Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
Published: March 5, 2015 – Updated: 6:17 p.m.
Chuck Washington has yet to sit for his first meeting as a Riverside County supervisor and he already faces at least two challengers in next year’s election.
To read story by Jeff Horseman in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
By SHEA JOHNSON
STAFF WRITER
Posted Mar. 5, 2015 at 4:55 PM – Updated at 9:24 PM
VICTORVILLE — The staffing agency that underbid ICR Staffing, Inc. last year for the Upper Narrows Temporary Pipeline project retained a law firm to issue a cease-and-desist letter to ICR and its attorney, accusing them of libel and slander, according to a document obtained by the Daily Press.
By Andrea Drusch
March 5, 2015
Antonio Villaraigosa may be sitting out the Senate race, but the ambitious former Los Angeles mayor hasn’t closed the book on his political career. The Democrat’s statement last week that he would not run for retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer’s seat hinted that his eyes remain on California’s 2018 governor’s race—and the possibility that the state’s booming Latino population can finally lift one of its own into high office.
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
03/05/2015 7:46 PM
Republican Assemblyman Rocky Chávez formally entered the contest to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer on Thursday, offering himself as a pragmatic leader focused on strengthening national security, educational opportunities and the state economy.
National Politics
PDF: People v. Velasco-Palacios
By Sidney Powell | 03/04/15 – 1:04pm
When will they ever learn? Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski declared months ago in a much-quoted opinion that there is “an epidemic of Brady violations abroad in the land.” And yet, prosecutors continue to deny there’s a problem. Indeed, the Department of Justice gets outright indignant at the suggestion, and so do many state court prosecutors. They bristle at the very mention of the possibility.
By Rick Newman
March 5, 2015
Frank Underwood, the fictional president played by Kevin Spacey on the Netflix series “House of Cards,” is a murderous villain who’s more Machiavellian than any real president in recent history.
He’s also a model of political courage, compared with modern politicians.
Thursday, March 5, 2015 – 09:00 a.m.
The empty passenger terminal, part of the $300 million-plus taxpayer-funded boondoggle known as San Bernardino “International” Airport, is about to attract it’s largest and likely only crowd ever.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
03/04/2015 5:22 PM
Riverside is one of the few big California counties where Republicans outnumber Democrats.
By Rachel Roubein and Lauren Fox
March 4, 2015
Everyone in Washington is talking about Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal e-mail account during her four years as secretary of State and her homebrew computer server. Everyone, that is, except for many Senate Democrats.
By Lisa Mascaro
March 4, 2015
The Senate failed Wednesday to override President Obama’s veto of Keystone XL pipeline legislation, ending for now attempts by Congress to speed up approval of the controversial energy project.
Opinion
By Debra J. Saunders
Published 4:39 pm – Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Photo: BILL O’LEARY / Washington Post
Nancy Pelosi was near tears. After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress Tuesday, the House minority leader sent out a press release informing the media, “I was near tears throughout the prime minister’s speech — saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States” and “saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran.”
By JULIE PACE, AP White House Correspondent
March 4, 2015 | 1:33 a.m. EST + More
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton is facing a new set of questions about ethics and transparency — the sort that have dogged her and husband Bill for decades.
By Lauren French, Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan
3/3/15 8:57 AM EST
Updated 3/3/15 5:01 PM EST
The House approved a nine-month funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security Tuesday, breaking a lengthy stalemate over President Barack Obama’s immigration policies that exacerbated the rift between Speaker John Boehner and the conservative wing of his conference.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015 – 04:30 p.m.
Tonight on The Lou Desmond & Company Show, Cliff Cummings, president of Toyota of San Bernardino, former California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro and Lou’s favorite Liberal, Georgine Trujillo, join Lou to discuss a number of topics.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
03/02/2015 9:53 PM
One can read too much into questions and comments from appellate judges during oral arguments, but with that caveat, it appears that the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to erase the redrawing of congressional districts by independent commissions created by voters through the initiative process.
