All the Anti-Tax Crusaders Gone?

  When he wasn't running for governor, Fountain Valley's George "Nick" Jesson was associated with the We the People Congress, an anti-tax group that bought an ad in USA Today in 2001 challenging the government's right to tax income. Indeed, Orange County used to be crawling with anti-tax crusaders who claimed filing income tax returns was "voluntary" or "unconstitutional." Take one of their courses and they'd show you how to live tax-free. Well, the gubment shut those classes down licke

  August 20, 2009

• Orange County Faith Leaders Pray for Immigration Reform

  OCCCO recently held a prayer vigil for healthcare reform. Now immigration reform is the cause.​Orange County Congregation Community Organization (OCCCO) is teaming up with local faith leaders for a prayer vigil calling for just immigration reform Friday evening in the sanctuary at  Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 1100 S. Center St., Santa Ana. A Catholic Celebration of Mass begins at 7 p.m., followed by the candlelight vigil at 7:45 p.m.   "As members of an inter-faith

  August 26, 2009

• Racist OC Register Fustercluck of the Week: Special Kennedy Appreciation Edition

  Until brain cancer ended his career, Senator Ted Kennedy was one of the hardest working legislators in American history, someone who even right-wing ideologues like Orrin Hatch admired and loved for his tireless dedication to public service. Ok sure, he had his faults. The man liked to drink. He caused the death of a young woman by crashing his car off a bridge and then walking home to call his attorney and sleep it off rather than going straight to the authorities. That was a long time ago, how

  August 28, 2009

• The Other Side of the Health-Care Debate Strikes Back

  The other side of the health-care debate (think opposite of Fox News' town hall criers) has come out swinging of late.California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee just issued a statement with the provocative title, "California's Real Death Panels: Insurers Deny 21% of Claims." The CNA/NNOC has compiled data that shows one in five requests for medical claims for insured patients, even when recommended by a patient's physician, are rejected by California's largest private in

  September 2, 2009

• UC Irvine Seeks to Cut Through Healthcare Reform Bullshit

  The AFL-CIO convention in Pittrburgh voted last night to endorse single-payer, universal healthcare for all Americans, and rU.S. Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) just trotted out to reporters his bill to provide non-single-payer, non-universal healthcare for not-quite-all Americans. Coincidence?  With healthcare premiums expected to rise 94 percent by 2020, everyone agrees something must be done. Well, everyone except town-hall criers. And Fox News. And Republicans. The main stic

  September 16, 2009

• Republican Assemblyman Republicans Are Targeting for Recall Blames Orange County Republicans, Newport Beach Insiders

  Local Republicans are gunning for Assemblyman Anthony Adams (R-Hesperia). Assemblyman Anthony Adams (R-Hesperia), who has been targeted for a recall election because he voted for a state budget that included billions of dollars in new taxes, swung back at his opponents today, blaming "Orange County Republicans" and "Newport Beach activists" for his current predicament.

  October 7, 2009

• As FCC Weighs Net Neutrality, McCain Tosses in Monkey Wrench

  ​As the Federal Communications Commission meets today to develop some "rules of the road" for the Internet, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Sarah Palin) has thrown up a roadblock.The bitter, defeated presidential nominee today introduced legislation that would block the FCC from creating new "net neutrality" rules.

  October 22, 2009