MY DAD AND KAREN BASS
Yesterday was one of the Jewish High Holidays – Yom Kippur. My mom and dad, who are members of Temple Akiba in Culver City, attended the Temple’s Yom Kippur services at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Who should be there but the local member of the California State Assembly, Speaker Karen Bass. My dad took the opportunity to introduce himself to Speaker Bass, identifying himself as a Republican. When the Speaker asked for dad’s name, which he gave her, she asked if he was any relation to me! She proceeded to tell my father that the FlashReport is a "must read" for her every day! Maybe it is, or maybe it isn’t — but it was very cool of her to say that to dad! And polite to leave it at that ;-)
CONSIDERING THE TAX COMMISSION REPORT AS A PACKAGE
Today the California Tax Commission will release a six-point plan for a major overhaul of California’s method of taxation. I spoke yesterday at length with Commission Chairman Gerry Parsky and Member Curt Pringle. Clearly this is a complex proposal coming forward — and they were very hopeful that FlashReport readers would consider all of the components of the report not individually, but as a whole. There is a lot to like in the proposal, but the creation of a "Business Net Receipts Tax" will be a tough pill for conservatives to swallow. We’ll be thoroughly reviewing their proposals, and we’ll bring plenty of analysis your way.
COMING SOON: CRP CONVENTION WINNERS & LOSERS
Our traditional post-convention assessment of the semi-annual confab will arrive soon. If you attended the convention, and want to suggest a person, candidate, group or cause that had a particularly great weekend, or a lousy one — drop us an e-mail, or if you are shy an anonymous tip.
THE TOP-TWO "CLOSED GENERAL" MEASURE – LIMITING VOTER CHOICE
It was clear from last weekend’s State GOP Convention that many people are confused about how the Abel Maldonado "blackmail measure" really screws up elections in California. If passed, this measure would ensure that in about 1/3 of the state, there are two Democrats on the ballot every November — and in another 1/3 of the state only two Republicans appear on the ballot. It will ensure that no third parties — Libertarian, Green, Peace & Freedom and others — will ever be on the general election ballot again. In otherwords, this measure will severely limit voter choice in General Elections (read more).
INTRODUCING JOE GAROFOLI!
Joe Garofoli has been writing over at the San Francisco Chronicle for many years. But the Chronicle’s Carla Marinucci (and often, until his recent retirement, John Wildermuth) has always been the fixture for the Chron at State GOP Conventions. With Carla traveling abroad, Joe held his nose and tried to fill Carla’s big shoes, covering this last weekend’s convention for Ess Eff’s paper. Guess what? He was a big hit. Turns out that Garofoli is a funny, witty guy who may hate Republicans (we just make that the "default" for all MSM reporters, but in his online bio, he brags up "being mocked by Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly") — but if he does, he bit his tongue for the whole weekend. We assume that come February Carla will be back on the scene. But since the GOP convention will be in the Bay Area, we hope she’ll bring Joe along for an encore performance!
THE MEG WHITMAN SUPERSTORE
As the holiday season approaches, one Republican candidate for 
Governor gives you the opportunity to buy lots of goodies. Meg Whitman’s website features her e-store where you can buy items such as a key tag, a jumbo 15oz mug, t-shirts, caps, mousepads, and 
more. You can even get a Meg 2010 bracelet with a 2mb USB card built in! Team Whitman members Lalia and Amanda are shown in this photo selling goodies at the weekend GOP convention.
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