By Daniel Newhauser
March 2, 2015
House Republican leaders still don’t seem to have a plan to avoid a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security at the end of the week. But they may have an escape hatch—one that could technically keep the department open without GOP fingerprints, but might infuriate conservatives in the process.
Monday, March 2, 2015 – 04:00 p.m.
Tonight on The Lou Desmond & Company Show, Shannon Goessling from Southeastern Legal Foundation joins Lou to discuss SLF’s litigation against the EPA and their violation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
By Seema Mehta
March 1, 2015
In a historic move, the California Republican Party on Sunday officially recognized a gay GOP group.
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
03/01/2015 9:31 AM
California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte, a former state legislator who took over the party at a low point two years ago, was overwhelmingly reelected to another term on Sunday.
By Lisa Mascaro
March 1, 2015
House Republican leaders flooded the Sunday TV talk shows, seeking to battle widespread criticism after an internal revolt by the party’s most conservative wing nearly cut off funding Friday for the agencies that protect the nation’s borders, ports, airports and other key areas.
Associated Press Feb. 28, 2015 | 9:57 p.m. EST
By JULIET WILLIAMS, Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told California Republicans on Saturday that the party should not rush to choose a 2016 presidential nominee because of pressure from pollsters, pundits and GOP donors.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
02/28/2015 6:11 PM
Population trends have been working against the Republican Party for so long in California that a workshop on “changing demographics” came with an air of exasperation at the state party’s biannual convention Saturday.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
02/28/2015 5:08 PM
The theme of Friday night’s state Republican Party convention dinner was “Celebrating Our Successes,” which would seem to be an oxymoron.
By Mark Gutglueck
Posted on February 27, 2015
I have received some information on the down-low which indicates that the goings-on, or at least past goings-on, at Upland City Hall are being given a very close examination…
By Seema Mehta
February 27, 2015
Hundreds of California Republican leaders and their guests gathered Friday in Sacramento for their biannual convention, with plans to celebrate their legislative victories in 2014 that blocked Democratic supermajorities in the Legislature and to hear from a potential 2016 presidential candidate.
By ERICA WERNER, Associated Press
02/28/2015 – 4:54 AM
WASHINGTON —
Two months into full Republican control of Congress, GOP leaders are struggling to demonstrate they really are in charge.
Friday, February 27, 2015 – 05:00 p.m.
Tonight The Lou Desmond & Company Show comes to you live from Bullseye Sports in Riverside.
Posted: 02/26/15, 3:01 PM PST |
Pasadena TEAPAC founder Mike Alexander will discuss 2016 ballot initiatives at the March 5 meeting of the Redlands Tea Party Patriots.
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
02/27/2015 6:56 AM
Sacramento —
California voters think the government should spend more money to help maintain crumbling roads, but they offer mixed views on how to fund the upkeep, according to a new statewide Field Poll.
Politics
By Carla Marinucci
February 26, 2015
Updated: February 26, 2015 – 4:22pm
Not so long ago, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was the brash, rising star of the Republican Party who felt confident enough to pick a fight with the governor of another big state, Jerry Brown, dismissing him as “an old retread” who would deliver a “failed record” for California.
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
02/26/2015 12:38 PM
Three months after being elected to their second terms, a pair of California Democratic congressmen are already hearing footsteps.
Thursday, February 26, 2015 – 04:30 p.m.
Tonight on The Lou Desmond & Company Show, reporter Katy Grimes from Flash Report joins Lou to discuss the drought in California. Katy explains a recent article she’s written about the facts behind California’s drought.
Published: Feb. 25, 2015 – Updated: 9:50 p.m.
Campaign spending by developer Highland Fairview in the November Moreno Valley City Council election topped $500,000, final spending reports show.
To read story by Imran Ghori in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
By Michael Finnegan and Patrick McGreevy
February 25, 2015
With Antonio Villaraigosa no longer a threat to her campaign for U.S. Senate, some Democratic leaders see state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris as Barbara Boxer’s inevitable successor.
