This morning FR friends and anti-tax stalwarts Lew Uhler and Jon Coupal spoke to a crowded sidewalk full of reporters in front of the belly of the beast (the YES on Prop 93 headquarters!) about their opposition to Prop. 93, the Nunez-Perata power grab.

Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Tax Association, spoke about the sham of Prop. 93. He let reporters know that although Nunez and Perata are telling voters that this measure shortens term-limits, the fact of the matter is that it will really lengthen them for the majority of officeholders in Sacramento. He also pointed out that Núñez and Perata broke their promise to the people of California by not including redistricting in this proposal, which makes it an incomplete attempt at reform.

Following that, Uhler laid into the real reasons behind this measure. As the author of the original bill that created term-limits in California, I can think of no one more qualified to speak on the issue.

FR’s very own… Read More

I have to admit that it gets depressing to cover the Bay Area for the Flashreport. Sure, there are funny stories to pass along, mostly political antics from San Francisco, where the inmates run the asylum.

But is also terribly frustrating to live here, where ever ballot initiative includes multiple local tax increases (February’s proposes three tax increases for Oakland homeowners and I can assure you that they will all pass. These people have never met a tax they didn’t like.)

I knew it was bad when Jerry Brown was the most conservative mayoral candidate on the ballot. But I never imagined that they replace Mayor Moonbean with Ron Dellums! I’ve been waiting for him to open a district office in Cuba ever since he took office.

But then again, as much as I can’t stand him or his politics, the man won the election. Clearly the people of Oakland wanted him.

And now they are enjoying the fruits of his liberal labors.

Late last week, a 10-year-old boy was shot during his… Read More

One of the most compelling letters that has come into my County office arrived last week. It was from a nurse at Sutter Davis Hospital. I have copied the letter below with permission of the author but removed her name.

Former Assemblyman Knox authored this bill that was signed by Governor Davis in 1999.

This bill took effect on January 1, 2000 and heavily regulated the work day. The proponents argued that this was necessary to "protect" workers. The opponents (most every business group in the state) felt that these restrictions would do away with the flexibility needed to run a business.

This letter makes exactly the point that was made during the 1999-2000 legislative session. Nurses and others are in a position that this law is hurting more than it is helping.

Little is done to evaluate major policy changes in California. There is no doubt in my mind that if AB 60 (Knox) is one of the worst job killers in California’s history.

Unfortunately for this nurse her professional association — the California Nurses Association supported the bill. Maybe they would consider sponsoring the effort to revoke this… Read More

Okay, so I was one of the idiots that thought Arnold Schwarzenegger would be the answer to the State’s problems. I confess my transgression, and beg forgiveness. After riding a historic recall wave in 2003, fueled largely by support from the State Republican Party, we went along with the "refinancing" of the Davis mess with a $15 billion bond. Then the Governor signed historic Workers’ Compensation Reform, his only significant public policy achievement. Then he gave a great speech at the Republican National Convention but it was clear by then that he was his own entity, not the head of the State Republican Party.

His failed 2005 ballot initiatives were courageous and necessary, but his conduct since that defeat has been political cowardice at best as he himself has become a "girly man". He’s allowed state spending to rise faster than it did under Gray Davis. He was re-elected against a weak candidate in 2006 and put the State GOP millions in debt to finance his landslide, all while ignoring down ballot candidates. He was rude and dismissive of the Republican leadership in 2006 and signed some of the most insulting… Read More

This was recently post over at The Corner (maintained by National Review Online):

Cutting Taxes Is Critical [Victor Davis Hanson] The candidates haven’t had much discussion about why they should cut taxes as much as possible. The Bush tax cuts created more, not less, revenue. They were slurred only because spending during the first term vastly outpaced the rate of inflation — in part due to the wars, the dislocations from 9/11, and new entitlements (e.g., prescription drugs, No Child Left Behind, etc) that led to rising deficits. Tax cuts have to be coupled with either spending restraint or cuts, or the additional revenue gained is forgotten when sums far vaster are spent.… Read More

FlashReport readers need to hold onto your desk chairs as we share with you some disturbing and terrible news. We have learned from VERY reliable sources that the Governor is about to ENDORSE Proposition 93, the Fabian Nunez "Big Lie" Term Limits Weakening Initiative. Yes you read that correctly — counter to the many commitments that he has publicly made to the opposite effect, the Governor is about to bail on his apparently untruthful position in support of California’s existing term limits laws.

I think that perhaps the worst part about the Governor doing this (worse than going back on his word, and worse than opposing the official position of his own party) is that according to my same VERY reliable sources, this endorsement has nothing to with the underlying policy issue of term limits. Rather, that the Governor is endorsing Nunez’ self-serving measure in return for Nunez’ support on the health care/tax hike package. Actually, my sources tell me that the Governor actually wants Nunez to stay in place in order to have his help to raise money and campaign next year for the health care/tax hike plan. This may sound… Read More

Xavier Alvarez, the water board member on trial for lying about earning the Medal of Honor has never watched an episode of Law & Order. He may face another charge of lying about being a Medal of Honor winner, because he was taped about it get this at an endorsement hearing of the Pomona Police Officers Association.

As I’ve pointed out before most Medal of Honor winners are awarded the honor posthumously. And those thatare still aliveleft many heroes behind so they never brag about it.

Alvarez should resign in shame. What you do say can be used against… Read More

Tonight the Republican Party of San Diego County unanimously made the following endorsements:

Shawn Steel – National Committeeman

Linda Ackerman – National Committeewoman

Keith Carlson – CRP Treasurer

Steve Baric – CRP Secretary

The Steel and Baric endorsements come four days after the LA County GOP opted for the same.

Of course, the arguably competitive race is for National Committeeman. "The unanimous vote reflects the strong support Shawn Steel has among San Diego delegates," said local GOP Chairman Tony Krvaric. "He will make a fantastic National Committeeman and bring tremendous value to the CRP board."

Here also is the Red County… Read More