Oakland logged it’s 48th homicide of the year over the weekend (story here). Last year, the city had 28 homicides at this time. Two thoughts come to mind.

1) There is just no way that the good people of California could elevate Jerry Brown from the mayor of the state’s most crime-ridden city to be the top cop. If they do, they deserve what they get. And I may become the Flashreport’s new Texas correspondent.

2) This story is another reason we need to get control over our borders. The man who was killed the other day was here illegally and shot by Hispanic gangs (police say that he was not involved in any gang activity.) The paper does not state that he was an illegal immigrant (of course), but he came here from Guatemala five years ago and worked in construction. His family is sending his body back to Guatemala for burial. Odd are the man was here illegally.

My point is this–his illegal status did not get him killed. But I’m sure that many of the people in the gang that shot him are also illegal immigants. If the federal government… Read More

The ‘Making Sure the Corrupt Mexican Government is Happy’ post published an hour or so struck a nerve. Cheers to Congressman Darrell Issa’s office for firing off a letter to Homeland Security. In the letter Congressman Issa requested that the US Department of Homeland Security "immediately suspend all activities that provide the Mexican government with inappropriate surveillance information about law abiding American citizens" and that the reporting of Minutemen locations to the Mexican government "would intentionally the efforts of patriotic American citizens who seek to provide information to Federal agents about illegal crossings and other activities." Best line from the Congressman, and one that hits the nail squarely on the head: "Mexico has not been a partner in creating a safe and secure border region. Providing Mexico with information that can help smugglers and illegal border crossers evade capture is absurd."… Read More

The editorial cartoon that the Oakland Tribune ran today is great (it’s syndicated from the Detroit News). This cartoon particularly hits home here in California after an Oakland judge struck down the state’s exit exam yesterday, calling it unfair. Of course, what’s unfair is allowing students to graduate from our public high schools who don’t even have a grasp of sophomore-level English, which is what the exit exam requires.… Read More

ARE THESE EIGHT GOP LEGISLATORS THE NEW FACES OF "BIG GOVERNMENT" CONSERVATISM? … Read More

CRP Vice Chairman Ron Nehring sent an important email out today and if you missed it, you need to visit www.unionfacts.com to check out the beginning of an important strategy to retain the Governorship. I am not going to get into how many times I have written about the importance of defining unions before they beat up the Governor, again. As a matter of fact, the Governor really needs to run his race against them, and not against Westly or Angelides.

Democrat approval numbers are even lower than Arnold’s. This is why they have transferred their voice to teachers, nurses, firefighters, cops and prison guards. And those groups are our real opponents in November. Run your campaign against the legislature, the unions, and the Democrat nominee, in that order, and you just might win.… Read More

ARE THESE EIGHT GOP LEGISLATORS THE NEW FACES OF "BIG GOVERNMENT" CONSERVATISM? … Read More

Putting aside Bill Hauf’s entrance (re-entrance?) in the CD 50 race for a moment,let’s look at some of the Roach decision fallout/reaction/response/spin/you-name-it:

Jimmy Valentine, producer for Roger Hedgecock, ran this in today’s FlashFax (not to be confused with the FlashReport)… ROACH BAILS!! Let’s see it be the 8th of May, less than a month away from the June 6th primary, and finally Eric Roach, having consulted with the so-called gurus of conservatism, decides to abandon his quest for the 50th. Roach is toast. After the wrangle that he put everybody thru with his consulting and undermining Bilbray for weeks on end via his surrogate Jon Fleischmann (Flash Report: not to be confused with Flash Fax) we suspect he’ll find a welcome mat in the GOP about the same time that Ted Kennedy is welcomed aboard.

A firm grasp on reality does not appear to be a republican virtue. Local folks very late understanding that the House really is in jeopardy. The 50th is a very rare open seat (Delay’s in Texas open as well) that has no incumbent to claim automatic… Read More

For many years now, I have had the pleasure of working with Karen Hanretty. For years, Hanretty was Communications Director and spokesperson for the California Republican Party. So the two of us share a bond – alumnus of the State GOP (I served as Executive Director of the State GOP during the President’s first election campaign in the 2000 election cycle). After leaving the GOP earlier this year, Karen struck out on her own, forming a consulting practice to bring her public relations expertise to various clients. Karen has really started to make a name for herself because of her willingness to call things as she seems them – something that I admire a lot. Hanretty will be joining Dan Schnur as a State Capitol Correspondent, ensuring that we have the center-right to right spectrum covered!

Please join me in welcoming Karen to the FlashReport team! BIPARTISAN BIG BONDS I know that everyone is expecting me to come out of the chute decrying the BIG BONDS coming down the pike for the November ballot. Fear not, you will hear a lot… Read More