Now that we have the comment feature active, I will be posting an intro to all of our featured columns on the blog so that readers can comment…

FEES v. TAXES: MORE THAN AN ACADEMIC DEBATE by Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assocation Among tax experts and policy wonks, there has always been a debate about what constitutes a “fee” as opposed to a “tax.” The general public might have some vague notion of a difference between the two but, more times than not, they just don’t care. If a citizen pays a $10 “fee” for something, that $10 has left his or her wallet just as surely as if they had paid a $10 tax. … Read More

When Gavin Newsom was running for mayor, he was criticized by the left for being too pro-business. After his gay marriage stunt, you don’t hear the lefties criticize the mayor much…until this week. Newsom vetoed an anti-landlord bill sponsored by Supervisor Chris Daly last Friday afternoon, before leaving for an international trip. The bill would have required property owners to disclose evictions of disabled or elderly tenants to at showings and open houses. Newsom supported an amendment which would have required sellers to notify serious buyers that a disabled or elderly tenant was evicted in order to sell the property (which in itself is a silly law), but the Board refused to change the measure.

Newsom’s staff has said that he also will veto another Daly-sponsored bill which would require property owners to appear before the Planning Commission before being allowed to… Read More

HOUSE REPUBLICANS GET AN "F" – BUT THERE IS A CHANCE TO IMPROVE This morning, in the wee hours, I read a column from Sacramento Area Congressman Dan Lungren, in which he feels that there should be a new election for all of the GOP leadership, from Speaker on down. But from reading the first paragraph of his column, I’m not sure he wants to do this for the right reasons. You see, the second sentence says it all:

Lungren, who is ‘back’ in Congress, re-elected after being out of the House for over a decade, should have an outsider’s perspective – I guess… Read More

HOUSE REPUBLICANS GET AN "F" – BUT THERE IS A CHANCE TO IMPROVE This morning, in the wee hours, I read a column from Sacramento Area Congressman Dan Lungren, in which he feels that there should be a new election for all of the GOP leadership, from Speaker on down. But from reading the first paragraph of his column, I’m not sure he wants to do this for the right reasons. You see, the second sentence says it all:

Lungren, who is ‘back’ in Congress, re-elected after being out of the House for over a decade, should have an outsider’s perspective – I guess… Read More

Last December, Rasmussen Reports polling showed that the Governator was down by a few points in one-on-one hypothetical match ups with Phil Angelides and Steve Westly. Now, a few weeks later, the same company is reporting that the race is neck and neck. I’ve reprinted some of their summary findings below, but you can read more, including survey crosstabs right here.

Some of the results of the Survey of San Diego County Voters conducted for the Marijuana Policy Project (January 3-4, 2006 500 likely voters +/- 4.38) conducted by Evans/McDonough. These are numbers for Supervisors in their own districts, not countywide:

Supervisor Cox (R): Strong Fav 13/Somewhat Fav 23/Somewhat Unfav 10/Strong Unfav 2/No Opinion 20/Never Heard 32

Supervisor Jacob (R): Strong Fav 26/Somewhat Fav 32/Somewhat Unfav 7/Strong Unfav 5/No Opinion 15/Never Heard 15

Supervisor Slater (R): Strong Fav 5/Somewhat Fav 22/Somewhat Unfav 10/Strong Unfav 6/No Opinion 24/Never Heard 34

Supervisor Roberts (R): Strong Fav 15/Somewhat Fav 28/Somewhat Unfav 24/Strong Unfav 10/No Opinion 18/Never Heard 4

Supervisor Horn (R): Strong Fav 11/Somewhat Fav 35/Somewhat Unfav 15/Strong Unfav 4/No Opinion 19/Never Heard 16

PLEASE NOTE: the number of voters surveyed in each Supervisorial District was 100, which increases the +/- considerably. The poll as a whole comes close to other polling I’ve seen recently, though. Term limits countywide came in 84% for 13% against, which should make folks in Sacramento who want to fix the term limit… Read More

There is a lot of great stuff to which I want to draw your attention to on the main page today.

COMMENTING SYSTEM LIVE! But first let me start by announcing that the guest-comment feature on the FlashReport is finally up and running! As this site has been custom built, adding complex features takes time, unlike if we had gone with an ‘off the shelf’ blog program for that part of things. Nevertheless, the feature is up and running, so when you are over on the blog, you can now press on the comment link below any post to read comments, or make one of your own!

The only catch is that the first time you try to post, you will have to register with this site and give a username and password. We’ll get you approved quickly, and then you can make the FlashReport an interactive experience!

Great reading today (all stories on the main page): TAX OR FEE? … Read More

First-term San Bernardino County Supervisor Josie Gonzales of Fontana has apparently survived an attempted recall. Recall proponents reportedly are conceding defeat, having failed to gather enough valid signatures to force a recall election. The deadline for signatures is today at 5 p.m. Recall proponents were angered by the Fifth District Supervisor’s efforts to establish redevelopment areas in the unincorporated communities of Bloomington and Muscoy in the Rialto and San Bernardino areas, respectively.

Although she is the sole Democrat on the five-member Board of Supervisors, Gonzales is a business owner and a conservative who votes with the majority of the board much of the time. She defeated former Assemblyman John Longville, D-Rialto, in the November 2004 general election. Gonzales replaced Jerry Eaves, a former Democrat Assemblymember who resigned the seat to avoid further prosecution for gift-reporting violations.… Read More