The offices of the FlashReport are closed today to celebrate the Columbus Day holiday. That said, we did get in early to make sure that the main page is updated, and includes an exclusive column from Congressman Kevin McCarthy, in addition to all of the political stories from California’s daily papers (such as they are on this quiet holiday).

Have a great day!

Jon Fleischman, Publisher

Care to read comments, or make your own about today’s Daily Commentary?

Just click here to go to the FR Weblog, where this Commentary has its own blog post, and where you can read and make comments.… Read More

Check out this KABC news footage about the unexplainable and lavish lifestyle enjoyed by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, all at the expense of his campaign donors…

It you had any questions about why term-limits are a good thing, this would be it. Nunez has completely lost his sense of propriety in terms of prudent use of campaign funds.

The video is about two minutes long, but the best images are after the half-way point, with Nunez literally running away from the camera, as the reporter is asking him to explain all of his outrageous and lavish expenditures… (there is more below the video) "SE SALE POR LA COCINA" or, in Enlgish, "HE LEFT THROUGH THE KITCHEN" … Read More

Because I live outside of Sacramento, most of the people I spend my days around don’t have much personal interaction with state government, beyond a trip to the DMV or filing for disability during maternity leave. Most have never had any personal interaction with legislators and assume that all legislators are arrogant and out of touch. I try to tell them otherwise, citing examples of legislators I have known over the years who are honest, hard working, average Californians.

But then along comes Fabian Nunez. Arrogant and out of touch seems like a pretty apt description of him right now. Oh, and he’s the guy who thinks we should be extending the term limits of our legislators.

In case you missed it, the Los Angeles Times broke a story on Friday that detailed some pretty outrageous… Read More

McCann the Man in the 78th?… On Friday, the Union-Trib focused on the efforts by GOP leadership to clearthe termed-out Shirley Horton seat for David Bejarano (the article washi-lited on the FRmain pageas well). On Red County/San Diego, "Hiram Johnson" also provides some amusing insights as to the ongoings, or not.

Since Bejarano has decided not to enter the race, some criticism has followed by those saying, in effect, "You know, you maywant to check to make surea candidate actually wants to run before selling them as the next best thing since sliced bread." By some accounts, Bejarano was absolutely planning a run, but an illness in his family changed things. To those who haveraised his lack of commitment to a hard fight as the real reason behind the change-of-heart, my response is simple…

Perhaps so-called family-values conservatives should give thebenefit of the… Read More

Because I live outside of Sacramento, most of the people I spend my days around don’t have much personal interaction with state government, beyond a trip to the DMV or filing for disability during maternity leave. Most have never had any personal interaction with legislators and assume that all legislators are arrogant and out of touch. I try to tell them otherwise, citing examples of legislators I have known over the years who are honest, hard working, average Californians.

But then along comes Fabian Nunez. Arrogant and out of touch seems like a pretty apt description of him right now. Oh, and he’s the guy who thinks we should be extending the term limits of our legislators.

In case you missed it, the Los Angeles Times broke a story on Friday that detailed some pretty outrageous… Read More

In his syndicated weekly column published this morning, well known Washington D.C. political analyst Bob Novak reports about a secret meeting of the House Republican leadership at which discussions took place about whether California Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis should be stripped of his leadership role, that of being the top GOPer on the House Appropriations Committee, because federal authorities are in the midst of an investigation of Lewis and allegations of corruption surrounding one of the House’s most prolific pork-a-holic spenders (so much so that he has been dubbed, "The King of Pork"). Here is what Novak had to say:

In his syndicated weekly column published this morning, well known Washington D.C. political analyst Bob Novak reports about a secret meeting of the House Republican leadership at which discussions took place about whether California Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis should be stripped of his leadership role, that of being the top GOPer on the House Appropriations Committee, because federal authorities are in the midst of an investigation of Lewis and allegations of corruption surrounding one of the House’s most prolific pork-a-holic spenders (so much so that he has been dubbed, "The King of Pork"). Here is what Novak had to say:

On Wednesday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his intention to sign several bills in response to the economic challenges faced by the subprime real estate market downturn — bills aimed at strengthing disclosure laws.

We need to contrast these appropriate responses with the apparent desire by President Bush’s Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, to take a page out of the Presidency of Jimmy Carter, and promote welfare-statist approach to dealing with the negative effects of the market downturn on subprime lenders and their customers.

Did Secretary Paulson (pictured) learn anything at those Ivy League schools he attended? Even though some see him as a Godfather figure, you don’t have to be an Ivy Leaguer or Wall Street honcho to understand that rewarding poor behavior… Read More