I’ve gotten to know Dr. Long very well and can tell you all he is a good, capable, eloquent man who will do well in this position. I hope he will have the latitude to effect some change. He has been incredibly supportive of local control in Riverside County.

This is great for the Inland Empire.

Dr. David Long, Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, has been appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to be the California Secretary of Education. The appointment was announced by the governor today (Wednesday, March 28, 2007) at a news conference in Sacramento.

“I deeply appreciate Gov. Schwarzenegger’s confidence in me and I look forward to working with the leadership of this state to benefit the more than six million students of the state of California,” Long said. “Throughout my many years in education I have remained focused on the student in the classroom. As a teacher and coach, superintendent and now Secretary of Education, my focus remains on each and every child and what he or she needs to achieve and be successful in life.”… Read More

A few other blogs have reported today about the Governor’s return to using union-printed letterhead.

This, from the so-called student of Milton Friedman.… Read More

As FR readers know, I am not partial to reprinted press releases up on this blog. That said, this morning the California Republican Party issued a release chock-full of new appointments that are all worth sharing, and I have no desire to virtually re-write what they’ve put out… So here it is:

The California Republican Party today announced the following nominations and appointments have taken place since the election of a new Chairman and Board of Directors at its February convention. CRP Chairman Ron Nehring announced the nomination of Steven Francis, Chairman of AMN Healthcare, to serve as the California Republican Party’s new Finance Chairman. Mr. Francis is a successful business leader in Southern California and a board member of The New Majority donor group, the Lincoln Club, plus numerous charitable and civic organizations including Father Joe Villages, the Chamber of Commerce, and the YMCA. This position… Read More

Whenever the political left wants to inspire its troops, it never takes long before they reach back to the glory days of the 1960s for one of its favorite rallying cries: "By any means necessary."

Back then, the words meant grit, determination and a willingness to endeavor against difficult odds for causes such as racial equality. For today’s left – particularly environmentalists – "any means necessary" means something entirely different.

We can all think of examples of this kind of environmental ‘extremist’ – such as “tree spiking” — but there much more pervasive level in which environmental radicalism is running rampant – through the use of political action to deceive, delay, and “game the system” for their extreme ideological and political agenda.

**There is more – click the link**

View Full… Read More

Radio talk show host and Presidential son Mike Reagan has jumped into the 2008 elections with both feet, having started a new federal political action committee named “The Legacy Committee PAC.” The PAC is in the mail right now with its initial fundraising letters, be on the lookout! Assisting Mike in his efforts is partner and talk radio executive Tim Kelly from The Reagan Group, political consultant Floyd Brown (known for funding those “Willie Horton” TV ads in the 1988 Presidential election), Response Dynamics, and yours truly as Treasurer and counsel. Legacy PAC is hammering away in its direct mail on conservative issues, and hopes to play a role in both the Presidential race and key Congressional districts in California and the U.S.

Mike has also started a separate organization, The Reagan Legacy Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to chartiable activities and will work to support education about the Reagan presidency, and help charities related to that legacy, such as alzheimer’s research. The Foundation expects to help support the Reagan Golf Classic with other charities in San Diego later this year.… Read More

Whenever the political left wants to inspire its troops, it never takes long before they reach back to the glory days of the 1960s for one of its favorite rallying cries: "By any means necessary."

Back then, the words meant grit, determination and a willingness to endeavor against difficult odds for causes such as racial equality. For today’s left – particularly environmentalists – "any means necessary" means something entirely different.

We can all think of examples of this kind of environmental ‘extremist’ – such as “tree spiking” — but there much more pervasive level in which environmental radicalism is running rampant – through the use of political action to deceive, delay, and “game the system” for their extreme ideological and political agenda.

Since I spend a lot of time following political issues in the Golden State, I can safely say that the most blatant example of this that I can see going on in California right now has been the years-long effort to have a liquefied national… Read More

Jon posted the other day about the upcoming prestigious Sushi Rollers face-offsponsored by theCalifornia Rice Commission.[Disclosure: Iam a former director of the Commission and current constituent] That competition was held today here in Sacramento at the Sutter Club. Itmatched our fearless Republican leader, Mike Villinesvs. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. [Last year, yours truly forged a three way tie in the competition with Senator Cedillo, Senator Denham, and I competing]

The winner would win the honor of displaying a beautiful Samurai Sword and sheath, mounted inside a lovely windowed frame. They had me display it on the floor Thursday for the members during the challenge by Mike of the Speaker. We thought maybe it should have a sticker on it, "In Case Of Emergency, Break Glass" forour Samurai Tax Cutters.

The buildup to the competition was tense, both members looking for tips to best roll their own winning California Roll. The… Read More

As reported in the LA Times, State Sen. Maldanado has proposed a "snitch" line for carpool violations. See here.(it was on the FR Front page). This vital piece of legislation should just be a start. California should also have the following snitch lines:

Conservatives may want these:

People that use food stamps to buy Nachos at 7-11 (I’ve seen this)

People that use food stamps for food and then with cash buy Whiskey and a TV Guide. (Seen that too. I hang out in all the right places.)

Liberals may want these:

Parents who give foods with Trans Fat to their children.

People driving while using a cell phone.

People laugh at the Sienfeld episode that uses "Not. that there anything wrong with that." as a punchline.

Personally, I think we need a snitch line for GOP politicians that pretend to be fiscally conservative then vote for budgets that aren’t.

Let all the snitch lines happen, except for a line to reportBloggers that can’t spell. That would be very very… Read More