California

Budget - Business - California - Capitalism - Civil Rights - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Family - Government - Judges - Law - Liberals - Regulation - The Law - Warner Todd Huston

Jury Damage Award Could Close Calif. Healthcare Facilities

July 22, 2010 by 3 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

When companies are found to have violated regulations that govern their industry, is it right that a jury of non-experts can award damages the amount of which will wipe the company off the face of the earth? That is a question that has been raised in a case recently decided against Skilled Healthcare LLC of California.

A class action lawsuit (lawsuit info here) brought by trial lawyers was filed late last year against Skilled Healthcare of California claiming that the company had violated state regulations that stipulates that nursing homes must maintain 3.2 nursing hours per patient, per day (ppd). The lawsuit claimed that the nursing homes operated by Skilled Healthcare often did not meet the requirement.

Interestingly, there was never any claim from any patient that there’d been harmed or put in danger. Not a single patient claimed personal injury before these lawyers began to file their class action lawsuit.
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Jury Damage Award Could Close Calif. Healthcare Facilities”

California - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Health - Jobs - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Calif: Union Goons Start Pushing and Hitting Videographers

July 20, 2010 by

This is how “nurses” act? The kind, gentle folks of the California Nurses Association are seen in this video intimidating, pushing and knocking around some videographers at the union’s recent pro-Democrat rally in California.

Mike Griffing is the bearded fellow acting the thug at the end of the video. But he isn’t just some run-of-the-mill union tough. He’s the CNA’s Director of Collective Bargaining! That’s right, he’s an official of high status one that makes almost $164K a year, as Moe Lane found out.

If this is how officials of unions act… well, what does that say about their legitimacy?

Elections - GOP - Government - President - Republicans - Warner Todd Huston

Draft Tom McClintock For President 2012

June 7, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Looks like a few McClintock supporters are already starting a move to get California Republican Tom McClintock a on the GOP’s 2012 presidential campaign.

Paul Gann and Ted Costa have launched a Draft McClintock website and are already putting the bug in everyone’s ear to take a serious look at their guy. www.DraftTom.com is live.

When Paul Gann and I worked to pass Prop 13 here in California back in 1978 we had no idea what a major tax revolt it would start across the country, with the final triumph being the election of Ronald Reagan to the office of President! Well, now California and our county are facing even greater challenges and again a strong voice is being heard from California!

Congressman Tom McClintock has been sounding the fiscal alarms in Washington, warning them about how financial recklessness has driven California to the point of bankruptcy and defending our US Constitution at every turn with a powerful voice of reason to oppose government run healthcare, bail-outs, massive new energy taxes and the lack of security on our southern border.

Over 1.2 MILLION people have listened to the powerful response that Congressman McClintock recently gave to Mexican President Calderon when he actually received a standing ovation from the Democrats in the House Chamber where he dared to state his opposition to OUR immigration laws! IF you agree with me that it is time to take this battle to the next level, then please take a moment to watch this short video and join with thousand of your fellow Americans in signing our petition to Congressman McClintock!

Ted Costa is President of People’s Advocate, Inc. (www.peoplesadvocate.org) a group founded by Paul Gann.

So, that is at least one draft-my-guy movement in the political winds. There’s sure to be more to come but the McClintock folks are out of the gate early.
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Draft Tom McClintock For President 2012″

Budget - California - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Government - Jobs - Liberals - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

California’s Brown Tells Unions to ‘Attack’ His GOP Opponent

March 19, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

You couldn’t get any better proof that unions are little else but hatchet men for the Democrat Party than Jerry Brown’s recent visit to a labor group meeting in California this week.

At a meeting of the Laborers’ International Union of North America in Sacramento, Brown gave marching orders to the unions in his race for the Democratic nomination for California Governor. He wanted them to “attack” the GOP for him.

“We’re going to attack whenever we can, but I’d rather have you attack. I’d rather be the nice guy in this race. We’ll leave [the attacks] to … the Democratic Party and others.”

That’s a pretty cynical campaign, isn’t it? Brown hopes to unleash the “attack” dogs of the unions in his favor, but expects to stand clear of the mud flying so as to appear untarnished… yet HE’S the guy that ordered the mud to fly in the first place?

