Well Organized Republican Campaign in...San Francisco!

This week I visited with Harmeet Dhillon, our candidate for state Assembly in the heart of San Francisco, and I've been very impressed with how serious and well organized her campaign is.

Consider this:

Harmeet has raised over $113,000, an unprecedented amount in San Francisco. These funds have allowed the campaign to launch an aggressive multimedia campaign in the district, utilizing traditional as well as new campaign methods.

The campaign has 12 billboards located throughout the district and ads running in many of the city's most read newspapers.

The campaign sent over 70,000 mailers to voters in the district while volunteers have made over 1,000 live calls on Harmeet’s behalf.

The campaign has distributed window signs (in English and Chinese) to over 200 San Francisco businesses, and close to 500 individual supporters for home display.

Dhillon ’08 has also embraced the Digital Age. The campaign has online advertisements on two of San Francisco’s most popular news websites, SFgate.com and KTVU.com and has successfully reached out to the blogging community to cover the campaign. The campaign has been successfully using social network sites, such as Facebook and Evite, to reach to supporters, recruit volunteers and organize campaign events.

Great job by a candidate running hard in a challenging district!

RJC Calls Obama Dangerously Naive

In the largest ad campaign the group has ever undertaken, the Republican Jewish Coalition is drawing attention to Barack Obama's foreign policy ideas as "dangerously naive."

Here's their release and a link to their ad:

New RJC Ad Calls Barack Obama "Dangerously Naive"
Latest print ad highlights concerns about Obama's foreign policy thinking

Washington, D.C. (October 28, 2008) -- The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) has released the latest in its series of national advertisements. These ads constitute the largest-ever advertising campaign undertaken by the RJC. This ad features a round-up of the concerns the RJC has expressed about Barack Obama throughout the last few months.

The ad begins:

"Many Americans have questions about Senator Barack Obama and whether his views are good for the United States and Israel. And for good reason."

Sen. Obama has not shown the wisdom, experience or strength on issues important to Israel. Most concerning is Senator Barack Obama's naïve grasp of the threats against the United States and Israel.

From his opposition to legislation against labeling Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization(1) to his willingness to meet with Iranian President Ahmadinejad and other hostile nations without any preconditions,(2) Senator Barack Obama has raised real questions about his judgment and experience.

Obama surrounds himself with anti-Israel friends and advisors like General Tony McPeak, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Rashid Khalidi and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. These men have played instrumental roles in shaping Sen. Obama's world views.

At the annual AIPAC Policy Conference, Sen. Obama said Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of Israel.(3) The very next day, facing criticism from the Palestinian Authority and Arab nations, he flip-flopped. Sen. Obama said the future of Jerusalem would have to be negotiated by Israel and the Palestinians,(4) calling his support for an undivided Jerusalem a "poor phrasing" of words.(5)

(1) Obama press release, 9/26/07; www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/soft_on_iran.html; (2) CNN/YouTube debate, 7/23/07; (3) Haaretz.com, 6/5/08; (4) Washington Post, 6/6/08; (5) Jerusalem Post, 7/14/08

The ad concludes: "History has shown that a naïve and weak foreign policy has resulted in tragic outcomes for the Jewish people. Barack Obama: Dangerously Naïve."

RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks said, "We live in perilous times. Since 9/11, Americans have understood that we are in a war, and have come to recognize that Iran, Syria, and other rogue countries pose a serious threat to our security and to our closest allies, especially Israel. Sen. Obama's willingness to meet with the Iranian president, his opposition to labeling Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, and his flip-flopping on Jerusalem raise serious questions about his positions and his experience."

Obama's anti-Israel friends and advisors likewise raise concerns about Sen. Obama's foreign policy thinking." said Brooks."We need a president who has the experience and the wisdom to discern enemies from friends, and the personal strength to lead our country through the difficult times ahead. The weak and naive foreign policy espoused by Sen. Obama is dangerous for the U.S. and dangerous for Israel."

