By John Lillpop ——Bio and Archives--March 5, 2014
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SACRAMENTO -- It took Democrats more than a century to win a supermajority in both houses of the California Legislature, but a pair of high-profile corruption cases has now cost them their dominating two-thirds majority in the state Senate in little more than a year. State Sen. Ronald Calderon's decision Sunday to take a paid leave of absence while he fights federal corruption charges will eliminate the supermajority his party won in 2012, threatening the policy priorities of some Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown. "Suddenly, Republicans have leverage they didn't have a week ago," said Bill Whalen, a former aide to Republican Gov. Pete Wilson who works as a fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. "They're now in a position to name a price, and the question is: Do they have a price in mind?" Senate Republicans are currently considering plans to formally suspend Calderon and Wright, D-Inglewood, said Peter DeMarco, a spokesman for Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff. Wright was granted leave last week after his conviction on eight felony counts of perjury and voter fraud. California law requires that proposed constitutional amendments, new taxes and fees and ballot propositions initiated by the Legislature win support from two-thirds of the lawmakers in each house. That threshold does not change when lawmakers volunteer or are forced to vacate their seats.Bottom line: As the rain drops fall and corrupt Democrats bail, Californians are obliged to look skyward and give thanks for a desperately needed hand-out from serendipity!
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John W. Lillpop is a recovering liberal. “Clean and sober” since 1992 when last he voted for a Democrat. For years, John lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, the very liberal sanctuary city which protects, rather than prosecutes, certain favored criminals. John escaped the Bay Area in May and now lives in Pine Grove California where conservative values are still in vogue.