For years John Doolittle has been a leader in our party. He is a leader in trying to strengthen our free market economy and to preserve our party’s leadership in reforming government. We need him in Congress to keep up our fight.

I appreciate the sincerity of his position that giving back the Abramoff money would create the appearance of having done something wrong. There is nothing wrong, or unethical,with accepting political contributions. I would argue that regardless of that fact, the appearance of not giving it back indicates to average Joe (read your voters) that you are refusing to distance yourself from Mr. Abramoff’s unethical behavior.

Mr. Doolittle, I don’t know you from Adam, but people I respect who call you a very close friend, assert that you are a fine man. I believe them to the core. However, we as a party are seeking to distance ourselves from the smarm of Mr. Abramoff and the taint he’s put on our image. To that end, the leader of our party,… Read More

This morning, click here to read my co-commentary along with FR Contributor Barry Jantz. But as I compiled stories this morning from papers around the state and country on the Governor’s speech, I started to get frustrated as I read all of praise coming from liberal Democrats. Well, here are a few of the choice quotes, following by analysis from the Wall Street Journal that is worth a read.

Recalled Democrat Governor Gray Davis in the Orange County Register: "He gave the kind of speech I would like to have given." Democrat Speaker Fabian Nunez in the Washington Post: "He’s hitting all the Democratic notes in the song. There’s no question that his tone has changed dramatically."… Read More

Today I had a very interesting conversation with my friend, Assemblyman Mark Wyland, in a hallway of the State Capitol. The Assemblyman wanted to complement me on the FlashReport website. Apparently he had not been aware of the FR until recently, let alone the fact his Chief of Staff, Duane Dichiara, isa contributor to this blog. Barry Jantz, our other San Diego contributor was with me when this conversation took place. Never one to shy away from embarrassing Duane (who never misses a chance to razzle his friends), I thought I would tell Duane about this on the blog. Barry pointed out that the Assemblyman (you know, the one who JUST started reading the FR) has a quote on the site. I asked Duane if he could… Read More

Fortunately for me, I grabbed the Canon Powershot Digital Camera before I flew to Sacramento. I did manage to snap a couple of fun pictures. On the left is me with recalled Governor Gray Davis, who was quite uninspiring. As luck would have it, I also got to meet Susan Kennedy, Governor Schwarzenegger’s new Chief of Staff (pictured below).

For a Democrat, I found her to be quite engaging and had a good sense of humor, all things considered. She was at first hesitant when I told her I would put this photo up on the FlashReport — but I told her that (for once) I would be tasteful and kind.

P.S. Speaking of photos, click through and scroll down to see an apoplectic Assemblyman Chuck DeVore responding to the Governor’s speech. Either… Read More

Arnold Schwarzenegger is showman. He likes to thing big. REALLY BIG. (Think T1, T2, and T3). Running in a controversial recall election — big. In California – big. A complete overhaul of California – big. "Blowing up boxes" – big. A special election to take on the special interests – big. Now, "Mr. Hollywood" has come up with his BIGGEST idea yet…Massive spending (including bonds) to finance BIG state infrastructure needs. His proposal is SO BIG that we really should make the word big into like 50 point font. We’ll get to the big "strategic growth plan" in a moment. The point of talking about Schwarzenegger’s fascination with big things is that it might go a long way towards explaining why he is introducing such a BIG proposal… Jon and Barry met with… Read More

Rather than recount the sell out of small government Republicans by the Gov. in his State of the State speech. I want to ask some questions about a different speech I heard Aug. 31, 2004. In it he describes what it is to be a Republican and what traits he like in Pres. Bush. You can read the whole thing here.

First he starts out describing the Soviet threat and about his coming to America. then he leads into why is a Republican. Some are about foreign policy, but here is a really good one

"If you believe your family knows how to spend your money better than the government does, then you are a Republican!" Please, someone tell me how the Arnold $222 billion dolllar plan fits that statement.

And what about this from the RNC Speech "Now they say India and China are overtaking us. Don’t you believe it! We may hit a few bumps — but America always moves ahead! That’s what Americans do!" What has changed Governor, now we are to emulate Red China’s optimism.

Then on Pres. Bush.… Read More

Here’s my question for angry Republicans, especially my colleagues who post to this website:

If Schwarzenegger had not named a Democrat to be his chief of staff last month, would you be this upset about his speech tonight?

Let’s assume that he doesn’t raise taxes, or exceed the six percent limit for debt service. He can then argue that this bonding would have happened anyway over the next ten years, but better to plan it out rather than doing it piecemeal.

And let’s assume that the Retailers’ Association, the State Chamber, etc continue to support the minimum wage increase. (Which I don’t remember anyone going crazy about last summer when Schwarzenegger offered the same deal to the Democrats that he proposed tonight).

Obviously, no true-blooded fiscal conservative is going to love these things, but would they be grounds for a primary challenge if he’d hired Curt Pringle instead of Susan Kennedy?

(And by the way, I’m still waiting for the name of a plausible challenger who can make more of an impact as Ron Unz against Pete Wilson.)

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not taking… Read More

Some things not said in the State of the State:

1) Not a word of comfort for the folks digging out from the floods — or thanks to those who serve the public so well through such crises (I’m thinking, in particular, about a state trooper who lost his life after getting struck by a car while offering roadside assistance to a stranded motorist — now THAT’S public service.)

2) Not a word for the Californians serving abroad, who put their lives on the line so we can have silly debates about spending increases being spending cuts.

3) No “gallery heroes” singled out (actually, that was a relief).

4) Is pension reform officially a non-issue? Talk about a ticking time-bomb.

5) Speaking of hidden dangers, nothing about homeland security. He could’ve put the screws to the Bush Administration for more money for port security — while nailing Washington for shortchanging us on Medicaid. Whatever happened to the “Collectinator”?… Read More