FlashReport Weblog on California Politics
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Today’s Commentary: 2006 Golden Trash Can Award: An Orange County Scandal
THE 2006 LEGISLATIVE GOLDEN TRASHCAN AWARD GOES TO… The final days of the 2006 legislative session are upon us, with hundreds of pieces of questionable legislation being negotiated and bartered about as the days turn to hours before no more bills can be passed on to the Governor. This year, the FlashReport is awarding its Golden TrashCan Award to Assembly Bill 523, that would change California State Law to allow the scheme of a former Orange County Congressman to come true — subsidizing a public television station with a de facto gift of millions of dollars – at the expense many thousands of Community College students…
STORY OF AN ORANGE COUNTY SCANDAL …A FOUNDATION WANTS THE TAX PAYERS TO SUBSIDIZE THEIR PURCHASE OF A TV… Read More

GOP HQ under attack! Is it a hate crime?
I’ve written in thge past about the huge GOP Headquarters in Whittier. See here.I guess others thought it was a big target as well. There has been an increasing amount vandalism directed at the headquarters. See article here.
Two thoughts.
One. Why doesn’t the legislature create a hate-crime bill for political parties. Vandalism is worse when directed at political speech than at any other business? Right? Of course I’m kidding, but that is the logic of creating special classes of crimes. But lawmakers continue to value some people more than others.
Two. People in the area don’t know if the vandalism is political or not. One thing is for sure. IF these people are voters, they would vote for Jerry Brown for Attorney General. Agreed?… Read More

CA GOP SUMMER CONVENTION – WINNERS & LOSERS!
THANK YOU!!
Below you will find my picks for Winners and Loser from last weekend’s GOP convention — but before I get into that, I wanted to take a quick moment to express my appreciation to the many legislators, volunteer leaders, and CRP delegates who endorsed my candidacy for Vice Chairman, South of the California Republican Party (read more here). The election will not be held until February, but time invested into the campaign last weekend was well worth the time!
I would like especially thank the four Statewide Republican Volunteer Organizations that have voted to give me an early endorsement in this race…
… Read More
New Ventura County GOP Chairman
Last night Mike Osborn was elected Chairman of the Ventura County Republican Party by a 2/3 supermajority. It’s no great secret that the Ventura Republican Party has had a checkered and troubled past – torn and tattered by ideological and personal feuds. This overwhelming demonstration of support for Osborn gives the committee the rare opportunity to refocus on the basic tasks of a County Republican Party: registering new Republicans, enlisting and training precinct captains for advocacy and gotv programs, recruiting GOP candidates, and raising the money to accomplish those goals. None of those tasks are as fun as fighting over party leadership or passing resolutions, but for a political party to be meaningful those are the jobs that need doing.
Congratulations to the Ventura County Republican Party for an orderly election, and congratulations to new Chairman Mike Osborn.… Read More

Today’s Commentary: Socialists for Angelides!
OK, so we thought we knew how far to the left Phil Angelides is. We knew he was hanging out over there in the nosebleed seats high above left field with Mark Leno and Howard Dean. But now we see he’s barely in the ballpark at all.
Angelides has a bona fide, unabashed socialist working on his behalf. He’s making TV appearances on Angelides’ behalf and writing blog posts at a pro-Phil website.
And guess what else? He’s a union organizer, and he used to be a national official for the Young Democratic Socialists.
**There is more – click the link**
View Full Commentary… Read More

Plescia stands for Freedom…opposes price controls…
Today, in a sharp step away from the free-market principles of Ronald Reagan and Milton Friedman, Govenor Schwarzenegger has entered into an alliance with the most liberal elements of our State Legislature to impose government price-controls on prescription drugs.
THIS IS HORRIBLE PUBLIC POLICY.
I cannot say it any better than Assembly Republican Leader George Plescia in the following statement just released from his office:
“Republicans agree that expanding access to prescription drugs is an important priority, but we have many serious concerns about this prescription drug plan.
“By forcing companies to cut drug prices through price controls, which is the practical effect of this measure, we will jeopardize the development of life-saving drugs for all 35 million people in our state, drive up health insurance costs for all insured Californians, and threaten the jobs of thousands of highly skilled workers in this critical industry.
“Using a heavy-handed approach to force drug companies to participate may have the unintended and dangerous consequence of taking away critical medications for vulnerable Californians… Read More

Today’s Commentary: CA GOP SUMMER CONVENTION – WINNERS & LOSERS!
THANK YOU!!
Below you will find my picks for Winners and Loser from last weekend’s GOP convention — but before I get into that, I wanted to take a quick moment to express my appreciation to the many legislators, volunteer leaders, and CRP delegates who endorsed my candidacy for Vice Chairman, South of the California Republican Party (read more here). The election will not be held until February, but time invested into the campaign last weekend was well worth the time!
I would like especially thank the four Statewide Republican Volunteer Organizations that have voted to give me an early endorsement in this race…
… Read More