Once upon a time, as a member of the California Republican Party State Central Committee, I would enjoy spending time at the hospitality suite of the California Teachers Association at State GOP Conventions. Why? Because they always hosted the most sumptious of tasty treats – an ice-cream sundae bar with all of the fixins. All convention-goers know that the most popular suites are the ones with the best taste treats!

One day though, I along with many, many others woke up to the fact that while we were eating this particular union’s ice cream, they were spending over 95% of their political dollars to elect DEMOCRATS. Suddenly those of us who had partaken of their high-calorie give-aways became resentful of this group that would come into state GOP conventions and feed our faces, yet were fundamentally opposed to our party and its candidates and causes. Their liberal giving policy was especially aggregious since they would market themselves at conventions by talking about how something like 40% of… Read More

California Representative John Doolittle was ‘called out’ by the Wall Street Journal for his vote against the Republican Study Committee’s proposed alternative budget, which had it been adopted, would have called for a modest 5% cut in discretionary spending in Washington, D.C. I’m playing phone tag with Congressman Doolittle, and am also waiting to hear from Congressman Richard Pombo (who also voted no) before I pen my own piece on this. But I am amazed that any amount of ‘politics’ would have placed the conservative Doolittle (a founder of the RSC) and the equally conservative Pombo on the wrong side of this vote, upon which their credentials as budget-hawks will be judged. I was sorely disappointed.

This is from today’s WSJ Political Diary:

Fiscal Conservatives: AWOL, As Usual

… Read More

There is absolutely nothing I can add to this "MUST READ":

May 15, 2006

President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, DC 20500

Subject: Petition to Make Mt. Soledad a Federal Veteran’s Memorial

Dear Mr. President:

My wife and I would like to express our support for the effort initiated by Representative Duncan Hunter of California and the Mayor of San Diego to save the cross at Mt Soledad wherein the Federal Government would take the property by eminent domain as a veteran’s memorial.

Our son Captain Michael D. Martino, USMC, was killed in action in Iraq on November 2, 2005, when his Cobra Helicopter was shot down by a SA 16. This past week our son’s Camp Pendleton unit, which had just recently returned from Iraq, dedicated plaques at Mt. Soledad to honor him and his fellow pilot Major Gerry Bloomfield for their heroic service. There is no better place to honor our fallen heroes than… Read More

There is absolutely nothing I can add to this "MUST READ":

May 15, 2006

President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, DC 20500

Subject: Petition to Make Mt. Soledad a Federal Veteran’s Memorial

Dear Mr. President:

My wife and I would like to express our support for the effort initiated by Representative Duncan Hunter of California and the Mayor of San Diego to save the cross at Mt Soledad wherein theFederal Government would take the property by eminent domain as a veteran’s memorial.

Our son Captain Michael D. Martino, USMC, was killed in action in Iraq on November 2, 2005, when his Cobra Helicopter was shot down by a SA 16. This past week our son’s Camp Pendleton unit, which had just recently returned from Iraq, dedicated plaques at Mt. Soledad to honor him and his fellow pilot Major Gerry Bloomfield for their heroic service. There is no better place to honor our fallen heroes than under that… Read More

It seems Jeremy Baca, candidate for the 62nd Assembly District, gave a little speech Friday. As is usually the case whenever a member of the Baca clan is the subject of a Democratic Party meeting, shortly after Baca’s talk the audience erupted into a shouting match over the subject of endorsements.

According to a report yesterday by Andrew Edwards of the San Bernardino County Sun, the son of U.S. Rep. Joe Baca and brother of Assemblyman Joe Baca Jr. told the San Bernardino Democratic Luncheon Club – which apparently argues about everything up to and including what to have for lunch – that he believes students should be allowed to take the California High School Exit Exam in languages other than English. “Students perform at a certain level when a comfort zone is created,” he was quoted as saying.

Sounds great, except of course for the fact that a key component of the test is proving 9th grade level competency in English. If only this guy had been voting on California public education policy when I was taking my second year of high school Spanish. I would have loved… Read More

It’s a beautiful Sunday, and I am going to go visit my parents today. So we’ll dispense with a Sunday Commentary. What? You want a little something? Well, here are some factoids to mull over, when you think about WHY conservatives are disallusioned with GOP ‘progress’ in Washington, D.C. It will also set the state for a discussion about whether a California based "What can government do for you with your tax dollars" campaign centered around bond measures will further depress conservative turnout in the Golden State:

Total federal spending has grown 67 percent since the Republican revolution of 1994 — from $1.5 trillion in 1995 to almost $2.5 trillion last year. Over the last 10 years discretionary spending — the 40 percent of the budget the Congress and the president control — has increased 65 percent. Since Mr. Bush became president, it has jumped 49 percent. Even excluding spending related to Katrina, defense and homeland security, discretionary expenditures jumped 22 percent. Pork-barrel projects in the federal budget grew from 1,439 in fiscal … Read More

Based on his albeit spotty record, the Governor deserves re-election, but his unwillingness to frontally assault the public employee unions and define them before they define him is a fatal weakness in his campaign strategy. The other weakness is simply out of his control – President Bush has betrayed conservatives and they are a madder than hell about it and not about to reward a Governor who isn’t fighting for a conservative fiscal agenda. Witness the defeat of fourteen GOP incumbant Pennsylvania legislators this week at the hands of conservative primary challengers – a historic, and underreported event in political history. The tea is being delivered to the harbor and Republicans better get their act together or they will be fending off primary challengers all over the country in 2008. Frankly, I can hardly wait! Below is the text of an great op – ed piece from today’s Washington Post. It is a must read for all Flashreport readers.… Read More

It’s a beautiful Sunday, and I am going to go visit my parents today. So we’ll dispense with a Sunday Commentary. What? You want a little something? Well, here are some factoids to mull over, when you think about WHY conservatives are disallusioned with GOP ‘progress’ in Washington, D.C. It will also set the state for a discussion about whether a California based "What can government do for you with your tax dollars" campaign centered around bond measures will further depress conservative turnout in the Golden State:

Total federal spending has grown 67 percent since the Republican revolution of 1994 — from $1.5 trillion in 1995 to almost $2.5 trillion last year. Over the last 10 years discretionary spending — the 40 percent of the budget the Congress and the president control — has increased 65 percent. Since Mr. Bush became president, it has jumped 49 percent. Even excluding spending related to Katrina, defense and homeland security, discretionary expenditures jumped 22 percent. Pork-barrel projects in the federal budget grew from 1,439 in fiscal … Read More