I would imagine that Generals fighting wars have to occasionally ‘step back’ from the individual battles they are fighting, to check on the overall progress of the total campaign against the enemy. Of course, for fiscal conservatives, the ‘enemy’ is growth in size and scope of spending of government at every level — or put another way, the goal of the war is to preserve, and in fact ‘win back’ freedom and liberty for the people. When California voters stepped up in 2003 to ceremoniously recall now-disgraced Governor Gray Davis, that effort was led by a strong coalition of people that felt that Davis and his administration were failing the people — the taxpayers. An important part of that effort were fiscal conservatives, such as myself, who were concerned that our State Budget had climbed to a record $78 billion. We were outraged that the annual growth of state spending was at an alarming 7%, and that Californian’s were saddled with a state deficit that was $6.6 billion dollars. As Tom McClintock points out in our "Golden Pen" column today, debt-service costs when Gray Davis was Governor… Read More

I would imagine that Generals fighting wars have to occasionally ‘step back’ from the individual battles they are fighting, to check on the overall progress of the total campaign against the enemy. Of course, for fiscal conservatives, the ‘enemy’ is growth in size and scope of spending of government at every level — or put another way, the goal of the war is to preserve, and in fact ‘win back’ freedom and liberty for the people. When California voters stepped up in 2003 to ceremoniously recall now-disgraced Governor Gray Davis, that effort was led by a strong coalition of people that felt that Davis and his administration were failing the people — the taxpayers. An important part of that effort were fiscal conservatives, such as myself, who were concerned that our State Budget had climbed to a record $78 billion. We were outraged that the annual growth of state spending was at an alarming 7%, and that Californian’s were saddled with a state deficit that was $6.6 billion dollars. As Tom McClintock points out in our "Golden Pen" column today, debt-service costs when Gray Davis was Governor… Read More

Our website development team is working on some upgrades for the main page. In doing so, it has caused some technical issues with the tool that we use behind the scenes to post up the links for news stories. Because of this, look for today’s main page to be updated by 10 a.m. Our apologies for the inconvenience.… Read More

Thanks to our development team over at Cloudspace, we have a new feature for the FR main page — the ability to feature YouTube videos! Check it out now — at the top of the left column, I have inserted a video of a classis Reagan speech, Rondevous with Destiny. Check it out.… Read More

Yesterday, the Country’s preeminent conservatve talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, raked California Republican State Senator Bob Dutton over the proverbial coals for his brief but notable co-authorship of legislation to create a new state entitlement program, redistributing $500 cash into state accounts for every newborn child in the Golden State.

You can listen to Limbaugh’s report here (worth listening to!).

You can read the transcript here, though I will reprint the final paragraph of Rush’s comments below — as it is ‘classic Rush’ — This is what I mean when I say I’m getting a little concerned as the Republican… Read More

“To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed…"

"Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past." Too fun to pass up, a pro-Obama video posted on YouTube combines the classic "Nineteen Eighty Four" Apple ad with Big Sister.

See it here on Talking Points Memo. [Publisher’s note: We just added the You Tube video at the bottom of Barry’s post – Flash]

Note: I just got an e-slap from Jon who says the FR bloggers are supposed to at least try to tie our posts to CA politics in some regard. OK, I think if Hillary gets elected, it will impact… Read More

Last night, the Bay Area Chapter of CWLA (California Women’s Leadership Association) hosted Assembly Leader Mike Villines at their annual meeting in the posh Banker’s Club of San Francisco. As the sun set over the Bay, audience members were treated to a panoramic view of the most gorgeous city in the world (no bias on my part), and the Leader’s speech entitled “Straight Talk from the Capitol.” Last year, Assemblyman Villines authored the workplace flexibility bill, which would give non-union workers the same right to a four day, ten hour day work week that union members can currently negotiate. Several CWLA members, including yours truly, testified in committee alongside Cal Chamber, but not surprisingly, the Democratic legislators whose bread and butter comes from unions did not allow the bill onto the floor.

This was the Leader’s first Bay Area appearance, and from start to finish, he had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. Just before he came onstage, the annual officer election took place for… Read More

Regarding Ray Haynes’ commentary this morning on global warming, perhaps the sky-is-falling folks should read sources other than those generated — and regurgitated — by themselves. Oneexample,a 2004 article proving that science and scientists disagree. The piece even ends with a finger point at human impacts, but also shows the significant scientific unknowns associated with something so beyond the scope of anyone to completely analyze and understand…

Hotter-burning sun warming the planet

By Michael Leidig LONDON SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

The sun is burning hotter than usual, offering a possible explanation for global warming that needs to be weighed when proceeding with expensive efforts to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, Swiss and German scientists say.

"The sun has been at its strongest over the past 60 years and may now be affecting global temperatures," said Sami Solanki, the director of the renowned Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in… Read More