What if you had a reoccuring nightmare, that while you were sleeping, thousands of dead bodies were rising out of their graves to come and take…your home! Sound scary? Well it is actually happenning to the owners of homes in posh Sarataga, a suburb of San Jose. In what may prove to be a "poster-child" case for eminent domain reform on next June’s ballot, the Saratoga Cemetary District has officially left their options "open" to pursue the use of eminent domain as they seek to force the owner of a home to sell their house, which abuts the Madrona Cemetary. The "urgent need" — apparently the Saratoga Cemetary District wants to expand the roadway around the graveyard. According to the San Jose Mercury News, Nikki Teeter answered a knock on her door to find a real estate agent there, representing the District, telling her that they want to buy her home. Apparently, despite protests that the Teeters have no interest in selling their home of 29 years, the realtor kept trying to set up meetings. Apparently this Cemetary District is… Read More

Steve Baric’scampaign for CRP Secretary sent out a Campaign Update earlier today.

I have to admit, I knew Steve’s campaign was going well, but even as a friend of his, I’d lost track of just how well.

Really at this point it’d be easier to list who HASN’T yet signed up to support Steve, than who to lay out the lengthy list of who HAS.

Left, Right, Center.

North, Central, South.

Constitutional Officers, Legislators, County Party Leaders, Grassroots Leaders, CRP Board Members.

In other words, just about everyone.

Steve’s campaign isdoing a great jobcircling the wagons andmyhunch is that they’ll continue to do soall the way to February.

For what it’s worth, Steve’s Update is below. Dear Fellow California Republican,

My campaign to be the next Secretary of the California Republican Party continues to garner support throughout the state. In the past month, I have received the support of… Read More

Our State Budget is languishing in the I.C.U. and who do the Democrats call in to save the day? Dr. Tax and Dr. Spend, of course. Demonstrating what can only be described as a complete lack of mental health, today, Democrats passed a $14 billion massive government-run health care plan out of the Assembly Health Committee. Only hours before they passed their plan, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst, Liz Hill, released her annual revenue projection and forecast for our state’s finances. The LAO projects an $8 billion budget deficit in 2008-2009. That means California Government will attempt to spend $8 billion more than we have!

You’d think that being $8 billion in the hole would wake up my colleagues on the Left: Now is not the time for more spending! But the Democrats on the Assembly Health Committee ignored the LAO’s warning and voted to… Read More

Tim Morgan Receives "No Endorsement" from CRA From the Shawn Steel for RNC National Committeeman campaign:

(Sacramento) – On Sunday, the California Republican Assembly refused to endorse incumbent Tim Morgan in his quest for re-election as National Committeeman. This is a serious embarrassment to his re-election prospects.

With his opponent Shawn Steel already locking up overwhelming majorities amongst Assembly Republicans, Senate Republicans and Central Committee Chairs, the CRA Endorsement quest was a last ditch effort for Morgan to infuse some momentum into his campaign.

"The California Republican Assembly has long been a supporter of Morgan, who has been a long time incumbent," said Steel spokesman Mike Richman. "This weekend, Morgan spent time lobbying delegates and former supporters, but it was obviously too little too late. His failure at CRA continues his horrid re-election campaign effort."

Earlier in the year, Morgan suffered a humiliating defeat when the Young Republican Federation of California endorsed Shawn Steel over Tim Morgan. On the heels of that defeat, Morgan felt the need… Read More

One of California’s most capable political consultants, Wayne Johnson (a principal in JohnsonClark — click on their ad!) has spent years giving of his time as a leader in the National Association of Political Consultants, and he just recently finished up a two-year stint as that group’s President (he now serves in the role of Immediate Past President and Chairman of the AAPC)..

Right now, Johnson and his business partner, Tim Clark, are in Bali, Indonesia for the 40th Annual World Conference of the International Association of Political Consultants (IAPC).

I heard from Wayne, who had just, along with a colleague and fellow California political consultant Ben Goddard (partner on Goddard Clauseen – okay, click on their ad, too!) participated in a private meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to discuss Indonesia’s remarkable… Read More

It would probably be a bit impish of Senate Republicans to do an "I told you so" dance around the Capitol — but they really do deserve to do one… Except for the fact that because they were so right-on about the fiscal woes facing California, that there is no time, and no reason to celebrate. Actually, I am sure, to a Senator, they wish they had been very, very wrong.

The Legislative Analyst just released her report on the state’s finances, and she is predicting a $2 billion shortfall in this year’s budget, and that we will start the talk about next year’s budget facing an $8 billion shortfall between anticipated revenues and expenses.

Senator Bob Dutton has already called for the Governor to declare a State of Fiscal Emergency*, and call the legislators back to Sacramento to deal with this problem NOW — and so far, the Governor has not, that I… Read More

This video speaks for itself. I am happy to post a ‘response’ or an effort to ‘explain’ this by the Huckabee campaign. Given the significant problem we face, as Americans, with a government that taxes and spends too much, this is quite damning… href="http://www.taxhikemike.com">www.taxhikemike.com.) As I told someone yesterday, who said that they liked Huckabee because of where he stands on "social issues" — high taxes is a huge social issue. For example, how negative is the impact on a young family when high taxes mean that both parents have to work, with no option for one of them to stay home to raise the kids?… Read More

Welcome to the second installment of the FlashReport Podcast — this week I am pleased to present a one-on-one interview with California State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. A tad bit over eleven minutes long, this podcast focuses on the role that Poizner is taking in opposing Proposition 93.

[Did you miss our inaugural podcast interview with Presidential candidate Fred Thompson? Click here.]

FR readers will recall that Proposition 93 is the self-serving initiative placed on the ballot by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez which, if passed, will allow him to sit in the "big chair" for six more years, remaining Speaker until the end of the next Governor’s first-term. In this interview Poizner goes into quite a bit of detail about what a lie this measure truly is… We talk about… Read More