By Christi Parsons and Lisa Mascaro
February 25, 2015
Senate leaders moved toward a deal Wednesday to avoid a shutdown of the Homeland Security Department, sidestepping a fight over immigration policy, as President Obama declared his administration would curtail deportations of immigrants in the country illegally despite losing a court fight on the issue this month.
By Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger
February 25, 2015 at 8:54 PM
The Clinton Foundation accepted millions of dollars from seven foreign governments during Hillary Rodham Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, including one donation that violated its ethics agreement with the Obama administration, foundation officials disclosed Wednesday.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015 – 12:00 p.m.
Lou Desmond will be doing a live show at Bullseye Sport in Riverside, on Friday, February 27 . Come by & meet your favorite characters from the show!
Wednesday, February 25, 2015 – 08:45 a.m.
We won’t belabor the announcement by wasting time placing any media stories up on the blog.
By Paul Rogers
progers@mercurynews.com
Posted: 02/25/2015 – 06:02:48 AM PST
SACRAMENTO — Setting up a grand environmental showdown, a referendum initiated by the plastic-bag industry to overturn California’s first-in-the-nation law that bans supermarkets and other businesses from handing out single-use plastic bags has qualified for next year’s ballot.
By Laurel Rosenhall
lrosenhall@sacbee.com
02/24/2015 4:38 PM
Republicans in the California Senate have chosen a new leader – Sen. Jean Fuller of Bakersfield – and she will become the first woman to hold a top leadership post in the Senate, Democrat or Republican, the caucus announced Tuesday.
By PAUL MITCHELL
Posted 02.24.2015
A case before the U.S. Supreme Court, with arguments set to be heard on March 2, could reduce the role of the State Redistricting Commission, invalidate the 2011 Congressional lines, and hand to the legislature the immediate responsibility of redrawing 53 valuable seats.
By Christi Parsons and Kathleen Hennessey
February 24, 2015
With the quick swipe of a pen on the way from one meeting to another, President Obama unceremoniously opened a fourth chapter of his presidency Tuesday — the veto era.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015 – 05:30 p.m.
Tonight on The Lou Desmond & Company Show, Lou’s favorite liberal Georgine Trujillo joins Lou to make sense of liberal policies.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
02/24/2015 12:00 AM
Gov. Jerry Brown remains popular, according to a new poll
But not the big projects he supports, which appear to weigh him down.
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
02/23/2015 5:19 PM
Add his name to the list of Republicans possibly contemplating what would be an uphill run for the U.S. Senate.
Opinion
By Debra J. Saunders
Monday, February 23, 2015 – Published 4:02 pm
Tuesday Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses the Watermark Silicon Valley Conference for Women. The former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state comes to the Bay Area at a time when I hear more people — on the left and the right — cringing at the prospect of Clinton heading the Democratic ticket next year — and worse, squaring off against Jeb Bush in a Bush-Clinton rerun. To many, a Clinton nod has the grim inevitability of death and taxes.
Monday, February 23, 2015 – 05:00 p.m.
Today on The Lou Desmond & Company Show, economist Jay Prag and Financial Advisor Kraig Strom join Lou to discuss an array of topics.
Feb. 22, 2015 – 4:25 p.m.
By CITY NEWS SERVICE
SANTA ANA — Former state Sen. Lou Correa raised multiple questions about mistakes and possible fraud in his narrow loss to Andrew Do for Orange County supervisor, but he said it would be too costly to try to overturn the results in a court.
By John Bresnahan and Burgess Everett
2/22/15 – 6:17 PM EST
Late Monday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will force the fourth vote in three weeks on a bill to fund the massive agency that protects Americans from terrorists, floods and incursions across the borders. Senate Democrats will almost certainly block it again.
Sunday, February 22, 2015 – 01:00 p.m.
There’s no question mark required for this one.
The Democrat Party has another 2016 campaign issue to deal with.
By Josh Richman
jrichman@bayareanewsgroup.com
Posted: 02/22/2015 10:16:32 AM PST
Updated: 02/22/2015 10:16:40 AM PST
Getting an early start is important for birds seeking worms and children hoping to get in a top college. But when it comes to prominent politicians angling for higher office, starting years in advance may simply allow more time for troubles to mount, political experts say.
