Dear Big Daddy,I always thought California had the best politics, but no way: New York has us beat. What do you think?–Bemused in BurlingameHey B.B.,I agree. If you think the Rent is Too Damn High here, you should try Manhattan. You can get 3,000 square feet and four bedrooms in Mendocino for the cost of

Dear Big Daddy,A straightforward question: Will eMeg be done in by Nannygate? –Domestic in DinubaDear Dom,Aye Carumba!

Funny, how this maid situation got so, well, messy. A pity, too. Given my past with the Brown family and with Gov. Moonbeam in particular, I was hoping to see the bald one sweat until the wee hours

Dear Big Daddy,Hey, during the debate Jerry Brown took a shot at you for your rap on him for the “obscene surplus.” So what’s with that?–Larry in Los Banos

Hey L.B. Larry,Well, he’s a wild and crazy guy and you never know what he’s going to do. I’ll tell you this: He was a pain

Dear Big Daddy,We’re 83 days late on the state budget and the governor who was in China now is MIA with the sniffles. Nothing is getting done and there’s no urgency at all. What happened to our Democracy? Should I be moving to Canada?–Anxious in Alturas

Dear Anxious,No, you should be moving to England.

Dear Big Daddy,What did you think of the Jerry Brown – Bill Clinton episode?–Watching in Wasco

Dear Watching,The video from that 1992 debate is entertaining: Brown, pointing at Clinton, alleging improprieties to help Hillary; Clinton, jabs right back, angrily accusing Brown of “jumping on his wife” (interesting choice of words, that). Both came off looking

Dear Big Daddy,Finally, the Assembly showed common sense and rescinded that idiotic rule on women staffers being forced to wear sweaters. What do you think?–Irked in the Assembly

Dear Irked,I couldn’t agree more. It was a foolish rule – women should be allowed to remove their sweaters any time they want. I will defend that

Dear Big Daddy,My Capitol friends and coworkers are constantly amazed at the inappropriate attire of many of the younger women who work here. We haven’t seen this much cleavage, clingy fabric, thong tops, bare backs and bare midriffs since our last trip to Victoria’s Secret. I’m no prude, but this place seems to be going

Dear Big Daddy,The number of legislative fund-raisers falls off dramatically after next Tuesday. What gives? I’m ready to pony up.–Jim in CoronadoDear Jim,Ah, a man with money and no place to put it. This warms my cockles.

Fundraisers take a nose dive after the end of session because those special-interest bills that had been held

Dear Big Daddy,So, it’s been five years, big guy. What, if anything, have you learned in half a decade of making fun of your paper’s own readers?Snarky in Sonora

Dear Snark Week,As anyone who has read every week of this claptrap knows (anyone?), it’s been a pretty schizophrenic time for me. Both in the sense

Dear Big Daddy,What about Meg Whitman and her money? –Envious in Eureka You and me both, buddy. I could have ruled the world – or at least California – with $100 million in campaign cash. Heck, I almost did with hardly a fraction of that. Oh, what I could have done with $100 million. As