Click here to see the ad

###

Major Study Shows McCain Tax Plan Benefits California

In a new study by the well-respected Heritage Foundation, a comparison of Barack Obama's and John McCain's tax plans show that California would create over 144,000 fewer jobs between 2009 and 2018 under Obama's plan.

According to the study condcuted by Shanea Watkins, with all other factors being equal, during this time with Barack Obama's plan in effect our state will create 109,320 new jobs. Under John McCain's tax plan, 253,762 new jobs will be created.

In other words, while Barack Obama would be busy "spreading the wealth around," under John McCain's plan our state would do far better in creating new wealth and job opportunities for Californians.

Read the study: Job Creation from the Obama and McCain Tax Plans: A State-by-State Analysis

New York Tmes Endorses Obama, S&P Downgrades Paper's Credit to Junk

The New York Times' endorsement of Barack Obama was greeted with a collective yawn. The paper's editorial page, and some say its news pages, have long been "in the tank" for Obama.

So it was interesting to note that at the same time the paper embraced the candidate who promises to raise taxes and impose new regulations on the private sector, Standard and Poors dropped the New York Times Company's credit rating to "BBB-". That's finance-speak for "junk." I think the former Soviet Republic of Moldova has a better rating.

S&P believes the negative economic outlook will dampen future ad revenue. No kidding. If you think the outlook is poor now, just wait until Congress passes Obama's tax increases. Another reason to vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Organizing the North State

On Wednesday I returned to the North State for the latest organizing meeting pulled together by incoming Assemblyman Dan Logue, a leader who clearly understands policy as well as politics.

In a state as large and diverse as California, each region has its own opportunities and challenges. One way to meet them is by bringing together Republican leaders in the region to compare notes, exchange best practices, and establish metrics for building our party in the region. By pulling together the leaders from his huge Assembly District, that's what Dan has done.

Since this is a public blog, I'll pass on including the details of the latest working group meeting. Suffice to say, a great deal of progress is being made in this region to further strengthen our county committees and, going forward, support our volunteer groups.

Think Tank Says Obama Health Plan Sends Even More Power to Washington

So much for "new" Democrats. The "old" line Democrats are back and the agenda hasn't changed much. One big example is Barack Obama's health care plan, which the Heritage Foundation reports would send more money and control back to Washington, DC instead of empowering consumers.

In short, Heritage's two top notch health care experts Robert Moffitt and Nina Owcharenko say:

Very little in the Obama health plan is new or orig­inal. A number of its policy initiatives are recycled from the ill-fated Clinton health plan of 1994 and the Kerry health plan of 2004 and bear a stark resem­blance to a more detailed proposal by the Common­wealth Fund, a prominent liberal think tank. In general, the Obama plan would give the federal gov­ernment even more control of health care dollars and decisions—a radical departure from the decentralized decision-making system that characterizes employer-based insurance and state-based insurance regulation.

Read the Heritage Foundation Backgrounder: The Obama Health Care Plan: More Power to Washington

Republican Elected Officials Honored at Huge Event in San Diego

Hundreds of San Diego Republican elected officials, donors, and activists packed the Grand Del Mar hotel in San Diego Tuesday night for the annual Salute to Republican Elected Officials.

Held each year since 2002, the event is an opportunity to recognize the hundreds of Republicans serving in local, state and federal office throughout San Diego County. These leaders work hard to put our ideas into action at every level of government, often against tremendous opposition from special interests and sometimes the government bureaucracy.

Congratulations to Chairman Tony Krvaric and the Republican Party of San Diego County for a successful 2008 "Salute" that drew over 400 people to "Papa" Doug Manchester’s new jewel of a hotel.

DeVore Goes on Dr. Phil

It's not every day a conservative Republican legislator is invited on the Dr. Phil show. In fact, when I first heard Assemblyman Chuck Devore was going to make the appearance, I was quite concerned.

