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Jon Fleischman

Whitman Makes It Official

Meg Whitman has opened an exploratory committee for Governor — no surprise. I just got word on my PDA – I’m out of the office. More to follow — though I can tell you her Campaign Chairman, as I reported earlier, is former Governor Pete Wilson. Some of her Co-Chairs include Congressman Kevin McCarthy, Congresswoman Mary Bono-Mack, State Senator Tony Strickland, and Assemblymembers Nathan Fletcher and Sharon Runner. More later if someone doesn’t beat me to it.… Read More

Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt

The Grand Canyon Between Us

First went my sister and her family. Then followed my mother. Then my grandmother. Even one of the cities I represent is looking at possibly going there.

Where? Arizona.

As I mentioned in my last blog, although San Bernardino County’s High Desert has a lot to offer in the way of incentives – from affordable land and labor to business-friendly local governments – the limits of our local discretion are illustrated by the economic struggles of the City of Needles, which I represent.

A small town located across the Colorado River from Arizona and Nevada, Needles was until recently studying the feasibility of seceding to one of the other two states because of California’s higher costs for gasoline, workers’ compensation insurance, auto insurance, corporate, sales and personal income taxes, and myriad overzealous laws and regulations, just to name a few.

“More power to ’em,” I wrote, “although I’ll continue to do the best possible job for them as long as… Read More

Jon Fleischman

Today’s Commentary: Applying Some Sophistication To Budget Deal Voting

It is my hope that Republican legislators will apply the same degree of sophistication to their approach on voting on a Big 5-agreed-upon "deal" that those of us on the outside will use to analyze the proposal and the votes on all of its component parts.

First and foremost, since not all FlashReport readers are intimately aware of how these budget votes tend to take place — it is not one bill, but series of bills all tied together that make the budget "package" deal. So what happens is that one bill may lay out modifications to state spending, another bill might contain tax increases, and other bills may contain other miscellaneous parts of the package.

Knowing that a deal is carved up this way is important in analyzing who supports the package — because, and this is critical, for ANY PART of the package to be enacted, it ALL must be enacted. This is the manner in which the Democrats can ensure their any votes they put up for spending CUTS don’t go into effect unless Republicans put up the necessary votes for TAX INCREASES — or visa versa I suppose.… Read More

Jon Fleischman

Applying Some Sophistication To Budget Deal Voting

It is my hope that Republican legislators will apply the same degree of sophistication to their approach on voting on a Big 5-agreed-upon "deal" that those of us on the outside will use to analyze the proposal and the votes on all of its component parts.

First and foremost, since not all FlashReport readers are intimately aware of how these budget votes tend to take place — it is not one bill, but series of bills all tied together that make the budget "package" deal. So what happens is that one bill may lay out modifications to state spending, another bill might contain tax increases, and other bills may contain other miscellaneous parts of the package.

Knowing that a deal is carved up this way is important in analyzing who supports the package — because, and this is critical, for ANY PART of the package to be enacted, it ALL must be enacted. This is the manner in which the Democrats can ensure their any votes they put up for spending CUTS don’t go into effect unless Republicans put up the necessary votes for TAX INCREASES — or visa versa I suppose.

I lay all of this out because it is being reported in the San… Read More

Barry Jantz

Sunday San Diego: The UT Death Spiral, Free Speech, Free Spending and More

A mere64 pages this morning… It has been said there is more sheer information in one Sunday edition of the New York Times than the average person learned during their entire lifetime in the Middle Ages. By comparison, the ongoing death spiral of the San Diego Union-Tribune makes you wonder why they need modern printing presses at all, if the amount of content could have been produced pre-Gutenberg. Today’s Sunday UT is all of 64 pages, not counting the huge ad sections and marketing inserts.

Randy Dotinga at voiceofsandiego.org provides some further excellent analysis in The Paper’s Been Cut in Half. Worth the read.

When is free speech not free speech?… On a college campus, of course. Or, perhaps, in a federal courtroom. Maybe both:

A federal judge ruled yesterday that a nondiscrimination policy at San Diego State and Long Beach State universities required for formal campus recognition does notRead More

Brandon Powers

Obama, Schwarzenegger… and Fleischman?

The Editorial Page of the Los Angeles Times yesterday mentioned only three people by name: President Obama, Governor Schwarzenegger, and… this website’s publisher, Jon Fleischman.

They wrote about Jon’s efforts to censure Republican legislators who end up voting for a budget deal that includes a tax increase. And believe it or not, they’re not the biggest fans of the idea.

But I think Jon will be okay. I don’t think he’ll shed too many tears because of the Times’ objections.

In fact, I’m guessing Jon views getting trashed by the Times as a high honor.

So for that Jon, congrats.… Read More

Jon Fleischman

Bill Postmus Resigns

In the latest breaking news surrounding the bizarre politics of San Bernardino County, Assessor Bill Postmus has resigned. Postmus has recently been arrested on narcotics possession charges. I don't have enough finger power to type the whole drama from my Blackberry. I will say that this is a sad end of a political career of someone I have known for a long time — but clearly never really knew.… Read More

Barry Jantz

Republican is the New Punk

As someone who has been questioned from time to time by "less diverse" conservatives and GOPers about my musical tastes — such as "How can you possibly listen to liberals like Dylan, The Clash, John Lennon, The Ramones, etc, etc?" — well, I just have to share the following.

And, let’s not forget the founding fathers were punks as well.

http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/01/31/republican-is-the-new-punk/

As a small group of great philosophers once said, "Hey ho, let’s go!"… Read More

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