So what the heck are Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom thinking?
By Cathleen Decker
February 21, 2015
California has stood as a bright-blue bulwark against conservative political surges for years now, blocking at its border a series of national Republican sweeps and giving President Obama historically huge victories.
By Patrick McGreevy
February 21, 2015
A year after his indictment on federal corruption charges, former state Sen. Ronald S. Calderon awaits his day in court, working as a manager at a real estate firm and helping his attorneys sift thousands of documents that include transcripts from undercover FBI wiretaps.
By Joe Garofoli
Saturday, February 21, 2015 – Published 4:40 pm
Politicians don’t get much more conservative than Orange County Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. He was Ronald Reagan’s speechwriter, an inspiration behind California’s anti-immigration Proposition 187, a Cold War hardliner, and a man who self-deprecatingly calls himself a “Neanderthal Republican.”
By David Lightman
McClatchy Washington Bureau
02/21/2015 12:22 PM
WASHINGTON — Democrats have become a confused political party with a muddled message and an inability to turn out enough of its loyal voters, a party task force charged with how to revive the embattled party said Saturday.
Saturday, February 2015 – 09:30 a.m.
It just keeps getting worse for Democrats nationally. The Obamacare steamroller was operating at full speed this week.
Where do I start?
By Beau Yarbrough, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 02/20/15, 8:38 PM PST | Updated: 1 min ago
Three nationally known Republicans will descend on Riverside Saturday, speaking to the conservative faithful and padding their campaign war chests in advance of a 2016 presidential run.
By Joseph Tanfani
February 20, 2015
In his fight to help millions of immigrants living in the country illegally, President Obama’s most implacable enemy may not be House Republicans or conservative governors, but the ticking clock.
Friday, February 20, 2015 – 03:00 p.m.
Today on The Lou Desmond & Company Show, Ed Hoffman, president of Wholesale Capital Corporation and host of the Main Event, and Ann-Marie Murrell, CEO and National Editor of PolitiChicks, join Lou to discuss the Unite IE Conference.
By Patrick McGreevy
February 19, 2015
The state ethics watchdog panel adopted regulations Thursday banning political fundraisers in the homes of lobbyists, rejecting exceptions to the rule proposed by a group representing legislative advocates.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
02/19/2015 10:12 PM
It’s obvious that California’s highest-profile political contest next year will be for the U.S. Senate seat that Barbara Boxer will give up after 24 years.
By Charles Krauthammer
Opinion Writer
February 19, 2015 at 8:12 PM
I’ve been radicalized. By Harry Reid and Barack Obama. Goodbye moderation and sweet reason. No more clinging to constitutional and procedural restraint. It’s time to go nuclear.
Thursday, February 19, 2015 – 05:00p.m.
Tonight on The Lou Desmond & Company Show, Tom Del Beccaro, former Chairman of the California Republican Party joins Lou to discuss ISIS.
By Neil Nisperos, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 02/18/15, 8:30 PM PST
RANCHO CUCAMONGA >> Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Rancho Cucamonga, held a roundtable discussion with the area’s business community on Wednesday at a job center where they shared issues relating to regulatory difficulties, and the need to train young people for important sectors of the Inland Empire economy, among other concerns.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
02/19/2015 12:05 AM
More than a year before the presidential primary reaches California, this much can be said about the voting public: Democrats like Hillary Rodham Clinton, Republicans like Scott Walker and Jeb Bush, and a lot of people still haven’t made up their minds.
By Matt Fuller
Posted at 5:49 p.m. on Feb. 18
Two days after a Texas judge halted President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration, nothing seems to have changed in the congressional showdown over funding the Department of Homeland Security.
By Staff reports
Posted: 02/18/15, 7:58 AM PST
Confirming months of speculation, U.S. Rep. Janice Hahn announced her candidacy today for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
By John Myers
Feb 18, 2015
Not bad, but not a blockbuster: Consider that the real takeaway for Kamala Harris in the first statewide public poll in the 2016 race for the U.S. Senate.
