A few days ago, we reported that Gov. Schwarzenegger organized a lavish conference with world leaders on environmental concerns. Now, the Sacremento Bee reports that several California lawmakers are attending conferences all over the world. Yet, CAIVP has just received exclusive inside information that California is facing a budget crisis, leaving us pondering: where are our leaders and what are they going to do about our money problem?

Not satisfied with consuming our vigorous national political debate, the storm of “bipartisanship” has now begun striking in the West, aparently with the intention of spreading not just purple mountain majesties, but purple voting as well, all across the fruited plain. No doubt the idea of bipartisanship is attractive, but it assumes a definition of bipartisan which is synonymous with "consensus" and which is, in fact, the opposite of what the word ought to mean.

When Jonn McCain and Barack Obama rushed back to the White House prior to the election to make sure the $700 billion dollar bailout plan succeeded, many Americans where understandably concerned about the implications of such a consolidation of financial power and wealth. Little did most Americans know how quickly bailout spending would spiral out of control.

The Proposition 8 debate is about to get a lot more heated. Today, the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that Attorney General Jerry Brown and the attorneys for Protect Marriage seek constitutional review of voter-approved ban on gay marriage:

California’s Leading Role in Rehabilitating Our Nation’s Food System: As more Americans become further removed from the supply sources of their food, both in proximity and knowledge, they become less secure in its future procurement. This is because the current food system is wholly dependent on fossil fuels and petrochemical inputs; suffice it to say unsustainably.

Proposition 8's opponents seem tobe quite intent on riding the Alienation Express all the way into the last stopon the railroad of irrelevance. However, having already commented on their disgraceful behavior, it seems redundant to condemn their most recent antics without some level of reflectionas to the reasons for their behavior.

I remember when I was a kid, my mother got me a checkbook and a home "savings account" and told me that I had to learn to manage my money. I earned a large sum of $20 per week for doing dishes, taking out the trash, cleaning my room, mowing the lawn, etc. Every week, I would jot down another $20 that my bank (mom and dad) owed me. When I wanted a new video game or a movie, I would deduct the cost from my total. I was proud to see my savings grow and actually enjoyed the big boy responsibilities (and relative financial independence) my parents gave at such a young age.

In a great display of bipartisanship, California's 4th congressional district has sent Democrat Charlie Brown, and Republican Tom McClintock to Washington D.C. for Freshman orientation.

All joking aside, both candidates have been invited to orientation while the district recounts the votes in a race that was too close to call. The Sacremento Bee reports:

WASHINGTON – Neither candidate has been declared a winner, but both Charlie Brown and Tom McClintock will be in Washington this week to attend freshman orientation for newly elected members of Congress.

With elections over for more than a week now, you better get ready for the never ending campaign season to pick right back up.

With Arnold on his way out, a Republican party unable to define itself, and the 2008 elections dominated by Democrats (and Obama's near 2/3 majority in California for the Presidential election), the San Francisco Chronicle reports that a lot of political heavyweights are waiting to hear an official decision from Dianne Feinstein on whether she will seek the highest office in the state.

From the Chronicle:

WASHINGTON – Calling for a new course for the GOP, Rep. Dan Lungren said Friday that he is running to become the House minority leader in the new Congress.

Lungren, 62, of Gold River said he will challenge the current leader, Republican Rep. John Boehner of Ohio. Boehner has come under fire after the House GOP suffered big losses in the 2006 and 2008 elections.