RNC Committeeman and target of CAIR’s legal muscle Shawn Steel writes it up at The Flash Report:

Most politicos don’t usually socialize with terror apologists. Generally, they are cautious to a fault. Which is why a political event today in Sacramento raises serious questions of what were they thinking.   The extremist group CAIR ([Council on] American-Islamic Relations) recently issued a press release announcing its 6th Annual Ramadan Iftar inside the Capitol Rotunda (see the release with a full list of legislative co-hosts attached to the bottom of this post).

The Iftar is co-hosted by most of the legislative Democrats including Senate President Darrell Steinberg.  Speaker Karen Bass, plus the Governor. Tragically, Steinberg, Bass and the Governor are clueless about CAIR. The FBI described CAIR front group for Hamas. CAIR was also an unindicted co-conspirator in a terrorism case in Texas Federal Court last year.

Read “CAIR, HAMAS, ARNOLD AND THE DEMS” at the Flash Report for the full story.

California’s Central Valley, the most fertile farming land in the nation, has been plagued by man-made drought for years; caught in a political debate that pits the Delta Smelt fish against thousands of farmers and their crops.

Gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner jumped into the water wars  today joined by farmers and farm workers in Firebaugh, CA. Poizner unveiled short and long-term plans to solve California’s water crisis and return prosperity and life to the Central Valley.

“We cannot continue to ignore the substantial economic toll that the reduced water supply has taken on the livelihoods of so many Californians,” said Poizner. “Our state must protect its citizens in this emergency.  We cannot allow bureaucrats in Washington D.C. to issue blanket regulations that harm our state both environmentally and economically.”

Poizner’s team is the first gubernatorial campaign (that I know of) to take advantage of Twitter’s “hashtag” function to promote such an important issue. The Poizner team’s viral marketing campaign asks Twitterers to send messages to Speaker @NancyPelosi using the hashtag #WaterNow. The Twitter campaign is associated with a “Water Now” section on the Poizner webstie, and a petition to allow water back into the Central Valley.

Check out Poizner’s plan. Send a Tweet to Pelosi. Sign the petition.

Former HP CEO and McCain economic adviser Carly Fiorina is preparing to enter the race for US Senate against Barbara Boxer, the Los Angeles Times reports. California politicos have been speculating about Fiorina’s run for months, and the talk didn’t stop even after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in February. According to the LA Times Ms. Fiorina has been making calls to key Republican figures, setting up the foundation for a campaign to unseat Boxer next fall.

Before facing Babblin’ Babs Ms. Fiorina will face primary opponent Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who has been campaigning hard since late last year. Ms. Fiorina will likely jump into the race ahead of Mr. DeVore considering her national name recognition and deep pockets. As a woman, Ms. Fiorina also has a great advantage over Mr. DeVore in that she will be competing for a woman’s seat in a state with a majority female electorate—she would also be the first woman to ever challenge Ms. Boxer.

The CA Senate race will be an important race to watch as we close in on the 2010 elections. California’s economy is in miserable shape, and the dumbest member of the Senate (excuse me, Senator Boxer) has been pushing California-style failed policies on the country since she was first elected in 1993. Ms. Fiorina will be a formidable opponent for Boxer.

Good Riddance Babs. Hello Carly!

UPDATE: Response from Chuck DeVore via Twitter.

California’s Insurance Commissioner and candidate for Governor Steve Poizner took on Iran this morning, showing Californian’s who may not know what the Insurance Commissioner does how important his position is for the state and for national security.

Since Poizner’s election in 2006—he was the only Republican elected statewide—he’s used his experience has a Silicon Valley entrepreneur to stream line California’s insurance system, saving Californians billions in misused premium payments and over-bloated bureaucracy.

