Today at 11 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, the U.S. Senate will commence deliberations on a bill to fund the federal government for the rest of the year. Sometime this week, as part of the legislation, a heated discussion about polar bears will likely take place.

Then the majority Democrats (with a little help — it will take 60 votes) will probably push through the Omnibus Appropriations Bill, H.R. 1105, along with several "riders" such as Section 429, all of which President Obama will probably sign into law.

Section 429 is aimed at protecting polar bears at all costs, while at the same time creating a real possibility that the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) will finally push America’s economy, the Act itself, the polar bear himself/herself, and perhaps all of the above, toward extinction.

This reminds me a little bit of last year’s tax day, April 15, when the Nevada Development Authority sent people dressed in bear suits to the Capitol in Sacramento. The bears held up signs saying it was "Time to Feed the Bear."

This was intended as a message to business owners and relocation managers thinking of leaving… Read More

Is a well-written spending cap worth extra years of tax increases? That is the question that confronted our legislators and now confronts every California voter. The deal that was pushed by the Governor was to re-enact a spending cap as good as or better than the original Gann spending limit of 1979. For a variety of reasons, I conclude that this has been achieved. Once in place, this spending limit could be changed only by the voters, although I fully expect future governors and legislators to search for every loophole. This spending limit will not cut taxes. In fact, passage of the measure is linked to extensions of the new tax increases on sales (though 2012), income (through 2013) and cars (also 2013). Can California’s economy survive more years of our being the state that is the least competitive and most hostile to new jobs in the nation? I know it will exacerbate the suffering of unemployment and failing businesses. If this spending limit succeeds in containing spending, then the big budget battles still lie ahead. Future legislatures will be forced to repeal current spending formulas to be able to live within the… Read More

Believe it or not – it’s true. In one of the most blatant attempts that I have ever seen to deprive voters of a remotely fair and remotely balanced title and summary for a ballot measure, the state legislature approved wording for Proposition 1A for the ballot that literally fails to mention that voters are being asked to make a trade off — a spending cap (subject to a 2/3 legislative override via tax increases) in exchange for extending massive taxes for additional years. There is a case to be made to the voters for passing 1A even with the taxes, of course, that advocates can make. But it is insulting to Californians to purposely deprive them of information critical to making an informed decision.

If you want to play "Where’s Waldo" — click here for the official title and summary of Proposition 1A — you see if you can see where there is a mention of the massive taxes?

Well, someone is "taking it to a judge" as they say… Just in from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association…… Read More

I am a real John and Ken fan. Back in 1993, I used to listen to them every day, and one day sent them a budget proposal by the Assembly Republicans. They mentioned on the radio, said they didn’t care about the budget, and asked what I was going to do about the Three Strikes law. I sent them some information on a motion to withdraw that I and a group of Republicans did in May of 1993 to try and pass the Three Strikes law. That little event led to a revolution that passed Three Strikes, led to a Republican majority in the Assembly, and toppled Willy Brown as Speaker. It was all due to John and Ken.

Since then they have been voices of clarity on the budget, on illegal immigration, on the recall, on Governor’s Schwarzenegger’s betrayal of the recall, and on the recent tax increase. They have taken a lot of heat, but they have given a lot of it as well, and they have done it in the pursuit of good issues right for the people of the state of California. They are proof that if you do the right thing, good things (including good ratings) will result.

But I have to disagree on Jeff Miller. Jeff Miller did the right thing. He voted… Read More

Lester Snow, Director of Department of Water Resources, has once again penned an exclusive commentary for FlashReport readers…

We’re in our third consecutive year of drought due to below-average rain and snowfall in California. Despite the recent storms, we are still well behind average for the year and there’s virtually no chance that we will get enough rainfall this spring to pull California out of this drought. Three dry years combined with court-ordered restrictions on pumping from the Delta climate change impacts, and a state that has grown by 9 million since the 1991 drought has created a real crisis for our economy, our environment and our agriculture industry.

Today, the Governor has taken bold action to assist people, communities and businesses as they deal with the challenges of this drought. By proclaiming a… Read More

Lester Snow, Director of Department of Water Resources, has once again penned an exclusive commentary for FlashReport readers…

We’re in our third consecutive year of drought due to below-average rain and snowfall in California. Despite the recent storms, we are still well behind average for the year and there’s virtually no chance that we will get enough rainfall this spring to pull California out of this drought. Three dry years combined with court-ordered restrictions on pumping from the Delta climate change impacts, and a state that has grown by 9 million since the 1991 drought has created a real crisis for our economy, our environment and our agriculture industry. Today, the Governor has taken bold action to assist… Read More

Remember the "Don’t tase me bro," line that was all the rage after an anti-war protester slammed the John Kerry speech years ago.

Well, taxpayers can adopt their own version of this request: Don’t tax me bro!

Ashley Nicole Ingram posted the line on her FaceBook status while attending the LA "Taxpayer Tea Party" – similar "Tea Parties" are going on across California to protest the recent Mega-tax hike and pork-pie stimulus package.

She’s allowed me to use it here, but I can see the bumper sticker industry rolling out a new hit sometime soon. … Read More

As I’ve previously mentioned several times, Controller Chiang decided to put his public employee union bosses, from whom he has raked in plenty of campaign dough, ahead of taxpayers when he refused to implement the Governor’s Executive Order during the last budget impasse. While the state was facing an huge financial shortfall and the Governor was taking executive action to cut costs by reducing the pay of state employees to minimum wage, Chiang refused to implement the order and cited that his computers weren’t up to speed with what was required from a 5-year old court ruling.

Yesterday, Judge Timothy M. Frawley has tentatively sided with Schwarzenegger based on a 2003 case, White v. Davis, that ruled that state workers aren’t authorized their full pay until the money is appropriated in the state budget. Since tentative rulings are rarely overturned, we can expect that the Judge will take this stance again on Friday in his final ruling. This sets a… Read More