Katy Grimes: A California state Senator has authored a bill which would regulate pet grooming and require dog groomers to pay a whopping $350 for a state-issued license. As if the state Legislature's attempt to require helmuts for skiers and snowboarders, licensing hair braiders, and and imposin...

Katy Grimes: Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has made no secret of the fact that he'd like a big, beautiful new sports arena in the city. Johnson is also still pushing for a change to the city charter to make the Sacramento Mayor an "Executive Mayor," and not just one of nine votes on the City Cou...

Katy Grimes: I sat through a State Assembly session this morning wondering why I was there. It was obviously a thinly veiled excuse by legislators to capture the $142 per diem payment. There were the usual speeches honoring the recently departed. But, time spent at the Capitol is rarely a waste. ...

Katy Grimes: Last week, a 4-year old had her homemade lunch confiscated by a "state inspector."  At a North Carolina elementary school the inspector told the little girl that the lunch her mother prepared for her, consisting of a turkey and cheese sandwich, a bag of potato chips, a banana, and a...

Steven Greenhut: There are few politicians I admire more than Assemblyman Chris Norby, the Fullerton Republican who has battled corporate welfare, stood up against abusive government agencies and championed pension reform. But then I saw a really crazy press release today from the Todd Spitzer campa...

Steven Greenhut: It's not every day that I side with the public employee unions. In fact, it's almost never the case, yet the Orange County Employees Association, community activists and the Occupy types were exactly right recently when they protested a plan by the Anaheim City Council to provide $1...