The FlashReport today is topped with two ‘must read’ columns. The first is an exclusive feature column penned by Kevin Dayton of the Associated Builders and Contractors of California…. What would you say if I told you that the budget for the State of California — you know, the one signed in the spirit of ‘bi-partisan cooperation’ (translation: where just enough GOPers joined with the Governor to pass the budget while the overwhelming majority of legislative GOPers voted NO on the budget) – what would you say if I told you that it contains six million dollars in funding for a ‘labor institute’ where YOUR tax dollars are literally funding a massive big labor education and training camp ensconced at a California University? It is absolutely NUTS. What is worse is that the Associated Builders and Contractors, who see this as a government subsidy for those who would drive businesses, large and small, out of the state, lobbied hard against this funding – both during the budget debate and also for a veto afterwards — to no avail. If any GOPers who voted for the budget this year want to pen a column in support of this labor education institute, well you let me know! Crazy. I asked Kevin to pen a column so that you could all share in the outrage. I hope you take the time to read it!
The other ‘must read’ column is from our frequent Golden Pen winner, Thomas Sowell, who really hit the nail on the head with his piece talking about the important impact that the public is truly having on the immigration debate. But for the public outrage, we would be looking at another round of ‘give them amnesty’…
Ace San Francisco Chronicle Reporter Carla Marinucci somehow discovered that Governor and Mrs. Schwarzenegger (or is that Governor Schwarzenegger and Mrs. Shriver? My protocol is lacking here.) flew out to DC to attend a gala event at the White House honoring a Kennedy-clan member. The news on this was that it was more or less kept secret by the Schwarzenegger Administration. Presumably after a major poll showed that Bush is more unpopular than ever in California, they wanted to attend the event, but not have a lot of "Bush/Arnold" hoopla. By the look of the MSM news coverage today, they by-and-large succeeded. That said, Marinucci did report on it today and it is linked on the main page.
There is a major story today in the Washington Post on Congressman and Mrs. John Doolittle. The story is trying to make a big deal out of two things — one is that Mrs. Doolittle, a fundraising consultant by profession, takes a 15% commission off of moneys raised into the Congressman’s political funds. So far the Doolittle’s have taken well over a hundred thousand dollars in personal income from this process. There are also tens of thousands of dollars spent on gifts and such. The Post makes an issue of that. I’ll let you read the article and decide for yourself if there is anything there worth getting rankled about. I am more rankled by Doolittle’s vote against the Republican Study Committee Alternative Budget (that would have cut federal discretionary spending by a modest 5%) than I am worried about this stuff.
Steve Westly is so confident that Phil Angelides will tank this November that he is already talking to folks about running for Governor again in 2010. He can fight it out with Villaraigosa, Newsom, and maybe the new Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster — for the nomination. My money’s on Lieutenant Governor Tom McClintock!
Have a great day!
Jon
P.S. To the reader who penned the lengthy and eloquent note to me on why I haven’t been focusing on the fact that Democrat operative Susan Kennedy (pictured to the right) is still the Governor’s Chief of Staff — well, its not because I suddenly have decided that her being there is a good idea. As a matter of fact, I dropped a note to Bruce Herschensohn the other day and just addressing the envelope made me think about that role that she played in his tragic loss to Barbara Boxer back when she was Executive Director of the State Democratic Party, and it made me mad again. I think I don’t keep writing on it because it doesn’t seem to do any good, and the theraputic benefit of expressing my frustration about my Republican Governor having a Democrat Chief of Staff is more than offset that, by and large, no one else seems as ramped up about it as me – or at least as willing to publicly express themselves. By the way, it’s not personal. Kennedy, by all accounts, is quite pleasant. If Angelides were Governor (HA!), I wouldn’t expect him to hire me (a former Executive Director of the State GOP) to be his Chief of Staff. ‘nough said.
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