The Republican Party is never going to be able to make the credible case that we are the party of fiscal conservatism and government frugality if we are constantly dining heavily on a diet of Congressional earmarks. Remember, in the court of public opinion, perception is very important. Thanks to vast number of outrageous and egregious pork-barrel earmarks, the entire earmarking process is being viewed by the public, and certainly by Republican donors and activists as being corrupt. Earmarks that are awarded based on back-slapping and horse-trading, rather than through the creation of objective, definable and provable criteria are egregious, and should be stopped.

[How did your California Representative vote on fifty different opportunities to eliminate extremely egregious earmarks to appropriations bills this session? … Read More

The crisis related to the mortgage industry or more importantly related to so many home owners is going to impact politics more than we might think.

We have yet to see the real impacts of a serious tightening in credit and a significant down-turn in housing prices. Until now, many sellers and home builders have held somewhat steady on price, preferring to hold on for a better deal rather than sell at a significant discount. That is changing. And as the months go by and what seems like a whole generation of first-time home buyers realizes that they have lost 10%, 20% of their home values, they are going to get angry.

People usually look for someone to blame when they get angry. President Bush is a likely target, the Congress is another. ‘Someone should have done something.’ ‘Someone should have saved the family of four who bought a house with zero down with a mortgage that offered zero interest for 3 years and then adjusted upwards swiftly, from themselves.’ …they will say.

Beyond the blame game, the issue of home mortgages and a credit crunch will most certainly, in a bigger way than it already has, become part of… Read More

The crisis related to the mortgage industry or more importantly related to so many home owners is going to impact politics more than we might think.

We have yet to see the real impacts of a serious tightening in credit and a significant down-turn in housing prices. Until now, many sellers and home builders have held somewhat steady on price, preferring to hold on for a better deal rather than sell at a significant discount. That is changing. And as the months go by and what seems like a whole generation of first-time home buyers realizes that they have lost 10%, 20% of their home values, they are going to get angry.

People usually look for someone to blame when they get angry. President Bush is a likely target, the Congress is another. ‘Someone should have done something.’ ‘Someone should have saved the family of four who bought a house with zero down with a mortgage that offered zero interest for 3 years and then adjusted upwards swiftly, from themselves.’ …they will say.

**There is more – click the link**… Read More

Wilson Statue to Receive Regular Visitors… Out of the corner of my ear, Ipicked uplast night on the TV news something about Enrique Morones, self-anointed moral compass on all things racist, announcing he will conduct regular weekly protests of the Pete Wilson bronze statue unveiled last weekend in downtown San Diego. Since this non-news is just that, I won’t mention the station that chose to include it as such.

Let’s see, if Morones can educate 10 persons every Saturday as to Wilson’s racist tendencies, assuming no days off and no population growth whatsoever, he will have a majority of city denizens convinced by about year 3507. I guess the time spent is better for him than doing something constructive.

The bright side:For the next several decades, the PD will always have a first lead if anything happens to the statue. The big question: Would such vandalism be considered a hate crime?

If you missed my FlashReport Commentary of last Sunday, "A Pete Wilson Statue and Prop 187," read it… Read More

LA City Attorney has finally made the big time. Following Paris Hilton and disclosures about his family’s run ins with the law; he has been recognized… as one of the 10 worst prosecutors in the country.

Congrats Rocky ! You deserve it. See story here.… Read More

The timing of when the Perata-Nunez Career Politician Term Limits Weakining Initiative will appear on the ballot is now in question (it’s looking very likely like Nunez will fail to garner the necessary percentage of valid signatures in a random count, necessitating a manual count in the 58 counties which very well might not be complete before a late-September cut-off to qualify for the February ballot). This certainly becomes a very interesting development as discussions are underway in earnest to place a redistricting reform measure on the February ballot. The Governor, to his credit, has made this a top priority, witholding any potential support for a term-limits modification until this demand is met. Assembly Democrats have given lip-service about supporting redistricting reform, but have been slow to proffer any support for a plan that passes the smell-test for being meaningful reform. Let’s start with an important premise that is important to consider when looking at redistricting reform. A bad plan… Read More

The FlashReport gets a shout-out from the Wall Street Journal (sorry Spence, you got written out!):

Terms Unlimited?

Talk about election officials being hoisted by their own political petard.

Facing a forced career change next year under the state’s term-limits law, California Senate President Don Perata and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez have fast-tracked a ballot initiative that would allow them to stay in office. While the measure would ostensibly toughen the term limits law, it would also create a special "transition period" that would let 80% of today’s sitting legislators delay their departure. "The practical effect of the measure would be to allow more lawmakers… to stay in office longer," concluded a San Francisco Chronicle analysis.

Armed with a highly favorable ballot summary crafted by… Read More

One thing that amazes me about opponents of completing the 241 Toll Road in Orange County is how they lie, and the boldness with which they do it.

Take this press release from "Save San Onofre" containing a statement from Elizabeth Goldstein, the president of the California State Parks Foundation. It was given to me by an anti-241 activist at yesterday’s pro-241 press conference by Rep. Ken Calvert and Assemblyman Van Tran.

In it, Goldstein claims:

That is an untrue statement. Just a flat-out lie. Yet it slips so effortlessly from Ms. Goldstein’s tongue.

Context is needed here and in anyone interested in more background can read my 241 toll road posts on FR Blog and on… Read More