Tonight, Rancho Cucamonga Mayor Dr. Don Kurth has kicked off his campaign for State Assembly from the 63rd Assembly District which covers Highland, Loma Linda, Rancho Cucamonga, and Redlands.

Dr. Don Kurth is the front-runner candidate seeking to replace termed-out Assemblyman Bill Emmerson.

The event was held at the Etiwanda Gardens was packed with various elected officials, community leaders and business owners throughout the district.

Dr. Kurth stressed it is time for legislators to make the necessary hard decisions on the budget, water, education and other critical issues that affect every Californians.

Tonight event had a Special Guest Wally Kurth, Don Kurth's cousin, who is a famous Daytime Television Actor on Days of Our Lives and formerly General Hospital.

 The House Republican Conference has compiled a list of all the new boards, bureaucracies, commissions, and programs created in H.R. 3962, Speaker Pelosi’s government takeover of health care:

 1.       Retiree Reserve Trust Fund (Section 111(d), p. 61)

2.       Grant program for wellness programs to small employers (Section 112, p. 62)

3.       Grant program for State health access programs (Section 114, p. 72)

4.       Program of administrative simplification (Section 115, p. 76)

5.       Health Benefits Advisory Committee (Section 223, p. 111)

6.       Health Choices Administration (Section 241, p. 131)

7.       Qualified Health Benefits Plan Ombudsman (Section 244, p. 138)

8.       Health Insurance Exchange (Section 201, p. 155)

9.       Program for technical assistance to employees of small businesses buying Exchange coverage (Section 305(h), p. 191)

10.   Mechanism for insurance risk pooling to be established by Health Choices Commissioner (Section 306(b), p. 194)

11.   Health Insurance Exchange Trust Fund (Section 307, p. 195)

12.   State-based Health Insurance Exchanges (Section 308, p. 197)

13.   Grant program for health insurance cooperatives (Section 310, p. 206)

14.   “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 321, p. 211)

15.   Ombudsman for “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 321(d), p. 213)

16.   Account for receipts and disbursements for “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 322(b), p. 215)

17.   Telehealth Advisory Committee (Section 1191 (b), p. 589)

18.   Demonstration program providing reimbursement for “culturally and linguistically appropriate services” (Section 1222, p. 617)

19.   Demonstration program for shared decision making using patient decision aids (Section 1236, p. 648)

20.   Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicare (Section 1301, p. 653)

21.   Independent patient-centered medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302, p. 672)

22.   Community-based medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302(d), p. 681)

23.   Independence at home demonstration program (Section 1312, p. 718)

24.   Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research (Section 1401(a), p. 734)

25.   Comparative Effectiveness Research Commission (Section 1401(a), p. 738)

26.   Patient ombudsman for comparative effectiveness research (Section 1401(a), p. 753)

27.   Quality assurance and performance improvement program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1412(b)(1), p. 784)

28.   Quality assurance and performance improvement program for nursing facilities (Section 1412 (b)(2), p. 786)

29.   Special focus facility program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1413(a)(3), p. 796)

30.   Special focus facility program for nursing facilities (Section 1413(b)(3), p. 804)

31.   National independent monitor pilot program for skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities (Section 1422, p. 859)

32.   Demonstration program for approved teaching health centers with respect to Medicare GME (Section 1502(d), p. 933)

33.   Pilot program to develop anti-fraud compliance systems for Medicare providers (Section 1635, p. 978)

34.   Special Inspector General for the Health Insurance Exchange (Section 1647, p. 1000)

35.   Medical home pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1722, p. 1058)

36.   Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1730A, p. 1073)

37.   Nursing facility supplemental payment program (Section 1745, p. 1106)

38.   Demonstration program for Medicaid coverage to stabilize emergency medical conditions in institutions for mental diseases (Section 1787, p. 1149)

39.   Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund (Section 1802, p. 1162)

40.   “Identifiable office or program” within CMS to “provide for improved coordination between Medicare and Medicaid in the case of dual eligibles” (Section 1905, p. 1191)

41.   Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Section 1907, p. 1198)

