Lately, one of the subjects of water-cooler conversations has been whether or not Congressman Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield) will seek another term in the House of Representatives. Thomas has been in the house for decades, and it is often talked about that he is ready to retire. That having been said, it is also frequently talked about that he is persuing a way to continue to have as much say in the next session of Congress, given that the House rules prohibit the moderate GOPer from California from serving beyond this, his third term as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Thomas is a controversial character, who has ruffled a lot of feathers and is disliked by many. That said, he has been in Congress for a long time, and often times it is seniority, not popularity, that decided your fate. Now, though, Thomas may be at a crossroads where he will need friends, and that is not his long suit. On the other hand, he recently chose wisely on the race for House Majority Leader, weighing in at the end, quite publicly, for John Boehner.

So, will he stay or will he go? I don’t know. But here is a recent… Read More

Today’s main page is loaded with a ton of material today, and took an exceptionally long amount of time (I’ve been at it since 6am) to put together. Because of it, I won’t be able to expound long in today’s commentary. THE GOP CONVENTION Tomorrow I will be writing on the State Republican Party Convention, and what I expect to see happen there. If you want a preview, you can see how I artfully got Carla Marinucci to quote me saying "green eggs & ham" in a sentence in her pre-convention piece in the San Francisco Chronicle, which is featured on the main page.

Speaking of the GOP Convention – there are two exciting ways to enhance your participation if you are going, and are a reader of the FlashReport! Both are highlighted on the main page — we are having a great panel discussion featuring many of the contributors you read on the FR Weblog (sign up now, it is almost full), and also I am pleased to thank Congressman Darrell Issa who is throwing a party to celebrate the tremendous… Read More

Today’s main page is loaded with a ton of material today, and took an exceptionally long amount of time (I’ve been at it since 6am) to put together. Because of it, I won’t be able to expound long in today’s commentary.

THE GOP CONVENTION Tomorrow I will be writing on the State Republican Party Convention, and what I expect to see happen there. If you want a preview, you can see how I artfully got Carla Marinucci to quote me saying "green eggs & ham" in a sentence in her pre-convention piece in the San Francisco Chronicle, which is featured on the main page.

Speaking of the GOP Convention – there are two exciting ways to enhance your participation if you are going, and are a reader of the FlashReport! Both are highlighted on the main page — we are having a great panel discussion featuring many of the contributors you read on the FR Weblog (sign up now, it is almost full), and also I am pleased to thank Congressman Darrell Issa who is throwing a party to celebrate the tremendous success we’ve had in our five months of being… Read More

Republican OC Supervisor Jim Silva is the front-runner in the race for the GOP Nomination in the 67th AD. His consultants are Gilliard, Blanning, Wysocki & Assoc. Cypress City Councilman Mike McGill is also in the race, he does not have a mainstream consultant as far as I can tell but, he is getting a little help from OC-YAF (Young Americans for Freedom).

They have been emailing around "The Real Silva Bullet" a take-off on the Silva campaign’s own Silva Bullet blast fax/email.

The substance of the YAF hits has some merit, they call out Silva for some poor choices he has made over the years. But there is something more than just a few bad policy votes behind this YAF effort.

Brian Park (Mr. OC-YAF himself) is a bitter enemy of Gilliard et al having taken over the management of the Non-Partisan Candidate Evaluation Guide slate from the Gilliard firm within the last couple cycles. McGill has bought onto Park’s book of slates and it seems… Read More

Governor – it’s time to FIRE ROB REINER.

According to FR friend and national talk-show host extraordinaire Hugh Hewitt, uber-leftwing pro-tax Democrat Rob Reiner is one stroke of the Terminator’s pen from being blasted off of the California First Five Commission, where he serves as a hold-over appointee of Gray Davis. Hewitt says that if Governor Schwarzenegger names a new Chairman of this commission, then Reiner is out.

You may not have heard – but there is a growing controversy about the First Five Commission spending boatloads of taxpayer dollars on advertising promoting the importance of pre-school. Note the conflict at Reiner’s tax-the-people-to-pay- for-government-pre-school measure will appear before… Read More

Governor – it’s time to FIRE ROB REINER.

According to FR friend and national talk-show host extraordinaire Hugh Hewitt, uber-leftwing pro-tax Democrat Rob Reiner is one stroke of the Terminator’s pen from being blasted off of the California First Five Commission, where he serves as a hold-over appointee of Gray Davis. Hewitt says that if Governor Schwarzenegger names a new Chairman of this commission, then Reiner is out.

You may not have heard – but there is a growing controversy about the First Five Commission spending boatloads of taxpayer dollars on advertising promoting the importance of pre-school. Note the conflict at Reiner’s tax-the-people-to-pay- for-government-pre-school measure will appear before… Read More

I just got off the phone with City of Highland Councilman Larry McCallon (pictured right), who is currently at the Fox News studios in Los Angeles preparing to tape a segment of The O’Reilly Factor that’s scheduled toair today at 5 p.m. and again at 8 p.m. Pacific time. His counterpart on the program is scheduled tobe Willie Brown, former Mayor of San Francisco and former longtime "Ayatollah" of the State Assembly.

As you may recall, in my February 15post I called on Fox News to get on this developing local story in San Bernardino County about the City of Highland, whose Council recently enacted a policy prohibiting its employees and public officials from spending taxpayer dollars attending conferences, seminars or forums in San Francisco — basically boycotting the City by the Bay. This was in response to San… Read More

On his website today, Hugh Hewitt shares more pearls on the startling revelation that Rob Reiner sits as Chairman of the State Prop. 15 ($$$) Commission solely, at this point, at the discretion of Governor Schwarzenegger, who can terminate Meathead by merely naming a new commissioner to replace Reiner.

I’ve already suggested that Reiner be replaced with Hewitt! Another FR reader has suggested that FR contributor Mike Spence, a local school board member, be named in Reiner’s place. FR READERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO POST THEIR FAVORITE SUGGESTIONS FOR WHO WOULD BETTER SERVE CALIFORNIANS ON THIS COMMISSION THAN ROB REINER!

Here is the beginning of Hugh’s latest, which contains and excerpt from an interview he had on the air with LA TImes political reporter Dan Morain on Reiner. Click through to Hugh’s site to read more. … Read More