It turns out Chuck was invited on the show to discuss his opposition to the new law banning texting while driving. Here's his report:

From the sublime to the ridiculous - I brave the Dr. Phil Show, set your TiVos

I was invited on the Dr. Phil Show to debate California's new law banning text messaging with the author of that law, Democrat State Sen. Joe Simitian. Simitian was also the author of the law banning hand-held cell phone usage in a car. I voted against both laws, seeing them as unnecessary since California has a blanket law on its books that makes it illegal to drive recklessly.

The one hour show entitled "Killer Texting" will air on CBS at 4pm this coming Thursday, Oct. 23 in Los Angeles (check your local station listings).

It was interesting seeing how a nationally syndicated show like this is put together. I knew it would not be easy to present my commonsense-based opinion in a highly emotional setting – and this particular show did not disappoint. Dr. Phil started with a 21-year-old nightmare from Texas who text messages some 4,000 times a month, driving down the road at 70 mph, steering with her knee while holding her BlackBerry with both hands. Next, a mother of a 17-year-old girl who was killed by a cell phone user who blew through a red light while looking up an address (an activity which would still be legal under the current law and soon to be enforced text message ban). Finally, the show featured a man injured during the Metrolink collision where the passenger train engineer was violating Metrolink rules by text messaging on the job.

By the time came for me and Sen. Simitian to debate, the in studio audience was not at all sympathetic. Dr. Phil asked me why I opposed the bill. I replied something along these lines:
Every proposed law starts out as someone’s good idea. But the laws are often blunt instruments. In the case of the ban on text messaging, there are some basic problems. First, California already has a tough reckless driving law with a penalty of five days in jail or, if you injure someone else, up to six months in jail. The text message ban has only a small fine and it doesn’t even put points on your driver’s license. Secondly, under the new law, it is still legal to dial a phone number – how can police tell the difference between dialing a number, which is legal, and text messaging, which is illegal? Finally, if text messaging or using a hand held cell phone was so dangerous, why did the laws' author exempt law enforcement personnel? Do police have better brains than the rest of us? Do they have gecko eyes that allow them to keep one eye focused on the road and another eye on the phone? The fact is, according to a California Highway Patrol study, only 9 people were killed in California over an 18 month period due to distraction from using cell phones or texting. More people were killed and injured due to messing with their radio or CD player and eating combined.

Sen. Simitian at some point interrupted me to make his points, saying that some people may make it home tonight because of the new law. I refuted the study he cited and instead used the actual data from the CHP showing that texting is not statistically a big problem.

The Dr. Phil Show then showed a taped segment with a City of Cypress Police officer who was doing cell phone enforcement work. He said that he usually could not see drivers using their cell phone or texting unless it was up to their ear. He relied instead on observing the car to see if it was weaving. Dr. Phil looked at me and said, "That was your point," meaning my point that the existing reckless driving law was sufficient to the task.

I also mentioned how one of my staffers was pulled over by the Irvine Police Department a few days into the hand held cell phone ban. The officer thought he was on his cell phone. The problem was, he wasn't! He simply had his window open with his left elbow on the door frame and his left hand resting on his left ear while at a stop light. The officer was prepared to issue a ticket until my staffer suggested he look at the call log which showed his last call being 20 minutes earlier. The officer wasn’t happy, but my staffer didn’t get a ticket.

Sen. Simitian mentioned that the CHP was in favor of his new law. Having dealt with the CHP’s legislative liaison, I know them to be mainly concerned with their own self-interest, rather than the larger and more important issue of liberty, which, after all, is what our government exists to protect. I responded along these lines: of course the CHP supported this law, they don’t care about our liberties, they like it when it's easier to pull people over.

A few other points of interest: 1) New York has had a hand-held cell phone ban for longer than California and they now have 18 months of data that shows that the law has had no effect at all on driving habits or safety. Californians are even now beginning to go back to their old habits as the novelty of the law wears off. 2) According to the CHP, California’s roads have never been safer - if using cell phones or texting was as big a hazard as some people say it is why haven’t our roads become more dangerous as more and more people have come to use cell phones? 3) Studies have shown no difference in reaction time between hand-held cell phones and hands-free cell phones - with one study indicating that hands-free devices were actually more dangerous.

