With over two decades of involvement in grassroots Republican involvement, I have had the opportunity to attend a slew of training classes. Some have been better than others, I admit. For the past few years, I have been consistently impressed with what I have heard about the Marian Berguson Excellence in Public Service Series. Established here in the Golden State in 2004, the program was started with the goal of inspiring, empowering, and advancing Republican women through education, training and experience.

I have to tell you — it works. I have had the chance to know and work with many Bergeson school graduates, both before they started the course, and afterwards. This program takes capable students new to politics, and gives them an excellent running start. It also consistantly takes more seasoned GOP women, and pushes them to new heights, giving them to training and tools to be effective in elective or appointed office, or to serve in government positions, or in political roles.

My good friend, Leisa Brug Kline, currently serves as Chief of Staff to Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. She is a great example of someone who was more seasoned when she… Read More

For the second year in a row, the FlashReport is pleased to announce our special feature column outlining the twenty "worst of the worst" — legislation passed by the Democrats and placed onto the Governor’s desk.

Once again, we’ll be watching how Governor Schwarzenegger handles these twenty bills specifically, giving FR readers an ongoing update on his progress through these bills, and we’ll conclude by giving the Governor a "veto grade" of A, B, C, D or F, depending on how he does at "terminating" these terrible bills.

This year, I am pleased to have worked with State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore in the compilation of the Bad Twenty, and we have unveiled the list in a feature column today.

So be sure to check it out right here!… Read More

At a press conference today in Beverly Hills, Assemblyman Joel Anderson stood alongside legislative and other state leaders in advocating for AB 221, the Iran divestment legislation now awaiting Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature.

Hosting the event was Beverly Hills Mayor Jimmy Delshad, the nation’s first Iranian-American mayor. Iranians now account for over 20 percent of the city’s population, a good reason for Beverly Hills to have such a stake in this issue, a large segment of the citizens wanting to see their homeland stripped of the financial aid fueling terrorism around the world. If CalPERS needs a clue as to what constitutes true patriotism, they only need look to Mayor Delshad and the good people of Beverly Hills.

Also in attendance:

-Assemblymembers Mike Feuer and Lloyd Levine -Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center

-Saeed Jabbari, Senior Analyst Center for Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights -Ron Leibow, Chairman, Jewish Community Relations Council Jewish Federation of Los Angeles

Rabbi Cooper told the media in attendance, including NBC, ABC,… Read More

With over two decades of involvement in grassroots Republican involvement, I have had the opportunity to attend a slew of training classes. Some have been better than others, I admit. For the past few years, I have been consistently impressed with what I have heard about the Marian Berguson Excellence in Public Service Series. Established here in the Golden State in 2004, the program was started with the goal of inspiring, empowering, and advancing Republican women through education, training and experience.

I have to tell you — it works. I have had the chance to know and work with many Bergeson school graduates, both before they started the course, and afterwards. This program takes capable students new to politics, and gives them an excellent running start. It also consistantly takes more seasoned GOP women, and pushes them to new heights, giving them to training and tools to be effective in elective or appointed office, or to serve in government positions, or in political roles.

My good friend, Leisa Brug Kline, currently serves as Chief of Staff to Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. She is a great example of someone who was more seasoned when she… Read More

Jonathan Constantine over at Red County/OC Blog did some blogging from the recently-concluded Western States Republican Conference in San Diego. He had the OC Blog "Cam" in hand, and captured Governor Schwarzenegger’s luncheon remarks. You can check it out, in three parts, here.

For those who don’t want to watch it, it is characterized by Constatine as, "nothing less than a defense of his progressive political shift to Republican voters."

No surprise there.… Read More

Until the initial vote several days ago, it was relatively unknown that the San Diego City Council would even be discussing the filing of an amicus brief in support of same-sex marriage. Perhaps that was because Councilmember Toni Atkins brought the issue to the council with little lead time, as some have claimed. Perhaps, as well, the matter was quiet because to the media it was just another pending side decision in an ongoing sea of fiscal and pension woes. The side issue has officially transitioned from side show to center ring. The 4-4 council vote on September 4 changed things, not solely because it put the matter in the limelight, but also because of the makeup of the two sides. Donna Frye joined the opposition, while Republican Jim Madaffer voted with three Democrats in supporting homosexual marriage. After first blush, the Frye vote made perfect sense, because it’s classic Donna.… Read More

Republicans wanting to retake the House Majority in 2008 face a tall order, and their first of many big tests will be the expansion of health care for children in the upcoming battle over SCHIP legislation. The Wall Street Journal opines here, and if Republican leaders like John Boehner and Kevin McCarthy can’t keep their members from supporting a $35 billion increase in this program, a march to single payer health care, their efforts to retake the House will be over before they even start.

We all know what great dividends the passage of Medicare Part D gave Republicans in 2006!… Read More

Arnold Schwarzenegger will address the United Nations tomorrow morning at 9am EST (6am here in Cal-ee-foo-rn–ya) — assuming it starts on time, you can see it on "UN-TV" here — there is also an archive feature that appears to update pretty quickly if you happen to prefer sleeping at that hour. Rumor has it that after the speech (on ‘global warming’) that Arnold will seek out Bono and Al Gore for a group photo…

Oh yes, could the U.N. spend any more on their headquarters? There is no worse deal, financially, for the United States than our subsidies of the U.N.… Read More