Native Californian and Editorial Board Member of the Wall Street Journal John Fund participated in an interview on California’s financial crisis that is worth four minutes of your time… … Read More

EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS! Everyone has to be from somewhere, and the worldwide headquarters of the FlashReport is located here in Orange County, California. So I am exceptionally pleased to share with our readers that Orange County’s top two elected law enforcement leaders, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, have both come out publicly agains the entire slate of meaures before voters on May 19, Propositions 1A-1F.

I am proud that these two are showing statewide leadership, and looking out for the interests of taxpayers, by opposing this terrible package of ballot measures.

Here is what they had to say:

District Attorney Tony RackauckasI categorically oppose these measures because they increase our taxes by $16 billion on top of the $12 billion dollar tax increase that the Legislature dumped on us just two months ago. This is all being done so that over all spending… Read More

In the interest of getting into out to readers quickly, I will throw this information from the Governor’s Offce without comment for now…

STATE BUDGET MAY REVISION 2009-10: TWO BUDGET SCENARIOS FACED WITH TWO POTENTIAL DEFICIT NUMBERS THE GOVERNOR IS PREPARED TO TACKLE BOTH

“Californians have a right to know the truth about the problems our state is facing and the steps we would have to take to solve our deficit.” (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 5/14/09)

The global recession has caused California’s revenues to continue their plummet, leaving our state with a $15.4 billion shortfall that could get worse in a matter of days. If the $5.8 billion in February budget solutions are rejected on the May 19 ballot, our budget deficit will increase to $21.3 billion – forcing unprecedented actions that will affect every Californian.

Today, the Governor is releasing two May Revision proposals because he believes the people deserve to know what steps must be taken to balance our budget in both scenarios. While both will be painful, if Propositions 1A-1F fail, California will be faced… Read More

There are always two challenges with my attempting to opine on complex policy proposals too quickly — the first is that as someone who spends some time looking at policy, but is decidedly NOT a policy expert, it is risky to weigh in to substantively too early. What if I totally misread or don’t understand a key point or proposal? The other challenge is that I also miss the chance to see what other people say first — yikes!

That said, I want to make some broad observations.

I may be the only pundit out there who will say this — but here it goes: I’m excited! While the circumstances of how we got to this point, such as years of overspending and the current economic, recession, are tragic – they say that, "adverse situations create unique opportunities for change."

In all of the years that I have been involved in fighting against the ever-growing size of the state government, and working hard to protect the freedom and liberty of state taxpayers, it has been a losing battle. It is true what they say — is it much easier to increase state spending than it is to reduce it. These proposed,… Read More

Sam Blakeslee, the leader of Assembly Republicans(he formally assumes the job in a couple of weeks, but for our purposes, he’s the top dog…), on the May Revisions: “Whether we are facing a $15 billion or $21 billion problem, the Governor’s May Revise clearly shows that both parties must approach this budget crisis with a clear sense of purpose and urgency. Now is the time for us to lead with the resolve that Californians are demanding and get our state back on the right track. Assembly Republicans have already begun working to find responsible ways to balance the budget while instituting reforms to help our economy recover from this recession as rapidly as possible. “We know these tough choices will cause great hardship for many Californians who are already hurting and have great empathy for those who will be impacted. But embracing the status quo will only produce greater pain and deeper cuts in the long run. A budget that addresses only cuts without fundamentally reforming the way state government operates will leave… Read More

SB 572, this years version of the "Harvey Milk Day" semi-state holiday bill which Governor Schwarzeneggervetoed last year, is on the file for a possible Senate Floor vote, as soon as this morning. May 22 would be the offical day that "suitable Harvey Milk commemorative exercises" would be urged to be held around the state, including the school system, if the bill were to pass. Although it wouldn’t take effect in 2009, there will likely be a push to get it out of the Senate by May 22, should it not be taken up on today’s floor vote.

Call the State Senators offices that may be inclined to vote for such a bill [hint: Most Republicans won’t need this call] and let em know what you think about SB 572 and yet another "commemorative day"that Sean Penn and Co. would like. Especially since we consolidate heroic Americans into such holidays as "Presidents Day" Light up those Capitol switchboards this morning!… Read More

Last week lame duck Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines appeared on the low-profile internet television program Central Valley Talk hosted by former GOP Assemblyman Mike Briggs.

There seems something poetic about this appearance. By way of a little history lesson for FlashReport leaders, in 2001, Briggs rather infamously broke ranks with Republican legislators to vote with Democrats for a Gray Davis penned budget that increased taxes on Californians, according to then-Senate Republican Leader Jim Brulte. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, Briggs broke rank with his Republican colleagues after securing “millions in goodies” for his district.

Since articles about the departure of Villines as leader have hinted that the GOPer who orchestrated a terrible budget deal at the center of which were massive sales, income and car tax increases may look to running for public office again in the future. In fact, the… Read More

I spent last night on the web, doing some research for a forthcoming column on how the left abuses the California Environmental Quality Act to promote an ardent anti-progress agenda. After an hour of browsing the web, I discovered a reason to feel very bad for Mary Kimball, Jeb Burton, Leroy Bertolero, Jeff Merwin, Don Winters, Richard Reed, and Keith Williams. Who are these seven people, you might ask? Why do I feel bad for them? I will tell you now that it really has nothing directly to do with CEQA, but with the fact that they are all victims of a CEQA abuser.

Let me back up just a little bit, and say that in reading about CEQA, I came upon this column from FR friend Lew Uhler of the National Tax Limitation Committee in the Sacramento Business Journal. In it, Lew specifically references a situation over in Yolo County of which I have been aware, but haven’t written about before. A reputable company, Clark Pacific, is trying to build a cement plant in Woodland on the site of a former sugar plant. The plan got all of its requisite approvals from local government,… Read More