To sum up, I don't recommend texting while driving a moving car. CHP data also shows that people have died because of eating, changing a CD, or being distracted by children or pets in a car. That said, there are more dangerous things to do on the road and better things to ask our law enforcement personnel to spend their time on than issuing drivers tickets with a base fine of only $20.

Chairman's note: The CRP doesn't take positions on legislation of this kind, and good Republicans can hold different opinions on these issues.

San Diego Honoring its Republican Elected Officials

This week the Republican Party of San Diego County will hold its sixth annual Salute to Republican Elected Officials, a tradition we started while I was county Republican leader in San Diego. The purpose of the event is to raise funds for the Republican campaign while we salute those who are putting Republican ideas into action.

We build political parties in America to put our ideas into action, so recognizing those who serve in public office and carry out that mission is very important. In San Diego, this event has grown into one of the party's three major annual events in the county, recognizing literally hundreds of Republicans who now hold office from the Pacific Ocean to the Imperial County line.

For more information on this event, visit www.SanDiegoRepublicans.org.

Republican Women Leaders Meet in Los Angeles

I enjoyed meeting with our Republican women leaders from throughout California on Saturday morning as the California Federation of Republican Women held their Fall Conference in Los Angeles.

In a major address to the group, I outlined six threats to our political freedoms that have emerged during this campaign season. We'll share the specifics of that speech later this week.

In the meantime, I'm very proud of the tremendous amount of work the members of California's many RWF clubs are putting in to electing John McCain, Sarah Palin, and the hundreds of other Republican candidates appearing on the ballot this year.

Michael Reagan Makes the Case for Congressman Bilbray

Our friends at the New Majority chapter in San Diego teamed up with Michael Reagan on Monday for a fundraising luncheon to support Congressman Brian Bilbray's re-election campaign. Brian is doing a great job for us back and Washington, and it was wonderful to see the son of President Reagan making it such a priority to support Brian in this volatile election year.

Brian Bilbray is a solid Republican leader who understands both policy and politics. He's also one of the most energetic and tenacious House members I've met.

Congratulations to the New Majority for coming through in such a big way for Congressman Bilbray.

Video: Volunteer for the Republican Party in California

It's great to see the tremendous amount of talent our volunteers contribute to our party. One example of this can be found in the volunteer recruitment video which one of our San Diego Republicans presented to me today.

There's an incredible amount of enthusiasm among our Republican activists for Senator McCain, Governor Palin, and all of our Republican candidates. San Diego's Bryan Barton captured that enthusiasm in this video created to inspire and encourage other California Republicans to join the fight.

Watch the video: Join the Party

Taxpayer Group Says Obama Tax Calculator Can't Do Math

Americans for Tax Reform alerted the public today that Barack Obama's tax calculator on his website is in accurate, omits his proposed tax increase, and categorizes new federal spending as a tax cut.

Here's their news release:

AMERICANS FOR TAX REFORM CALLS OBAMA "TAX CALCULATOR" INACCURATE AND MISLEADING

WASHINGTON, DC - Americans for Tax Reform today questioned the accuracy of the new tax calculator found on Senator Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) website.

The calculator has several major errors/misleading statements, including:

The forgotten tax hike. By its own admission, the tax calculator ignores the unprecedented imposition of Social Security payroll taxes on small business profits exceeding $250,000 (where two-thirds of small business profits exist). This is despite the fact that Obama told Charlie Gibson on October 8 that he wants to keep the Social Security tax rate "the same" for these small business owners. This would result in a top small business tax rate of 54.9 percent—the highest level since the Carter Administration

Small business tax hike. It tells those earning $250,000 or more that, "You will probably not get a tax cut" under an Obama Administration. Considering the Obama tax hike will result in a marginal tax rate approaching 50 percent on two-thirds of small business income (which resides in these households), one might call this a bit of an understatement

Spending, not tax cuts. Most of the "tax cuts" Obama claims credit for is in fact spending. "Refundable tax credits" means that if you zero out your income tax liability, the government gives you a welfare check. This isn't an income tax cut - it's spending. According to the Tax Foundation, one-third of households don’t have an income tax liability. It's impossible to cut their income taxes, despite what this "calculator" says

Bait and switch. Everyone is told that they may be eligible for refundable credits including a college credit, a retirement savings credit, etc. However, these credits phase out on quite modest levels of income, thus deceiving voters

500 Pack San Diego Republican Event

Hundreds of San Diego Republicans filled the Manchester Ballroom at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego for the party's last rally before the November general election.

County Chairman Tony Krvaric and AM 1700's Mark Larson kept the rally moving at a good pace before and after Michael Reagan, son of former President Reagan, charged up the crowd. Local candidates and their supporters filled the room along with those drawn to the rally by the McCain/Palin ticket.

In my comments I talked about how despite a challenging political environment, we're in the game, six points separate Sen. McCain and Barack Obama, and the direction this country will take after November 4th is yet to be determined. It's up to all of us to get involved, pour it on, and go the extra mile for all of our candidates.

Big Lincoln Club Event in SLO

On Sunday afternoon I joined our friends at the Lincoln Club of San Luis Obispo County for an excellent Sunday afternoon fundraising event that drew many local Republican candidates in addition to a large crwod of the county's Republican donors.

Supporting Republican candidates for local office is a critical part of building our farm team for the future while concurrently putting Republican ideas into action at the level of government that knows where you live, so to speak.

While there, I was very pleased to see the job Rob Bryn is doing as the regional chairman for the McCain campaign. Rob is a first class volunteer who brings a great deal of support for the "grasstops" volunteers who are carrying Senator McCain's message throughout the Central Coast.

I'm also impressed by how well organized the Cal Poly SLO College Republicans are in providing support for all of our candidates we well. The CPSLOCR's just returned from a major conference put on by the Young America's Foundation at the Reagan Ranch.

Congratulations to everyone in SLO who are working so hard in this election.

New McCain and RNC Ads and Videos

As the campaign continues to intensify, the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee have unveiled the latest round of ads and web videos.

McCain ad: Ambition
"Obama's blind ambition..when convenient, he worked with terrorist Bill Ayres, when discovered, he lied."

McCain video: Ayres
This 1:30 video covers the history of Barack Obama and Bill Ayres, as ell as Obama's attempts to conceal that relationship, and why.

McCain ad: Dangerous
Obama and Congressional liberals: too risky for America.

Fairness Doctrine Aims to Shut Down Talk Radio

When liberals push something that's clearly unpopular with the American people, they dress it up in different terminology in the hopes no one will notice. "Socialized medicine" doesn't work, so they call it "single payer" health care, which sounds less offensive until people realize the "single payer" is the government. The same tactic is used by Congessional liberals trying to shut down conservative talk radio.

When I spoke to a group of CEO's yesterday at Pepperdine University in a joint panel with Art Torres, my Democrat counterpart, this issue was raised by a participant.

"Censorship" has a bad ring to it, and rightfully so, leading liberals to call their idea the "fairness doctrine," which would require talk radio to air an hour of liberal ideas (which no one will tune in to) for every hour of conservative or center-right ideas (which radio listeners, as they demonstrate every day, are interested in.)

Liberals in Congress know the end result of imposing this crazy scheme through the Federal Communications Commission would in effect force broadcasters to turn away from the talk radio format altogether. The market has already spoken, and those who listen to talk radio tend to be center-right and not interested in listening much to what the left has to say.

This was further reinforced by the collapse of "Air America," the left's attempt at a liberal radio network which has been a total failure.

The "fairness doctrine" isn't new. It was in effect up until President Reagan's FCC repealed it, which allowed the broadcast market to respond to listener demand through what we now know as talk radio.

