Your FlashReport “cub reporter” is actually at the State Capitol today. I was going to search out someone that could give me an update on how the ‘Big 5’ negotiations are going on the BIG BOND$ Infrastructure Plan. Well, just now I stepped off of the elevator on the first floor of the Capitol, and found lead Assembly Republican negotiator on this package, Rick Keene.

To make a long story short, Keene was telling about 15 reporters that, despite good faith efforts by Governor Schwarzenegger, the Democrats continue to want to load up the package “like a Christmas tree loaded with ornaments” – Keene said that Republicans are still very interested in helping a common-sense infrastructure plan come forward, but that right now there is no agreement.

We’ll see how it goes – but I am proud of Keene and our GOP legislators for holding a firm line for fiscal sanity!… Read More

According to the Riverside CountyRegistrar of Voters Office Hemet Mayor Robin Lowe failed to qualify for the ballot in the 65th Assembly Republican Primary. Lowe had been actively campaigning and raising lots of money. It will be interesting to see what the details are of this withdrawal from the race.… Read More

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune (Pasadena Star-News and Whittier Daily News) carries an editorial about the replacement of Kern and Los Angeles County Congressman Bill Thomas as House Ways And Means Chairman. The Thomas Retirement gives House Republicans an opportunityto get away from the earmark and big spending philosophy. The editorial is here.… Read More

Last Friday in the mid-afternoon, things went a little crazy as I received a call from a close source letting me know that 10-term Republican Congressman Elton Gallegly (pictured to the left) was retiring. Of course this is big news because Members of Congress tend to serve for a long time, and since almost all are in non-competitive districts, they serve as long as they want. One of them retiring is big news, but we actually have two, with Congressman Bill Thomas of Bakersfield also leaving at the end of this year. However, it would be unfair to compare the retirement of Gallegly with that of Thomas. While I am no fan of Thomas, he is retiring the right way, and Gallegly… Well, here is the tale as best as I’ve been able to reconstruct it by talking to various sources and contacts…

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There has been a lot of discussion about getting on the ballot on Flash in the past few days. From people running and then not qualifying to people qualifying then not wanting to be there to those who after finding out that someone one was not running they tried to change what they were running for. Confused ???

To show you just how easy it is to get on a ballot, I even did it. One afternoon motored down to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters office and took out papers for the Riverside County Republican Central Committee. I singed some forms, and was told to bring back 20 valid Republican signatures from the District that I wanted to represent. The next thing I did was get a list of the Republican voters in my local neighborhood. It cost $5. On a Sunday afternoon, my wife and I put our new son in the stroller and went to the homes on the list in my neighborhood. I had the 20 in 1 hour. I drove back to the elections office and turned them in. Not rocket science. Pick an office you want to serve in, pay the filing fee, get the VALID signatures and turn them in.

Sometimes… Read More

San Bernardino County will once again see an array of hard-fought contests on the primary ballot in both parties, as well as for a non-partisan county post. The non-partisan post of which I speak is the race for county assessor. We previously reported on these pages incumbent Assessor Don Williamson’s intention to retire in the wake of Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Postmus’ (picturedleft)announcement for the post. However, at the close of filing Friday, the situation changed as the incumbent Williamson filed for reelection. In this race,Williamson (who has almost no money) has serious problems. (Full disclosure: I’m Postmus’ chief of staff.) San Bernardino County taxpayers had to pay $65,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit brought against him by a county employee who repeatedly had to rebuff Williamson’s advances. The San Bernardino County Sun newspaper once said Williamson "long ago carried politics to a new level of buffoonery," and that… Read More

Last Friday in the mid-afternoon, things went a little crazy as I received a call from a close source letting me know that 10-term Republican Congressman Elton Gallegly (pictured to the left) was retiring. Of course this is big news because Members of Congress tend to serve for a long time, and since almost all are in non-competitive districts, they serve as long as they want. One of them retiring is big news, but we actually have two, with Congressman Bill Thomas of Bakersfield also leaving at the end of this year. However, it would be unfair to compare the retirement of Gallegly with that of Thomas. While I am no fan of Thomas, he is retiring the right way, and Gallegly… Well, here is the tale as best as I’ve been able to reconstruct it by talking to various sources and contacts…

… Read More

There are discussions taking place right now in Sacramento about how the state is going to pay for infrastructure investment. Assembly Republicans have all come together, unified behind the idea that California does not have an income shortage – but a spending problem. Golden State taxpayers already pay enough to have a lean, effective state government AND a healthy investment of current general fund dollars into basic infrasctructure investment. Assemblyman Bob Huff, a fine conservative, makes the case for pay-as-you-go in this outstanding column, and after reading it, you will agree that any responsible infrastructure plan should have this kind of component…

The governor, the Senate and the Assembly are all talking about fixing infrastructure. This is… Read More