As the light grows longer The cold grows stronger If Candlemas be fair and bright Winter will have another flight If Candlemas be cloud and snow Winter will be gone and not come again A farmer should on Candlemas day Have half his corn and half his hay On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop You can be sure of a good pea crop… Read More

Greetings, my fellow Flash Report readers!

I am Meredith Turney, the newest addition to Jon’s dynamic blog crew. I currently work as the legislative liaison for Capitol Resource Family Impact, California’s oldest pro-family public policy organization. Since my job is focused on the goings-on in the capitol, Jon graciously asked me to join the Flash Report and write about Sacramento political and policy issues. (I should probably warn you to prepare yourself for the inanity that I will no doubt post about as things just keep getting crazier in our capital city.) As a resident of Placer County (where there is much political intrigue at the moment), I will also report on local issues of interest. In fact, this afternoon I hope to bring you the latest news from the CRA’s local endorsing convention for the CD 4 race.

As an avid Flash Report reader, I am very excited to join the team of talented, influential individuals that already contribute. Thanks for the opportunity, Jon!… Read More

Nothing… Read More

Here’s a follow-up on the Waste Watch I posted the other day about the excesses of the First 5 program.

Our awesome Senate Republican caucus staff put the piece below together – but the real credit about exposing this abuse of the voter’strust goes to Senator Dave Cox. He’s been all over this issue for a long time.

Enjoy. __________

When the health care reform debate began in earnest at the State Capitol, well over a year ago, Republican legislators came to the table with a multitude of innovative ideas to solve many of the current and inevitable problems in California’s health care system. One of those, authored by Senator Cox (R-Fair Oaks), was to ask voters to reprioritize tobacco tax dollars currently collected under a 1998 voter-approved initiative, Proposition 10, … Read More

GOP – stronger or broader?Debra J. Saunders Thursday, January 31, 2008

Florida was big. Florida Republicans not only went for John McCain over Mitt Romney, but also, when you add the McCain vote (36 percent) to the now-withdrawn Rudy Giuliani vote (15 percent), you see a shift: A majority of Republican voters are straying outside the ever-pure conservative base. While conservative talk show hosts and a slice of the GOP base demand all-or-nothing from GOP candidates, Republican voters in general clearly understand that, in a democracy, the all-or-nothing equation has only one sure outcome: You get nothing.

Especially when your party does not represent the majority of voters.

In his gracious victory speech Tuesday night, Sen. McCain told Team Romney that "the margin that separated us tonight surely isn’t big enough for me to brag about or for you to despair." Wednesday night’s CNN-hosted Republican presidential candidates’ debate was more combative. At the heart of it lies a divide on how far a party should go. Asked which type of Supreme Court justices he would… Read More

Assemblyman Van Tran is an ardent supporter of Senator John McCain’s candidacy for the White House. He makes the following case to FR readers in support McCain:

McCain Will Stand Tall Against Islamic Fanaticism, Wasteful Spending by Assemblyman Van Tran After this week’s Republican Primary victory in Florida, Sen. McCain will now move into Super Tuesday in a great position to be the Republican nominee for President. As a proud member of Senator McCain’s California Finance Team and state Co-Chair, I encourage my fellow conservatives to take a second look at a man who knows that the transcendent challenge of the 21st century is radical Islamic extremism.… Read More

FR readers know when our friend Bill Leonard. He is a frequent contributor to this site. He asked that we share his reasoning for endorsing Governor Mitt Romney’s bid for the Presidency:

On Board with Mitt By Board of Equalization Member Bill Leonard I have decided to support Governor Mitt Romney in Tuesday’s Republican Presidential Primary and invite other conservatives to join me. After 24 years as a… Read More

Yesterday afternoon, I had an opportunity to sit down with Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. For about seven and a half minutes, I spoke with the Governor about some major issues facing California — illegal immigration and the economy. I also had a chance to ask the Governor about his recent statewide television buy here in California, and his stategy on how to win here in the Golden State.

Governor Romney was very quick in this interview to make it clear that it is a two person race here in California, and that if Republicans in California want a conservative nominee for President, then he is our man.

I caught up to Governor Romney at the Hyatt Hotel in Irvine, just after he had finished up a major fundraising event. Before that, he held a large rally elsewhere in Orange County. After our interview, he traveled down to San Diego… Read More