It’s funny, but those with whom I have been close have heard me saying that Tom Feeney has been my favorite Republican Member of Congress since before he was even elected in 2002. Trust me, it is a total (and very cool) coincidence that Congressman Feeney hired my good friend Jason Roe to be his Chief of Staff! Of course, now Jason is the Washington, D.C., correspondent for the FlashReport, very funny. Anyways, back to Tom Feeney. Back in 1994, Jeb Bush, then the GOP nominee for Governor of Florida, tapped Orlando area attorney Tom Feeney to be his Lieutenant Governor running mate. (In Florida, like at the national level, the candidates for the top two executive positions run as a slate – a great idea which, like with so many other things, needs to be fixed here in California where the Governor and LG can be, often are, and currently are political adversaries instead of… Read More

Congressman Dreier has many talents. As Chair of the powerful Rules committee and frequent TV and radio guest, heis well known in political circles. Some don’t know that he frequently has courted Hollywood. There was a rumor a couple years ago thathe was a candidate to become head of theMPAA. It went to former Congressman Glickman instead.

Roll Call has a fascinating look at the night two years ago, whenRepublicans in DCsold out taxpayers by passing a Medicare Prescription drug bill that will cost us billions upon billions of dollars. You can read it here. It is a good read by the way.

One tidbit focuses on Dreier’s attempts toget Rep. Nick Smith to vote "yes".

"A Republican staffer told the ethics panel that Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.) offered to find Smith’s daughter a job as an actress in Hollywood. Dreier denied making such a promise."

Nothing came from the accusation. Dreier denied it and Smith later wouldn’t talk about… Read More

The Fresno Zoo, once a treasure in the community, is now leading the news on a daily basis around here. Talk shows are overheated with opinions, local TV news is leading with the story, and tempers are flaring. You see, for years and years and years the Fresno Zoo (known as the Chafee Zoo locally), has been run by the City of Fresno. As such, and in common with most enterprises run by government, this has resulted in millions of dollars in deferred maintenance, an institutional culture of mediocrity, financial problems and finally, a very poor Zoo.

In 2004 a local measure was qualified for the ballot, Measure Z, which would increase sales taxes in the County and direct the money to the Zoo, under a new organizational structure. Expected to provide over $100 million in funding over eight years, the Zoo would presumably be upgraded and operated more efficiently, thus becoming a centerpiece of learning and entertainment in the region. Measure Z passed overwhelmingly, facing no real opposition (the Lincoln Club quietly recommended a "No"… Read More

I’d like to talk about fairy shrimp — those tiny crustaceans that flitter about in “vernal pools”, i.e. puddles, on developable land throughout Southern California. For me, these tiny, hardy creatures symbolize the absurdity of the Endangered Species Act and the extremities to which property owners must go to accommodate even the most esoteric organisms.

Environmental groups wield the fairy shrimp like a talisman. They speak of it in reverential tones as if it were a rare, fragile creature on the verge of extinction. If developers don’t obey demands to reserve for the shrimp’s use tracts of land perfectly suitable for human habitation, the environmental groups take them to court. This costs developers millions of legal fees and delays – which are ultimately passed on to homeowners. Here in Orange… Read More

The saga of All Saints Church in Pasadena continues. Jon Fleischman comments briefly on the item in his commentary. You can find it here. You can read the AP story on Congressman Schiff’s letter to the IRS demanding an answer to the investigation here.

To get a taste of the flavor of All Saints Church. Think of a place where homosexual marriage and abortion on demand areawaiting everyone in heavenand anything done with the militray is evil, unless it recruits gays.

According to one former member who wrote a letter to a local paper. Mommy and me classes were used to promote anti-war causes. See the letter here.It is an icon in Pasadena liberal circles. The Pasadena Weekly did a story on the church. You can see it here.

The bottom line is All Saints Church is reaping the seedsthey’ve sown. The leftist… Read More

California needs more energy resources period. One new exciting project out in my neck of the woods is the Lake Elsinore Advanced Pump Storage Project (LEAPS). LEAPS is a project that would eventually serve over 1 million homes and would complement new renewable energy resources with its ability to store energy in periods of low demand and high generation. The hydro plant offers a fast peaking capability during periods of high demand. The project produces peek electric energy and has zero hydrocarbon emissions. In simple terms for us non engineering types, LEAPS keeps my computer turned on for BLOGGING during those extremely hot Southern California summer afternoons and my air stays clean.

Who would be opposed to such a project, well the environmental community of course? See LEAPS would have to run electric power lines through the Cleveland National Forrest-"NO WAY !!!" says the Sierra Club types. They don’t want power lines running through the pristine Cleveland- what would the bunny rabbits think? For those of you that have visited the Cleveland National Forrest in Southwest Riverside County ,… Read More

Here is a brief roundup of some top stories featured in the FlashReport worthy of a read:

BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN Kudos to the Californian for firing a reporter who falsified an amazing amount of material. Today, the Californian published a front-page story revealing the results of an in-depthy investigation that went back over all of the nearly 100 stories writen by their former employee. Unbelievable, but true. PETER SCHRAG IN THE SACRAMENTO BEE I often disagree with Schrag – many of his columns end with a call for higher taxes. Hey, this one does, too. But it is worthy of a read. Like me, Schrag ponders how California can afford to pay for an additional $50,000,000,000.00 (that is 50 BILLION) in bonds (let alone the rumored $100 BIL amount). According to Schrag, the payments on the notes alone would more than double California’s current structural deficit.… Read More

Some people really know how to spoil a good time. I was at one of San Bernardino County Supervisor Paul Biane’s signature first-class fundraisers November 2nd in Rancho Cucamonga, sipping Biane Brothers wine and anticipating later hearing Paul’s announcement for re-election next June. Read about it here.Then the keynote speaker, Hugh Hewitt, took a detour from his characteristically rousing speech and spent a full five minutes describing to the hushed audience a potential bird flu pandemic that could kill millions of people. He discussedthe possibility that the new avian influenza "H5N1" strain in Southeast Asia could become communicable among humans in the future, and noted that in Asiapeople in their prime who’ve contracted the virus from bird sources are dying at a 50-percent rate. By contrast, most influenza bugs are generally only life threatening to the very young and elderly, as well as those with compromised immune… Read More