Jerry Brown may think the voters are stupid but let’s hope they disabuse him of that notion.
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California’s Brown Tells Unions to ‘Attack’ His GOP Opponent”

Budget - California - Campaign Finance - Elections - GOP - Republicans - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

With Another $15 Million, Poizner is Poizner’s Biggest Contributor

December 15, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

California Insurance Commissioner and candidate for the GOP nomination for Governor, Steve Poizner, has announced that he’ll donate another $15 million of his own fortune to float his flagging Gubernatorial campaign making himself his biggest contributor.

Once the transfer is complete, Mr. Poizner will have donated a total of just over $19 million of his own cash to his campaign. And it should be noted that this is being termed a donation, not a loan.

Let’s be clear, though, Poizner is not the only major candidate for governor that is using his own fortune to fund his race. Chief opponent Meg Whitman has loaned about $15 million of her own money to her campaign, as well. It is expected that she will dip into her own pocket even more as the race rolls on.
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With Another $15 Million, Poizner is Poizner’s Biggest Contributor”

Abortion - Anti-Americanism - California - Communism - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Free Speech - Freedom - Liberals - Media Bias - Religion - Socialism - Society/Culture - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

Sacramento City College Crushes Student’s Free Speech

October 29, 2009 by

**UDPATE** 11/9/09

-By Warner Todd Huston

For Constitution Day this year at Sacramento City College Associated Student Government (ASG) President and student Steve Macias arranged for a group named Genocide Awareness Project, an anti-abortion group, to participate on campus in the Constitution Day activities.

The group was approved for participation by the ASG and set up its booth at the appointed time. And then the world came to an end. Pro-Infanticide groups such as Planned Parenthood set up their own, countering booths the next day and left-wing hatemongers in the student body immediately began to circulate a recall petition to have Mr. Macias removed from the Associated Student Government leadership.

There is also some speculation that this insane, un-American recall effort being visited upon Mr. Macias is being tacitly approved of by the College adviser overseeing the ASG.
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Sacramento City College Crushes Student’s Free Speech”

Abortion - California - Elections - GOP - Health - Liberals - Republicans - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

Meg Whitman’s Extreme Pro-Abortion Views

October 16, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A few weeks ago Jon Fleischman of FlashReport.org was fortunate enough to snag an interview with gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman. But the results of one segment of the meeting left him admittedly non-plussed, or as he termed it “unnerved.” Fleischman was aghast to learn of just how extreme Meg Whitman’s views on abortion really are. And after reading Fleischman’s interview myself, I have to wonder if her views makes her completely unelectable amongst California’s pro-lifers?

In the interview, Whitman was completely upfront about the fact that she stands solidly behind public funding of abortion. She was unequivocal about it, really. Whitman explained why she felt that public funding of abortion was the right decision telling Fleischman, “My view is that if we are going to be pro-choice… that it needs to be available to all women, and whether you are rich or poor, you need to be able to access that right. And it’s unfair to women who can not afford an abortion, and that’s why I support public funding.”

It’s one thing to say that a woman should be allowed to chose abortion — this is quite a common determination among liberals — but quite another, indeed, to say that the taxpayers should have to pay for that abortion.
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Meg Whitman’s Extreme Pro-Abortion Views”

Anti-Americanism - Business - California - Capitalism - Congress - Economy/Finances - Environment - Free Trade - GOP - Jobs - Liberals - Republicans - Senate - Society/Culture - State Government - Taxes - The Law - Warner Todd Huston

Carly Fiorina: Looking Like a Good Fit for Conservatives

October 13, 2009 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Cary Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard CEO and probable candidate for U.S. Senate from California, is starting to look like a viable choice for conservative voters in the Golden State, giving the GOP two conservatives from whom to chose.

Fiorina’s bona fides have been a question to many California Republicans because she is a relative newcomer to politics and many are not familiar with her political philosophy or what her campaign will stand for. But her recent hard hitting editorial in the Fresno Bee helps bring her ideals better into focus for the voters.

Firoina’s editorial in the Bee focuses on the water controversy of the San Joaquin Valley. As many know, a federal bureaucracy has summarily shut off water to thousands of acres of farmland merely in order to save a fish; the delta smelt. This enviro-activism has shut down thousands of acres of farmland and put thousands of residents out of work. Down the line it will also negatively affect the nation’s food supply because the San Joaquin Valley supplies much of our vegetables and fruits.
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Carly Fiorina: Looking Like a Good Fit for Conservatives”

California - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

Whitman’s Spotty Voting Record: Not Exactly as it Seemed?

