I’m watching "Hardball" with Chris Matthews, and they are talking about the ACLU’s insistence that photos of alleged torture of terrorists be made available to the public. The reps from the ACLU seem so sure that these photos will shock the conscience of the American public, and damn the Bush administration. But here’s what befuddles me…photos and videos and nurses’ testimonies about what happens to babies in abortion clinics has been out there for years, but that didn’t shock the conscience of the American public enough to overturn Roe v. Wade. The ACLU is counting on the same activists who will fight to the death to defend the horror of what happens in abortion clinics to be the same activists who will fight roughing up terrorists. I’m not sure you can have a bleeding heart for terrorists if you don’t have one for innocent babies. If photos are released of what happens to terrorists, then I would like to juxtapose those photos to ones from abortion procedures, and ask the ACLU to be consistent in their human rights campaigns. Perhaps California activists could write or call their local ACLU offices and ask for that.… Read More

The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with their own money.

~ Alexis de Tocqueville (1805 – 1859)

Three Liners: OK, so ‘one-liner’ is the term we all know and are accustomed to hearing, well I can’t tell you much in one line, but here’s a group of three-liners on various subjects which may give you some information you didn’t know:

House Cafeteria: Prices in the government-run cafeterias in the basement of the House Office Buildings have gone up recently, at the alarming rate of 31% between 2007 and the end of 2008. According to House Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard, who oversees the House cafeterias; since Democrats took control of the House they have instituted requirements for organically grown food and required all workers to be union members in order to serve or cook in the cafeterias, and these steps have in turn caused the price increase. But, House staffers do not like paying for all this, so your tax dollars are being considered to subsidize this too!

Cuts: The… Read More

Today Assembly Republican Leader-Elect Sam Blakeslee will name four of his colleagues to a transition team — Nathan Fletcher, Jean Fuller, Martin Garrick and Jeff Miller. These folks will help Blakeslee figure out what changes should take place as the leadership passed from Mike Villines, who infamously resigned his post last week (effective June 1) amidst growing criticism of his orchestration of and vote for massive tax increases.… Read More

I spent last night on the web, doing some research for a forthcoming column on how the left abuses the California Environmental Quality Act to promote an ardent anti-progress agenda. After an hour of browsing the web, I discovered a reason to feel very bad for Mary Kimball, Jeb Burton, Leroy Bertolero, Jeff Merwin, Don Winters, Richard Reed, and Keith Williams. Who are these seven people, you might ask? Why do I feel bad for them? I will tell you now that it really has nothing directly to do with CEQA, but with the fact that they are all victims of a CEQA abuser.

Let me back up just a little bit, and say that in reading about CEQA, I came upon this column from FR friend Lew Uhler of the National Tax Limitation Committee in the Sacramento Business Journal. In it, Lew specifically references a situation over in Yolo County of which I have been aware, but haven’t written about before. A reputable company, Clark Pacific, is trying to build a cement plant in Woodland on the site of a former sugar plant. The plan got all of its requisite approvals from local government,… Read More

Last week lame duck Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines appeared on the low-profile internet television program Central Valley Talk hosted by former GOP Assemblyman Mike Briggs.

There seems something poetic about this appearance. By way of a little history lesson for FlashReport leaders, in 2001, Briggs rather infamously broke ranks with Republican legislators to vote with Democrats for a Gray Davis penned budget that increased taxes on Californians, according to then-Senate Republican Leader Jim Brulte. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, Briggs broke rank with his Republican colleagues after securing “millions in goodies” for his district.

Since articles about the departure of Villines as leader have hinted that the GOPer who orchestrated a terrible budget deal at the center of which were massive sales, income and car tax increases may look to running for public office again in the future. In fact, the… Read More

Last week lame duck Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines appeared on the low-profile internet television program Central Valley Talk hosted by former GOP Assemblyman Mike Briggs.

There seems something poetic about this appearance. By way of a little history lesson for FlashReport leaders, in 2001, Briggs rather infamously broke ranks with Republican legislators to vote with Democrats for a Gray Davis penned budget that increased taxes on Californians, according to then-Senate Republican Leader Jim Brulte. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, Briggs broke rank with his Republican colleagues after securing “millions in goodies” for his district.

Since articles about the departure of Villines as leader have hinted that the GOPer who orchestrated a terrible budget deal at the center of which were massive sales, income and car tax increases may look to running for public office again in the future. In fact, the… Read More

From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary E-mail…

The Banana Republic of California

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While the Whitman for Governor campaign has brought a Florida politico out to California, former Florida Statehouse Speaker Marco Rubio has brought a California politico to Florida, snatched from the Poizner campaign. Former Poizner political director Brian Seitchik has left the Golden State for the Sunshine State. Rubio and his new hire, Seitchik, will have a big hurdle to clear the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Mel Martinez — this morning Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced that he is running for that seat as well. Rubio will be the conservative, and Crist the moderate, in that GOP match up.… Read More