An edited version of this commentary appears today in Capitol Weekly Newspaper, and can be accessed here.

THE “BEST WE COULD GET” WAS THE LARGEST TAX INCREASE IN THE HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA? By Jon Fleischman

Last week, six Republican legislators joined with all of the Democrats in the State Capitol to vote for the single largest state-level tax increase in the history of our nation. I could spend a few paragraphs outlining for you why, on a policy level, this is exactly the opposite of what Californians need right now from their state government. But I wanted to spend a little more time on the political ramifications of that decision, at least as it impacted the delegates at the California… Read More

Earlier we blogged that Assemblyman Anthony Adams resigned had resigned as San Bernardino County Chairman. Now I have heard that this may, in fact, NOT be the case. So we pulled down that earlier post, and we’ll keep you apprised. Sorry, folks. My source was pretty reliable.… Read More

The Republicans’ new leader in the Senate, Dennis Hollingsworth, announced his new leadership team today. Congratulations to Senators Walters, Strickland and Wyland. It’s noteworthy that freshmen senators Walters and Strickland hold such important positions:

SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER HOLLINGSWORTH TAPS MEMBERS FOR KEY POSITIONS Sacramento—Senator Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth (R—Murrieta) announced today his new selections for roles within his Senate Republican Leadership Team. Effective today, Senator Mimi Walters (R-Laguna Hills) is assuming the duties of the Assistant Senate Republican Leader. Senator Walters is well known for her commonsense fiscal discipline and commitment to governmental reform.

“Senator Walters is a talented and gifted individual with unwavering principles who is best known for her conservative principles. As our state continues to tackle the serious fiscal issues plaguing California, I am confident that Walters will provide a sound fiscal approach that best represents California working families,” stated Hollingsworth.

Senator Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks) has been… Read More

Today twenty eight members of the Assembly Republican Caucus sent a letter to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the letter, Assembly GOPers pledge to be as helpful as possible in helping pave the way for use of those parts of the recently passed federal "stimulus" package that will actually help the economy.

Along with that, however, was a prudent request of the Governor — which is that he reject any of the package that comes only with the creation of expansion of programs that would require future funding.

The signed letter is linked below.… Read More

Just in — apparently Assemblyman Anthony Adams has resigned the Chairmanship of the San Bernardino County Republican Party — a post to which he had only recently been elected. While I don’t have a lot of details, you can be sure that this is fallout for his vote last week for the largest state-level tax increase in our nation’s history.… Read More

At the California Republican Convention Ivisited with former Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney. As FR readers probably know, Governor Romney bought a house in La Jolla.

We talked about various things over the 20 minutes or so we spoke. One thing really stood out. He said he was not going to be in California more than six months less one day.

Why? He didn’t want to be declared a resident because there is about a 5% difference in the tax rate for “wealthy” people between Massachusetts and California. And that was before the surtax and increases recently approved by the Legislature and Governor Schwarzenegger.

Massachusetts fondly referred to, as Taxachussets by conservatives is now a tax haven for Mitt Romney.

California doesn’t get it. If you tax the “wealthy” more than those around you they will leave or make sure they pay their taxes in another state. Ask Mitt Romney, Tiger Woods or go door to door in Incline Village.

California needs a new sign on our border.

Welcome to Taxifornia!… Read More

For what it’s worth, I wanted to share some thoughts about the quasi State of the Union last night:

There’s no doubt Obama is an exceptional orator, but much of the content was a mile wide and an inch deep and it will be hard to translate so many policy priorities into first year accomplishments.

First some general audience observations. Rep. Sanchez was falling out of her chair to hug, handshake and buss the president; despite what some say we are a nation at war and Congress could do better to keep the celebrity president hysteria to a minimum. I also noted several familiar GOP and Democratic members seeking autographs toward the end of the ceremony. Speaker Pelosi on more than one occasion seemed uncertain when to applaud–reforming social security, good idea–oh wait. One reporter we heard said members got their as much as 12 hours early to hold their aisle seats for a handshake chance. Fortunately Congress’ results are not matched against billable office hours.

President Obama repeated the phrase or iterations of "we inherited" on three occasions that I counted. We all know what he was saying and for… Read More

There have been many voices heard since the state budget was passed with the help of a handful of GOP legislators last week. I waited to digest the news, listen to the debate coming out of the Republican convention and think about the future of the Republican Party in our great state. It’s crystal clear to me now what change we need for the California Republican Party. We need a divorce from our governor.

There is great outrage—and much deserved—at the GOP legislators that voted for the budget. But we need to also put ourselves in their shoes. They are members of the minority party (and a minority party that is significantly shrunken in size). There was incredible pressure for them to vote for a budget. Democrat legislators, members of the press, educators and others from their local districts and—let’s not forget—the governor, were all pressuring them to “do the right thing.”

So I find it interesting that we, as a party, took action against the handful of legislators who voted for the budget but didn’t take any action to remove Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from the CRP board.

The legislators would not have been in the… Read More