The Empire Strikes Back

Democratic and Republican insiders unveiled their latest attempt to undermine California’s 17-year-old term limits law. Gale Kaufman, who has worked with California teacher unions, and Matthew Dowd, a strategist for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s re-election campaign last year, revealed the initiative in a conference call this month.

To the amusement of reporters, the two strategists insisted their plan, which would have to be approved by voters early next year, actually improves term limits. "We believe it’s a good strengthening of term limits," Ms. Kaufman said, because the proposal would limit legislators to 12 years of total service in the legislature, rather than the 14 years… Read More

In a Friday morning column from the Republican Governor of South Carolina, you will read some familiar concepts that were posted on the FR a couple of weeks ago.

The item begins:

A Conservative Conservationist? Why the Right Needs to Get Invested in the Search for Climate Change Solutions By Mark Sanford Friday, February 23, 2007

When George W. Bush, The Post and the insurance giant Lloyd’s of London agree on something, it’s obvious a new wind is blowing. The climate change debate is here to stay, and as America warms to the idea of environmental conservation on a grander scale, it’s vital that conservatives change the debate before government regulation expands yet again and personal freedom is pushed closer toward extinction.

The fact is, I’m a conservative and a conservationist — and that’s okay.

For the past 20 years, I have seen the ever-so-gradual effects of rising sea levels at our… Read More

On a party line vote, again, the Assembly Appropriations Committee pushed the early presidential primary to our floor, wherethe Assemblywill probably take it up Thursday and send it off to the Governor’s desk. Appropriations Vice-Chair Mimi Walters offered amendments to ensure this bill had language to guarantee reimbursement tocounties up to $88 million that this extra election will cost…the amendment was denied on a party line vote as well. Counties will have to rely on "trust us" intent language in the bill. I’m sure our county sheriff’s, libraries, and mental health departmentswill be happy to reduce their budgets to pay forwhat is really aterm limit extension election. More to come….… Read More

For something entirely different, the Daily News in New York reported today that geneaologists have determined that the great-grandfather of New York civil rights activitist and former Presidential candidate Al Sharpton was a slave owned by the great-great-grandfather of one-time segregationist South Carolina U.S. Senator and former Presidential candidate Strom Thurmond. Good grief! And the mainstream media criticizes content on the Internet!… Read More

For Californians who follow such things and may be attending the national Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. next weekend (which I had the privilege of co-chairing a few times many years ago while National Chairman of Young Americans for Freedom), Mayor Rudy Guiliani is just reported on Politico to have made the decision to address the CPAC audienceon Friday, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. For info on CPAC, go to www.conservative.org. Senator McCain and Guiliani were previously reported as both taking a pass on the CPAC conference. Guiliani’s appearance now appears to be a further indication of his concerted interest in building bridges to movement conservatives. I predict he will get a great welcome, as he did at the California Republican Party convention in Sacramento earlier this month.… Read More

Fletcher Scores Another Big Endorsement… Continuing to skate in the direction of thick ice, 75th AD candidate Nathan Fletcher last week announced Sen. Mark Wyland’s support. Add this endorsement to a list that includes current 75th officeholder George Plescia, announced a week prior, and anyone else mulling a run could quickly be yelling uncle, albeit privately. Here’s what Wyland has to say:

I’ve known Nathan for a long time, and I’m proud to endorse him for the State Assembly. He has the experience and work ethic to be an outstanding Assemblyman, and I know he will provide effective representation to the people of the 75th District. Nathan embodies the values we all share; he will work hard to keep our streets safe from dangerous and violent criminals. As Vice Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, I need Nathan in Sacramento to help me bring more accountability to our classrooms and provide our children with a quality education. As a Marine Corps Veteran, Nathan understands the issues our Veterans face, and I know he will be a tireless… Read More

Are you getting the most out of the FlashReport? Here is our "Top Ten Ways To Maximize the FlashReport": 1) Sign up for the daily e-mail on the main page. This is great for two reasons. The first is that we send you all of the headlines from each day’s news, so that whether you want to eyeball them on your computer, or scroll through them on your Blackberry, Treo or other PDA, you are "in the know" on the news of the day. The other reason is that it is your way of knowing when the main page has been updated each morning, as we send the e-mail alert right after compiling the days news. The e-mail now links back to the day associated with the headlines in it – a request of many readers. 2) The Main Page will give you a comprehensive look at California politics. Our motto is, "We spend two hours so you can spend two minutes — or twenty." Our team visits over 80 websites each morning to make sure that if there is a story on California politics, anywhere, we find it and link to in on the main page! Hint: If you go to the toggle next to the date in the upper right corner, you can actually choose… Read More

Are you getting the most out of the FlashReport? Here is our "Top Ten Ways To Maximize the FlashReport": 1) Sign up for the daily e-mail on the main page. This is great for two reasons. The first is that we send you all of the headlines from each day’s news, so that whether you want to eyeball them on your computer, or scroll through them on your Blackberry, Treo or other PDA, you are "in the know" on the news of the day. The other reason is that it is your way of knowing when the main page has been updated each morning, as we send the e-mail alert right after compiling the days news. The e-mail now links back to the day associated with the headlines in it – a request of many readers. 2) The Main Page will give you a comprehensive look at California politics. Our motto is, "We spend two hours so you can spend two minutes — or twenty." Our team visits over 80 websites each morning to make sure that if there is a story on California politics, anywhere, we find it and link to in on the main page! Hint: If you go to the toggle next to the date in the upper right corner, you can actually choose… Read More