According to the LAO, the only way out of our budget mess is raising taxes. And here’s another shocker—the Democrats think her recommendations are BRILLANT! Oh, and so does George Skelton.

None of this is a surprise. Nor is the fact that the budget gap continues to grow. It all comes down to Gov. Schwarzenegger.

Many of us here on the pages of the Flashreport have been disappointed with many decisions that have come out of the Governor’s Office in the past couple of years. We’re not happy with the people—effectively Gov. Gray Davis’ top staffers—with whom the governor has filled his office (at the same time, there some good people continue to work on the governor’s behalf, both in and out of the horseshoe). But the real test of the governor’s leadership—and his ability to stand by his word to the people of… Read More

I received quite a few emails about who controls the California Republican party. Many have mistaken uprisings and demonstrations with control. The main question people ask is how do can Conservatives get more control of the Party?

The short answer is run for office.

The next two weeks Republicans will be running for various Assembly, State Senate and Congressional races. Obviously in seats that are Republican there is little trouble filling those seats. However, those with heavy Democratic registrations face a different story. So why run in these long shot or impossible seats. There are several reasons.

Of course, you get free publicity. Newspapers do interviews with all the candidates. Any money that is raised goes to mail and sign raising your name identification. You can use this in local races.

You get to talk about issues you care about. In some district you can get Democrats to spend money against you. Campaigning helps GOP turnout.

And very importantly, if you are the nominee you get a seat on the local AND… Read More

Senator Dave Cogdill of Modesto, the new Republican Leader. He is a strong leader on developing new water for California and for firm fiscal restraint, as well as unquestioned integrity, a great choice. Congratulations Dave!

[Publishers Note: We here at the FlashReport extend our congratulations to Senator Cogdill, and also would like to praise Dick Ackerman for the years of outstanding service he gave to his caucus and his party during his years in that position. – Flash]

UPDATE: FYI, there will be a transition period, with Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman passing the torch officially on 4/15.… Read More

What they are saying about the new Senate Republican Leader: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger:

Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman:

[Publisher’s Note: Knowing that FR correspondent Matt Rexroad has a longstanding professional relationship with Senate Republican Leader-Elect Dave Cogdill, I asked him if he would share something about the man with FR readers… – Flash]

Senator Dave Cogdill is someone many of you will learn about in the coming months. As the Senate Republican Leader-elect he will be making headlines for all sorts of political and public policy reasons.

The problem is that many of these stories will ignore the best part of the Senator. He is probably one of the best people to ever serve in the Legislature. He is truly a good person.

This is a guy that is not and will not be a cheerleader. He is thoughtful, calm, and respectful.

When Senator Dave Cox was the Assembly Republican Leader in 2002, Cogdill was on the Elections Committee. The guy was just rock solid. During the final weeks of the election Cox, Cogdill, and Tony Strickland were calm and collected when some other people around the state weren’t… Read More

There’s a full-blown fight in San Diego between common sense and enviro extremists over a new San Diego Gas & Electric power line called the Sunrise Powerlink… a project thatsbeen winding its way through the state approval process for more than two years.The project is a much needed power line that will help keep the lights on and import clean energy from solar, wind and geothermal projects in the Imperial Valley .This should be a no-brainer for the global warming crowd that’s been screaming for more green power. Yea, right…that would require actual support for a piece of infrastructure that keeps our state moving forward. We’re about to enter the final rounds of this prize fight and its time to jump into the ring. The CA Public Utilities Commission will be in San Diego on Feb. 25… Read More

All right, it is now time to talk about the so-called yacht tax that thankfully was defeated last week. Newspapers and Democrat bloggers have spent lots of time, ink, and electrons beating up on Assembly Republicans for helping the "rich" in that vote, but they ignore basic economics. To them, a tax raises revenue, no matter what, and not raising a tax "deprives poor children of the health care" these lefties thought would come from this increased revenue.

Let’s ignore the fact that most government programs deliver money to bureaucrats, lobbyists, and those who get paid hundreds of thousands dollars from government, and that the alleged recipients of government largesse are mostly an excuse for politicians to take money from you and me, and give it to their political friends, whether those friends are government unions or government rent seekers.

The fact is that rule number one in any decision about taxes is that RAISING TAXES IS ALWAYS WRONG, no matter when, no matter how, no matter who pays them, no matter what the alleged program that is supposed to benefit from the tax.Since it is always wrong, anyone who decides to… Read More

It’s the fall of 2006, and the midst of a very intense General Election here in California. With a host of down-ticket races providing some modest distraction, the attention of those driving the California Republican Party Victory ’06 program are focused relentlessly on the big prize, re-electing Arnold Schwarzenegger to a full four-year term as Governor of California. At the height of the effort, a decision was made by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, his campaign manager Steve Schmidt, and then State-GOP Chairman Duf Sundheim that is still having reverberations today.

You see, while the Governor’s re-election campaign was going well, and his numbers were looking solid, the Victory Program was rapidly running out of money heading into the final month — a month of critical importance to be up with television advertising. Then came the big decision (the Governor always thinks BIG) — to literally "bet the bank" and have the State GOP take out a THREE MILLION DOLLAR LOAN from a friendly contributor’s company, thus providing the necessary injection of cash into the CRP coffers to run a full campaign to the end. Chairman… Read More