My husband and I were getting coffee this morning at our hotel in San Francisco after enjoying a grown-ups only weekend in the city to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary when we saw televisions with pictures reminiscent of the Loma Prieta earthquake when the 880 freeway collapsed. We were amazed to learn that a tanker truck had crashed and caught fire, causing a portion of the 580 freeway above it to collapse. Thank goodness, we said, that we had decided to BART into the city on Saturday—the collapsed, burnt freeway was the freeway we would have needed to take us back home.

But there was no denying the huge impact this disaster would have on the lives of our friends and neighbors in Oakland. My husband commutes everyday to… Read More

I’m still reflecting back on last week’s Prison "Deal" and the fact that it included over six BILLION dollars in additional indebtedness for California taxpayers. Especially heinous about this mega-debt is that it has been completely authorized by Sacramento politicians and apparently requires no vote of the people. Why wouldn’t they bring this amount of prolific spending to the voters? After all, lately, the electorate has been pretty accepting of big borrowing — having approved all of the Governor’s "big bang bonds" package last year. I am not an expert on intricate and arcane state laws when it comes to borrowing, but I can tell you that using "lease revenue bonds" just smells awful. The name implies that the bonds are issued against specific revenue returns from leasing the property that is built. But who leases state prisons? It’s the state, right? So if the state is responsible for paying itself for these bonds, I don’t see how that is any different from general obligation bonds. Clearly politicians will come up with any way to increase government spending,… Read More

The FR would like to point out that Sacramento Democrats are extremely consistent. They are willing to work with the Governor and Republican legislators on any project or program as long as it contains one of the following mandatory requirements: a tax increase, borrowing money, or increasing fees. Oh yes, they will also embrace projects that including increasing regulation or adding mandates to the lives of Californians or their businesses. As everyone trumpets the successful ‘solution’ to the prison overcrowding problem, let’s be real. It was a bitter-sweet victory for GOPers who didn’t want early releases of inmates being ordered by a Judge. Yes, there will be more prisons. But if Republicans had their way, this would have been paid for with general fund dollars. Instead, California taxpayers are going to debtors prison – again. We would like to give a h/t to State Democrats for hosting such a blogger-friendly state convention. From our discussions with lefty bloggers (with whom we disagree on virtually everything), there is clearly an effort being made to reach out and really integrate them into the event, and… Read More

The FR would like to point out that Sacramento Democrats are extremely consistent. They are willing to work with the Governor and Republican legislators on any project or program as long as it contains one of the following mandatory requirements: a tax increase, borrowing money, or increasing fees. Oh yes, they will also embrace projects that including increasing regulation or adding mandates to the lives of Californians or their businesses. As everyone trumpets the successful ‘solution’ to the prison overcrowding problem, let’s be real. It was a bitter-sweet victory for GOPers who didn’t want early releases of inmates being ordered by a Judge. Yes, there will be more prisons. But if Republicans had their way, this would have been paid for with general fund dollars. Instead, California taxpayers are going to debtors prison – again. We would like to give a h/t to State Democrats for hosting such a blogger-friendly state convention. From our discussions with lefty bloggers (with whom we disagree on virtually everything), there is clearly an effort being made to reach out and really integrate them into the event, and… Read More

Well, I take it from Mr. Fleischman’s ongoing posts on the topic of Senator Harman’s SB 1000, a that ended its life in committee recently, that he is itching for a debate on the topic. I somehow think that Jon would be less zealous in his position if it were his property value being quashed, but all the same here we go…

Many inaccuracies concerning sober living homes (SLH’s) come from the misconception that a SLH is anything with six beds or under. This is not the case. A SLH has nothing to do with the number of beds but rather with the services offered. A SLH is a SLH if it has 10 people in it – not just “six and under.”

By way of explanation, there are three types of facilities: treatment, maintenance and sober living homes. Treatment and maintenance facilities offer detoxification, educational counseling, individual or group counseling sessions and treatment or recovery planning. These facilities, unlike SLH’s, are authorized to receive public funds. A SLH offers none of these services and are basically the “last stop” before a person who has gone through successful treatment and maintenance successfully… Read More

I am catching-up on my reading this morning and just read the story from Tuesday’s New York Times covering the life of Boris Yeltsin, the first democratically-elected President of Russia. One of the high points in Yeltsin’s life was helping to turn-back a USSR Communist Central Committee plot to overthough Mikhail Gorbachev, and the Times ran a big five column landscape picture of Yeltsin atop one of the tanks sent by the Communists, imploring the people against the "coup."

But the Times refers to the "coup" as a "right-wing coup." Twice. In a summary of events it refers to it as a "hard-line coup," which is way more accurate. The "coup" was hardly right-wing — it was being carried out by the most Communist of Communist leaders in the Soviet Union, whom Gorbachev was pushing away from. If anything, it was a "left-wing coup!"

I’ve seen the MSM use this "right-wing coup" language before in reference to what are really communists. Are any folks out there as irked as I am about this confusion of symbolism, and do… Read More

As I ventured toward my mailbox yesterday, I was consumed by thoughts of what might be there waiting for me inside. Many questions swirled in my head as I opened the small metal door. Would today be that day where I would find something different? Would today finally be the day that would be forever etched on my mind when the phrase "Good Mail Day" is bandied about?

Despite this unbearable pressure I moved forward. Slowly I opened the door, the tension rising as the possibilities of a Mail Day approached that could end up in the highest highs or the lowest lows. As I worked through the handful of mail, I came across something that I never see: a fundraising mailer from Barack Obama for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee addressed specifically to yours truly. I must commend the crew over at the DSCC for picking me out as a likely donor to Chuck Schumer’s smear shop. The only thing more ridiculous would have been a request from the horrid Barbara Boxer. Maybe the Senate campaigns I have given to over the years tipped them off to my inner leftist liberal hidden deep down inside my cold cold heart. Here they are:

Rick… Read More

The FlashReport hasn’t taken any kind of a formal position on whether the State Assembly should ratify a group of gaming compacts negotiated between Governor Schwarzenegger and Indian Tribes with gaming casinos. These compacts have already been approved by the State Senate, so the Assembly is all that stands between these tribes and approval to add 5500 new slot machines to their casinos. Primary opposition to approving this compact (several other compacts have already been approved) comes from unions who object to the fact that tribal casinos are not union endeavors. Anyway, delving into a public policy debate about tribal gaming is an interesting idea, but not one for today’s commentary. But I do want to draw the attention of readers to an Associated Press article by Aaron Davis in which the accusation is made by Democrats that the Morongo Tribe (they are the ones with that big casino and hotel about twenty minutes this side of Palm Springs) is threatening to put money into the effort to thwart Speaker Nunez job-extending term-limits weakening measure that will appear on the February… Read More