FR readers, I am pleased to report that according to a call I got from Congressman John Campbell’s office, Jerry Lewis signed the letter to President Bush pledging to uphold any vetoes on discretionary spending that are made by the President.

From talking to Campbell’s staff, it would appear that Lewis committed to signing around 45 minutes to an hour after we posted on the subject here at the FlashReport, and after Lewis was first singled out on Rob Bluey’s blog.

You can read our original post on this item by scrolling down, or clicking here. THANK YOU CONGRESSMAN LEWIS FOR SIGNING THE LETTER. Of course, thanks to the rest of the California GOP delegation as well!… Read More

The Governor’s recent judicial appointments actually had a small gain in GOP numbers. Unfortunately, this hardly makes a dent after almost 4 years of Arnold appointing a ratio of 2 Democrats for every Republican. See previous posts with link to others.Clearly Post Partisan means Democrats win!

Here are the judges according to Capitol Morning Report Los Angeles County: Mitchell L. Beckloff, 45, Santa Monica, Democrat, commissioner, same court. Edmund Willcox Clarke Jr., 56, Manhattan Beach, Republican, partner Stark & Clarke (law firm). Graciela L. Freixes, 51, Valencia, Republican, commissioner, same court. David B. Gelfound, 43, Simi Valley, Republican, deputy district attorney, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. John H. Ing, 53, Rancho Palos Verdes, decline-to-state, commissioner, same court. Kathryn A. Solorzano, 46, Los Angeles, Democrat, deputy district attorney, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.… Read More

Greg Pettis is a city council member in Cathedral City (Riverside County, Palm Springs area) and he is running for the State Assembly in the 80th Assembly District. Greg is a nice guy, but classically liberal. He is in a battle with at least four other Democrats for the nomination and there there are two GOP candidates battling it out to eventually succeed Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia.

I am not sure of Pettis’ chances but I did get a fund raising letter from him recently.

His letter touches on the usual ‘I got money for parks’, ‘I got money for sewers’. But my favorite part is when he proclaims having "…stood up to Wal-Mart’s unfair labor practices."

I understand why many Democrats hate Wal-Mart. They see economics as a zero-sum game where Wal-Mart gets richer and the rest of us get poorer. I am not saying that is Greg Pettis’ position, he is a businessman.

But no matter his motivation, I don’t think that the most likely donors to a campaign for State Assembly would respond well to any anti-Wal-Mart message.

Greg, for the… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: We try NOT to reprint press releases in this space verbatim, but since I am post from my vacation, I hope that FR readers will be forgiving. This is exciting news, and I am pleased that many are already registering online for Western CPAC. If you haven’t signed up yet, there’s no time like now! – Flash] Senator Tom McClintock named Co-Chairman of Conservative Conference One of California’s most respected and admired state legislators–California State Senator Tom McClintock (R-19th District)–has been named a co-chairman of the Western Conservative Political Action Conference.

“Tom McClintock is the most highly-regarded statewide conservative leader since Ronald Reagan was Governor,” said James… Read More

From the way that Tony Strickland’s campaign for California State Senate is gearing up, you would almost think that that he is listed as "incumbent" on the ballot. But, of course, he is not. The incumbent, Senator Tom McClintock, is retiring next year as term limits prevents him from seeking a third Senate term. Today the ENTIRE 15-member State Senate Republican Caucus endorsed former Assemblyman Strickland in his bid to succeed McClintock.

[You can see all of the signatures by clicking on the link at the bottom of this blog post.]

"All of our Senators are committed to helping Tony win his election to the State Senator next November," Senate Republican Dick Ackerman told me tonight. If that wasn’t enough, earlier tonight, the Ventura County Republican Party weighed in with a rare (and overwhelming) pre-primary endorsement for Strickland as… Read More

Two weeks ago, a few Capital insiders were telling me that Governor Schwarzenegger’s health care reform proposal was not going to happen this year. The governor’s staff said otherwise. If I were a betting woman, I’d put my money on the governor–he put his stake in the ground to achieve major reform on health care in 2007 and that’s what he’s going to do.

But I know that I’m not going to like it.

First off, the governor is intent on putting a mandate on businesses to pay a 4 percent payroll tax (yes, it is a tax, not a fee) if they don’t provide insurance to their employees. Last week at a town hall in San Diego, the chairman of the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce questioned how small businesses could afford such a tax. According to the San Diego Tribune, Schwarzenegger… Read More

Two weeks ago, a few Capital insiders were telling me that Governor Schwarzenegger’s health care reform proposal was not going to happen this year. The governor’s staff said otherwise. If I were a betting woman, I’d put my money on the governor–he put his stake in the ground to achieve major reform on health care in 2007 and that’s what he’s going to do.

But I know that I’m not going to like it.

First off, the governor is intent on putting a mandate on businesses to pay a 4 percent payroll tax (yes, it is a tax, not a fee) if they don’t provide insurance to their employees. Last week at a town hall in San Diego, the chairman of the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce questioned how small businesses could afford such a tax. According to the San Diego Tribune, Schwarzenegger… Read More

California Liberals like to think themselves as selfless compassionate souls concerned for their fellows. No matter that they hide in Beverly Hills and Malibu escaping Section 8 Housing, their kids go to elite private schools that poor folks cannot afford, but of course they give. Don’t they?

Well the sociological evidence showsthey don’t. Professor Arthur Brooks, once a well meaning liberal himself , exhaustively researched donor trends In America and discovered the more religious the person the more generous they were giving to charity.Since more conservatives are more religious the givers are overwhelmingly to the right.. "Who Really Cares" 2006, Basic Books.

Last night at the Beverly Hills Hotel is a case in point. At its annual fundraiser, the Midnight Mission featured the Hearts of Gold banquet. The Midnight Mission was founded in 1914 to care, feed, house and offer rebuilding opportunities for drunks, drug addicts and the self imposed underclass in LA’s skid row. Seldom receiving government money, Midnight Mission is considered one of the most efficient and effective charities in LA.

We who co-hosted the… Read More