In 1866, Mark Twain said that "no man’s life, liberty or property is safe when the legislature is in session." Congress is now out of session so your life, liberty and property are safe until mid-January.

We engage in some pretty hard discourse on very weighty topics in this regular missive. Now, as the holidays approach, it’s time to talk about something even more important than taxes, spending, war, and energy policy.

By that I mean, of course, college football.

Now I follow college football, along with NASCAR and Formula One racing. And, like politics, I am not without my opinions. In the interests of full disclosure, my two sons are both undergraduates at USC and the captivating Mrs. Campbell (my wife) did her undergraduate work there as I did my graduate work there. I’m also a USC football season ticket holder and will be going to the Rose Bowl.

OK, disclosures complete. Here are my predictions for the 5 BCS bowls ahead of us over the next few weeks:

Jan. 1, 2008 – Rose Bowl – USC vs. Illinois: USC is going to run over Illinois like Democrats over a proposal to cut a John Murtha… Read More

Perhaps one way that Arnold Schwarzenegger can untangle the Environmental Protection Agencies denial of a waver for California so it can set its own emissions standards would be to actual become the Director of the Federal EPA… There is one candidate for President who is talking about having Arnold his his cabinet, and he’s not eRepublican…

(h/t to TK)… Read More

From today’s WSJ Political Diary E-mail:

Subprime Workout

The retirement wave hasn’t been all bad news for House Republicans. More than a dozen Republicans will be leaving Congress after 2008, but several of them are handing over much of their campaign accounts to the National Republican Congressional Committee, which has been struggling all year to get out of debt and catch up with its free-spending Democratic counterpart.

Departing Louisiana Rep. Jim McCrery gave $200,000 at a fundraising meeting held by the House Republican Conference two days ago to retire the NRCC’s debt. New Jersey’s Jim Saxton, sitting on a war chest larger than $1 million, is expected to… Read More

Over the past decade, I have really gotten to know and develop a friendship with former Orange County Supervisor Gaddi Vasquez. I spent years working closely with his wife, Elaine, and can tell you they are great people. Don’t let Gaddi’s unique talent for working for agencies and organizations that we here at the FlashReport think should be abolished, keep you from admiring the man, and his dedication to public service. After President Bush was elected to office in 2000, Gaddi was appointed as the Director of the United States Peace Corps. You know, that place where American tax dollars, taken coercively from taxpayers, are they used as a "forced charity" to help other developing nations. (I’m sure Gaddi loves my editorializing in this introduction – not.). Nevertheless, in his time with the Corps, Gaddi brought the institution to new levels, and literally traveled the world over for years, as a good will Ambassador of the United States. Now, Gaddi is… Read More

‘Twas the week before the non-denominational winter break (we call it Christmas), and all through California’s house not a Lobbyist was stirring, not even a Democrat Louse; As the campaign stockings hung by the chimney, the state’s cupboards were bare, In hopes that a Christmas miracle soon would be there; The Democrats were nestled snuggly in their beds, While visions of relaxed terms limits danced in their heads; … Read More

‘Twas the week before the non-denominational winter break (we call it Christmas), and all through California’s house not a Lobbyist was stirring, not even a Democrat Louse; As the campaign stockings hung by the chimney, the state’s cupboards were bare, In hopes that a Christmas miracle soon would be there; The Democrats were nestled snuggly in their beds, While visions of relaxed terms limits danced in their heads; … Read More

The impending Christmas holiday, which cannot be waived even with a 2/3rds vote of Congress, has motivated lots of deal making, and Congress will adjourn for the year sometime tonight. Here are some of the things, in addition to the energy bill and the budget which I told you about yesterday, that are on their way to the President’s desk:

•TRIA: A 7 year extension with some positive modifications to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act which was put in place after the attacks of 9/11. This provides federal government reinsurance so that the private market can profitably offer terrorism risk insurance on major commercial properties around the country. This compromise was more than the no extension that some wanted and less than the subsidies that others wanted. •SCHIP: After a year long and often bitter fight over whether to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan to cover adults and middle class children (basically a step to socialized medicine), the Democratic leadership backed down and relented to a 16 month extension of the current program with some program revisions. This bill passed with a vote of 411-3. The floor speeches from… Read More

Yesterday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, former chief over at Goldman Sachs, appeared in Stockton yesterday to talk about the challenges facing many who took out subprime loans. The question you have to ask Secretary Paulson is whether he plans on playing the part of the Grinch, stealing Christmas from all of those who did not decide to engage in riskly loan taking. Because that seems to be what he and other advocates of taxpayer support/bailouts of those adults to decided to take out sub prime loans for whom that decision is not working out. Government intervention into the mortgage lending marketplace will result in two things. The first is that it will artificially keep home prices higher, keeping a whole group of non-risk takers who have been waiting for the market to come down from being able to buy or upgrade their homes. The… Read More