There has been speculation on various websites, and in huddled water-cooler conversation about whether Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy will be running for Congress this year, and if he does run, who would replace him, presuming that it wouldn’t be practical to campaign for Congress and toil statewide for Assembly Republicans. I haven’t spoken with Kevin about this yet (he’s hosting a retreat for his colleagues, so I’ll call him on this when that is over). But I think he has made it clear that he has an interest in running for Congress. So this debate is less centered around what will Kevin do, and is more about what will Bill Thomas do? Thomas, who has been representing the Kern County area in Congress for decades, is now 65 and was rumored to be strongly considering retirement this year. Thomas is the Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee (a position he used last year to earmark a massive amount of money for his district last year,… Read More

Yesterday the Governor made a few more key appointments that are worthy of being highlighted — two Republicans and a Democrat. Especially notable is first appointment listed below – that of Nicole Rice as a Deputy Appointments Secretary. The FR has heard great things about Rice, and, of course, these positions in the Appointments Unit have a lot of sway over many other future appointees into the administration.

Nicole Rice, 34, of Sacramento, has been appointed deputy appointments secretary for the Office of the Governor. Since 2004, she has served as public affairs representative for Southern California Edison. Prior to that, Rice was a legislative advocate for The Advocacy Group, now known as Strategic Council, from 2002 to 2004. She served as a consultant to the Assembly Republican Caucus from 2000 to 2002. Rice is a… Read More

At the direction of the San Francisco Democratic Central Committee, and following in the footsteps of the Santa Cruz City Council, the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors is poised to pass a resolution calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice-President Cheney. Read the Matier-Ross column on this here or read the resolution for yourself by clicking here (Item #44).

Left-wing supervisor Chris Daly cheerfully told the Chronicle that he was “just being a good Democrat” by introducing the resolution. Look for other liberal cities to follow suit (the city council of … Read More

I want to give a FlashReport ‘shout-out’ to my newly elected Congressman John Campbell. Campbell won the recent special election in the 47th District in Orange County. He replaced long-time Representative Chris Cox, who was tapped by the President as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Campbell will be a great Congressman, and he is off to a running start with the announcement that he has been appointed, as a freshman, to two key House Committees – the Budget Committee and the Financial Services Committee (and also to the lesser heralded Veterans’ Affairs Committee).

Of course, our first counsel to the newly minted Congressman would be to use his position on the budget committee to ferret our earmarks, pork projects, and seek to REDUCE entitlement spending, and shrink the size of the federal budget, returning control ($$$) back to the people. Well, this is preaching to the choir with Campbell. He’s a great conservative!… Read More

Yes, that’sright the Governor has appointed another Republican to the Los Angeles Superior Court. He also appointed a deputy DA who is decline to state. See the press relese here.Some newer readers may wonder why this is such a news item. These appointments makethe unofficialscore for judges 17 Dems, 9 Republicans and two decline to state types. See my previous post here.I suppose this is considered progress, but why do Republicans have to beg a Republican Governor to appoint Republicans?… Read More

The CATO Institute seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace. Toward that goal, the Institute strives to achieve greater involvement of the intelligent, concerned lay public in questions of policy and the proper role of government.

As CATO’s Director of Tax Policy Studies, Chris Edwards is a top expert on federal and state/local tax and budget issues. Edwards has penned a column entitled, "Busting the State Tax-Revenue Boom."

His piece is centered around the fact that when times are good, and state revenues are on the rise, state budgets grow. But then it becomes increasingly difficult for state’s to… Read More

Congressman McKeonfrom Santa Clarita in Los Angeles County has been selected Chair of the Education and Workforce Committee. He replaces Boehner who was elected Majority Leader.

Press release below.

United States House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: 202-225-2800

February 8, 2006 Ron Bonjean or Lisa C. Miller

Speaker Hastert Applauds Selection for Education and the Workforce Committee Chair

-Rep. McKeon (R-CA) named Chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee-

(Washington, D.C.) Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) today issued the following statement regarding the Steering Committee’s choice of Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) as the Chairman for the Education and the Workforce Committee:

“The Steering Committee has made a terrific choice in Buck McKeon to take up the gavel for the Education and Workforce Committee. I look forward to having the full House GOP Conference… Read More

The numbers in San Diego’s 5th Supervisorial District are in and thusfar it is brutal. Supervisor Bill Horn is showing around 195k cash on hand, and as reported last week former Assemblyman Bruce Thompson has around 14k cash on hand. Furthermore, it does not appear that Thompson has hired a professional firm to run his campaign but is rather paying a relative for campaign services. There are no payments from Thompson to a fundraiser – and from my calls I’m guessing there is not one on board. These are not the signs of a campaign which is serious about upsetting an entrenched Supervisor. Given the short time period between now and the June primary I don’t see Thompson having the capability of raising the money to be competitive. Instead, at this point, if he really wants to play he is going to have to rely on his own pocketbook, if he has the means, or independent expenditures, which is always a risky strategy.… Read More