I had read that, despite the budget stalemate in Sacramento, Republicans and Democrats agreed on a plan to close about half the state budget. Hey, that sounded good to me -- halfway there is at least a start. But this...

Jim Reed, the Democrat challenging Rep. Wally Herger in the November election, is challenging the congressman to a series of debates: Reed is calling for three debates during Congressional Recess: One on Saturday, August 14th at the Veterans Memorial in...

Barack Obama’s considerable political capital, earned on Election Day 2008, is spent. Well spent, mind you, on the enactment of a highly ideological agenda of Obamacare, financial reform and a near trillion-dollar stimulus that will significantly transform the country. But spent nonetheless. There’s nothing l

The universe of people who care about this particular issue is probably pretty small -- Ray Hennemann, his friends in the Shasta County Democratic Party and me -- but for the record it turns out Assemblyman Jim Nielsen will run...

Will Republicans take control of Congress in November? They're feeling pretty confident, at least about the House. I would be too if I were them, seeing poll numbers like Field's, released today. A generic, California-wide poll shows Democratic candidates leading...

In the political marketplace, there’s now a run on Obama shares. The left is disappointed with the president. Independents are abandoning him in droves. And the right is already dancing on his political grave, salivating about November when, his own press secretary admitted Sunday, Democrats might lose the House.

Jim Reed's campaign fires what appears to be its first shot across Rep. Wally Herger's bow: Jim Reed: Wally Herger Either Misunderstands or is Deliberately Distorting Financial Reform Legislation. Redding, California, July 15, 2010 - Banking bailouts have infuriated Democrats...

Earl Warren, who managed to win both the Republican and Democratic nominations for governor back in the days of cross-filing, would probably take the cake, but opinion polling was in its infancy in those days. But in the annals of...

Marc's follow-up mention of banks' seemingly ever-tighter business credit reminds me of Thomas Sowell's column this week. Reality is surely more complicated than any pundit's take, but what's really more likely here? A Democratic administration -- we've had 'em before,...

People who remember the old comic strip “Peanuts” will recall an often repeated situation where Lucy offers to hold a football for Charlie Brown to kick. Then, as Charlie comes running up to kick it, Lucy snatches away the ball and Charlie Brown loses his balance and goes crashing on his backside.

Q. Do you believe democracy is a blessing? If so what are our moral obligations — if any — to participate? The congregational system, on which the United Church of Christ is based, is a fully democratic system. We lift democracy up as the only truly fair system of governance. The basic concept that the wisdom of rule co

So argues state Democratic Party Chairman Dan Burton, Greg Lucas reports. Without arguing the merits of legalization, Burton said the ballot measure "will turn out people." The pro-Proposition 19 side seems to have the enthusiasm for change on its side....

It's summer. CAMP time. From the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat: Since state CAMP officers arrived in Mendocino County on Monday, 145,000 pot plants have been seized, said spokeswoman Michelle Gregory. Statewide, 705,000 plants have been eradicated, 500,000 of them in Shasta...

In 1910: Shasta County voters were registering much earlier than in previous years. The number registered to date were Republicans 1,871, Democrats 1,163, Socialists 177, Prohibitionists 14, Independents 8 and decline to state 241.

In 1910: Shasta County voters were registering much earlier than in previous years. The number registered to date were Republicans 1,871, Democrats 1,163, Socialists 177, Prohibitionists 14, Independents 8 and decline to state 241.

In the interests of representing the Democratic side in November's 2nd Assembly District election, where no Dem had even bothered to sign up to run in the normal channels, Redding Democratic activist Ray Hennemann got himself certified as a write-in...

Shasta County officials are taking a wary approach to a proposal by Democrats in the state Senate to restructure California government by handing counties more responsibility over administering public services.

Jim Reed, the Democrat who is running for Congress against Rep. Wally Herger (and whom Shasta County residents might remember from his two recent attempts to run for judge), launched his general-election campaign yesterday with a press conference in downtown...

What: Our Constitution: A Community Discussion When: June 12, 2 to 4 p.m. Where: Redding Library 1100 Parkview, Redding Cost: Free Presented by Shasta Cascade Progressive Democrats, Citizens for Responsible Government (CRG), Shasta Tehama Trinity ACLU, Humanist Society of Reddin

That's what Los Angeles journalist Jill Stewart sees developing after the primaries: California is about to see what happens when a not particularly rock-ribbed conservative Republican meets a not very hardcore liberal Democrat....

The discussion of the Constitution two Saturday's from now at the Redding library is sponsored by what passes for Redding's lefty caucus -- Shasta Cascade Progressive Democrats, Citizens for Responsible Government, the ACLU and the Humanist Society -- by I...

Q. Should government organizations — local, state, etc. — conduct invocations and prayer on government property? If so, should steps be taken to invite all faiths to facilitate? With respect to our historical origins and to our pledge of allegiance that says we are ‘one nation under God,’ it is entirely appropriate

Don't look for much, if any, break from political spots after the June primary. The LA Times' Mark Barabak reports that a labor-backed Democratic group is preparing a summer ad blitz to soften up Meg Whitman before Jerry Brown begins...

