This Sunday, the Los Angeles Times released an article confirming precisely what election and budget analysts have known for ages – that most voters know very little about the budget, and that this fact has absolutely no bearing on their confidence that they could do a better job managing it than the politicians in Sacramento. Given the current state of the state’s capitol, this latter fact may be understandable, but even so, the confirmation that California’s electorate is dismally uninformed should provoke serious thought about why the state is similarly dismally underfunded.

In a blog posted February 2 at The Educated Guess, journalist John Fensterwald of the Silicon Valley Education Foundation posits that baby boomers need to be convinced that spending money on higher education is in their own best interest. 

Why? 

“If you get breast cancer, I’m sorry honey; you have less chance of survival than before this bill passed.” Those words were declared by Michigan Congressman Mike Rogers six months ago during his opening statements regarding health care reform.  

Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger’s pick to fill the vacant lieutenant governor’s job was unanimously approved on a bipartisan vote by the Senate Rules Committee on February 3.  Sen. Abel Maldonado, a Santa Maria Republican, was approved on a 4 to 0 vote. Sen. Sam Aanestad, a Grass Valley Republican, didn’t vote because he is a candidate for lieutenant governor. 

In light of the current economic emergency, state and federal policy makers may soon be looking towards simple ways to reduce the deficit while garnering public support.  Immigration reform may very well be one of these issues.  If and when politicians revisit these concerns, it will be interesting to see whether the GOP’s current position on immigration reform will change as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision on campaign finance reform.

I recently came across an article in The Atlantic attacking the proliferation of school gardens in California public schools. This particular diatribe compelled me to offer a written response, for it is emblematic of everything that is misguided and destructive about Consumerism as a culture.

According to the Los Angeles Times, President Obama's recently released budget plan will allocate more than $1 billion to California.  Besides going toward healthcare for needy families, funds will also be apportioned to jailing for illegal immigrants convicted of crimes.

In my opinion, climate change is happening. However, the recent spate of well-documented reports of evasions, stonewalling, and sloppy research about global warming has certainly damaged credibility. What was supposed to be impartial science has been shown on at least three occasions to be anything but that.  But, maybe the important thing about renewable energy and cleantech isn’t so much whether climate change is happening, but how it can help us as a country. More on that after these reports of climate change scientists being, ahem, less than objective.

Last week, on his Fox News television show, Glenn Beck hailed former Presidents George Washington and Ronald Reagan as the paragons of conservative ideology and limited, constitutional government.  But, upon further review, perhaps conservatives should take a closer look at these political giants.

California, a Republican bastion?!  Don’t act so shocked, it’s happened before.