It sounds like a nice idea at first, but who is to say there are only two sides, or two philosophies, around any issue or idea? There isn't, of course. And it's silly to task broadcasters with the need to hire new bureaucrats to track every second of what's broadcast on their station, then go out and find someone else who has a different idea, no matter how wacky it is.

Interestingly, liberals don't propose a "fairness doctrine" for the editorial page of the New York Times, or the Washington Post; nor for websites or YouTube; just radio -- making their true intentions clear: to shut down a media which provides an alternative viewpoint to the liberal one which comes from the editorial pages of the big papers from back east.

There's nothing "fair" about this "doctrine."

Jon Voight to Headline Fundraiser for Rep. Rohrabacher

Hollywood heavyweight Jon Voight (Mission Impossible, National Treasure) will headline a mjor fundraiser for Congessman Dana Rohrabacher on Saturday, October 11th in Palos Verdes Estates.

Jon Voight has become an outspoken and passionate advocate for Repubican principles and candidates this year. It seems that whenever I'm with Sen. McCain or Gov. Palin in California, Voight is right there, engaging and thanking supporters and volunteers. It's great to see him lending his star power to support Republican Members of Congress as well.

Earlier this year, he wrote a compelling op-ed for the Washington Times, "My Concerns for America."

For more information on the Saturday event, please email rhonda@rohrabacher.com.

San Bernardino Republicans Open Headquarters

San Bernardino Republicans turned out in force last night for a terrific headquarters opening in Redlands. I was pleased to see so many Republican elected officials, volunteers and activists turn out, including Assemblyman Bill Emmerson, Senator Bob Dutton, Congressman Jerry Lewis, and many local elected officials.

Republicans have done an excellent job at winning local offices throughout the county, and San Bernardino's legislators are providing excellent leadership in both Sacramento and Washington.

The new headquarters is located at 14 N. 5th Street in Redlands.

Governor Palin Takes Reagan Country

This weekend's events with Governor Palin in Carson, Costa Mesa and Burlingame were outstanding, drawing literally tens of thousands of supporters and really showing what a tremendous asset she is to the Republican campaign.

I provided a summary of the visit in a commentary on the Flashreport, which can be read here.

Obama's Economic Program: Raise Taxes

For all of the talk we hear from Barack Obama about "new politics" and whatever, his economic plan pretty much resembles "old liberalism" with its emphasis on higher taxes, bigger and more annoying government, and more bureaucrats in Washington deciding how we live here in California. That's "change" we can do without.

A new ad released this morning from the McCain-Palin team highlights Obama's record of voting for one tax increase after another, while at the same time voting against opportunities to lessen the tax burden on Americans.

Watch the ad: Tax Cutter

Hollywood Republicans Making Their Presence Known

As Chairman of the California Republican Party, it's my responsibility to look out for all California Republicans, including those in Hollywood who continue to feel discrimination in their profession as a result of their support of the Republican Party or otherwise hold conservative views. Increasingly, Republicans in the entertainment industry are making themselves known, and they’re drawing support for their courage.

The prevelance of liberal thinking in Hollywood is well known. It's not the same town as when Ronald Reagan was the leader of the Screen Actors Guild. Numerous actors I’ve spoken with have complained about how difficult it is to be a known Republican in the entertainment industry.

It's interesting that the left -which takes every opportunity to tout their "tolerance" and how they "celebrate diversity" - can have such little "tolerance" when "diversity" includes those who hold conservative ideas, or otherwise stray from liberal orthodoxy. Does being a Republican somehow limit one's acting talent, or the contribution someone can make to the entertainment industry? Charlton Heston, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger demonstrated this is certainly not the case.

The "tolerance" doublespeak is as evident among liberals in the Capitol as it is in Hollywood. Note that Assemblymember Nicole Parra (D) was literally evicted from her office for having her own views on the budget and demonstrating some diversity in her party. So much for tolerance.

