In response to Senator Ray Haynes’ post below, I recieved this response from Mike Genest, the Director of Finance for Governor Schwarzeneger, who is mentioned in Haynes’ post…

Ronald Reagan’s famed "11th Commandment" was to never speak ill of another Republican. However, my friend Ray Haynes has posted that my opinion piece in today’s Modesto Bee, which responded to some of the criticisms that Senator Jeff Denham made of the budget now before the Senate, was intended as an ad hominem attack. … Read More

As FR readers know, California Congressman John Campbell has become a leader for fiscal responsibility in the House of Representatives, bravely taking on the issue of egregious earmarks. We couldn’t be more proud of him, and take as a point of pride that he is a contributor and blogger on this website.

This obsession with wasteful pork has infected Congressman in a terrible way. The Club for Growth has released a startling and information "RePork" Card (which you can preview here) — next week we’ll be walking FR readers through the results of how our California Delegation voted on fifty separate votes to remove from Appropriations Bills some of the most outrageous wasteful spending you have ever seen.

In the meantime, we invite you to take about six minutes to watch Congressman Campbell’s appearance last night on the FoxsNews Channel’s Hannity and Colmes program (h/t to CfG for uploading the video)… … Read More

Today, in the Modesto Bee, the Los Angeles Times, and the San Jose Mercury News, the Governor and his staff have taken to attacking Republicans, and specifically Jeff Denham, in the budget fight. This is a huge mistake.

Dan Dunmoyer, one of the Governor’s staff, a former Nolanista, and a good solid conservative, as well as Mike Genest, the State’s Finance Director, who was the head of the Republican Senate fiscal staff under Jim Brulte, and my advisor when I sat as the lone Republican on the Senate Health and Human Services Budget Subcommitte, wrote articles for the Modesto Bee and the LA Times. The Genest article is the most disturbing, since it mentions Denham by name, and appears to be naive to the fact that the Democrats are trying to recall Denham. Genest, whom I like and respect, in his zeal to promote the Governor’s plan, is putting Denham at severe risk. That is a most dangerous game, and one that a Republican Governor would never play. Not even Pete Wilson, in the time when he called any Republican legislator who would not vote for his tax increase f—ing irrelevant, did anything publically to put any of them at risk. The move… Read More

Mike Genest and I are indeed friends, and I appreciate his response.Hisresponse saidthat I said his piece in the Modesto Bee was an ad hominem attack. I most certainly did not say that. What I did say was that his piece, which ran in Senator Denham’s hometown newspaper, mentioned Senator Denham by name, and criticize Senate Republicans for not voting for the budget, was "naive to the fact that the Democrats were trying to recall Denham." This type of article does indeed aid and abet the recall attempt of the Democrats, and while it may not be "ad hominem" per se, it certainly, and actively, promotes the political goals of the Democrats, and undermines the policy goals of the Republicans.

It is not enough to say that "I am only reciting the facts" when there is an active attempt to remove a friend and colleague from office. At this time, the Republicans in the administration (the few that are left), must actively seek to protect and promote Legislative Republicans by seeking to resolve the budget impasse and pressing a Republican policy agenda, not by justifying the current budget.

In his article, Genest quotes… Read More

Have you ever heard that expression, "politics makes for strange bed fellows?"

Yesterday an organization called Taxpayers for Protecting Public Safety held a press conference in the State Capitol to announce that they have filed litigation to stop the State of California from issuing billions of dollars in bonds for prison construction. A perusal of this organization’s website shows that their preferred route of dealing with the state’s prison overcrowding issues are not those to which I would subscribe (new sentencing commission, paroling those on life sentences, yadda yadda).

But looking past the poor public policy direction that this group would like to take in the area of having a penal system that is tough on criminals and protects Californians, I will say that the legal proceedings in which they have engaged seem to be quite meritorious.

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

Have you ever heard that expression, "politics makes for strange bed fellows?"

Yesterday an organization called Taxpayers for Protecting Public Safety held a press conference in the State Capitol to announce that they have filed litigation to stop the State of California from issuing billions of dollars in bonds for prison construction. A perusal of this organization’s website shows that their preferred route of dealing with the state’s prison overcrowding issues are not those to which I would subscribe (new sentencing commission, paroling those on life sentences, yadda yadda).

But looking past the poor public policy direction that this group would like to take in the area of having a penal system that is tough on criminals and protects Californians, I will say that the legal proceedings in which they have engaged seem to be quite meritorious.

Specifically, this organization has filed suit saying that the massive Prison Bond package that the legislature passed earlier this year was illegal because they were not approved by a… Read More

Prominent conservative blogger and columnist Michelle Malkin posted yesterday about the Oakland-based criminal family behind "Your Black Muslim Bakery" and the local left-wing politicians who have supported them. The "bakery" (or criminal base camp, depending on how you view it) is back on the front pages of the Bay Area newspapers after one of its young employees (?) murdered Oakland Post editor and reporter Chauncey Bailey after they had gotten word that Bailey was working on a potentially damning story. The confessed murderer said he thought he was being "a good soldier" for carrying out the brazen act.

Here’s a good snippet from Malkin’s blog post: The… Read More

There is no doubt that in the eight years since they arrived on the California political scene, the New Majority has made a significant impact. But what is the New Majority? Who are they? And what are their goals?

Just the other day, I was invited to participate in a "media roundtable" with the leadership of the California New Majority and the Orange County New Majority Chapter. It was an informative session, and so I thought that I would share some observations with FlashReport readers.

The meeting was conducted by four leaders in the New Majority — Tom McKernan, the CEO of the Auto Club of Southern California, who is the new Chairman of New Majority, Orange County — Paul Folino (pictured left), Executive Chairman of Emulex Corporation, the Immediate Past Chairman of NM Orange County, Dwight Decker, the… Read More