FR friend Joel Fox, the President of the Small Business Action Committee, guest writes today’s FR Commentary, with a critical eye on Phil Angelides tax ‘cut’ plan…

Let’s accept that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides really wants to cut taxes as he recently pronounced; that the proposal is not a cynical attempt to buy votes after years and years of promoting tax increases. The obvious question: Is the tax cut proposal offered by Angelides a plus for the taxpayers and businesses of California? The answer must be viewed from a wide angle considering not only the tax cut proposals but what other policies Angelides offers and supports that will affect the economy and the state budget.

The Democratic nominee’s new tax plan offers tax credits for some individuals and tax exemptions for smaller businesses. At the same time he continues to call for raising taxes on upper income taxpayers, those making $250,000 or… Read More

The gay and lesbian community in San Francisco is up in arms, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, because of a comment KGO radio talk show host Pete Wilson (and KGO TV anchor) made yesterday on air. Wilson was discussing the fact that Supervisor Bevan Duffy, an openly gay man, and his roommate, Rebecca Goldfader, a lesbian, are co-parenting a newborn. The baby was born last week. The two, who are not in a romantic relationship with each other, live in separate units in a duplex and share parenting duties. KGO-TV reported the story on Oct. 9th.

On yesterday’s radio show,… Read More

We will devote quite a bit of space in the FlashReport in the coming weeks to articulating why the five "big bonds" measures on the November ballot — Propositions 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E and 84 — should all be rejected by California voters. You’ve heard me make the case over and over if you are a regular reader, but if you are new to this site, I can sum up the main over-arching reasons to reject all of this borrowing in just a few paragraphs: For decades, the liberals who control the state legislature, along with a string of Governors who aided them with budget signatures, have neglected infrastructure investment in California. Instead, these liberals have taken the state budget (which is now well over $100 billion annually) and have put much of that money into their lefty social engineering programs and into fattening the state bureaucracy. Lack of proper funding for infrastructure has also been exacerbated because of initiative and ballot measures that have been passed by voters over the years that create ‘locked in’ formulas for spending – usually because the voters are taking into their own hands… Read More

Steve Poizner, the Republican nominee andfrontrunner inthe statewide race for Insurance Commissioner, warmed up for today’s debate with Democrat Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante during a campaign swing through Southern California Tuesday. He met with several groups of fellow business leaders before returning north for today’s debate on the Bay Area’s CBS5 TV.

One of Poizner’sstopswas at aluncheon hosted by San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Postmus in Victorville. The high desert town is part of a booming valleywith a population approaching 400,000 that’s known as one of the state’s last so-called affordable housing markets near a major urban center. It’s an area where employers struggle with automobile, homeowners and workers’ compensation insurance rates to protect their margins in what’s considered a business-friendly region within a business-hostile state. Many in the audience were either in the… Read More

We will devote quite a bit of space in the FlashReport in the coming weeks to articulating why the five "big bonds" measures on the November ballot — Propositions 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E and 84 — should all be rejected by California voters. You’ve heard me make the case over and over if you are a regular reader, but if you are new to this site, I can sum up the main over-arching reasons to reject all of this borrowing in just a few paragraphs: For decades, the liberals who control the state legislature, along with a string of Governors who aided them with budget signatures, have neglected infrastructure investment in California. Instead, these liberals have taken the state budget (which is now well over $100 billion annually) and have put much of that money into their lefty social engineering programs and into fattening the state bureaucracy. Lack of proper funding for infrastructure has also been exacerbated because of initiative and ballot measures that have been passed by voters over the years that create ‘locked in’ formulas for spending – usually because the voters are taking into their own hands… Read More

As avid readers of this blog know, I am not a big fan of reproducing canned press releases up onto this site (though I personally receive over 100 press releases each and every day from various candidates and causes).

Every once in a while, though, I get one that is noteworthy. Usually it is NOT because of the "content" of the release, but because it represents something novel in political tactics. So I am passing this one along which happens to be from the Schwarzenegger campaign and it is about Phil Angelides making claims that don’t bear out when you check the facts.

Check it out — kudos to whomever at TeamArnold thought up this one!

Of course, while you are reading it, you may as well wonder what other lies Angelides is out there spinning. This at a time when he Angelides is trying to say that his opponent is a liar — right. Look in the mirror, Phil! (Sorry for the awkward formatting on some of the links below — moving the release to the FR format was not flawless.)… Read More

California politicians are for the most part still ignoring one issue: Illegal immigration

Defend California and U.S. Senate Candidate Dick Mountjoy are promoting an initiative that will stop the benefits that help sustain and attract illegal aliens. See Press Release below. Get more info here. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jeff Evans @ 916-858-8190

DEFEND CALIFORNIA: NEW INITIATIVE WILL STOP GOVERNMENT FROM PROVIDING BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS Legislative Analyst Says Initiative Will Save Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Annually

Fed up with legislative action every year to give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, former State Senator Dick Mountjoy has joined with the non-profit organization Defend California to craft an initiative to prohibit such efforts.

"Our initiative will once and for all prohibit any government entity from giving tax-funded benefits to illegal aliens," said Mountjoy, a… Read More

The Pasadena School District has been a mess in recent months. With budget shortages due to declining enrollment (Who knew? When schools are bad, parents opt to find other options for their kids’ education). The Superintendent recently left. There have been ongoing talks of numerous school site closings.

With all that, and the general union/lefty tilt of the town, it was pleasantly surprising to read that they’re considering Charter Schools as part of their solution.… Read More