Henry Ford noted at one point that consumers could buy any color Ford they want, so long as it's black. Tolerance for some, it would seem, is limited to tolerance of only one school of thought.

Yet, times are changing. In the last few weeks we’ve seen an increasing number of Republican actors and actresses attending major campaign events and showing their support. In the process, they continue to risk discrimination in their profession. They are putting their commitment to principle ahead of their own self-interest, and they deserve great credit for doing so.

Cindy McCain and Todd Palin Highlight LA Republican Fundraiser

While Senator McCain was back in Washington moving the economic stabilization package forward, Republican donors gathered in Los Angeles were treated to a visit by both Cindy McCain and Todd Palin.

The event also drew an incredible number of Hollywood stars who were visibly showing their support for the McCain-Palin ticket. To protect them from further discrimination, we won’t list their names in this particular blog posting, but suffice to say we saw two well known Cheers stars, a star of Apollo 13, a star of Transformers and Mission Impossible, a star of U.S. Marshalls, and one actor whom I last saw in "2010," among many others.

Dennis Miller warmed up the crowd with a blistering, yet hilarious, analysis of this election and the absurdity of many of the policies advocated by the radical left and embraced by Barack Obama.

The "surge" these days is the one that’s taken place in the enthusiasm among Republican donors and volunteers alike, and it was great to see so many friends from the donor community at last night’s event, which took place at the Hyatt Century Plaza, well known as favorite venue for Ronald Reagan’s events.

New Web Video: BarackBook

The Republican National Committee (RNC) announced today a new Web video, titled "BarackBook." The video highlights Barack Obama's ties with the people who helped jump-start his career in politics and those who have helped him along the way, included unapologetic terrorist William Ayers and convicted felon Tony Rezko.

Watch the video

Governor Vetoes Bills Concerning Socialized Medicine, Illegal Immigration, Communist Indoctrination, and Other Democrat Ideas

Governor Schwarzenegger has exercised his veto power to kill lots of bad legislation that made it through the Democrat-controlled legislature this year. While there's often differences of opinion within and between parties over legislation, there's clear consensus that the following bills would have negatively impacted our state.

COMMUNIST INDOCTRINATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
SB 1322 would have changed the law that maintains our responsibility to ensure that public resources are not used for purposes of overthrowing the U.S. or state government, or for communist activities. One would think there are higher priorities in the world than lifting the ban on communist indoctrination in public schools. Vetoed.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
SB 60 would have given California drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. The Governor once again vetoed legislation that would have compromised our immigration system while rewarding those who've violated the law.

AB 1870 would have allowed the Mexican matricular consular cards to be used as ID at secondhand dealers and coin shops. These cards are notoriously easy to counterfeit.

SB 1301 would have extended benefits to illegal immigrants who want to receive financial aid to attend state universities and colleges on top of the receiving the taxpayer-subsidized in-state tuition rate. Once again the Governor vetoed this legislation which would financially reward those to have broken the law.

SOCIALIZED MEDICINE
Once again the legislature passed a socialized healthcare bill that would have put the government in complete control of healthcare in California by having the state take over as the single provider of health insurance (SB 840). In turn, the state could then dictate terms to all health care providers. Socialism didn't work in the Soviet bloc, but somehow Democrat legislators think it would work just fine here. Vetoed.

PROTECTING WORKERS’ COMPENSATION REFORM
SB 1115 and 1717 would have been a significant rollback of the 2004 workers’ compensation reforms that have saved California taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. How quickly the Democrats forget that when Gray Davis put ideas like this in place, he was recalled. Vetoed.

SECRET BALLOT IN UNION ELECTIONS
AB 2386 would have endangered secret ballots elections for farm laborers, making them subject to coercion by union officials. This mirrors a national effort to do away with the secret ballot in union elections subject to federal oversight. Vetoed.

METALLIC BALLOONS
SB 1499 would add more restrictions to the sale of metallic balloons because we cannot be trusted with them. Vetoed.