I tried to think of something special for my friend Richard Costigan to commemorate this, his birthday. I went to his FB page, and realized that he’s got plenty of people there wishing him well on his big day (FR friends John Bovee and Nancy Bennett among many others).

So, Richard, for you — a birthday cake right here on the FlashReport blog.

Hope you have a great one!

(Also, on behalf of all of your friends, we "get it" that you are disappointed that the Governor tapped Maldonado and not you to be Lt. Governor. Better luck next time — get over it!)… Read More

Senator Cogdill’s decision not to run for re-election may impact the race to replace Bill Leonard on the Board of Equalization.

Former Assemblyman Alan Nakanishiis seriouslylooking at a run at Senate District 14. Nakanishi previously ran for Senate against Mike Machado in 2000 and just missed. The race, assuming Mike Villines stays put for Insurance Commissioner, has only one other big name opponent, Assembly Tom Berryhill. Berryhill is oft mentioned as a possible successor to Sam Blakslee as Assembly Republican Leader.

Nakanishi would have to be able to get his money back from the various slates he bought. That would give him the half a million needed to run in the senate race. Having him change to Senate race changes the dynamics in a race that featured him, State Senator and rumored ballot title "Taxpayer Advocate" George Runner, Former Assemblywoman and Leonard’s deputy Barbara Alby and Senator Roy Ashburn.

His odds to win the Senate seat seem better than beating both Runner and Alby.

And people say nothing politcal happens over the holidays.… Read More

It is extremely annoying to have Governor Schwarzenegger (among others) attacking his fellow Republicans for being ‘partisan’.

I don’t want to speak for all of those elected Republicans in the State Capitol — but I will speak for myself. I am not a conservative because I am a Republican, I am a Republican because I am conservative.

The reason why conservatives in the legislature seem to

I think what Schwarzenegger is trying to say is that he doesn’t believe that there should be ideologues in Sacramento — individuals who are committed to a certain set of principles and ideas. Never mind the fact that it was a group of committed ideologues who founded the very republic in which we all enjoy our freedom.

Conservatives believe that practical solutions to solving problems facing our state should be looked to, first, beyond government. To individuals, to families, and communities. Ultimately, where government involvement is required or desired, it must be done mindful of the fact that the first most important calling of government officials should and must be to ensure that they do not set into motion actions by… Read More

Much will be said about the appointment of moderate State Senator Abel Maldonado to be California’s next Lt. Governor. His appointment was not a surprise. I didn’t read one article or column that pondered the Governor’s potential LG picks that didn’t prominently mention Maldonado.

That said, I only read one commentary that looked at the Governor’s LG pick that 100% "nailed it" as to the timing of the appointment.

In his November 5 column, And The Next Lt. Governor Is… (Envelope Please), Fleischman said, "One thing is certain, Arnold Schwarzenegger will make his selection soon. How soon? Doesn’t he have a scheduled appearance coming soon with Jay Leno?"

Very precient, Flash!… Read More

The California Republican Assembly, the state’s largest and most active conservative GOP volunteer organization has just released its 2009 legislative scorecard.

As always, this particular scorecard of the many out there, is the most significant and the most telling in terms of really figuring out how our elected officials are voting on the spectrum, with those endorsing a bigger, fatter and more intrusive state government scoring lower (all of the "zeroes" belong to Democrats) and those who believe in freedom, liberty and individual responsibility scoring higher (all of the "100’s" are Republicans).

Below is the release put out my CRA President Ken Mettler framing this year’s ratings, and a link to check them out online. As always, the scorecard is easy to read and well documented, with all of the bills that made up the ratings being listed and a spreadsheet being created so you can see how your representative voted. I was very pleased to see that a great many of the bills highlighted in FR’s "Top Twenty Bills To Veto" (co-authored by Senator Mimi Walters and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who both got… Read More

When I first became a member of the Board of Equalization in 2002 the job I found least satisfying was sponsoring legislation. I had left the Legislature and no longer thought it was my job to make laws. Since that time I have grown even more wary of this and last week’s meeting of the Board is a good example. There are always legislative proposals that can reasonably be called “technical housekeeping” — like fixing drafting errors in law. I am happy to support these efforts. What I do not like is the tendency of the Board to lobby the Legislature to make the tax agencies more powerful and to prop up bad tax programs. I appreciate that the Governor has vetoed many egregious recommendations from the BoE — while also signing some that came out of the BoE over my objections — but at the very least there should be much more public pushback when the BoE asks the Legislature to make laws affecting taxpayers.

At last week’s BoE meeting, the Board, over my objections, approved sponsoring legislation to mandate that certain small businesses and individuals apply for a Use tax permit; another to validate the uncollectable Use tax… Read More

Our Governor made a good decision for Republicans and our state in appointing Abel Maldonado Lt. Governor. First, Abel is a capable politician, who routinely garners huge votes, way above Republican registration, in his elections. At a time when our party can’t even muster enough votes to beat Barack Obama in John Campbell’s Orange County Congressional district. This is a smart move. An even smarter move for conservatives, and Abel and Arnold, would now be to rally around one really conservative, rooted State Senate candidate to fill the open seat created by Arnold’s appointment. A Tom Bordanaro would be great, not sure if he is in the district, but a rooted conservative like Tom would be a great pick-up in the state senate. As for Abel’s budget vote, I didn’t like it. To be successful with Republicans and in California in future, Abel needs to stick to our basics: lower taxes and less government spending. He has a chance to help our party reach out to Hispanics, who are traditionally conservative, and potentially a gold mine for our party if handled correctly. I’d like Sheila Kuehl much less as Lt. Governor! Good job, Arnold!… Read More

"You know you’re in trouble when you’re being lectured by communists about the size and scope of government. That’s never a good day." – Stephen Hayes, from The Weekly Standard commenting on China’s concern regarding the mounting public debt in America. "Who knows, man, who really knows." – Ed Pound, Director of Communications for Recovery.gov when asked why stimulus fund recipients would pluck random numbers to fill in for their congressional district.

There are lots of sources for news these days. That’s a good thing since we are no longer captive to the messages espoused by a single local newspaper or 3 TV network anchors. But, with such media diversity, it is hard to know all that is going on.