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Because I had urged state GOP opposition to Obama’s Common Core Standards in an Oct. 1 FlashReport post, I received an invitation to attend the Tea Party California Caucus (TPPC) meeting/rally at the convention on Saturday.

I am on friendly terms with many Tea Party members, but I disagree on some of the basic tenets so I do not identify myself as Tea Party. Nevertheless I went to the meeting, and I have to admit it was a mind blower. I dragged along my wife, who is not afflicted with my hunger for politics, and even she was mesmerized.

I can’t remember the last time I was in a room with that kind of energy, unless it’s the auditorium of my high school for a pep rally. It was really something to see adults exhibit adult passion, rather than adult calculation, with such ease and force. I saw real emotion, real intensity of purpose. In spite of myself I felt at home, because this is the kind of passion I feel when I object to the Common Core Standards. The standards are a scam, and it makes me angry. I don’t want American education controlled by vested interests… Read More

Government Shutdown Day 7: It wasn’t a very good weekend for my sports teams. The Kansas City Chiefs won and are 5-0. And, the Boston Bruins are 2-0. But, in car racing and baseball and college football, nothing came out as I wanted. And, my son crushed me this weekend in our NFL fantasy league, although I did win our NASCAR fantasy league this week. Ah, but there is always next weekend.

Such is not the case with the government shutdown. For, as John Boehner now quite famously quipped at a press conference on Friday in response to a question about the president saying he was “winning”, “This is not some damn game!” So, what happens next? What will break the stalemate?

It is quite clear now that this is no longer just about the shutdown and funding the government for the year, but it is also about the debt limit. The Treasury Department has been saying that by October 15th, they would have exhausted all borrowing authority and will be left with about $30 billion in cash. Independent analysts believe that the $30 billion buys them about another 7 to10 days. That gets you until October 22-26. But, those same analysts are… Read More

Some species of jellyfish can grow to be very big. They are also said to be brainless and, to the unwary, can be hazardous. To taxpayers, this is also a fair description of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The massive district, geographically the nation’s largest and second in enrollment, covers all or part of 31 communities in addition to the city of Los Angeles. Its budget is larger than a least 18 states and, unfortunately, possesses a well-earned reputation for horrible management. One has to look back only a few years for prominent examples.

In the late 1990s, the district set about building the nation’s most expensive high school on real estate that turned out to be contaminated with hazardous chemicals. Mitigating this problem added years to the completion of the project and millions to the taxpayers’ bill. Although the evidence suggested that this boondoggle was the result of incompetence, ignorance and outright corruption, LAUSD officials uniformly asserted the Bart Simpson defense: “I didn’t do it, nobody saw me and you can’t prove a thing.” Incredibly, no one was ever held accountable for this fiscal fiasco.

Since then,… Read More

I always have to remind my readers the morning after a California Republican Party convention that the cutting-edge analysis of the weekend that you’ve come here to find won’t be here until tomorrow. You see, especially with this event, I am not just trying to chronicle the festivities, but I am in-fact a participant in them. As such I actually don’t write much during the convention (I tweeted a good amount at this one) — and I come home — spent. In this case, I left convention for my son’s birthday party, and then off to Disneyland for eight hours.

Of course FlashReport analysis of a California Republican Party Convention wouldn’t be complete without our insightful regular feature — CRP Convention Winners and Losers. As a participant over the weekend, I have some cool ideas for people to honor, one way or the other. But I am happy to report that these events are big enough an there are many things that happen when I am not around.

So… Once again I am looking for nominations/suggestions of people at the convention who were winners and who were losers. Don’t be shy! You can comment here, or… Read More

Government Shutdown Day 6: Today is the Lord’s Day in my Christian faith. That calls for a little more introspection and a little less fact telling.

In the last week, I and my Republican House colleagues have been called “terrorists with bombs strapped to our chests” by President Obama’s press secretary. Harry Reid said we are “anarchists”. A New York Times reporter said we were just like the terrorist group, Hezbollah. Congressman George Miller, Democrat of California, called us “jihadists” on the floor of the House.

These are not terms that should be thrown around lightly. They are the modern equivalent of calling someone Hitler or a Nazi Storm Trooper. Real terrorists, jihadists and suicide bombers are out there right now doing terrible things that bear no equivalency to the desire to repeal ObamaCare.

A Republican colleague of mine, from a swing district, had to pull his children out of a public elementary school last week because they were being threatened…….by their teachers!!! His wife called him crying at the terrible things the teachers said about… Read More

Government Shutdown Day 5: More factoids for your edification:

The House just passed and sent the 13th bill to the Senate over the last 10 days to fully or partially re-open the government. The president and Harry Reid have said that they will not “pick winners and losers” by passing any of these bills that only fund parts of the government and not all. But, like much of what they say, that’s not true. Last Monday, the Senate passed and the president signed a House bill that ensured that all uniformed military personnel and civilian support personnel were not furloughed. This morning, we just passed a bill that assures furloughed workers that they will be paid in full whenever the shutdown is over. The president said he will sign it. So why, Mr. President and Mr. Reid, have you chosen to sign bills for the military and largely-unionized federal employees’ pay, but not for children’s cancer research, veteran’s benefits or national parks? A common response to these writings from the left is that ObamaCare is the law of the land, upheld by the Supreme Court and therefore we must follow it and implement it. The … Read More

[Editor’s Note: Diane Harkey’s campaign sent out this email yesterday, which we are reprinting.]

Dear Mark,

Why is a San Diego area politician getting involved in a real estate investor lawsuit in Orange County?

Do you do this by routine? Has your office been involved every time an investor lawsuit comes up?

NO. You got involved because you wanted to “score points” in your race for Board of Equalization. That’s why you are exploiting the Orange County real estate investor action involving my husband, Dan Harkey, and his former company.

So, you got involved. You met and strategized with the plaintiffs. You encouraged and helped develop their story. You sent your paid political consultant to sit in the proceedings – day by day – to take notes. You even created a website and briefed the press!

But, your plans were shattered when the plaintiffs and judge quickly dismissed me from the very lawsuit you were helping encourage. Most people recognized that naming me in the suit was ONLY a cheap political stunt. Apparently, you didn’t get that… Read More

Roll over, Cesar Chavez, here comes Silvia Lopez.

Silvia Lopez is a quiet, thoughtful 15-year Gerawan Farming employee, and the de facto leader of thousands of Central Valley farm workers who have been protesting for nearly a year to oust the United Farm Workers union from the farming company.

Seven hundred Gerawan farm workers took a day off without pay and descended on Sacramento Wednesday to attend a meeting at the Agricultural Labor Relations Board. Then they walked to the State Capitol to meet Gov. Jerry Brown.

Six of the farm workers tried to ask Brown to intervene with the ALRB to allow them to vote on whether to keep or oust the UFW from Gerawan Farming. “Jerry Brown, we want an election at Gerawan Farming,” Lopez said, as she approached the governor’s office.

While waiting in the Capitol hallway outside, one of Brown’s employees poked her head out and asked, “Are… Read More