State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner will contribute $15 million of his personal fortune to his GOP campaign for governor this month as he battles another Silicon Valley multimillionaire for the nomination, his campaign spokesman said Sunday.

Spokesman Jarrod Agen told The Associated Press that the donation will be transferred by the end of December, bringing Poizner's personal contributions to more than $19 million. That's about the same amount his rival and front-runner, former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman, has given her campaign to date.

Whitman, a political novice, has so far dominated in fundraising and polls against Poizner and the other Republican seeking the party's nomination, former Congressman Tom Campbell.

Poizner said in a statement Sunday that he intends to communicate to voters his proposal to slash taxes and spending and create a $10 billion rainy day fund….
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Dang, that is a hunk of change.

Let the television wars begin between Meg Whitman & Poizner

Confidential intelligence documents obtained by The Times show that Iran is working on testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb.

The notes, from Iran’s most sensitive military nuclear project, describe a four-year plan to test a neutron initiator, the component of a nuclear bomb that triggers an explosion. Foreign intelligence agencies date them to early 2007, four years after Iran was thought to have suspended its weapons programme.

An Asian intelligence source last week confirmed to The Times that his country also believed that weapons work was being carried out as recently as 2007 — specifically, work on a neutron initiator.

With relatively little cash to finance his long-shot bid for the U.S. Senate next year, it's safe to say state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, needs every cent he can get.

But after a Minnesota man complained that DeVore had successfully solicited money from his mother-in-law, who suffers from dementia, the candidate quickly returned the money.

"Ethical fundraising is a tremendous concern of ours," said Joshua Treviño, DeVore's communications director.

The story began with an e-mail last week to the Mercury News from one Jim Gelbmann of Woodbury, Minn. He complained that DeVore — who's battling former HP mogul Carly Fiorina in the GOP primary for the chance to take on incumbent Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. — was one of dozens of solicitors to whom his 87-year-old mother-in-law had sent money over the preceding few months.
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Direct mail indeed and DeVore raised a whole $16.00. Not ready for prime time?

There are a couple reasons worth mentioning why I think you haven't seen much of what some people are calling for. First, the Democrats are desperate to talk about anything other than the problems with their bills, so obvious Republican shenanigans would be a godsend for them. Dick Durbin loves nothing more than going to the floor to complain about process and obstructionism. Democrats would much rather talk about how awful Republicans are than the merits of their legislation.

The other reason is, I'd argue, that I think our strategy is having an effect. Since these bills debuted, Republicans have spoken almost nonstop about how the bills cut Medicare, raise taxes, increase premiums, and increase the debt
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Obstructionism not yet since the GOP is making headway. Erickson at Red State is premature.

Two key senators criticized the most recent healthcare compromise Sunday, saying the policies replacing the public option are still unacceptable.

Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) both said a Medicare "buy-in" option for those aged 55-64 was a deal breaker.