Boring is what most legislative sessions are, but California's last hours were anything but. Shouting, attempts to cut off debate by turning off opposition microphones, and a literal waving of the rulebook marked the close of the Legislative season in Sacramento this week. Many bills were on life support, seeking to crawl their way to the Governor's desk, but died in the chambers as its supporters failed to get the votes to pass them.

Among the firearms-related bills that didn't make it out: Read more »

The California state Legislature ended its session on August 31st. Constitutionally, they had to pass any bills that were outstanding by midnight this past Monday, or it would die and they would have to re-introduce them after the November elections.

Constitutionally, they were also supposed to pass a budget by June 30th [Calif. Const. Art. IV, Sec 12(c)(3)]. This is one provision that California legislators regularly ignore. Some 64 days after that deadline, this state limps along while the financial market starts thinking of how many more interest points it can charge due to fiscal volatility and the rest of the nation laughs for the clowns that the politicians are.

The following is an open letter to Governor Schwarzenegger, who can call a special session of the legislature, to do so and get the budget passed. Read more »

Boxer gets a big boost with a personal Obama appearance for her California Senate seat.

Other successful Obama stump stops in the past few months:

• Martha Coakley, candidate for former Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy's seat, 2009
• Jon Corzine, Governor re-election in New Jersey, 2009
• Creigh Deeds, Governor-candidate for Virginia, 2009

(Hint: All 3 seats went to the Republican challenger.) Read more »

As a sign of the fiscal squeeze pressuring state budgets all over the country, Gov. Paterson has frozen tax refunds for New Yorkers to the tune of a half-billion dollars.

Several hundred thousand New York taxpayers will be affected with most getting an average refund of $1,000. People who filed in late February and early March might have to wait as long as six weeks till the checks are in the mail.

Barbara Boxer, an 18-year veteran of the Senate, recently filed her re-election paperwork to signal her official run for the Senate this November. However, not everything is going well for the junior Senator from California. In the wake of of Scott Brown's upset for Ted Kennedy's seat, a long-time stronghold for Democrats, Boxer remarked, 'Every state is in play'.

Recent Rasmussen Report polling numbers have placed Boxer in the mid-to-upper 40s when pitted against the likely Republican candidates for her seat. The L.A. Times noted last week: Read more »

I heard about the Brady Bunch (sorry, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence) putting out their annual report card. I'm not at all surprised that my state ranked the dubious #1 spot. However, I think it's telling that a number of the points given aren't for effective policies — only that the policies were legislated.

For instance: Read more »