By Edvard Pettersson
February 17, 2015 – 10:56 AM PST
(Bloomberg) — A Koch brothers advocacy group can keep its donor list secret for now, with a federal judge ruling that revealing the identities would chill free speech.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015 – 03:00 p.m.
Looks like two losses isn’t enough for the county’s preeminent wannabe elected official.
By Chuck McFadden
Posted 02.16.2015
ANALYSIS: There are rumblings beneath the surface about the danger of a race-tinged political war breaking out within the California Democratic Party.
By Jennifer Shutt
2/16/15 – 5:45 PM EST
A new poll from CNN/ORC shows 57 percent of Americans do not approve of the way President Barack Obama is handling the country’s military action against ISIL.
Monday, February 16, 2015 – 11:00 a.m.
It looks as if Congressional Democrats have figured out what we’ve been saying here for over a year.
By Mark Gutglueck
Posted on February 14, 2015
(February 13) – A series of events has moved allegations of drug use by San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairman James Ramos front and center, together with suggestions that county officials have ignored or covered up indications of that activity because of his extensive personal wealth which has been used to support other elected county officials’ own political efforts.
By Michael A. Memoli and Lisa Mascaro
February 15, 2015
After six weeks in session and 139 roll call votes in a House and Senate that feature some of the largest Republican majorities in generations, one of the most telling statistics from the new Congress is this: President Obama’s veto threats outnumber the bills Congress has been able to send him.
By NANCY BENAC Associated Press
02/16/2015 12:33 AM
WASHINGTON — If you’re an aspiring presidential candidate, says professional crisis manager Eric Dezenhall, right now is “a great time to take a pratfall because it’s so far away from anything major.”
Maureen Dowd
Sunday Review | Op-Ed Columnist
February 14, 2015
WASHINGTON — I’LL pay for this column.
The Rottweilers will be unleashed.
Once the Clintons had a War Room. Now they have a Slime Room.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 02/13/15, 12:01 AM PST | Updated: 28 secs ago
A former field representative for James Ramos, chairman of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, was charged Friday with two felony counts of smuggling drugs and drug paraphernalia into the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center in Devore.
By Anh Do
February 13, 2015
A recount for Orange County’s first district supervisor race ended Friday night, with no change after a review of nearly 6,250 vote-by-mail ballots, officials said.
Friday, February 13, 2015 – 02:30 p.m.
A former field representative for San Bernardino County Third District Supervisor James Ramos has been charged with two felonies for smuggling drugs to an inmate housed at the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center in Devore.
Published: Feb. 12, 2015 – Updated: 10:37 p.m.
Inland Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez is facing criticism from Islamic groups after she tweeted with the hashtag “Stand Up Against Islam” while lamenting the death of an American aid worker.
To read story by Jeff Horseman in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
By SHEA JOHNSON
STAFF WRITER
Posted Feb. 12, 2015 @ 8:47 pm
Updated Feb 12, 2015 at 8:52 PM
The case against San Bernardino County 3rd District Supervisor James Ramos’ former aide, arrested last week for allegedly delivering narcotics to a jail inmate in Devore, is under review for possible charges, District Attorney spokesman Chris Lee said Thursday.
By Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine
February 13, 2015
Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris may be leading the field statewide in 2016 race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer – we won’t actually know until we see some public polling data – but it appears that among Latino voters who say they’re likely to vote, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio “Tony V” Villaraigosa is the clear favorite.
By Jean Merl
February 13, 2015
Getting an early start on shoring up at-risk members, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Thursday released a list of 14 it deems most vulnerable in next year’s elections.
By Alex Isenstadt
2/12/15 – 6:07 PM EST
The war on Jeb Bush is on.
Rand Paul is attacking him as a hypocrite on marijuana who’s indistinguishable from Hillary Clinton. Ted Cruz is questioning whether Bush’s stands on education and immigration will fly with primary voters. Conservative outside groups are going after him, with one airing a TV ad declaring, “We do not want dynasties in our White House.”