California: Bush

July 22, 2009 - 01:28 pm

Obama administration doesn't file brief backing San Francisco health-insurance employer mandate

BusinessInsurance.com reports that the Obama administration has taken a neutral stand on San Francisco's health-insurance employer mandate. It didn't continue the Bush 43 administration's opposition to the law. But it didn't support the mandate, despite President Obama's strong praise for...

July 9, 2009 - 02:22 pm

Bush 43, Obama and the continuity of cynicism, hyperpartisanship and irresponsibility

In California, no one but Karen Bass believes state Democrats hold the moral high ground. But at the federal level, the wreckage of the Bush 43 years and the high-toned rhetoric of Barack Obama have combined to create a presumption...

June 26, 2009 - 07:53 pm

Obama/Pelosi claims for climate-change bill far more egregious than Bush's Iraq war arguments

So the House has adopted the Waxman-Markey bill on climate change after a week in which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Obama White House dropped the previous main talking point about the bill -- that it was a profoundly...

May 18, 2009 - 01:00 pm
NEWS FEED: Sacramento Bee

Will Schwarzenegger miss Election Day in California?

Politico has an exclusive that President Barack Obama on Tuesday plans to unveil new federal tailpipe emissions standards for automobiles on par with those sought by California.

The kicker: Politico says that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to attend Obama's announcement in Washington, D.C. tomorrow.

That's Washington, D.C., as in the city more than 3,000 miles away from the state holding a special election Tuesday into which Schwarzenegger has invested most of his energy for the last two months.

Schwarzenegger press secretary Aaron McLear had no comment Monday morning about whether the governor will attend Obama's announcement.

It's not clear what arrangements Schwarzenegger would make -- for instance, he isn't an absentee voter, so he still has to cast his ballot.

May 18, 2009 - 11:53 am
NEWS FEED: Fox & Hounds Daily

Speaker Pelosi Needs a Lifeline

While tomorrow’s California general elections are understandably receiving the vast majority of coverage throughout California, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has garnered more than her fair share of the national spotlight in recent weeks. Any time that the highest ranking Member of Congress – and third in the line to be president of the United States – says that the CIA misled her and others in Congress (Washington-speak for lied)…that’s not only newsworthy but will also inspire the news media to dig deeper.

What is known is that Nancy Pelosi, as a member of the House Intelligence Committee and before she became Speaker, received briefings from CIA professional staff, not Bush Administration appointees, as she would lead us to believe, in the 2002-2005 timeframe.

May 18, 2009 - 08:00 am
NEWS FEED: Calitics

Tom Campbell: Same Old Hooverism, Same Old Flaws

California's media likes to play up Tom Campbell as some sort of "moderate" or "sensible" Republican. As compared to Attila the Hun this might be plausible. But even a cursory glance at his alternative budget solutions shows that he is a typically conservative politician. Sure, his conservatism seems to be of the Ronald Reagan sort as opposed to the Grover Norquist sort. But there never was much difference between the two, except in tone, which is apparently all that matters to the media.

Campbell's proposed budget claims to want to solve a "systemic" crisis in a way that doesn't hurt our ability to recover from the economic crisis.

May 15, 2009 - 10:37 am
NEWS FEED: CA Political News

Obama: No White House Observance of National Day of Prayer

Barack Obama is proving that to spend twenty years listening to a anti-religious bigot, Jeremiah Wright, will bond to you.  Obama refusesto allow the White House to observe the traditional "National Day of Prayer".  This was to be expected, his efforts to end a Jewish State, Israel and give the land to terrorists, shows his opposition to those who hold religious beliefs.

Note that media is not making this into an issue.  But, when President Bush invited Evangelical ministers to pray with him at the White House, it was as if he invited Satan.

This is another sign that Obama is not in the traditional of our Founding Fathers.

March 19, 2009 - 07:18 pm

What Rush Limbaugh and the NYT editorial page have in common

A few days ago, I wrote about the insanity of Rush Limbaugh pretending George W. Bush had nothing to do with the housing bubble. So much for the high-profile speeches Bush 43 gave pressuring lenders to lower standards and dole...

March 19, 2009 - 10:07 am
NEWS FEED: Calitics

Clarification On The End To Medical Marijuana Raids

When the Administration announced an end to medical marijuana raids by the DEA, they abruptly took back the statement a few hours later.  There was a bit of confusion about the new policy.  Eric Holder put an end to that.
Attorney General Eric Holder signaled a change on medical marijuana policy Wednesday, saying federal agents will target marijuana distributors only when they violate both federal and state law.

That would be a departure from the policy of the Bush administration, which targeted medical marijuana dispensaries in California even if they complied with that state's law.

"The policy is to go after those people who violate both federal and state law," Holder said in a question-and-answer session with reporters at the Justice Department.

March 8, 2009 - 07:07 pm
NEWS FEED: Calitics

Ted Lieu Versus The Housing Crisis

This week, Barack Obama announced the details of his plan to save up to 9 million homeowners facing foreclosure from losing their residences.  The goal is to place a floor on foreclosures and help people whose rates have reset to work out loan modifications with their lenders.  The federal legislation that passed the House which would allow bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of loans, which gives homeowners a powerful stick to force the lenders to pre-empt a cramdown from the judge, will also help this.

Unfortunately, the class of homeowners who would be left behind in this plan are those who are "underwater" on their homes; that is, they owe more on the principal of the home than the current value.