October 6, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Much has been made about Meg Whitman’s spotty voting record by many, including me. When the Sacramento Bee’s Andrew McIntosh first reported that records for Whitman’s voter registration going back a decade or so were nearly non-existent it seemed that the anti-Whitman camp(s) out there had quite an issue to hang their hats upon. It sure made me wary of her campaign, to be sure.

After all, wouldn’t it say something interesting if this purportedly life-long Republican candidate had little history of even voting at all — much less for other Republicans — until recently? Whether its a fair question or not, it does make one wary of such a candidate. How could the voters be asked to vote for someone that herself hasn’t seemed too interested in voting?

Of course, this whole question is only legitimate if the newspaper that broke the story had all its facts straight. Now, it is starting to look like the Bee’s story is not as cut and dried as it was presented.
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Whitman’s Spotty Voting Record: Not Exactly as it Seemed?”

California - Campaign Finance - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Liberals - Republicans - Society/Culture - State Government - Warner Todd Huston

Meg Whitman: A Big Lib Supporter?

October 4, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Meg Whitman has had some bad days lately. After recently proclaiming herself a “darned good” conservative Republican, Senator Barbara Boxer’s staff revealed that Whitman was a Boxer supporter in 2003. Dangerously for Whitman, Senator Boxer is one of the most liberal members of the Senate.

According to Boxer aide Rose Kapolczynski, Whitman supported Boxer’s “Technology Leaders for Boxer” effort in April of 2003. A letter from Boxer’s office from 2003 features a quote from Whitman stating that she felt Boxer was a “courageous leader and friend of California’s technology industry.” (see image below)

This is just one more troublesome issue on top of her voting record — or lack thereof.
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Meg Whitman: A Big Lib Supporter?”

California - Congress - Conservatives - Elections - GOP - Liberals - Republicans - Senate - Warner Todd Huston

Is The NRSC Jumping the Gun in California?

September 28, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Rasmussen polling group has recently reported its findings on the upcoming California Senate race and the results seem to say that the National Republican Senate Committee has jumped the gun by endorsing a candidate so early in the race.

To date, Rasmussen has found that incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer (D) is holding her own against both Republican candidates, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as well as State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore.

A new Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 survey of the contest in California shows Boxer now beating former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina by 10 points 49% to 39%. Four percent (4%) like some other candidate, and eight percent (8%) are not sure how they will vote.

Against state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, it’s a nine-point race, with Boxer ahead 46% to 37%. Seven percent (7%) prefer another candidate, and 10% are undecided.

It may be a dubious distinction, but at this point DeVore and Fiorina are finding poll results that aren’t much different one from the other. One difference, though, is that Rasmussen finds Fiorina’s unfavaorables standing at 12% while DeVore’s is at 9% — a slight advantage to DeVore, there.
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Is The NRSC Jumping the Gun in California?”

California - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - GOP - Liberals - Republicans - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Poizner Signs Anti-Tax Pledge Despite History of Supporting Tax Hikes

September 18, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

SoCal radio wags John and Ken got California GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner to sign a no tax pledge this week. This is momentous news, indeed, since Poizner, the current State Insurance Commissioner and putative GOP frontrunner, has a long, long history of supporting massive property tax hikes that he has yet to directly disavow.

Radio talkers John and Ken witnessed Poizner’s signing of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge during their Los Angeles based show this week. (See photos here.)

As he signed the pledge, Poizner told the radio talkers, “Not only will I not raise taxes, not only will I veto every attempt to raise taxes, I will lower taxes for the people of the state of California. You can count on that.”

Poizner joins 34 U.S. Senators and 172 members of the House of Representatives as well as 7 state governors and over 1,100 state legislators in signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. The pledge commits signers to, “oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes.”
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Poizner Signs Anti-Tax Pledge Despite History of Supporting Tax Hikes”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - Business - California - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Liberals - Republicans - Socialism - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

California’s Mass Job Loss… Except in Government

September 13, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A recent report by the Sacramento based California Budget Project shows that two out of five working-age Californians are out of work. The jobless rate has not been this bad since 1977. California’s unemployment rate is one of the worst in the country at 12 percent.

Yet, union membership has grown in California despite the recession. And it’s no wonder when looking at the CBP study. On page three, for instance, we see a notation that reports that unionization in government jobs has grown substantially and is also at a much higher percentage of the total sector workforce in California than it is in the rest of the country.

Unionization rates were consistently higher in the public sector than in the private sector in 2008-2009. As Figure 2 shows, public-sector unionism was especially strong in Los Angeles as well as in California: during 2008-2009, well over half of all workers in the California and Los Angeles public sectors were union members. In the nation as a whole, the unionization rate for public-sector workers was 37.0 percent; much higher than the 7.5 percent rate found in the private sector, but well below the rates for public-sector workers in California (57.4%) or Los Angeles (56%).

So, while regular citizens are losing their jobs by the millions, government workers are in clover, riding the gravy train, on easy street.
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California’s Mass Job Loss… Except in Government”

Budget - California - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Immigration/Immigrants - Socialism - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

California’s Free Cash For Illegals, Coddling Lawbreakers

August 29, 2009 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Here is just another example of why the State of California is in a budget crisis: The Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI).

What is this program, who qualifies? Well, it does no less than give free government money to any illegal immigrant that is either over 65 years of age or is disabled or blind and does not qualify for Supplemental Security Income (Social Security) due to their immigration status.

Why is California just giving money away to elderly illegals?

Your guess is as good as mine.
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California’s Free Cash For Illegals, Coddling Lawbreakers”

Budget - Business - California - Conservatives - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Elections - Freedom - History - Jobs - Liberals - Socialism - Society/Culture - State Government - Supreme Court - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston - Welfare

The Two Faces of California’s Steve Poizner

August 5, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

As the next Governor of California gears up his – or her – campaign we are witnessing a near complete collapse of state government in the Golden State. It is a situation that the next governor will be faced with immediately, leaving not a second to celebrate victory.

There are some obvious solutions to what ails California: lower taxes, an end to the opulent welfare state, cutting off the free ride for illegals, an end to the free ride that unelected, overly powerful state employees unions have been allowed to attain, and the like, but the question is do any of the candidates on the Republican side have the backbone for the tough decisions that will have to be made before it’s too late… if it isn’t already.

When I first began to look at California’s GOP candidates for governor, I was heartened by the fact that the one Republican elected to state wide office had thrown his hat in the ring. Unfortunately, the closer I look at State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, the more like a tax and spend Democrat he appears. It is becoming increasingly clear that Poizner does not represent the right direction for California, but more of the same failed liberal policies that have destroyed the state.
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The Two Faces of California’s Steve Poizner”

California - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Liberals - Socialism - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Box-Of-Rocks Lefty Tells City Council of ‘Vegetable Trees’ and ‘Slavery on the East Coast’

July 26, 2009 by 6 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

You have to see this video to believe it. What you see here is a video of an open mike night at the Santa Cruz City Council. Unfortunately, the end result is not intentional stand-up comedy because this twit is serious. We see here an empty headed, box-of-rocks that thinks she has all the solutions for California and, in the end, proves why California is in such trouble. This is what you end up with when you mix our modern “educational” system with modern liberalism, folks.

One could not find a better example of the emptiness of lefty thinking… if “thinking” be the proper term.

Highlights of this brain dead liberal’s rant:

  • “…We need the food because it’s food and stuff…,”
  • “We can be rich in cotton and silk worms…”
  • “…on the east coast they have slaves and they believe in slavery and made in China, but on the west coast, the new west coast, we don’t believe in that, we believe in the union… and that is what we are…”
  • “… you can grow every kind of fruit and vegetable you want, that’s how they do it, they have fruit trees and vegetable trees that’s where fruits and vegetables comes from…”
  • “… you freeze the fruit and vegetables, it’ll last forever… well, it might go bad in a while…”
  • “… growing food is so good for the people because it’s free. All’s ya have to do is pay the farmers and pay for the land…”
  • “… um, the food’s free, so we should just sell it at the farmer’s market…”

Is it too much to hope for that the San Andreas fault sends California drifting off into the middle of the ocean somewhere?

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Box-Of-Rocks Lefty Tells City Council of ‘Vegetable Trees’ and ‘Slavery on the East Coast’”

Anti-Americanism - Business - California - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - Liberals - SEIU - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

SEIU’s Way or the Highway

July 7, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

I have a few questions for all you non-union employees out there (which is 80% of America). Can you lobby your employer for a raise any time you feel like it even when your company is nearly bankrupted? And, do you have employees that can get off work to do so when ever they want to? And do you have bosses that are also one of you and who can just bow to your every demand?

Sounds like a wonderful situation, doesn’t it? I mean, who wouldn’t want a situation where you can get whatever you want as an employee (including never getting fired) no matter if your company is bankrupt or not?

Well, that is the deal that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has with its employers. You see, they have folks that are so close with the employer that whenever they decide they want more benefits or a raise, they go demand it and it happens. It truly is the dream job.

The problem is, though, that WE are the employers. And WE are the ones paying the tab for that dream job because the SEIU represents government workers. And our politicians are the ones that give the SEIU anything it wants.

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SEIU’s Way or the Highway”

Budget - Business - California - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - Liberals - SEIU - Society/Culture - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Unions Stand In Way of Calif. Budget Reform

July 6, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Governor Schwarzenegger said it exactly right. Unions and lap-dog, Democrat legislators in Sacramento are doing their best to make sure that everyone but they have to sacrifice to save California’s budget. The governor told reporters that unions and Democrats are telling Californians, “We want you to make the sacrifices but we in Sacramento don’t want to make any sacrifices or any changes.”

Unions are pointing fingers at everyone but themselves and refusing to budge on cuts in their overweening benefits, lush pay scale and perks but are insisting everyone else make the sacrifices to save union jobs. And, let’s face it, jobs is all the unions care about. They have no interest in what is good for the state or the taxpayers.

I’d suggest a little fix that might help. Instead of furloughing state workers, how about firing some of the most unnecessary jobs and getting rid of them altogether?

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Unions Stand In Way of Calif. Budget Reform”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - California - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Liberals - Society/Culture - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston - Welfare

Democrat Says Gov’t Doesn’t Have to ‘Live Within Our Means’

June 29, 2009 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

So, as a common citizen, what do you do when you are out of money and your credit is used up? Well, you go without don’t you? Like my Mother always used to say, “What are you gonna do, buy something with your good looks?”

Well, we are all getting woefully used to feeling that government can’t seem to understand that fraud, waste, and overspending is not a good idea. In fact, we are starting to realize that government is incapable of fiscal responsibility.

But, even as we realize this truth, politicians at least pretend that they are interested in fiscal responsibility. They pretend at laws that supposedly force government into a balanced budget, they make claims that they are fully funding their new causes, and they act as if they are concerned about the budget.

Well, apparently California Budget Conference Committee Chairman Noreen Evans (D, Santa Rosa) has decided to cast away the mask of fiscal responsibility. She has publicly announced that she believes that government does not have to “live within our means.” In fact, it is a duty to spend on just any old thing that government wants to spend on.

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Democrat Says Gov’t Doesn’t Have to ‘Live Within Our Means’”

Budget - Business - California - Campaign Finance - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Liberals - Republicans - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Will the Real Republican Please Stand Up?

June 18, 2009 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

“I am not beholden to any party.”
California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, candidate for governor

That must be true given Steve Poizner’s history of political donations. Poizner has given, and generously at that, to both Republican and Democrat candidates for office in addition to several Democrat controlled committees, this based on he and his wife’s publicly reported accounts, anyway. Oddly, Poizner’s wife happens to be a registered Democrat who Poizner has “blamed” for many of the Democrat contributions that have his signature affixed. Such donations include: a $10,000 contribution to the Democratic National Committee on 10/02/00; $1,000 to John Forbes Kerry on 02/15/01; and a $10,000 donation he made to the ’00 Gore/Lieberman Recount Committee.

In fact, there is quite a lot of chatter out there that seems to point to Poizner’s less than stellar Republican credentials. He has been termed everything but a conservative for the last 5 years.

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Will the Real Republican Please Stand Up?”

Campaign Finance - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - GOP - Liberals - Media Bias - Republicans - Society/Culture - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Why Did Calif. Republican Poizner Donate To Gore/Lieberman Recount Fund?

June 11, 2009 by 4 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

California’s gubernatorial race is widening on the Republican side with one famous name from the business world, ebay’s Meg Whitman, one former congressman, the 15th District’s Tom Campbell, and current State Insurance Commissioner, Steve Poizner all ready to hit the ground running. But as each candidate is vetted, some are wondering if Steve Poizner is a Ronnie(Reagan)-come-lately to the Republican Party as it has been discovered that Poizner donated money to the Gore/Leiberman Recount Committee in 2000.

IRS records* confirm that Mr. Poizner gave the hefty sum of $10,000 to the recount effort, a fund to which Jane Fonda is also listed as having donated $100,000. Records also show that Poizner donated $1,000 to Al Gore’s run for president as well as $2,000 to John Kerry’s.
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Why Did Calif. Republican Poizner Donate To Gore/Lieberman Recount Fund?”