I was struggling about what to discuss in my first blog to the FlashReport. And then Jon Fleischman ran the as the “golden pen” a column by Arnold’s former budget Director Tom Campbell (no relation). Jon, you handed me an issue on a golden platter.

Tom Campbell wrote about how we should let the state taxing authority (the franchise tax board (FTB)) fill out our tax returns on line. I could not disagree more.

I fought this issue while in the state legislature and am now fighting it in Washington with the IRS. As a taxpayer, you want to pay the lowest possible amount of tax that is legal. That is not the IRS’s goal. There are many gray areas in the tax law. The IRS will not interpret them to your advantage. It’s a conflict of interest. It’s like letting another player play your poker hand.

There are various commercial services (like Turbo tax) that have free online tax preparation programs if you want to save a buck on preparation. They have a motivation to help you find the lowest legal tax. But… Read More

I am very, very pleased to announce a great new addition to our FlashReport team — United States Congressman John Campbell! When I approached the Congressman with the idea of becoming our new Washington D.C. "Beltway" Correspondent, he was quite interested! He is going to be a great participant, bringing FR readers a steady stream of great information from our nation’s capitol. There are several reasons why I reached out to Congressman Campbell, specifically, for this site (and no, one of them is not because he represents me):

A rock-solid conservative who joined the Republican Study Committee as soon as he won election. A grounded person, strong in his faith, with a great family, and a perspective of someone who owned a business. An acumen for understanding that place on the road where policy and politics meet. A great writer — I’ve come to know him as someone quite gifted in the art of communicating via … Read More

It is being reported in the San Francisco Chronicle that negotiations among the legislative leaders and Governor Schwarzenegger on an infrastructure bond measure for the November ballot are coming close to a compromise agreement. The article says that there is a goal of trying to get something placed on the ballot before the heavy negotiations begin on the state’s budget. This approaching self-imposed deadline seems to really be turning up the heat to ‘make a deal’ — and so I would caution negotiators that the only reason that there is any steam coming out of the hot kettle is because you have all created a convenient, but… Read More

There’s a poll in the field tonight in the 74th Assembly District (disclaimer: I represent candidate Martin Garrick). I’ve got the details from two sources now, so I figure I can write about it. First, the poll has a variety of questions about candidate Marie Waldron’s past city council disclosures and the disclosures she was required to file in order to run for Assembly. There are some fairly significant issues there if these questions have any basis in reality. The lion’s share of the polling was asking various questions about Waldron, so I assume its either a Packard poll or a Waldron poll. I’m in a fairly strong position to argue its not a Garrick poll. Second, Assemblyman Mark Wyland has not endorsed Martin Garrick or any other candidate in the race.… Read More

I know and like the editorial page editor of the Fresno Bee, Jim Boren. While not exactly conservative, he’s made some great changes to the page and the editorial policy has moved from way left to center left over the years. Still, I am always very surprised when any Republican gets any Bee endorsement for Statewide office.Not only was I knocked off of my chair thismorning,but thelanguage of the endorsement was so strong, and so definitive, and so critical of the Democrat opposition, that Poochigian actually received their endorsement for both the June and November elections.

The cynic in me says its a favorite son play. But I know better. Chuck really is the overwhelmingly superior candidate. Andthe strength of the endorsement willget voters and other editorial boards thinking twice about dismissing our Republican nominee. Today is a good day.… Read More

Howdy there FR gang, this is my first post in Bloggerdom so go easy please. I’ve greatly enjoyed viewing this siteand really appreciate Jon inviting me to be your Nor Cal ‘correspondent’, it’s a great site to participate in.So let’s have some fun.

Last Thursday on the Assembly floor was "take your child to work day". At the end of session we were informed that Monday would be a "Check-In"only day, instead of a regular session where we could process the 40 or so bills that are on the file at that point. We were aware that the so called Great American Boycott was coming up Monday, [personally I don’t see anything Great or American about it but hey….]and we were not ‘informed’why there would be no session. The fearless Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy (pictured) stood up and cut to the chase on the issue, [those exploits you can find on the FR in previous posts] and… Read More

Nothing captures the ire of citizens that are against illegal immigration more than LAPD’s Special Order 40. Police officers inLA are prohibited by this order from questioning anyone about immigration status. Thanks Chief Gates! Conservative gadfly group Judicial Watch has filed a suit to overturn this order. See article here.… Read More

This week, I am pleased that we will be welcoming two great to correspondents to our acclaimed FlashReport Weblog on California politics. As you know, the blog is where over fifteen different contributors each from different parts of the state (or with different ‘beats’ such as "State Capitol" or "Political Law") all post their thoughts, observations and analysis of current political events in California. Today we welcome to the blog longtime FR friend Doug LaMalfa. Doug will be our new northern California correspondent, which really means Sacramento to the Oregon border. He actually asks that we call him the ‘North California’ correspondent, probably because it sounds like its own separate state! Doug is a fine conservative who is a rice-farmer from Butte County. He and his wife, Jill, are the proud parents of four kids. Doug will be bringing us some great news and insights… Read More