Think that voter fraud is ACORN signing up some poor kid 29 times for smokes? Apparently voter fraud is now for the rich and famous as well. Opponents of a Hilton condo and hotel projectare reporting 569 questionable voters in the election that approved the project by 129 votes.

George Runner should do a press conference there for his Vote Safe Initiative.No smokes needed.… Read More

Assembly Bill 656 is a picture-perfect example of the flawed logic that prevails in the California Legislature as legislators wrestle with an enormous budget deficit while also trying to appease the dominant far-left liberal wing.

Need revenues? No problem. Tax big oil. That scenario plays well in a Democrat primary, so full steam ahead.

It’s not a coincident that AB 656 is authored by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, who is embroiled in a contested primary for Attorney General in 2010 and thus needs to burnish his liberal credentials. AB 656 seeks to raise revenues and attack the oil industry by assessing an excise tax on oil – extracted only in California.

Where to begin. First, Mr. Torrico’s bill clearly makes us more dependent on foreign oil at a time when most Californians want us less dependent on foreign oil.

AB 656 also would increase gas prices in the midst of the worst recession we have experienced in our lifetimes – and everyone acknowledges that a gas price increase will hit the poor hardest. I guess the party of the less privileged can hammer the less fortunate if it benefits them politically!

Finally, the one principle… Read More

The Governor gave about a fifteen minute address to the legislature today. Nothing unexpected. You can watch it here (for now), or read it below (or here). Courtesy of the Sacramento Bee you can see a spreadsheet detailing all of the Governor’s proposed cuts (and borrowing) here.

The Governor’s Speech (As Prepared): Earlier this year, we began consolidating all of our IT departments. My proposal to consolidate all of our energy functions is in legislation before you right now. So is a… Read More

With the announcement that President Obama has tapped Republican Congressman John McHugh of New York, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, to be the new Secretary of the Army, this opens up the top GOP spot on this key House Committee.

If you were to go strictly on seniority, longtime Maryland Representative Roscoe Bartlett would assume the Ranking Member position. But these days, it is no longer an automatic assumption that the most senior member takes over.

California Republican Howard P. “Buck” McKeon has the next highest level of seniority and the FlashReport has heard rumors that he is looking at a run.

Perhaps, politically, he saw the recent battle for the Ranking Member slot on the House Ways & Means Committee, where fellow Californian Wally Herger, who was next in line in terms of seniority was beat out for that committee’s top spot by Michigan’s Dave Camp – who was… Read More

You have to love the Democrats in the State Assembly. Finally confronted with having to actually cut general fund spending, their frustration is being revealed in hysterically funny ways. Take this exchange for example:

"At the budget conference committee Monday, Assembly Budget Committeee Chairwoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, vented some of her frustrations at chief deputy finance director Ana Matosantos. "Noting that the governor had made three separate revisions to his May budget, Evans curtly asked Matosantos "Are we done now?" Evans’ cross-examination of Matosantos garnered an angry reply from the administration. “We will continue to revise our budget numbers as the situation deteriorates,” Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said. “It is our sincere hope that Assemblywoman Evans will be able to keep up.” Where has that type of rhetoric been for the last five years? Ridicule should be an integral part of our comeback strategy.… Read More

In 1983, while I was still in Junior High School, the California State Legislature passed into law the “Gwen Moore Telecommunications Act” which, among other things, based on the idea that all people, regardless of their financial means, should have the ability to have basic telephone service, directed the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to create a tax on all phone bills, and the money collected from that tax would then be used to significantly subsidize basic phone service for those who fall below a certain financial income level – this is called the “Lifeline” Program.

As FlashReport readers might suspect, as a conservative columnist, I think that such radical “wealth redistribution schemes” are un-American, and represent yet another example of the expansion of the right to life, liberty and happiness by the political left. Unfortunately, this 1983 law is just one example of thousands of pieces of legislation passed over the years that contribute to California being one of the most expensive places to live and work in our country.

You may wonder why I am bringing up a piece of legislation that is as old as Michael Jackson’s… Read More

Today Governor Schwarzenegger will speak to a special joint session of the California State Legislature. His topic of discussion will be the dire straits in which the state finds itself fiscally, and the need for the legislature to promptly place on his desk massive, serious cuts in state spending in order to ensure that the state’s expenditures are in line with its income.

In February, Democrats and the Governor, aided by a handful of short-sighted, pledge-breaking Republicans hit the pockets of California taxpayers hard with over $14 billion in higher taxes. The voters had a chance to weigh in with their opinion of those taxes, and over $16 billion more that were attached to the passage of Proposition 1A by soundly (or perhaps overwhelmingly is a better description) rejecting them. Thus the Governor comes to the legislature looking for an “all cuts” solution because he has interpreted, and rightly so, that California taxpayers expect the state’s crisis to be solved with available revenues.

The real challenge for those listening to the Governor today is to actually try to care about what he is saying. I know that I have received countless… Read More

Actually, Susan Kennedy, the Chief of Staff for this Governor and the last, is a good student of government. She knows that in crisis there is opportunity. In her speech to the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce she said, "There is a greater chance that we will achieve change this year than in the last 50 years.” And she added: "The single biggest danger is that in our urgency to solve our problem, we’re going to miss the opportunity for structural reform — which is critical.” She also called for a flat income tax and made the promise, "I guarantee you a lot of those obsolete boards and commissions will be eliminated." Thanks to Carla Marinucci of the San Francisco Chronicle for being the only reporter I can find who covered this important talk. As Kennedy said "our backs are against the wall’ and we have no other choice but to make changes that were not considered even a month ago.

Some of these changes should have happened decades ago as money was spent on programs that have marginal benefits.… Read More