War Funding Bill: So, the Democrats in the House have passed their “Defeat with Pork” resolution. The Senate is unlikely to support a final version of this critical war funding legislation that has the withdrawal provisions or the pork included in the House version. Even if they do, and it comes out of a conference committee and is passed again by both houses, the President will veto it.

So now what? The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will reportedly be running out of money in mid-April. That means our troops will run out of supplies, replacements, and be placed in a very precarious position. The military commanders will probably do whatever they can to keep things moving forward. They may defer purchase of new ships or planes or whatever to get the money to keep the effort moving forward in the war.

But they will run out eventually. The $95.5 billion for the war that was in the supplemental appropriations bill is roughly 17% of this year’s military budget. So, they are unlikely to be able to work around this.

What we may have is a very consequential game of chicken like the one between President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich in the… Read More

Jon posted the other day about the upcoming prestigious Sushi Rollers face-offsponsored by theCalifornia Rice Commission.[Disclosure: Iam a former director of the Commission and current constituent] That competition was held today here in Sacramento at the Sutter Club. Itmatched our fearless Republican leader, Mike Villinesvs. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. [Last year, yours truly forged a three way tie in the competition with Senator Cedillo, Senator Denham, and I competing]

The winner would win the honor of displaying a beautiful Samurai Sword and sheath, mounted inside a lovely windowed frame. They had me display it on the floor Thursday for the members during the challenge by Mike of the Speaker. We thought maybe it should have a sticker on it, "In Case Of Emergency, Break Glass" forour Samurai Tax Cutters.

The buildup to the competition was tense, both members looking for tips to best roll their own winning California Roll. The… Read More

"I’m concerned about not building into the general election a whole block of voters, that by that rule, we’ve isolated," said Tim Morgan, National committeeman.

Currently our rules provide that only the votes of registered Republican will be used to determine the outcome of the Republican Presidential Primary in California. A change to this rule may be debated and voted on this September 9th at the CRP fall convention in Palm Desert. The Party may be asked to permit some 3,000,000 Decline-To-State [DTS] voters to be able to vote in the Republican primary to select the GOP nominee for President.

While its true we permit DTS to vote in our legislative primaries presently, changes our current rule would erode the very function of our national Republican identity. Essentially, we would be following Arnold’s mistaken and hilariousvision of… Read More

"I’m concerned about not building into the general election a whole block of voters, that by that rule, we’ve isolated," said Tim Morgan, National committeeman.

Currently our rules provide that only the votes of registered Republican will be used to determine the outcome of the Republican Presidential Primary in California. A change to this rule may be debated and voted on this September 9th at the CRP fall convention in Palm Desert. The Party may be asked to permit some 3,000,000 Decline-To-State [DTS] voters to be able to vote in the Republican primary to select the GOP nominee for President.

While its true we permit DTS to vote in our legislative primaries presently, changes our current rule would erode the very function of our national Republican identity. Essentially, we would be following Arnold’s mistaken and hilariousvision of… Read More

David Drucker pens an outstanding analysis today of some of the impacts of the California Republican Winner-Take-All-By-District Presidential Primary:

By David M. Drucker, Roll Call Staff

California House Republicans could wield unprecedented influence over the outcome of their state’s Feb. 5 presidential primary, thanks to a move by the state GOP to scrap the traditional winner-take-all system in favor of awarding delegates by Congressional district. Member endorsements generally have limited utility in White House primaries. But in the race for California’s 173 Republican… Read More

On Saturday, GOP Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani’s campaign came through Orange County, and provided me with another opportunity to bring the remarks of a Presidential contender to the readers of the FlashReport. Two weeks ago we brought you exclusive footage of Senator John McCain speaking at a fundraiser at the Hyatt Hotel in Irvine, and last week we were on hand to film Governor Mitt Romney as he spoke to supporters at the St. Regis Hotel in Dana Point. We also had a chance to interview Romney in advance of the event.

Thanks to FR friend Katie Levinson, formerly the Communications Director for the re-election campaign of Governor Schwarzenegger, and now a Senior Advisor to the Giuliani for President campaign, I was actually able to… Read More

The idea of banning legislators from fund raising during any give period of time for any given reason is so very very stupid.

It has already been suggested that fund raising for favorite non-profits might also be banned but I was thinking about what other stupid ideas the legislation might need to address…

…can checks be written during the ‘black-out period’ but delivered afterwards?

…can checks be received during the ‘black-out period’ but not deposited until afterwards?

…can a fund raising invitation be distributed during the ‘black-out period’ but for an event afterwards?

…what if funds are donated to the campaign, unsolicited during the ‘black-out period’?

…does having a web page with an on-line donation option constitute fund raising?

…would on-line contribution pages need to be ‘taken down’ during this ‘black-out period’?

…can I as an individual not connected with any campaign collect checks on behalf of a legislator during the ‘black-out period’ and deliver it… Read More

On Saturday, GOP Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani’s campaign came through Orange County, and provided me with another opportunity to bring the remarks of a Presidential contender to the readers of the FlashReport. Two weeks ago we brought you exclusive footage of Senator John McCain speaking at a fundraiser at the Hyatt Hotel in Irvine, and last week we were on hand to film Governor Mitt Romney as he spoke to supporters at the St. Regis Hotel in Dana Point. We also had a chance to interview Romney in advance of the event.

Thanks to FR friend Katie Levinson, formerly the Communications Director for the re-election campaign of Governor Schwarzenegger, and now a Senior Advisor to the Giuliani for President campaign, I was actually able to… Read More