Tom Kaptain operates two slates. One Democratic and one Republican. The Republican slate Citizens for the Common Good included a chance for people to pick their VP candidate. There were 2146 responses out of a million pieces mailed. And the winner was Romney by a landslide.

Here are the results:

Mitt Romney 1,186 Mike Huckabee 450 Joe Lieberman 192 Bobby Jindal 86 Chris Cox 66 Kay Bailey Hutchinson 56

Thanks to Peggy Mew for counting and compiling the returns.… Read More

Know of a liberal college student needing summer work? At U.C. Santa Cruz , my daughter’s school this Fall, i found this announcement posted throughout the campus.

Wow, for helping kicking out the GOP of the White House, any student can get up to $8000 as a summer campaigner. After observing politics a while I’ve never seen such a deal. This year the Dems are swimming in money. Barak just announced his take in June was over $50 million, outdistancing McCain 2-1. Even the hapless DNC, forever broke under Chairman Dean is matching nicely against the RNC, just a few weeks after the Obama takeover of those operations.

And that money doesn’t even includethe fabulous 527s, those underground secretive money laundering operations, which are overwhelmingly in the dem camp. Strange ironies for McCain-Feingold. Billionairesfor Obama, re their donating history includesEli Broad, real estate [93% for dems], Ron Burkle, supermakets and FOB [ 98%]; Charles Kushner, real estate and felon, [98%]; George… Read More

Let me start by saying thanks to FR Publisher Jon Fleischman for welcoming me back to the Flash Report Blog. As Jon has mentioned previously, I was FR’s first San Bernardino County correspondent almost three years ago. After 14 months I left in order to focus on becoming a San Bernardino County Supervisor. Now that I’ve achieved that goal, I really appreciate this opportunity to return and pick right back up where I left off — almost two years later.

So what’s changed since we last talked?

One thing for certain has changed, I thought as I perused the latest news accounts of the Iraq situation vis-à-vis the Presidential candidates. And that is, how much things have changed in Iraq. And as Sen. Barack Obama arrived in Iraq today, it also strikes me how little his approach has changed during that same time. I’m pretty sure this is because his position is still the politically popular (albeit wrong) one.

Obama’s 2006 visit to Iraq (his first and only other visit besides today’s) was marked by the… Read More

Last week, the Rothenberg Political Report noted that Freshman California Democrat Jerry McNerney is among the most likely Congressmen in the Country to lose their seat this November. That’s something we’ve known here in California since McNerney lucked his way into the seat in 06, but it’s nice to see that the national pundits are taking note of it too.

California’s 11th District, Jerry McNerney (D). Freshman McNerney rode the Democratic wave and help from the environmental community to beat Republican Rep. Richard Pombo two years ago, but he isn’t an ideal fit for his Republican- leaning district. The GOP nominee, former state Assemblyman Dean Andal, looks to be a serious threat.

State Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill has an editorial on our friend Joel Fox’s Fox and Hounds website where he talks about the urgency of placing a water bond measure on the November ballot — because the crisis facing California in terms of the ability to store water and move water around the state is quickly reaching a crisis point (some would say we’re already there).

I agree that something needs to be done.

But first we need to acknowledge two important reasons why we are at this crisis point, and then we need to look at the likely reason why it may be impossible for conservatives of conscience to support a November measure placed on the ballot by the legislature.

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

State Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill has an editorial on our friend Joel Fox’s Fox and Hounds website where he talks about the urgency of placing a water bond measure on the November ballot — because the crisis facing California in terms of the ability to store water and move water around the state is quickly reaching a crisis point (some would say we’re already there).

I agree that something needs to be done.

But first we need to acknowledge two important reasons why we are at this crisis point, and then we need to look at the likely reason why it may be impossible for conservatives of conscience to support a November measure placed on the ballot by the legislature.

Why are we in this crisis? First and foremost is the screwed up long term budget priorities of the Democrats who have controlled the legislature, pretty much for decades. They have not been allocating a significant percentage of general fund dollars annually for any infrastructure investment, let alone for water. These… Read More

"Iraqi President embraces Obama Withdrawal Plan," was the misleading front page headline in the Los Angeles Times Sunday national edition yesterday. Once again, the newspaper that declared "Obama Captivates the World!" has allowed their wishful thinking to get the best of them. President Al-Maliki has definately not embraced the Obama surrender terms. Even the Times article mentions that Maliki had qualifications to the Obama withdrawal schedule. But today we learned that the story the Times ran is based on a few statements Maliki made to a German media outlet, not the Los Angeles Times, and that Maliki has stated that the German media report is wrong, and he denies its claims. Will the Times print a front page clarification? Most likely it would read like this: "Obama, who captivates the world, receives praise from Maliki" who is a war monger.… Read More

Santa Clara Valley Water District officials claim they are saving the state money by employing a chief executive for the agency part-time, but the action is actually costing taxpayers more money. At a time when California is experiencing a record $16 billion plus budget shortfall, government officials must be more responsible with taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars. However, the tax-fund tap has been left running for a couple of years at the Santa Clara Water District.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, (July 8, 2008), “Olga Martin Steele was brought in to temporarily lead the Santa Clara Valley Water District in January after its former CEO Stan Williams resigned under a cloud of controversy for excessive spending.” The facts tell the story: “…[U]nder a contract that the board will consider extending today, Steele is making more money than Williams – $252,000 a year – while working less, only 32 hours a week.” Furthermore, “[s]he maintains part-time status so she can continue drawing her $180,000… Read More