I remember from playing Scrabble that instead of playing a tile on your turn, you can instead throw ‘back’ all of your tiles, and pick new ones from the bag of unused tiles – a fresh start so to speak. That seems to be what is being advocated by first-term (this go-around) Congressman Dan Lungren (R-Sacramento – pictured to the right). He is advocating that all of the House leadership positions come up for a new vote — right now there is a pitched battle taking place as to who will replace Tom DeLay as the Majority Leader (#2 ranked position, behind the Speaker). This race, though, is touching off two off other races as one of the candidates for leader is currently the GOP Whip (#3),… Read More

On the main page of the FR today, we linked to this USA Today major story focusing on the relationship between Congressman Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and a hedge fund named Cerberus, which raised substantial money for Lewis, and who has also benefitted from a major $1.6 billion dollar project. Congressional Quarterly carried this response to the story from Congressman Lewis:

Lewis Denies Discussing Contract With Donors House Appropriations: Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., today said neither he nor any members of his staff had discussed a defense funding allocation with representatives of a defense contractor or a hedge fund that hosted a fundraiser for Lewis’ leadership … Read More

Following is the text of the to the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency requesting a 30-delay in approving the completion of the 241 tollroad, signed by California Resources Agency Secretary Mike Chrisman and Business, Transportation and Housing Agency Secretary Sunne McPeak (you can read a PDF of the letter at the end of the post):

Dear Chairman Ryan and Members: We are writing to request a postponement for 30 days of the decision on the proposed South Orange County Infrastructure Environmental Impact report that we understand to be currently before you. As you are … Read More

This week Martin Garrick’s campaign for the open 74th Assembly District (disclosure – Coronado Communications client) announced more than $370,000 raised, along with a partial list of a formidable finance committee. In the last few weeks, Garrick has announced the endorsements of former United States Senator and California Governor Pete Wilson, State Senator Tom McClintock, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, San Diego County Treasurer Dan McAllister, San Diego Assessor Greg Smith, and a host of former California Republican Party and San Diego Republican Party Chairmen, among others. Rumors have Scott Packard, son of former Congressman Ron Packard, considering an entrance into the race.

Meanwhile, in the 50th Congressional District self-financing businessman Alan Uke continues his television ad campaign. I’ve personally seen the ad several times, and I don’t really watch much besides the Simpsons, the Office, and the news. My guess is of the three, Nygren is aiming at the news watchers. Brian Bilbray earned the endorsement of neighboring Congressman Darrell Issa, who is burning up the phones. Gilliard has been brought on by the… Read More

Our Governor’s politically schizophrenic administration strikes again.

As I reported yesterday exlusively on the FlashReport, the Schwarzenegger administration intervened to push the Foohthill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency Board of Directors to put off their approval of the 241 tollroad completion for another 30-days.

As a result, the F/ETCA Board voted 12-3 earlier this morning to submit to the Schwarzenegger Administration’s request.

The following board members voted to reject the administration’s request:

Lake Forest Councilman Peter Herzog Mission Viejo Mayor Lane McLean San Clemente Councilman Jim Dahl

Gentlemen, I salute you for rejecting pointless delay and putting the interests of Orange County first. The Schwarzenegger administration maneuver… Read More

The race for Santa Barbara County’s 2nd Supervisorial District heated up last night at an extremely well attended forum in Goleta sponsored by the Coalition for Sensible Planning and Homeowners’ Defense Fund. Joe Guzzardi, Dan Secord, Das Williams and Janet Wolf squared off on a number of issues, but the most contentious and controversial involved land use and housing. Although technically a nonpartisan race, Guzzardi, Williams and Wolf are Democrats while Secord is the lone Republican running for the seat. Guzzardi argued that all development in Goleta should cease. According to the Santa Barbara News Press Guzzardi said, “My vision for this community is to keep it exactly as it is now.” Secord acknowledged that growth in the Goleta area is inevitable but called for an updated plan to address that growth. Wolf called for the county to resist state housing mandates while Williams called for smart growth strategies.

No issues have split Central Coast voters like land use and housing. Due to increasing housing costs it is nearly impossible for lower and middle class workers to own their own home. In fact, in… Read More

Welcome back to real life for yours truly….freak boy…while I’m still gonna helpEmmersonI’m now doingother things…and by now we’ve all had quite enough of the “congrats on the McCarthy gig”….more like condolences I suspect…but I digress. Seriously, he’s pretty smart…it’s just that his ADD rivals mine…so it may be ugly.

Being that I’m semi back to normal (You’ll never be normal Joe) with regard to my work flow…I’m now ready to do the blog thing again. Like an aging rock star on a comeback tour…you pull out the standard hits…and as many of you junkies know I’ve not been shy about the Abramoff things…I definitely did my time in the revolution…and it bums me out that we have to deal with it.

And so does one of… Read More

What a difference two months make. The FlashReport has been around for almost five years now (only recently as a website) — I’ve been publishing consistently since Arnold Schwarzenegger splashed onto the political scene. First with his ballot measure, Proposition 49, where he promoted after school programs, and right on through to his campaign for Governor, his pledge to review and reform the way state government works, his drive to pass reforms in a special election after they were rejected by the legislature, and into this year. If you are a regular reader of the FlashReport, you would have to notice the distinct change in rhetoric lately. Especially since I would routinely get e-mails until two months ago asking why this site was a ‘propaganda machine’ for the Governor. The change in my commentaries about the Governor’s proposals… Read More