Dana Point Mayor Diane Harkey kicked off her campaign for the 73rd Assembly District with a fund raiser at the beautiful home of Assemblywoman Mimi Walters last Thursday evening – Walters is serving as Honorary Chairman of Harkey’s campaign.

It was quite the who’s who of Orange County. There were over 150 in attendance. Besides Assemblywoman Walters, also on hand were Supervisor Pat Bates, County Treasurer Chriss Street, Councilmembers Lisa Bartlett, Joe Soto, Elizabeth Schneider, Tom Hribar, Lon Uso, and Jack Feller (who came up from Oceanside) just to name a few. Former Assembly Republican Leader Scott Baugh was the Master of Ceremonies and announced that State Senator Tom Harman (who narrowly defeated Diane in a special election last year) is supporting her bid for the Assembly.

Perhaps the most notable attendee at the event was FR friend Paul Glaab, who serves on the Laguna Niguel City Council. For some time, it was being talked about that Glaab himself might run for this seat, and his… Read More

FR Beltway Correspondent Congressman John Campbell has written about the current efforts by Democrats in Congress to pass the LARGEST TAX INCREASE IN HISTORY. Thanks to the Americans for Tax Reform, you can now consult this chart and see how much the increase would mean for us here in the Golden State (as well as every other state)…

By the way, that dollar amount listed is the per taxpayer amount annually… (and I bolded the one you’ll be most interested in…) *The formatting on this chart is wider than we have — but it should work okay (the ads don’t cover the numbers on my computer screen, anyways. … Read More

There may be a problem with the influence of "special interests" in politics, and by that I mean that those benefiting from government services and spending who are making contributions to elected officials are representing an ever-growing portion of the funds that these officeholders and seekers receive in their campaigns. But that having been said, the solution to the problem is not to set up government prohibitions against these interest groups expressing their freedom of speech (one of the ways you exercise this right is by giving your money to candidates and causes). In fact, under the United States Constitutions, many such bans are constitutional. I would even argue that some of the bans that exist now are not constitutional. Of course, the Supreme Court has rightfully made it clear that no laws can prohibit a candidate from spending freely of their own money in running for office — meaning that all of the restrictions (such as those embodied in the horrific McCain-Feingold federal limits) serve to severely ’tilt’ the playing field in favor of those who can self-fund their own campaigns. Then there is this… Read More

There may be a problem with the influence of "special interests" in politics, and by that I mean that those benefiting from government services and spending who are making contributions to elected officials are representing an ever-growing portion of the funds that these officeholders and seekers receive in their campaigns. But that having been said, the solution to the problem is not to set up government prohibitions against these interest groups expressing their freedom of speech (one of the ways you exercise this right is by giving your money to candidates and causes). In fact, under the United States Constitutions, many such bans are constitutional. I would even argue that some of the bans that exist now are not constitutional. Of course, the Supreme Court has rightfully made it clear that no laws can prohibit a candidate from spending freely of their own money in running for office — meaning that all of the restrictions (such as those embodied in the horrific McCain-Feingold federal limits) serve to severely ’tilt’ the playing field in favor of those who can self-fund their own campaigns. Then there is this… Read More

I just attended a breakfast with Rudi Guilianni at Pebble Beach, where he energized the small crowd with his passionate speach on "Republicanism".

He hammered on the need for us as a party to communicate our ideas and solutions – because GOP solutions are better for people and better for freedom.

His freewheeling and engaging style were a refreshing change from the staid talking heads that dominate the political landscape.

Also attending – Congressman Dan Lungren, former Congressman Doug Ose, former GOP. Assembly leader Bob Naylor, former SJ vice Mayor Pat Dando.… Read More

With those words yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi established herself as probably the dumbest House Speaker in history. The American people have a greater sense of the war effort than the President? Really? So a steady diet of negativity from the Eastern Print Media, NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN and CNN Headline News is what qualifies the American people to have a better sense of the war effort than the President? Okay, now I get it.!

Make no mistake – the average American, myself included, hasn’t a clue as to what is taking place in Iraq because they get almost 100% of their information from a media complex that reports over 80% negatively on matters pertaining to the war against terrorists. Fox News being the only real exception. The House vote yesterday was nothing but symbolism and a signal to the leftist base of the Democrat party that the Party is anti -war. They had to lard the bill with pork in every direction to buy votes on the resolution (Steny Hoyer, Majority Leader, said the pork was necessary because the President hadn’t spent enough money in the last six years, incredible!) in order to get it passed.

Congressman Jim… Read More

Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani will be in Orange County today, where I will be catching up to him. We’ll have the FR "FlashCam" along with us, and hopefully be able to bring you some exclusive footage (probably to run on Monday). The House passed, by the bare minimum 218 votes, an appropriation for the War in Iraq that continues a provision for a timeline for withdrawal. In order to get her votes, Pelosi packed the measure with tens of billions in non-related pork-barrel projects. Shame on all who voted for this horrible bill. When are Republicans (yes, even those in ‘rural districts’) going to end the double-standard of supporting massive subsidies for the agricultural industry, such as found in the ‘farm bill’ due for reauthorization this year. I am not sure what is more egregious, subsidizing farms for NOT producing certain products, or the idea that the federal government taxes all Americans and redistributes that wealth to farmers who have crop losses do to natural weather conditions. Isn’t that what private insurance is for? Last night, as the Southern Vice Chairman… Read More

Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani will be in Orange County today, where I will be catching up to him. We’ll have the FR "FlashCam" along with us, and hopefully be able to bring you some exclusive footage (probably to run on Monday). The House passed, by the bare minimum 218 votes, an appropriation for the War in Iraq that continues a provision for a timeline for withdrawal. In order to get her votes, Pelosi packed the measure with tens of billions in non-related pork-barrel projects. Shame on all who voted for this horrible bill. When are Republicans (yes, even those in ‘rural districts’) going to end the double-standard of supporting massive subsidies for the agricultural industry, such as found in the ‘farm bill’ due for reauthorization this year. I am not sure what is more egregious, subsidizing farms for NOT producing certain products, or the idea that the federal government taxes all Americans and redistributes that wealth to farmers who have crop losses do to natural weather conditions. Isn’t that what private insurance is for? Last night, as the Southern Vice Chairman… Read More