Dedicated to the deficit

Alicia Robinson

Hoping to succeed where the governor failed, 70th District

Assemblyman John Campbell on Wednesday announced he’s seeking a

ballot initiative that would prevent state spending from outpacing

inflation and population growth.

Working in conjunction with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. and

California Taxpayers Assn., Campbell on Monday filed the California

Budget Deficit Prevention Act with the state attorney general’s

office, which must approve the initiative before voters’ signatures

can be gathered.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a similar spending limit proposal

late last year but dropped it in a compromise with Democratic

legislators for a balanced budget, Campbell said.

To prevent another funding gap like the $14-billion deficit now

facing California, the new initiative aims to limit state spending

increases to the growth of population and economic inflation, and it

sets up a rainy day fund. Using the same figures Schwarzenegger

showed when he presented his budget proposal last week, Campbell will

demonstrate that had his spending limit been in place before 1998,

the state would not face a deficit now, he said.

“The bottom line is you can’t spend money faster than the

economy’s ability to pay for it,” Campbell said.

Petitions for the initiative should be in circulation by the end

of February, and the measure could appear on the November ballot.

Campbell doesn’t expect the governor to weigh in on either side of

the measure. Voter polls show that the concept of stabilizing

spending is popular across party lines, he said.

Rohrabacher says no to Bush’s immigration plan

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher has come out against President Bush’s

proposal to create a guest worker program for illegal immigrants.

In a statement posted on his website, Rohrabacher said the

proposal would ultimately reward illegal immigrants with U.S.

citizenship. He also criticized it for lacking provisions to

strengthen border security and ensure that guest workers return to

their countries, and for not compelling employers to provide health

insurance for guest workers.

Provisions allowing guest workers’ families to join them in the

U.S. will worsen the plan’s effect, Rohrabacher said.

“For all these reasons, this proposal is deeply flawed and will

only encourage and increase illegal immigration while depressing the

wages of the American worker,” he said.

Bush defeats Dean, according to state poll

Had an election been held last week between President Bush and

Democratic front-runner Howard Dean, California would have been

solidly in favor of re-electing Bush, numbers released by Costa Mesa

Republican pollster Adam Probolsky said.

A poll released Monday showed Bush garnering 50% of the vote and

former Vermont Gov. Dean taking 35.4%, with 3.7% of those polled

saying they’d vote for someone else and 10% unsure whom they’d pick.

Probolsky polled 625 registered voters and reported a 4% margin of

error for the poll.

Campaign runners get rush of endorsements

Candidate endorsements are coming fast and furious now with the

March 2 primary a month away.

The Orange County chapter of the California Republican Assembly

held its endorsing convention Saturday.

Ken Maddox, now a 68th district assemblyman, beat out Campbell and

retired Marine Col. Joe Snyder to snag the assembly’s endorsement in

the race for the 35th state Senate District seat.

Chuck DeVore took the endorsement in the six-way 70th Assembly

District race, but a press release from opponent Marianne Zippi said

two of the Orange County chapter’s three directors challenged the

endorsement vote.

The two directors said some of the delegates who voted for DeVore

were from outside the district and therefore ineligible to vote.

Gil Ferguson, one of the directors who challenged the vote, said

the endorsement will stand but the Assembly is likely to introduce

new rules to prevent delegates from voting on endorsements for races

that are largely outside their district.

Maddox announced he also has gained endorsements from former

California GOP chairman Mike Schroeder, the Orange County Coalition

of Police and Sheriffs and the Garden Grove Police Assn.

Don Wagner, a 70th Assembly District candidate, was endorsed last

week by the Laguna Beach Police Employees Assn.