April 3, 2012 - Pensito

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The hits just keep on comin’ for the California Republican Party. Driven by tea party forces, it has become radically out of synch with the state’s left-leaning electorate. As a result, the California GOP is penniless, leaderless and bleeding registrations — today, barely 30 percent of California voters are registered Republicans, compared with 44 percent registered Democrats and 21 percent independents.

Democrats hold every statewide office and, thanks to a new redistricting system once favored by the California GOP — despite its near-bankruptcy, the party funded not one but two rounds of ballot initiatives to get it passed but is now underwriting lawsuits to have the redistricting plan overturned — the party is on a glide path to devastating losses in U.S. House and state Legislature races in November.

The latest casualty in the party’s death spiral is the defection of one its few — maybe even its only — young power couples. Assmb. Nathan Fletcher, a candidate for mayor of San Diego, and his wife, the former Mindy Tucker, who served in high profile positions in the George W. Bush administration, the Republican National Committee and the Schwarzenegger administration, announced last week that they had abandoned the Republican Party for good and registered as independents.

[…]

The Obama Justice Department’s escalation of its assault on medical marijuana services in California are politically foolish and reckless:

Federal agents struck at the heart of California’s medical marijuana movement, raiding the nation’s first pot trade school and a popular dispensary, both run by one of the state’s most prominent and provocative activists, Richard Lee.

The raids in Oakland by the Internal Revenue Service and Drug Enforcement Administration sent a shudder through the medical cannabis trade and angered the plant’s devotees, who believe the federal government is trampling on California law and the wishes of voters who approved medical marijuana use nearly 16 years ago.

Now they are wondering what message the federal government is trying to send. President Obama promised during his 2008 campaign not to prosecute medical marijuana users who comply with state law, and Deputy Atty. Gen. David Ogden reiterated that position in a 2009 memo that many credit with helping spark the medical pot boom.

[…]

Day: April 3, 2012

California GOP Power Couple Quits Party

Pres. Obama Determined to Depress Support Among Youth Vote, Liberal Base in California

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“The man is afraid of the voice of the people and that the people understand and know what he’s doing. He’s trying to stifle the ability of journalists to let the people of America know what’s really going on with their government.”

— “Kamala Harris called President Donald Trump’s ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House ‘absolutely abhorrent,’” The Wrap reports.

“Not one of them is trained in technical skills. Not one research PhD, as opposed to China, where half the cabinet is science and technology PhDs. We’re led by grifters and fools.”

— Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs, on X, on President Trump’s 35-person cabinet.

“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far… The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”

— Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), breaking with President Trump in a direct-to-camera video.

Numerati

1,000

10%

“The unprecedented spate of mid-decade redistricting for the U.S. House has changed the congressional districts for one-tenth of Americans and significantly altered the makeup of at least one-fifth of districts, according to a new study,” the Associated Press reports.

71%

A new Fox News Poll finds 71% of voters think the Trump administration lacks a clear strategy for ending the Iran War, including 95% of Democrats, 83% of independents, and 43% of Republicans. Sixty percent say U.S. military action against Iran was the wrong decision, while just 37% say it was right.

$9.5 billion

“The Trump administration last year spent $9.5 billion on paid administrative leave for federal workers as part of its plan to shrink the government and save taxpayers money, according to a new estimate by a congressional watchdog,” CNN reports.

470

Reuters has documented at least 470 targets of retribution under Trump’s leadership – from federal employees and prosecutors to universities and media outlets. The list illuminates the sweeping effort by the president and his administration to punish dissent and reshape the government.