That's what Jim Nielsen tells the L.A. Times about the Democrats' proposed budget-balancing tax increases: Assembly Budget Committee Vice Chairman Jim Nielsen, a Republican from Gerber, said more taxes got the state "in the mess we're in today," and he...

Interesting story in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat about that city's attempts to push its unions to accept a two-tier pension system -- which gives lower benefits to newly hired employees. With negotiations over the issue having broken down, the...

If you listen to Democrats in the Legislature, California's problem is that there's not enough money to cover all the bills but that Republicans just won't agree to tax increases -- not counting last year's. But one way around the...

That's the Woodland Daily Democrat, saying Rep. Wally Herger's time has passed: In the 2nd Congressional District, we support Stiglich, 56, a resident of Cottonwood, who is a retired colonel of the U.S. Air Force, serving from 1980 to 2006....

Ray Hennemann, the Shasta County Democratic activist, realized somewhat past the normal filing deadline that no member of his party had even signed up to run for Assembly in the 2nd District this year, so he's jumped into the race...

We at the R-S have developed a rule: If you call a democratically elected American politician a Nazi, your work's just not worth the ink. And if you randomly name-check the Nazis in discussions of current events, that's close enough....

Two former Republican Assemblymen and a Democratic union organizer and lawyer are vying for the north state’s Senate seat.

I've been wondering about the eerie silence from Sacramento concerning the $20 billion budget deficit. So's Assemblyman Jim Nielsen: Instead of working toward consensus, Assembly Democrats actually seem to be pursuing a road show budget strategy. Rather than outlining responsible...

I'm not sure what the source of this is, but the immigration resolution that the Democrats in the California Assembly passed yesterday includes an interesting data point: WHEREAS, Approximately 77 percent of undocumented immigrants that reside in California live with...

Within a decade, Arizona will be as reliably Democratic as California is today. And when that day arrives, we'll be able to trace it all to last Friday's passage of SB 1070. So writes Kos of the liberal website DailyKos....

Echoing a common Democratic theme, commenter 3Gs argues in response to today's story about the tea-party rally that complaints about taxes are not just overheated but backward. It's ironic that they were whining about taxes... Taxes have gone down over...

Rep. Wally Herger tars the Democratic majority in the House for neglecting to fix a glitch in Medicare payments that would drastically cut fees to doctors -- and leave many to simply stop taking Medicare payments. Now, first of all,...

Sen. Sam Aanestad diagnoses the real problem in Sacramento: The problem in our elected assemblies today is not the person of good will, be they conservative, or liberal, Republican or Democrat, who passionately argues for their principles in free and...

The L.A. Times reads its history books and comes back with a bit of political trivia I did not know: "Except for a one-term governor at the end of the Depression, every Democrat to serve the state as governor has...

All three Republicans now vying to challenge Barbara Boxer this fall call her “vulnerable” — and much worse — at least three or four times daily. So have three major polls, all of which found the three-term Democratic senator running about even with each of her possible opponents.

We can't afford 'reform' The passing of Obamacare was a sad day for America and it shows how fiscally irresponsible and corrupt the Democratic Party has become.

President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, as well as the subsequent reconciliation bill. In signing these, he added the third leg to the structure upholding the social safety net - Social Security, Medicare and, now, near-universal health care. All were Democrat-led initiatives.

Yesterday I blogged about Democrat landmarks and businesses that included the word Democrat and said I would report on the Republicans today. I have searched long and hard, and sadly, have to report there are no "Republican" landmarks in Shasta...

My hope is that some right-leaning independents will read this and begin to question their beliefs and political leaning. I know that none of this matters to hard core conservatives, who are perfectly content to believe that

Did you know we have a mountain in Shasta County named Democrat Mountain? It was supposedly named by a group of staunch early goldmining Democrats during the Gold Rush who were mining on the mountain. It is located northwest of...

That union address was that sucker l-o-n-g. If I were to dissect every bit of deceptive rhetoric in it, this column would be even longer. That’s not going to happen. But there was one section that I found particularly outrageous. Before I get to it, however, I want to mention the folks who were sitting behind our Dis

Tax increases are likely to top $500 billion over 10 years. The enactment of health care reform marked the beginning of one of the biggest tax hikes in American history. And families will pay the price. president Barack Obama signed the reform into law Tuesday and ushered in a massive tax increase for the American people. D

The conventions of political pontification do not allow for admissions of uncertainty or ambivalence. Thus, Sunday night's House debate on health care featured bombastic declarations from both sides about the impending disaster (Republicans) or nirvana (Democrats) being ushered in.

Thanks no doubt to the Democratic Party, my in-box in deluged with letters this morning variously praising and knocking Northern California's members of Congress for their votes on health care reform. Wally Herger and Tom McClintock take the predictable lumps....

Economist Brad DeLong -- a Democrat but hardly a frothing-at-the-mouth liberal -- points out how the health care bill that Congress finally passed has its roots ... on the right. I like his finale: Over in that alternative branch of...