Politics and Elections

KFI’s John & Ken discuss ‘Browndoggle’ with CWD’s Chris Reed

March 16. 2013 In an interview with CalWatchdog contributor Chris Reed, KFI 640 AM’s John and Ken discussed the fiasco that is the California bullet-train project, which they call the “Browndoggle.” The interview begins at the 5:35 p.m. point of

Rand Paul helps jumpstart GOP morale

CalWatchdog Staff March 16, 2013

March 16, 2013 CalWatchdog.com Editors NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — It’s no secret that Republicans in the Golden State have been dispirited by the last two election cycles where the GOP has been relegated to virtually no power in statewide politics.

Pay no attention to the political consultants behind the curtain

CalWatchdog Staff March 15, 2013

March 15, 2013 By Katy Grimes As long as I have followed politics closely — since Junior High school in the 1970’s — I’ve said political consultants will be the death of the Republican Party. And now, finally, a political

San Diego mayor resumes public-employee enrichment schemes

CalWatchdog Staff March 14, 2013

March 14, 2013 By Chris Reed Well, that didn’t take long. Bob Filner — a paleoliberal former Democratic congressman who was elected mayor of San Diego in November — is embracing the same sort of ridiculously generous public-employee compensation policies

GOP congressman shows how to win Latino votes

CalWatchdog Staff March 12, 2013

March 12, 2013 By John Seiler With California Republicans soul-searching about how to get more Latinos to vote for them, advice comes from Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., on why an Anglo like him keeps winning in a heavily Hispanic district:

Some minority L.A. Dems realize unions are dubious allies

CalWatchdog Staff March 12, 2013

March 12, 2013 By Chris Reed The hegemony of Democrats in California is based to a striking degree on the ability of public employee unions — whose leaders and most affluent members are predominantly white — to keep minorities on

Eco-phony Arnold tools around in gas-guzzling Mercedes SLS AMG

CalWatchdog Staff March 11, 2013

March 11, 2013 By John Seiler According to the Daily Mail: “He has been seen enjoying a number of dates with a mystery blonde in recent weeks but on Thursday Arnold Schwarzenegger was indulging in his first love — his

CA GOP needs ideas, not just money

Steven Greenhut March 11, 2013

March 11, 2013 By Steven Greenhut SACRAMENTO — Most of the activists, insiders and lobbyists I talked to during this month’s California Republican Party convention in Sacramento expressed optimism about their party despite blistering election losses and persistently falling voter

Did the bullet train die in sequester fallout? Maybe. (Hallelujah!)

CalWatchdog Staff March 10, 2013

March 10, 2013 By Chris Reed The fallout of the sequester continues to be widely discussed, with the conventional wisdom being that President Barack Obama and his political team made a rare and serious miscalculation with their attempts to panic

Even L.A. revolting against taxes

CalWatchdog Staff March 10, 2013

March 10, 2013 By John Seiler The big news in California the past week was not the mayor’s race in Los Angeles. It was the defeat in that election of the half-cent tax increase, Measure A, by 55 percent to