Well, it didn’t take long after the post below this one, where I share an ‘Anti-John McCain Manifesto’ that was sent my way before I was sent a link to this YouTube video set up to highlight areas where Giuliani has been at odds with conservatives. Now, how long until I get something on Mitt Romney? ;-)… Read More

I don’t agree with Democrat Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez on much. As a matter of fact, I think that I would be hard pressed to agree with him on just about anything. But in an AP story today penned by Erica Werner, the Assembly Speaker unloads on the recent DC trip of Governor Schwarzenegger. You can read the whole story here, but here is the choicest excerpt:

Nunez also commented skeptically about Schwarzenegger’s newfound advocacy for what the governor calls "post-partisan" politics. While in Washington, Schwarzenegger repeated the phrase he coined earlier this year, referring to himself as a governor who accepts ideas from all sides.

"What he’s talking about sounds good theoretically. I think in practical terms the way I read it is it’s just semantics. Post-partisanship – what does that mean? I don’t know. It’s some word he made up," Nunez said.

"But I think he has a claim, in some ways, to that new term because… Read More

A h/t to Los Angeles Times blogger Bob Salladay who pointed out that in the most recent batch of Gubernatornial appointees, there is one, Gregory Bell, 21, of Los Angeles, who was appointed to the State Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency, who sticks out because instead of being listed with his party registration (or DTS), his appointment is annotated with, "Bell is not registered to vote."

Of course, the Governor’s office knew this fact from the get go, as I just reviewed the application form and you are asked whether you are registered to vote as one of the screening questions. Apparently there is no right or wrong answer to this question, it would seem. I was curious about this, and so I thought, since I report on political news that I would just pick up phone and call Mr. Bell to ask him about this. I reached him at his place of work, at the Los Angeles County Children’s Planning Council, where, according to the Governor’s release,… Read More

If you were to believe numerous newspaper headlines from late last week, you would think that the ultimate "Nanny State" bill by Democrat Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, to criminalize the spanking of children by their parents, was dead and buried. Not so, I found out. Here’s the scoop for FR friend Karen England (pictured below) over at the Capitol Resource Instutute:

At the CRP convention a couple of weeks ago, I was interested to see Rudy Giuliani’s speech. Though he did not electrify the crowd the way Mitt Romney did at the last CRP convention (arguably one of the best speeches I have ever witnessed), there was something in Mayor Giuliani’s speech that will remain with me for a long time. He enumerated many reasons why we must prevail in the war on terror, most of which we hear on Fox News everyday. But he gave one reason that is often overlooked, but no less important: women’s rights. Our nation has come a long way in ensuring that women have every opportunity to reach their God-given potential as men, and we don’t want to take a single, solitary, nano step backward. Yet look at the way women and girls are treated in countries where Islamic extremists rule with a heavy hand. I can’t help but wonder how quickly the war in Iraq and Afghanistan might end if we gave superior fire power to all the women who’ve been treated worse than cattle in those countries.

So, I appreciated Giuliani’s rationale that one of the many reasons America must prevail in the war against Islamic extremists is to… Read More

More Bills: Continuing last week’s theme, here are more of the bills that I will be working on this Congress. Just a reminder that some of these will not become law this Congress, but I will be working with my colleagues to increase support and move them forward. Here they are in no particular order:

Energy/Fuel Choice Bill – This is a big bipartisan effort to deal with the problem of energy security. The main motivation behind the leaders of this bill (myself included) is to reduce dependence on foreign oil for reasons of national security. We want to stop funding the efforts of countries around the world where the people want to kill us. There are also inherent environmental benefits. The overlying concept behind this legislation is that you really only have one choice today to fuel your car and that is an oil based product. This bill would require both infrastructure and car manufacturers to transition over the next five years to a significant percentage of vehicles having the option of running on some fuel other than 100% oil. These could be ethanol, methanol, bio-diesel, plug-in hybrids, or any combination thereof that… Read More

Last weekend, the annual Pollie Awards were handed out by the American Association of Political Consultants – the “campaign world’s version of the Oscars” as FR advertiser SchubertFlint Public Affairs put it.

Despite almost 3,000 entries in 80 categories, the FlashReport’s stable of contributors and advertisers took home (by my count) 20 Pollies.

FR Contributor Tom Ross’ firm, Meridian Pacific, grabbed two.

FR Contributor Duane Dichiara’s firm, Coronado Communications,won one.

Your humble author took homeone as well.

FR advertisers Bieber Communications, JohnsonClark Associates, SchubertFlint Public Relations, and Visteva each also were award winners.… Read More

ANALOGY WARNING: I have been told by those closest to me that when I try to wind up a lengthy analogy, sometimes I miss the mark. That said, I am going to try to equate the Governor’s behavior with California Democrats to a football game. Wish me luck: