THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE:

If you’re hoping regional transportation authorities will find property for another airport to alleviate traffic at John Wayne Airport, forget about it.

To make matters worse, it appears that transportation planners from the Southern California Assn. of Governments are also banking on high-speed rail to steer some travelers to other regional airports, like Ontario.

Good luck with that. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is ordering 10% cuts in state spending and there’s likely little public funding for the so-called maglev trains.

In all fairness, it’s not like the transportation planners are unaware of that as they’re hoping to attract private funding for the trains.

Again, good luck with that, but it sounds like a long shot with the economy getting hammered by a sub-prime mortgage virus that’s as unshakable as Britney Spears’ paparazzi, and oil prices jumping higher than Kobe Bryant in a slam-dunk contest.

Area leaders got a hint of all this when they met this week with representatives from the Southern California Assn. of Governments.

AirFair, the local organization that advocates the cap on John Wayne traffic, sponsored the meeting.

“I thought the residents made it pretty clear to SCAG that we want them to find an alternative airport location, or put some high priority on some efficient transit system that will get people from here to an airport in Ontario or San Bernardino,” Costa Mesa Councilwoman Katrina Foley said. “Clearly, people are frustrated.”

Those at Tuesday’s meeting were having none of the maglev train proposals either. Many were skeptical of the availability of funds, especially during the state’s current budget downfall.

“I think everyone saw that one of the big problems is that there is no money for any of this stuff,” AirFair President Melinda Seely said. “If there isn’t any money to fund just normal roads, then we’re going to be hard-pressed to come up with money.”

When Michael Armstrong and Michael Jones of SCAG suggested private financing for the high-speed rail, that drew more skepticism. “Of course, no one ever mentions the ‘T’ word — taxes, raising taxes — because we are in the heart of Republican territory,” Seely said. Those interested in submitting comments to SCAG regarding the 2008 Regional Transportation Plan may do so at www.scag.ca.gov/rtp2008/ index.htm.

Alliance formed in memory of Reagan

Rep. John Campbell has joined a new alliance of lawmakers who are taking a decidedly conservative stance on hot-button issues such as Social Security reform and making English the official language of the United States.

The project, an alliance of about 20 senators and representatives, claims it wants to invoke the spirit of President Reagan with the name Reagan 21. Campbell founded the group along with Republican Sens.

Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina, and Republican Representatives John Shadegg of Arizona, Jeb Hensarling of Texas, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Thomas Price of Georgia.

“Today, Congress has a record-low approval rating of 11%. Republicans lost the majority in part because they spent too much, had ethical lapses and did not deliver on illegal immigration and other issues ” Campbell wrote in an editorial published in the Washington Times Wednesday.

State senator changes his mind on expansion

State Sen. Tom Harman, once a firm opponent of the planned 241 expansion to I-5, now supports the measure, saying it will solve a pending congestion crisis facing his new constituents in Southern Orange County.

“[Earlier], he was obviously representing North County, and wasn’t extremely involved in the project one way or another — but, he did have concerns about running a highway through a state park,” Harman’s District Director Cynthia Determan said. Harman had previously served as an assemblyman for the 67th district, further north of the project.

Harman then took a helicopter tour of the site.

“He was convinced after seeing the project that it wouldn’t affect Trestles Beach, and he was very impressed that there were a lot of mitigation measures that would actually improve water quality at Trestles,” she said.

But, some local activists, like Mark Sappingfield of the Orange County Sierra Club, see things a little differently.

“That’s a joke,” he said, “And you can quote me on that. I’m shocked that Mr. Harman suddenly feels, all of a sudden, that it’s a good idea.”

The extension will diminish existing mitigation protections, and the run-off from traffic will cause irreparable damage to San Mateo Creek, Sappingfield said.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com. CHRIS CAESAR may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at chris.caesar@latimes.com.