Scott Baugh, Chairman of the Orange County Republican party shared his vision for revitalizing the party in Orange County.

I don’t just want “Republicans” back in power. I want Republicans who are reformers in power. Having Republicans back in power simply because Democrats have failed in their social experiments is not good enough.

Your call to action is to challenge your representatives when they stray from the path of limited government. Your call to action, quite simply, is to hold them accountable to the limited government platforms that they campaigned on.

His words are something everyone should read. Be sure to read the complete speech.

As 2009 comes to a close, let’s have a fun look back on what the state legislature and Governor Schwarzenegger did to fix the state’s never-ending spending, uh, budget problem.

• February: everyone’s state income tax increased by 0.25%.
• February: the vehicle license fee doubled to 1.15% and the credit for dependents was slashed by two-thirds.
• April: the state sales tax increased a full 1.0% to 8.25%, the highest of any state.
• October: the state begins withholding an additional 10% from everyone’s paycheck but promises to pay it back come April. You may rightfully ask, with what money?
• November: tuition at state universities increase by 32%.
• December: still time for another tax increase!

Yet problems persist. The Legislative Budget Analyst reported last month that the budget deficit going into next fiscal year stands at $21 Billion. Apparently thinking them unimportant the legislature drastically cut the budgets of the park and court systems. And the state’s unemployment fund is $7.4 Billion in the hole. So, keep this date in mind:

• November, 2010: the next opportunity to halt the destruction of our state by voting for politicians who are fiscally conservative.

That, by the way, would disqualify almost all incumbents.

John Redding
Mendocino