This afternoon, a friend and I left foggy Oakland to venture to sunny, hot Danville, a bridge-tunnel moneyed suburb of SF with expensive boutiques, sidewalk cafes and an independent bookstore called Rakestraw Books. Rakestraw Books was hosting a book-signing lunch with Franz Wisner, author of “Honeymoon with My Brother.” I’m sure there is a good chunk of the FR readers who know Franz or have had an ex-Wilson Administration friend give them a copy of Franz’ book. But if you haven’t picked up a copy of this book, I urge you to do it—for two reasons.

First, it is a fun read. Light, easy summer fare that is written from the heart. Second, Franz was one of us—policy wonk, political addict—who chucked it all and… Read More

What would you say if I told you that in less than two weeks, FlashReport readers have an opportunity to defeat a liberal in Congress?

His name is Joe Schwarz and along with other liberals in the House of Representatives, he is standing firmly in the way of moving our conservative Republican agenda in Congress. Actually, Schwarz is uniquely situated to sabotage the GOP agenda, and I will explain why in a moment.

But first let me take a moment to tell you just how liberal Schwarz is… Schwarz (pictured to the right):

Has repeatedly advocated higher income, business, property and gas taxes. Has suggested suspending or rescinding the President’s income, capitol gains and dividend tax cuts to pay for more government spending. Voted against a proposal to reduce non-security … Read More

At any point in a campaign its important to be in the lead. In July, in a Statewide race for California Governor, a leaddoesn’t mean much as a predictor of a final outcome. We still have most of the playing field to travel, and much can happen over the next three months. Its especially important to lead a race at this stage to facilitate the raising of money. Big Donors and other groups are front-runners – they like to give to the leading candidate far more than the one trailing. Sp Arnold’s lead presently is mostly about maintaining a solid fundraising effort, which he appears to be doing.

While I still don’t see or feel any real energy in the GOP base the Democrats are angrier than ever – and demoralized. I have yet to meet a Democrat that sincerely believes Angelides can win. They are clearly not energized.

In the final analysis one would rather be ahead than behind. But predicting an outcome in this race is like predicting who will win the National League West this year in baseball – too early to tell. Arnold’s chances have risen from 40-60 to even money over the last few weeks. He’s got… Read More

San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Postmus on Thursday placed on the Board’s August 1 agenda a proposed ballot measure to prohibit the County from seizing private property for private use, while the Board’s Vice-Chairman, Paul Biane, is offering another ballot measure to place term limits on supervisors and revise their pay scale upward to attract better candidates.

Postmus’ eminent domain restriction is similar to the one passed in June by Orange County voters. Eminent domain abuse has been a nationwide subject of concern since last year when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that local governments could seize land to be used for private development. In Kelo v. City of New London, 125 S. Ct. 2655 (2005), the Court upheld a Connecticut law that allows local governmental entities to exercise the power of eminent domain for so-called “economic development” purposes.

“The Supreme Court said that local governments can seize your property and give it to a private developer,” said Postmus. “That’s not right. The fact that a piece of property might generate more tax revenue under another use shouldn’t give… Read More

See my original post of two days ago here. Essentially, that entry was just some photos of the Gov’s "Town Hall in the Park" visit to La Mesa on Tuesday, facing an "open to all" crowd.

Yesterday the SDUT ran a story on the visit, Governor criticized at town hall meeting, which he was, but in turn the headline and other stories about the "Rolling Thunder Review" beg a question:

Is the criticism Schwarzenegger potentially faces at these open and uncontrolled events bad enough from a media standpoint that he should either 1) not have them, or 2) go back to controlled, staged, by-invite-only rah-rah rallies?

Joseph Turner offered this comment in response to my initial post:

What say you all about the press coverage of the La Mesa stop for the Governor? I am of… Read More

The article below runs in Roll Call magazine. While it would certainly seem that Jerry Lewis, our Californian who heads up the House Appropriations (spending) Committee, is willing to ‘game’ the system to help his staff, it more importantly illustrates the problem with this earmarking system in Congress. We need a solution, and fast. Of course, Lewis’ PR problems would be much less if his track record as Chairman of the House ‘Spending’ Committee was one of fiscal conservatism. Instead, he is part of a House Leadership that has presided over unprecented growth in the federal government, while giving lip-service to the idea of a limited federal government.

Pay Cut Let Lewis Aide Dodge Ban By Paul Kane… Read More

Phil Angelides might want to think about taking a family vacation to shore up votes on the home-team, as he starts to plummet so low in public opinion polls that he might not even get a majority vote at a family reunion. Who would have thought that in a state with a plurality of Democrat voters that a nominee of the party of Barbara Boxer would be suffering a double-digit deficit to a Republican Governor? Well, it isn’t rocket science. Phil Angelides is his own worst enemy. We are talking about someone who has embraced just about every form of higher taxes possible, and who has views on everything from the environment to illegal immigration that put him so far out to the left that he makes Arnold’s Uncle, Ted Kennedy, look moderate. But as much as we would all like to give Phil Angelides full credit for his deficit in public polling, we can only give him credit for being an ultra-left wing radical who has all of the charisma of a Certified Public Accountant (sorry if I have offended any of my CPA friends). Much of the credit for the Governor’s now 13 point lead (there are lots of polls, with varying leads, but that’s the latest… Read More

Phil Angelides might want to think about taking a family vacation to shore up votes on the home-team, as he starts to plummet so low in public opinion polls that he might not even get a majority vote at a family reunion. Who would have thought that in a state with a plurality of Democrat voters that a nominee of the party of Barbara Boxer would be suffering a double-digit deficit to a Republican Governor? Well, it isn’t rocket science. Phil Angelides is his own worst enemy. We are talking about someone who has embraced just about every form of higher taxes possible, and who has views on everything from the environment to illegal immigration that put him so far out to the left that he makes Arnold’s Uncle, Ted Kennedy, look moderate. But as much as we would all like to give Phil Angelides full credit for his deficit in public polling, we can only give him credit for being an ultra-left wing radical who has all of the charisma of a Certified Public Accountant (sorry if I have offended any of my CPA friends). Much of the credit for the Governor’s now 13 point lead (there are lots of polls, with varying leads, but that’s the latest… Read More