Congressman Devin Nunes from the Central Valley has taken a step beyond any of his pro-redistricting colleagues (slightly less than half of the delegation is willing to nuke the ‘incumbent protection plan’ that locked us into minority status in Sacramento).

The Congressman has started running his own ads in his area, encouraging voters to vote YES on 77. I have attached the ad so that you can download it and check it out!

Way to go Devin!

Jon

PS: Props to the Governor for putting SEVERAL more MILLIONS of dollars down on his reform measures. Right on!… Read More

No music hook this time….but good content nonetheless….

I challenged our congressional delegation to get ahead of the bad guys with regard to fixing the levee system in the northern San Joaquin delta region…..

check out this Op-Ed authored by one of the smartest guys around…Chuck Poochigian….he’s got it right.

Good job Chuck!… Read More

FR Bloggers Adam Probolsky, Mike Spence and Jon Fleischman are here at the "Big A" with Governor Schwarzenegger, cheering on the Angels (who are losing 5-3 in the 8th, but we’ll come back!).

Ok, well, in theory, Governor Schwarzegger is here at the game somewhere. And I’m sure he has plans to stop by our Terrace-level seats. Then again, Congressman Gary Miller supposedly has seats close to ours, and he isn’t around.

Kind of makes you wonder if there is an "in" spot to catch the game, and we aren’t there!

To further promote this "there’s a cool place to be and we aren’t there theory" – we are all guests of San Bernardino County Supervisor Bill Postmus, who is at the game but…well…we haven’t seen him either!

We were also wondering how many union members are here, watching baseball while their paychecks are being raided to stop Arnold’s Reform Agenda.

Well, we’ll keep looking for the "important people," and rooting on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim!

Jon, Adam and Mike at the "Big A"… Read More

John Kerry comes to California yesterday and never quite says that the concept behind Proposition 75 is a bad thing, only that he thinks it creates an imbalance against union interests. So theoretically, he could have endorsed Prop 75 and then announced support for a companion "shareholder protection" measure, which is what Schwarzenegger did. But that wasn’t going to happen, obviously. And anyone who thought Kerry might take even a baby step away from Democratic orthodoxy learned a lesson when reporters asked him about Proposition 74 instead.

In a rare lapse into political courage, Kerry has actually talked in the past about the need to extend the teacher tenure probationary period, which is what Prop 74 would do. So technically speaking, Kerry supports the initiative, whether he says so in public or not. (Not, by the way.) But he can’t oppose 74 either, because he supports its content. So Kerry pulled a Kerry, and told the press that he wasn’t here to talk about that.

Earlier this week, John McCain comes to… Read More

Some so-called educators just don’t get it. To them "diversity", as measured by how many of this race are in a class or school is more important than whether or not kids can read.

Take Los Angeles Unified. The Pacific Legal Foundation and Ward Connerlyhave filed a suit alleging that theDistrict isviolating Prop. 209.Read it here. Their defense is we voluntarily offered to does this for a federal court. As if that makes racial discrimination okay.

If only LAUSD spent time and moneyon radically improving their schools instead of implementing radical notions of "diversity" and racial discrimination.… Read More

I don’t disagree with comments made in response to my item on Prop. 77. I am, however, a paid employee of the House of Representatives and so, unfortunately, somewhat restricted in how much bashing I might feel like doing about the current state of the House Republicans. It is not so much how that I might impact myself but it might prove uncomfortable for my boss.

Having said that, I am happy to point out that my boss, Tom Feeney, is one of the good guys in today’s House…it would be hard to lump him in with much of what has transpired in areas of spending, government expansion, etc. He was one of the 25 that voted against the prescription drug bill and Citizens Against Government Waste named him one of this year’s two "Super Heroes" for getting 100% on their scorecard (the other Jeff Flake of Arizona).

And to clarify, I don’t really have any feelings one way or another on Prop. 77 although some came away from my previous post thinking I oppose it. I’m indifferent. The… Read More

THOMAS PUSHES LETTER – CAN YOU BLAME DREIER FOR NOT WANTING TO SIGN?

I am a big supporter of Proposition 77 – the measure that calls for a new process of redistricting in California that I believe will lead to more competitive seats in general elections. I do not believe, as some do, that this measure will cause a ‘moderation’ in our GOP nominees. That said, sometimes politics does make strange bedfellows. I will tell you now that I never dreamt that I would be rowing an oar in the same boat as Congressman Bill Thomas.

BIG-GOVERNMENT BILL THOMAS Let me start here: It is very easy to dislike Congressman Thomas on a personal level. As a matter of fact, he almost makes it fun to not like him. In a moment, I will talk about the… Read More

It was recently reported that self-made gazzilionairre Alex Spanos had made a seven figure donation to support Proposition 77, the Redistricting Reform measure on the November Special Election ballot. It was interesting to read today in the Capitol Weekly that Spanos, a prolific donor to GOP candidates and causes, had recently made a $25,000 contribution to Democrat Controller Steve Westly’s campaign for Governor. Odd. Weekly writer Shane Goldmacher reports that the donation "…continues a long tradition of Greek-American Spanos bankrolling candidates running against State Treasurer Phil Angelides, a fellow Greek-American who is running for governor."

Of course, both Spanos and Angelides have so much money that this $25k is probably the equivalent of spitting on the ground in front of your nemesis…

When I was Executive Director of the California Republican Party, I had occassion to… Read More