Update: Apparently President Calderon is giving his address as I write this, in English! Good for him. That said, below is the text of the memo that was e-mailed from the Speaker’s office to Assembly offices, stating that Calderon’s address would be in Spanish (hence my post below this one).

DATE: February 13, 2008 TO: Assembly and Senate Offices FROM: Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez SUBJECT: Distribution of Headsets for President Calderón’s Address – February 13… Read More

On behalf of the FlashReport, I participate in a weekly conference call with conservative bloggers from around the country. It would be more accurate to say that those conservative bloggers in D.C. get together once a week, and many of us in the 50 call into those meetings.

Yesterday the featured guest was our own FR blogger, Congressman John Campbell.

Rob Bluey of the Heritage Foundation took video, and has uploaded a bevy of videos of highlights of Campbells remarks. I will put one below, but see them all here.

Aren’t we lucky to have John Campbell in Congress? YES!!!

JOHN CAMPBELL ON EARMARKING AS A ‘GATEWAY DRUG’ TO HIGHER SPENDING… … Read More

State Senator Tom McClintock is so popular with California Republicans that a lot of people, joking around, say that he could win a primary for any Republican office anywhere in the Golden State. Well, if we needed some proof that this very well may be the case, you need look no further than a survey, released today, that shows Tom McClintock RUNNING AWAY with the GOP nomination for Congress in the 4th District, where incumbent John Doolittle is retiring. The survey, commissioned by Ted Costa and long-time McClintock confidant John Stoos over at Constitutional Advocates, and conducted by the very reputable Moore Information public opinion research firm, shows some pretty powerful numbers for the termed-out State Senator. The survey of 300 registered Republicans in this conservative Republican district that is east and north of Sacramento was conducted Monday and Tuesday, and showed that McClintock with 43% of the primary vote followed distantly by Doug Ose at 11% and Rico Oller with 6%. [The memo on the survey results, and the questions asked, are attached… Read More

I love drama. This was sent in from GOP Uber-Consultant Tim Clark. Assemblyman candidate Neil Blais is his client:

Miller Smokescreen Continues Submitted by Tim Clark of JohnsonClark Consulting I read the recent post by Senator Battin – a respected GOP legislator and a tough partisan when he’s supporting a candidate or cause. That’s why I’m not surprised to see the Jeff Miller campaign use the Senator to repeat smokescreen arguments about Miller’s recent and surprising financial weakness. … Read More

Charitable foundations and nonprofits across the nation are aligning themselves against AB 624 (Coto). The Orwellian measure would require all private, corporate or public operating foundations and nonprofits, with assets over $250 million, to collect gender, ethnic and sexual orientation data on their board, members, staff and grant recipients. Yes, you read correctly: sexual orientation.

So if you’re looking to receive a grant from a California-based nonprofit, be prepared for that awkward questionnaire: Do you perceive yourself as male or female? Which ethnic prefix best describes you as an American (i.e., African-, Asian-, etc.)? And what is the perceived gender of the person with whom you are now sleeping?

You can see why philanthropic organization may decide to relocate out of our politically-correct, regulatory-friendly state.

As Pacific Research Institute’s Lloyd Billingsley points out, AB 624 is an attempt to undermine Proposition 209, the historic measure that ended discriminatory affirmative action programs for state contracts, employment… Read More

Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries has introduced legislation (ACR 93) that has the goal of developing a uniform sign law governing campaign sign placement throughout California.

The League of Cities is a club for dues paying members–the legislation (actually a resolution) would request that the League along with the CA Association of Counties the FPPC to come up with the policy.

I find the premise to be an example of the arrogance in government. It can be frustrating for candidates and sign posting companies to have to learn and adhere to a myriad of of local sign ordinances. However, the heavy hand of state government should not interfere with this most fundamental demonstration of political speech.

I’ve suggested to Assemblyman Jeffries that representatives from both the Republican and Democratic parties (perhaps representatives from other parties as well) should at the very least be included in the decision making process. In my experience, elected officials who are actively engaged in leadership within the League and CA Assoc. of Counties are bureaucratic- and favor big… Read More

State Senator Abel Maldonado is a pleasant man. I don’t speak with him to frequently — as he is from the Central Coast and I am from Orange County, and he works in the State Capitol, a place that I admit I do not frequent as often as I should — but when I do talk to him there, I walk away saying to myself, "He’s a nice guy."

Well, last Summer, in the budget stand-off between Democrats and Republicans, he wasn’t so nice.

While all of his GOP colleagues were in a fox-hole, trying to defend California against an unrealistic budget that clearly spent way too much money, Abel abandoned his colleagues, and then started firing shots back at them.

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

UPDATE: 7am – I just got off of the phone with State Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman, who wanted to make sure that it was clear that his priorities in terms of State Senate races are (1) Defend Jeff Denham in the recall, (2) Re-elect Abel Maldonado, (3) Elect Tony Strickland, (4) Elect Greg Aghazarian. I agree with #1 above although my commentary below is about priorities for the Fall (after the recall is resolved). Obviously I am advocating that Ackerman and his successor change their order of priority – Flash.

State Senator Abel Maldonado is a pleasant man. I don’t speak with him to frequently — as he is from the Central Coast and I am from Orange County, and he works in the State Capitol, a place that I admit I do not frequent as often as I should — but when I do talk to him there, I walk away saying to myself, "He’s a nice guy."

Well, last Summer, in the budget stand-off… Read More