Today Poizner announced that he is ordering California insurance companies to divest from companies that do business with Iran in the banking, defense, and energy sectors and disclose all such indirect investments. All businesses in California were ordered end all direct investment in Iran in a law passed last year, however indirect investments through European companies may still give California insurance premiums to the Iranian regime. “That might be a major loophole here, where billions might be flowing into Iran,” Poizner said today.

Last night at the California Republican Jewish Coalition’s Summer Bash Steve said that he expects the department’s probe will uncover billions in such direct investments. “The Iranian Regime is a huge threat to their own citizens, to the State of Israel, and to the national security of the United States of America,” Poizner said last night. “I will do whatever it takes to make sure that not one dime of your hard earned premium dollars gets into the hands of the people running the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he continued.

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Steve at a few speaking engagements since he announced his candidacy, last night was the best. His energy and drive to connect with voters and tell them how he will lead California has grown immeasurably since the first time I saw him speak early last fall. Poizner conveys his vision for California clearly and passionately, showing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that trough the right choices  the Golden State can regain its sheen.

CA Gov. Arnold is Schwarzenegger is looking at all possible ideas to curb the Golden State’s budget woes “no matter how daring or radical,” reports Stephen Moore in the Wall Street Journal. An advisory commission on taxes formed by the governor is considering a flat tax at about 6% to replace both the income and business taxes that currently overburden the top 1% of earners in California and drive businesses out of the state.

New California Republican Party web ad:

From Breitbart.com:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The California Supreme Court upheld a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage Tuesday, but it also decided that the estimated 18,000 gay couples who tied the knot before the law took effect will stay wed.

Demonstrators outside the court yelled “shame on you!”

The 6-1 decision written by Chief Justice Ron George rejected an argument by gay rights activists that the ban revised the California Constitution’s equal protection clause to such a dramatic degree that it first needed the Legislature’s approval.

The court said the Californians have a right, through the ballot box, to change their constitution…

The state Supreme Court had ruled last May that it was unconstitutional to deny gay couples the right to wed. Many same-sex couples had rushed to get married before the November vote on Proposition 8, fearing it could be passed. When it was, gay rights activists went back to the court arguing that the ban was improperly put to voters and amounted to a revision—which required legislative approval—not an amendment. [Read More]

Governor Schwarzennegger’s administration gave details on the planned  lay offs of  5,000 state employees. Employess at 10 state agencies will be laid off in the next four months with the biggest cuts in the Department of Corrections. Five percent of sworn officers at California prisons will lose their jobs.

State Treasurer Bill Lokyer said today that legislators should rely on spending cuts to balance the budget. “My suggestion to you is don’t delay the pain. It’s going to be awful, but just get it done. It’s going to be worse if it doesn’t get done.” Lokeyer said.

From The OC Register by Shawn Steel:

Although White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has been criticized for saying “you never want a good crisis too go to waste,” he’s right.

The Democrats are exploiting the economic crisis to expand the size and scope of the federal government. In California, Republicans should exploit the budget crisis to shrink the size and scope of state government.

The two-thirds requirement to pass a state budget gives a united GOP caucus leverage to demand real reforms. Voters Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected the same old tax-borrow-and-spend approach, and they are more likely than they have been in recent years to give Republican ideas a fair hearing.

We should start with the obvious – California’s government is too big, and its economy is too weak – and let our proposals flow from that reality. [Read More]

(h/t Flash Report’s Golden Pen Award)

From The Washington Post:

California, the sunny incubator of America’s future, has relished its role as a leading indicator of political trends. Tuesday it became what it thinks it should be, the center of attention, but not in the way it wants to be.

Its voters, at last sensible, rejected, by an average of 65 percent, five of six propositions. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the “post-partisan” Republican, and the partisan Democrats who control the legislature, promoted the propositions as efficient for and essential to eliminating the state’s budget deficit, which will now be $21 billion. So California may become the next target for the Obama administration, whose dependency agenda involves seizing every opportunity to break things — banks, insurance and automobile companies, etc. — to the saddle of its supervision. [Read More]