NEW LEGISLATIVE BLOGGER
Next week, there will be about a dozen new Republicans sworn into terms in the California State Assembly. We are very pleased to announce that one of these incoming GOP freshmen, Anthony Adams (pictured to the right), has agreed to come onboard as a new State Capitol Correspondent for the FlashReport Blog! Anthony was elected as the new legislator representing the 59th Assembly District, which has been represented the past six years by Dennis Mountjoy. The 59th District is a large on that is split roughly in half — with one part being the far east end of Los Angeles County, and the other part going into San Bernardino County, shooting up into the high desert.
I’ve known Anthony for some time, and he has just the right mix to be a great addition to our team — he is conservative, he is smart, and he is technologically savvy — thus we can all expect some interesting insights on our website straight from Anthony’s Treo!
Anthony will be joining our ‘veteran’ Assembly blogger, Doug LaMalfa, who represents the 2nd Assembly District in what LaMalfa calls, "North California."
Welcome Anthony!
NEW SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY BLOGGER
Our longtime friend Brad Mitzelfelt will still be a presence around the FR, we plan on featuring items from him on occasion. But he is officially joining Karen Hanretty and Joe Justin in the FR Blog Alumni Club (Brad, they owe you drinks). We’ve really enjoyed having Brad as our correspondent in one of California’s quickest growing counties! We wish Brad well on his future endeavors. We are also excited to welcome to our ranks Adam Aleman, who will be our new San Bernardino County blogger. Brad says his farewell in the post below, and introduces Adam… So check it out!
GOVERNMENT-PROVIDED HEALTHCARE IS AN ECONOMIC ISSUE
We have a saying around here that EVERY issue, when it comes to government, is an economic issue. That is because no matter what the policy issue is facing state policy makers, at some basic level their decisions have a very real economic impact on the freedom of individuals versus growth in government. Clearly the issue of health insurance for those who currently do not have it is a major economic issue. As such, we are hoping that the Governor approaches the issue this way — as he repeatedly identifies himself as an economic conservative, touting his steadfast opposition to increasing taxes as the cornerstone of his credentials in this area. Well, there are a lot of ways to approach the challenge of shrinking the number of Californians with no healthcare — but the best one by far is to increase the economic well being of the uninsured by helping them to get jobs, and to help those with jobs to get better paying jobs. This way, in the American traditional, these folks can take care of themselves, instead of looking to government. This bolsters the integrity of these individuals, and also their autonomy.
We challenge Governor Schwarzenegger to find ways reduce government bureaucracy and regulation of health care delivery, and to be a spokesperson in a national debate to end the third-party-payer paradigm where consumers of health care don’t pay their own bills.
Most of all, we ask that the Governor see this issue primarily as an economic issue. Many will propose socialistic solutions that amount to taking money out of the pocket of one Californian to give welfare to another Californian. Redistribution of wealth this way leads to larger government, more bureaucracy and regulation, and moves us away from free market economics and down the path towards socialism.
Have a great Monday!
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