42.   Public Health Investment Fund (Section 2002, p. 1214)

43.   Scholarships for service in health professional needs areas (Section 2211, p. 1224)

44.   Program for training medical residents in community-based settings (Section 2214, p. 1236)

45.   Grant program for training in dentistry programs (Section 2215, p. 1240)

46.   Public Health Workforce Corps (Section 2231, p. 1253)

47.   Public health workforce scholarship program (Section 2231, p. 1254)

48.   Public health workforce loan forgiveness program (Section 2231, p. 1258)

49.   Grant program for innovations in interdisciplinary care (Section 2252, p. 1272)

50.   Advisory Committee on Health Workforce Evaluation and Assessment (Section 2261, p. 1275)

51.   Prevention and Wellness Trust (Section 2301, p. 1286)

52.   Clinical Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 1295)

53.   Community Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 1301)

54.   Grant program for community prevention and wellness research (Section 2301, p. 1305)

55.   Grant program for research and demonstration projects related to wellness incentives (Section 2301, p. 1305)

56.   Grant program for community prevention and wellness services (Section 2301, p. 1308)

57.   Grant program for public health infrastructure (Section 2301, p. 1313)

58.   Center for Quality Improvement (Section 2401, p. 1322)

59.   Assistant Secretary for Health Information (Section 2402, p. 1330)

60.   Grant program to support the operation of school-based health clinics (Section 2511, p. 1352)

61.   Grant program for nurse-managed health centers (Section 2512, p. 1361)

62.   Grants for labor-management programs for nursing training (Section 2521, p. 1372)

63.   Grant program for interdisciplinary mental and behavioral health training (Section 2522, p. 1382)

64.   “No Child Left Unimmunized Against Influenza” demonstration grant program (Section 2524, p. 1391)

65.   Healthy Teen Initiative grant program regarding teen pregnancy (Section 2526, p. 1398)

66.   Grant program for interdisciplinary training, education, and services for individuals with autism (Section 2527(a), p. 1402)

67.   University centers for excellence in developmental disabilities education (Section 2527(b), p. 1410)

68.   Grant program to implement medication therapy management services (Section 2528, p. 1412)

69.   Grant program to promote positive health behaviors in underserved communities (Section 2530, p. 1422)

70.   Grant program for State alternative medical liability laws (Section 2531, p. 1431)

71.   Grant program to develop infant mortality programs (Section 2532, p. 1433)

72.   Grant program to prepare secondary school students for careers in health professions (Section 2533, p. 1437)

73.   Grant program for community-based collaborative care (Section 2534, p. 1440)

74.   Grant program for community-based overweight and obesity prevention (Section 2535, p. 1457)

75.   Grant program for reducing the student-to-school nurse ratio in primary and secondary schools (Section 2536, p. 1462)

76.   Demonstration project of grants to medical-legal partnerships (Section 2537, p. 1464)

77.   Center for Emergency Care under the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (Section 2552, p. 1478)

78.   Council for Emergency Care (Section 2552, p 1479)

79.   Grant program to support demonstration programs that design and implement regionalized emergency care systems (Section 2553, p. 1480)

80.   Grant program to assist veterans who wish to become emergency medical technicians upon discharge (Section 2554, p. 1487)

81.   Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (Section 2562, p. 1494)

82.   National Medical Device Registry (Section 2571, p. 1501)

83.   CLASS Independence Fund (Section 2581, p. 1597)

84.   CLASS Independence Fund Board of Trustees (Section 2581, p. 1598)

85.   CLASS Independence Advisory Council (Section 2581, p. 1602)

86.   Health and Human Services Coordinating Committee on Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1610)

87.   National Women’s Health Information Center (Section 2588, p. 1611)

88.   Centers for Disease Control Office of Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1614)

89.   Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Office of Women’s Health and Gender-Based Research (Section 2588, p. 1617)

90.   Health Resources and Services Administration Office of Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1618)

91.   Food and Drug Administration Office of Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1621)

92.   Personal Care Attendant Workforce Advisory Panel (Section 2589(a)(2), p. 1624)

93.   Grant program for national health workforce online training (Section 2591, p. 1629)

94.   Grant program to disseminate best practices on implementing health workforce investment programs (Section 2591, p. 1632)

95.   Demonstration program for chronic shortages of health professionals (Section 3101, p. 1717)

96.   Demonstration program for substance abuse counselor educational curricula (Section 3101, p. 1719)

97.   Program of Indian community education on mental illness (Section 3101, p. 1722)

98.   Intergovernmental Task Force on Indian environmental and nuclear hazards (Section 3101, p. 1754)

99.   Office of Indian Men’s Health (Section 3101, p. 1765)

100.            Indian Health facilities appropriation advisory board (Section 3101, p. 1774)

101.            Indian Health facilities needs assessment workgroup (Section 3101, p. 1775)

102.            Indian Health Service tribal facilities joint venture demonstration projects (Section 3101, p. 1809)

103.            Urban youth treatment center demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1873)

104.            Grants to Urban Indian Organizations for diabetes prevention (Section 3101, p. 1874)

105.            Grants to Urban Indian Organizations for health IT adoption (Section 3101, p. 1877)

106.            Mental health technician training program (Section 3101, p. 1898)

107.            Indian youth telemental health demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1909)

108.            Program for treatment of child sexual abuse victims and perpetrators (Section 3101, p. 1925)

109.            Program for treatment of domestic violence and sexual abuse (Section 3101, p. 1927)

110.            Native American Health and Wellness Foundation (Section 3103, p. 1966)

111.            Committee for the Establishment of the Native American Health and Wellness Foundation (Section 3103, p. 1968)

And this will cut costs and make healthcare affordable??  This is Obama's plan to lower unemployment with government jobs all on the backs of hard-working taxpayers.  Love that hope and change!

