Apparently after taking a trip over to Africa with a much of left-wing Congressman, Central Valley GOP Representative Devin Nunes took it upon himself to vote in support of a $50 billion global AIDS relief package.

When one looks at the purpose and function of the American federal government, and then consider that the primary mechanism that funds our government are coercively taken tax dollars, you have to ask yourself where government-sponsored charity comes into play.

Look, I understand that the situation in Africa is tragic — truly I do. And if Devin Nunes and the others in Congress who voted to redistribute the funds from American taxpayers into charity abroad instead just reached into their own pockets to contribute, that would be appropriate. But if the federal government has enough money to give out tens of billions in charitable efforts, it’s time to reduce federal taxes.

The American people, collectively as private citizens, are the largest giver to charitable causes on the planet. But that is individuals giving of their own property, which is good, and morally… Read More

I’m in New York City and attended the Memorial Mass for the Repose of the Soul of William F. Buckley, Jr., this morning, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Park Ave.

I learned that FlashReport’s Nick Romero also attended, but the church is of course huge and I did not see him, but we have been exchanging voice mails on our cells andwill be meeting forlunch shortly to discuss theMass.

This was a special memorial service, what us Catholics used to call a "High Mass." Much of the service involved singing, including the Gospel reading by the Rev. George W. Rutler, the principal celebrant. Incense, Latin, and formality were evident throughout the service, which had a definite "Buckley feel" to it. The celebrants did not insist on the "sign of peace" being exchanged among the people in the large audience, the "sign" was muted. I suspect Buckley wouldhave liked that.

I met, spoke with, and introduced Bill Buckley on a number of occasions as a result of my service as National Chairman of Young Americans for Freedom in the late 1970s. In fact, I succeeded his nephew, John… Read More

It doesn’t take an economics professor to understand Los Angeles’ (LA) monstrous budget deficit.The math is simple: LA is spending more money than it’s taking in.It does get more difficult, however, when it comes to getting the city to curb spending, consolidate, and focus on bringing in revenue.But, a framework provided by LA’s Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA) may give us hope.

The LA Daily News reported (March 20th) that “The Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA) released a two-part report [that] detail[s] 50 solutions to help balance the City of Los Angeles’ budget.The report provides solutions for revenue generation as well as a comprehensive set of suggestions to address the current fiscal deficit without raising taxes.” VICA’s report begins with the following: “The city of Los Angeles faces a budget deficit of more than $150 million for the remainder of the fiscal year… Read More

Yesterday was a roller coaster ride of emotions as I spent the entire day at the capitol testifying in committee hearings. This part of the legislative year could be dubbed “the killing season” with all the great Republican bills dying premature deaths. Although it’s frustrating and infuriating to witness the lack of common sense or real empathy in the majority party, we can muster the fortitude to carry on by some of the encouragements I witnessed yesterday.

Senator Alan Lowenthal’s SB 1322, the bill that will allow communists to teach in public schools, passed the Senate Education Committee with flying (red) colors. The bill passed despite the moving testimony of my friend Alex Pop, a Romanian immigrant who was imprisoned for simply speaking out against the communist government in his country. Yesterday Alex celebrated his nineteenth year of escaping to America and freedom. Alex’s two sons will attend the Naval Academy and West Point and his daughter is Miss Northern California. Alex is the perfect example of the American Dream—he went from a communist prison for speaking against the government to actually addressing the… Read More

What’s that smell?

It’s the stink Don Perata’s ethically challenged ways all over the attempt to recall Senator Jeff Denham. We’ve all heard that fable of King Midas who could turn things to gold with a mere touch. Well, here in real life, we have Don Perata, who can turn anything into a smelly quagmire of questionable ethics with his mere involvement.

It seems like forever that Perata has been under the cloud of an FBI probe, which is probably more like an ongoing feeding frenzy as he keeps acting like some dictator with a Nietsche complex (the rules of mere mortals don’t apply to The Don).

In an article in today’s Merced Sun-Star Stephen Jones, the Merced County Registrar of Voters, has said that he will be filing an official complaint after the addresses given many petition gatherers working to qualify the recall were not residents of Merced County. An excerpt from the story…… Read More

What’s that smell?

It’s the stink Don Perata’s ethically challenged ways all over the attempt to recall Senator Jeff Denham. We’ve all heard that fable of King Midas who could turn things to gold with a mere touch. Well, here in real life, we have Don Perata, who can turn anything into a smelly quagmire of questionable ethics with his mere involvement.

It seems like forever that Perata has been under the cloud of an FBI probe, which is probably more like an ongoing feeding frenzy as he keeps acting like some dictator with a Nietsche complex (the rules of mere mortals don’t apply to The Don).

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

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

The Color Purple

Are the Clintons feeling a little desperate? Bill flew into a tirade at last weekend’s California Democratic Party convention. He was there to schmooze local superdelegates on Hillary’s behalf when he encountered activist and Clinton-supporting superdelegate Rachel Binah, who had been a Bill Richardson supporter until the New Mexico governor dropped out of the race.

According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Ms. Binah took the opportunity to criticize Clinton ally James Carville for describing Mr. Richardson as a "Judas" for his subsequent endorsement of Barack… Read More

Hard to believe that this FlashReport video we took of Mitt Romney on the campaign trail, telling a joke to supporters, has been viewed over 17,000 times! … Read More