Alex Brant-Zawadski is a young free-lancer who writes for the OC Weekly, primarily about the 241 tollway completion. While I completely disagree with Alex’s passionate opposotion to completing the 241, he is almost always ahead fo the mainstream media when it comes to reporting on new developments on this issue.

Now, this isn’t a really new development because I started thi spost more than a week ago, but still worth posting about.

Alex wrote on May 20 as to how Assemblyman Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) has taken up the banner of stopping the extension of the 241 Tollway — a mere 3-hour drive south from his district. He’s even pasted this picture of a bulldozer cresting a pile of (formerly pristine) state park dirt:

This takes you to Nava’s stop the tollroad page and apress relase by Nava boasting of his (ultimately unsuccessful) efforts to block completion of the 241. I recommend… Read More

Today’s guest commentary is authored by Flash Report contributor Adam Probolsky. The top story today is the Governor’s appointment of Democrat Linda Adams as Cal EPA chief. I will let others make the ‘fox in the hen house’ analogies.

But this appointment is a further evidence that the Republicans need to develop some credibility on environmental issues and change the bellwethers on which the public judges whether someone cares about the environment.

Republicans need to change the conversation by totally debunking the idea that drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska is bad for the environment, promote all the local Republican-lead initiatives (backed by developers) that preserve natural open space and habitat and improve water quality and yes, even acknowledge that Global Warming could, could be something we should at least look into.

**There is more – click the link**… Read More

You can’t make this stuff up.

Today I read about the appointment of another former top aide to Gray Davis being appointed to a top-level appointment by Governor Schwarzenegger… My thoughts…

In 2003, in a historic effort, an overwhelming number of Republicans joined forces with many Democrats and Decline to State voters, and helped support the recall of Gray Davis. The unprecedented recall of a sitting Governor was a repudiation of the man, his policies, and his personnel. It was a statement that we wanted a clean-break from anything ‘Gray Davis’! I was pleased to support Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won the special election vote with a mandate to take California in a new direction – with new ideas, new policies, and new people running state government.

That having been said, I am disturbed by the entry of a third high-profile former “insider” of Governor Davis into the heart my Republican Governor’s… Read More

The Daily Breeze Has a profile on Dan Walker. Dan has been a fixture in South Bay politics since the mid 70’s. It includes two runs for State Assembly. He says win or lose in a tough race for re-election that this will be his last race. See the profile here.… Read More

Are there really that few conservative voters in California? That’s what I feel like polls must be showing these days. If you look at the national political picture, President Bush and the Republican Congress are suffering hemorrhaging on their right flank due to frustrations on the inability of the federal government to grapple with the issue of illegal immigration, the desire for an exit-strategy for Iraq, and the out-of-control spending that is taking place under GOP reign. Conservatives have strong feelings on the issue of illegal immigration, and our preferred way of dealing with the many millions of undocumented people who have violated our nation’s laws by coming here are articulated well by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher here. You can understand more about the spending problem here. So I find myself frustrated on two levels. As I look back in Washington, D.C., I am… Read More

Budget for 2007:This week, the House passed the budget for fiscal year 2007.As a member of the Budget Committee this is an issue I have been working on for several months. By passing this budget, we have turned the corner in the effort to control spending, and put ourselves back on to the road to fiscal responsibility.It returns the government’s growth rate to a reasonable level: below the rate at which revenues are increasing and below the growth in population plus inflation. In the years following the recent tax cuts, we have seen a dramatic increase in government revenues as our economy has expanded.By ensuring we keep these policies in place while controlling spending simultaneously, we will be able to reduce the deficit over time. … Read More

Are there really that few conservative voters in California? That’s what I feel like polls must be showing these days. If you look at the national political picture, President Bush and the Republican Congress are suffering hemorrhaging on their right flank due to frustrations on the inability of the federal government to grapple with the issue of illegal immigration, the desire for an exit-strategy for Iraq, and the out-of-control spending that is taking place under GOP reign. Conservatives have strong feelings on the issue of illegal immigration, and our preferred way of dealing with the many millions of undocumented people who have violated our nation’s laws by coming here are articulated well by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher here. You can understand more about the spending problem here. So I find myself frustrated on two levels. As I look back in Washington, D.C., I am… Read More

Francine Busby’s 2006 campaign for Congress is a totally different creature than her bid in 2004. Then, she was a longshot liberal running against a popular incumbent. Now, she’s the Democrat poster child for ethics reform and moderation.

But while Busby (pictured to the right) needs to tell voters she’s a moderate in order to win a congressional district that President Bush carried by 11 points in 2004, moderation is hardly a Busby trait. Her public persona is a long record of radical leftism that the mainstream media is loathe to report. Busby has established ties not only to the fringe left of the Democrat party, but to groups and organizations whose positions on moral equivalence between terrorism and war would make even the dedicated liberals in her own party wrap themselves in the flag.

On her 2004 campaign website biography, Busby lists two groups with which she "actively participated," that are mysteriously missing… Read More