Assemblyman Curt Hagman (R-Chino Hills, District 60) just sent over his thoughts regarding the controversial Assembly oil vote, which then was expunged by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont, District 20):

By State Assemblyman Curt Hagman

Serving all or parts of Anaheim , Chino Hills, Diamond Bar, Industry, La Habra , La Habra Heights , La Mirada , Orange , Rowland Heights , San Dimas , Villa Park , Walnut, Whittier and Yorba Linda .

Last month, the California State Assembly considered numerous budget bills and among them was Assembly Bill 23, which authorizes an oil drilling lease off the Santa Barbara Coast (T-Ridge). The plan would have implemented state-of-the-art slant-drilling techniques to increase the amount of oil extracted without increasing the number of oil rigs. Probably best of all, the lease would have allowed new drilling on an existing rig, so the ‘footprint’ of the project wouldn’t have changed.  The lease would have provided an immediate $100 million payment to California . In fact, this lease would have paid more than $1.8 billion in royalties over the next 14 years. After the termination of the lease, the oil platforms and all onshore processing facilities would be dismantled and 3900 acres of land would be donated for public use and conservation.   

So why didn’t this idea to add millions of dollars to our state pass the Legislature? Because 40 years ago, the oil spill off Santa Barbara is still affecting the mindset of our legislature. The 1969 oil spill was cleaned up but the concerns have lived on and permanently slowed the state’s willingness to expand its off-shore drilling capabilities. Since 1969, tremendous technological advances have occurred like cell phones, satellite TV, CAT scans, the Internet, etc. that have benefited our society and those same types of advances now make oil drilling much safer.  The world has changed since 1969, and now it’s time to act like it.  No longer can a legislator claim that the’69 spill is ‘proof’ that off-shore oil drilling is disastrous.  

AB 23 was the remedy California has needed: a boon to state coffers, an increase in local industry and employment, and the promise of environmental protection. It was an oil-drilling proposal that even local environmental groups, such as the Environmental Defense Center based in Santa Barbara , supported. Regardless of the support it garnered from Sacramento and Santa Barbara , the State Assembly rejected the bill on a partisan vote.  

What occurred next on the vote of AB 23 was unbelievable. Moments after the bill was defeated, Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico rose to ask that the vote be expunged. “Expunging” a vote means it is erased from the record. This practice is illegal in the California Senate but for some reason is allowed in the Assembly. Those who voted against the bill do not want you to know how they voted so the officially recorded vote just disappeared. Why did numerous Assembly members vote to hide their vote on AB 23? So much for accountability, so much for transparency, so much for standing up and being counted.  

We need the revenue that this bill promised and we need it now. At the same time, we also need State Assembly members to stop trying to hide behind political maneuverings that are deceptive and unethical.

Note:  Assemblyman Torrico is running for the Democratic Nomination for California Attorney General.

According to Capitol Weekly's report and the Sacramento Bee's Capitol Alert report, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has dropped out of the race for Governor.  This leaves Attorney General Jerry Brown unopposed for the Democratic nomination for Governor (although Brown has not technically entered the race, so officially, there are no Democratic candidates for Governor, but it's assumed Brown's entrance is a formality).

This means in 2010, Republicans will have a contested primary between multihundred-millionaire Steve Poizner and billionaire Meg Whitman (and Tom Campbell, to a lesser extent) while Brown gets to hoard money to save for the general election.

UPDATE - A Blog in San Ysidro has picked up the story - venting anger over being sold out by the GOP again. Moderates like Meg Whitman alienate the base - Meg, like Arnold seems to be running the same "Join Us or Clear Off" campaign that Arnold did in 2003. The blog links the same story in signon San Diego - but the anger is real. You have to look at this and ask if Meg is really the middle-of-the-road unifier she wants us to believe she is.

Conflicted.

This is the best way to describe Meg Whitman on border issues.

Despite Congressman Ed Royce trying to convince us otherwise... Meg Whitman favors amnesty.

Royce wrote on op-ed entitled, Border Security, A Key Reason Why I Have Endorsed Meg Whitman.

In the Op-Ed Royce details his agreements with Whitman on Border Secruity and immigration policy. One key quote is here,

"As I do, Whitman believes there must be accountability in the system and employers must have access to a vigorous and reliable system for verifying their workers’ eligibility."

Sign on San Diego posted an article replete with Comments from Whitman that suggest an answer to what Whitman thinks Accountability really is. (The article is here in its' entirety)

The candidate, 53, said the solution is to find a mechanism that allows them to live here legally. “Can we get a fair program where people stand at the back of the line, they pay a fine, they do some things that would ultimately allow a path to legalization?” she asked.

Ladies and gentlemen - that's called Amnesty.

Later she is quoted as saying she'd have voted no on 187 - which would have denied benefits and services to Illegal Aliens. It was overturned by a liberal court with lackluster defense from the AG's office.

On Sanctuary Cities, only Ed Royce offers a solution - not Meg Whitman.

Again, who is in control of the message of her campaign? This issue demonstrates again why Whitman refuses to debate and why she is not ready for prime-time.