“Drill, Baby, Drill, the battle call of those interested in exploring off-shore drilling, has an entirely different meaning when it comes to the state’s budget. I am emailing you to make you aware of a “budget drill” scheduled for tomorrow by the Democrat leadership.

Tomorrow’s budget drill is merely a ruse. Rather than seriously addressing the state’s mounting financial crisis, what we will see tomorrow is nothing close to the actual nitty-gritty of closing the hole between revenues and expenses.

Democrats have already tipped their hand on how they really want to address the deficit - $4.4 billion in new taxes and fees directed primarily at the middle class and small business. That idea has been resoundingly criticized by Republicans and the Legislative Analysts testified that it would hit middle class taxpayers the hardest. But we won’t see that plan tomorrow. What we will see is something that doesn’t even begin to address the controversial issues in their plan. I plan on voting against it.

Read more...

Senator Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) today issued the following statement following the challenge to California’s newly revised execution procedures:

“The crux of the problem with California’s death penalty protocol has always been the three-drug lethal injection. By not tackling that issue directly, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation left itself and the state wide open to more lawsuits. This suit comes as no surprise, rather it comes as predicted. I introduced Senate Bill 1018, a measure that would have directly addressed the three-drug injection, earlier this year. The measure had bipartisan support but died in fiscal committee. At the time. I predicted the state would encounter additional lawsuits unless the lethal injection issue was dealt with definitively.

“The legislature should take this opportunity to review SB 1018 and perhaps include it in the budget. It would offer tremendous long term savings to the state, not to mention putting a stop to lawsuits, such as the one filed today, that will be horrendously expensive for the state to defend. These lawsuits serve no other purpose than to further delay justice being served.

“The following is a link to my Public Comment, submitted June 21, 2010, on the Proposed Death Penalty Regulations:
http://cssrc.us/web/35/publications.aspx?id=8623.”

The fairs industry plays a key role in California.

This week’s commentary discusses Arizona’s effort to address the Federal Government’s inaction on controlling the nation’s borders.