The group of GOP volunteers that are suing the state to have Jerry Brown’s election overturned because he was officially on "inactive status" as a lawyer for a short time while Mayor of Oakland has had a few developments. According to the Plaintiffs, on January 4 the case was assigned to Sacramento Superior Court Judge Gail Ohanesian in Dept. 11, and apparently the Court has asked the parties to agree to a hearing date on the merits by January 12.

Readers of FlashReport will know I am a critic of this lawsuit and see it as a sure loser and even anembarrassment for the Republican Party. Brown has been a lawyer in California for 40 years, has served as Secretary of State and Governor, and is surely qualified to be the state’s Attorney General. Simply because he changed his statusas a lawyer for a few years while serving as Oakland’s Mayor, to take advantage of the lower cost dues structure for inactive attorneys,shouldnot be a basis to overturn a vote of the people wherebyBrown waselected with an overwhelming majority and received an 18 point lead over his opponent in the race. By the way, I voted for his opponent.

On… Read More

For years I’ve believed that the Union-Tribune does itself and its readers a dis-service by publishing two or more editorials a day. The sheer number of editorials – most of which will hardly be remembered by the second strip of bacon – leads readers to start ignoring them. Then, when the editorial board actually has something important to convey, the impact of the editorial is minimized.

Case in point: on Friday I skipped the editorials…. right when the editorial board was actually writing about something important: the reform movement at San Diego City Hall:

UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL Target of scorn Will council perpetuate lack of confidence in city January 5, 2007

Last September Mayor Jerry Sanders asked the City Council to approve a sweeping package of financial reforms designed to restore San Diego’s shattered credibility on Wall Street. Predictably, maverick Councilwoman Donna Frye was the lone vote against the plan, whose key element was the creation of an independent audit committee to oversee the reform process.

Now, just four months later, Frye audaciously proposes that the… Read More

When I hailed a cab this morning to go to the airport, the cabbie asked me why I was in town. I told him that I had spent the evening in a tux at the Governor’s Inaugural Ball.

His response… “Did any Republicans go?”

I followed up and asked him what he meant. He said that he and some other cabbies saw or heard parts of his speech, and decided that Republicans must be upset that in his speech, the Governor “trashed” his own party. He said , “Isn’t he a Republican himself? I just figured if Republicans worked hard to elect him, they might be mad that he has jettisoned his own party in favor of this…what did he call it? The ‘Post Party Era?”

I asked the cabbie if he was a Republican, and he said that he wasn’t – he was a Democrat. He said, “I just feel sorry for you guys…” Sigh.

My local Assemblyman, Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine), had this to say last night as he reflected on the Governor’s Inaugural Address: “I considered his words and wondered: when a conservative who favors smaller government and lower taxes ‘compromises’… Read More

Liberalism as a strategy and philosophy is a failure. Progressivism is meeting a similar fate. To continue to govern as a majority in California, the Democrats have had to again redefine their agenda. The easiest path is to redefine centrism leftward. The Governor is coming right along. He used the word "centrist" several times in his inaugural speech today. Unfortunately, it no longer has the same meaning.

It wasn’t that long ago when Governor Pete Wilson was known as a "moderate" or "centrist" leader. He ran balanced budgets, applied entrepreneurial solutions to the State’s problems, rejected extreme environmentalism, funded education sensibly, avoided excessive borrowing, and demanded accountability in State Government. A similar strategy today would be characterized as "right wing extremism".

Up until November of 2005 one could easily argue that Governor Schwarzenegger was indeed a centrist from the Pete Wilson mold. But in fact, with the defeat of his four reform initiatives, Arnold has nowin fact moved well to the left of Pete Wilson, both in policy and future planning. Even with… Read More

I was just reading the transcript of the Governor’s inaugural address. After wading through the meaningless "Party of California" sophistry and such bromides as "We don’t need Republican health care or Democratic health care. We need health care," I came upon the passage where the governor outlines his big dream for California’s future. And it occured to me I had yet to encounter the words "liberty" or "freedom."

I did a search of the speech text for "freedom" and "liberty." Nothing. Plenty of references to "health care" and the "environment." Other than a reference to a "free-market" in emissions credits, the Governor made no mention of the idea undergirding the reason for our republic.

Then again, what should I expect from a Governor whose professed mission is to expand the size, scope and cost of government?… Read More

ARNOLD’S INAUGURATION DAY Today the 38th Governor of the State of California will be sworn in to a full four-year term in office. It is pretty clear that this will be a bitter-sweet day for Republicans as Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to make it clear in his inaugural address that he will be Governing as a centrist, which by my definition means that he will be hanging up any set of defining GOP principles and instead he will attempt to govern by finding ‘middle ground’ and ‘compromise’ on a host of issues that, from a conservative point of view, are issues that aren’t gray at all, but are black and white. Chief among these is the notion that California government is too large, and that it taxes to much, spends too much and regulates too much. Along with most Californians and the overwhelming number of Republican voters, I supported Arnold Schwarzenegger for re-election. Not simply because he would be an infinitely better Governor than Phil Angelides — as we saw on the campaign train, Homer Simpson… Read More

ARNOLD’S INAUGURATION DAY Today the 38th Governor of the State of California will be sworn in to a full four-year term in office. It is pretty clear that this will be a bitter-sweet day for Republicans as Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to make it clear in his inaugural address that he will be Governing as a centrist, which by my definition means that he will be hanging up any set of defining GOP principles and instead he will attempt to govern by finding ‘middle ground’ and ‘compromise’ on a host of issues that, from a conservative point of view, are issues that aren’t gray at all, but are black and white. Chief among these is the notion that California government is too large, and that it taxes to much, spends too much and regulates too much. Along with most Californians and the overwhelming number of Republican voters, I supported Arnold Schwarzenegger for re-election. Not simply because he would be an infinitely better Governor than Phil Angelides — as we saw on the campaign train, Homer Simpson… Read More

There is no doubt that much of the success of Governor Schwarzenegger’s re-election triumph last November can be laid at the feet of Steve Schmidt and Katie Levinson. Schmidt was famously tapped by the Governor to come out from D.C. to take the reigns as Manager of his campaign. Steve came from the reknowned Bush communications team, bringing with him, among others, Katie Levinson (Katie was actually named Arnold’s “MVP” by this website for her role in the re-elect).

With the Governor’s campaign all done – a triumph for Schmidt, Levinson and many others – those responsible for shepparding the GOP Governor to a landslide victory in a year that was terrible for Republicans nationally – are in high demand.

It was not unexpected when, a few weeks ago, it was announced that Schmidt had signed on as a Senior Advisor to the Presidential campaign of Arizona Senator John McCain. A number of significant Bush players have jumped onboard with the maverick Senator’s effort, including as campaign manager, Terry Nelson. Schmidt and Nelson are friends. Billionairre Irvine Company owner Donald Bren is McCain’s… Read More