Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Update: This was confirmed Saturday morning.

“Three different sources close to the Romney campaign indicate to NBC News that Mitt Romney will announce House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan as his vice-presidential running mate at tomorrow’s campaign event in Norfolk, VA.,” NBC News is reporting.

“The announcement will be in front of the U.S.S. Wisconsin — which just happens to be Ryan’s home state.

“With recent national polls showing Romney trailing President Barack Obama, Ryan is a bold pick. He would excite economic conservatives, and is considered one of his party’s rising stars.

“But his budget plan — which would substantially transform Medicare and Medicaid — is a lightning rod.

“In fact, Democrats argue that Ryan’s selection marks an opportunity to highlight Ryan’s desired changes to Medicare, which include giving future seniors a voucher or premium support to help pay for their health insurance. Under Ryan’s plan, future seniors would have the choice of using the voucher/premium support to purchase private insurance or through Medicare’s traditional fee-for-service model.

The rest of the article is here.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

Great weather at the Tahoe Concours d’Elegance (AKA, Tahoe Wooden Boat Show)!

This boat is “Saga,” owned by Ed Scott, whose father wrote the famous book “Saga of Lake Tahoe.” I’ve known Ed for years. He’s an international lawyer for Chevron Corp., which I used to write about for the S.F. Chronicle.

Below “Saga”:
•”Ciara,” a Riva runabout owned by Dirk Reed of Nevada City.
• Riva is the featured boat in this year’s show.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

(credit: Louisiana Press Journal)

Something has been missing from the Louisiana City Council meetings in recent months and that is a sense of decorum.


Conversations have erupted into tense shouting matches at times, all to the detriment of city progress.


We’re not naive enough to think that all the board members and city officials will always personally get along, there are too many diverse personalities and egos involved. But when people let their emotions get the best of them, they often create scenes in the board room that all could do without.


At the Monday, May 11 meeting, City Administrator Bob Jenne accused Councilman Chuck Hoffman of “grandstanding” when he brought up a constituent question about the safety of the dead tree in the middle of Oak Tree Drive.


Later on, Hoffman got into a virtual shouting match with Mayor Tom Wallace over the alleged illegality of his appointments to the Historic Preservation Commission. Hoffman said Bill Suddarth and Allen Telle were not legally qualified and Wallace disagreed.


Shortly after that, council member Robbyn Morris asked to explain a vote against Lisa Helms for Library Board and Wallace denied her, saying she was out of turn through Roberts Rules of Order.


During the exchange, Wallace slammed his gavel down so hard on the counter it sent a loud crack through the council chambers.


People are going to get heated, particularly over political matters. However, the Louisiana City Council is reverting to behavior at times that does not behoove adults trying to conduct important city business.


The council and city officials need to leave their emotions at the door and agree to disagree in a more civilized forum.

The full article is here.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

“Advisers to President Barack Obama are scripting a Democratic National Convention featuring several Republicans in a prime-time appeal to independents — and planning a blistering portrayal of Mitt Romney as a heartless aristocrat who “would devastate the American middle class,” Democratic sources tell POLITICO.

“According to convention planning documents, the three-night convention in Charlotte, N.C., early next month will seek to ‘[e]xpose Mitt Romney as someone who doesn’t understand middle class challenges” while also burnishing “the President’s image as someone whose life story is about fighting for middle class Americans and those working to get into the middle class.’”

The rest of the article is here.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »