[Below is part one of a wide-ranging interview that I conducted with my longtime friend Dan Schnur, who is running for Secretary of State. We discussed a variety of issues. For me, the highlights included hearing about Dan’s start in politics on the Reagan campaign, his candidness on the need to have real ethical reforms in the State Capitol, and why he disagrees with Pete Peterson on the critical question of voter ID laws. — Flash]

Flash:Dan, it’s great to have you here today sitting down with us in the international headquarters of the Flash Report here in Newport Beach, California. It’s an exciting occasion because you, who were one of the first people to ever write for the Flash Report, are now seeking the office of California Secretary of State. We’re very excited to sit down with you and chat about it. Why don’t we start off this interview with you perhaps sharing with our readers/listeners how you got involved in politics?

DS:It goes back a long time. I was 20 years old and I wanted to work for Ronald Reagan’s re-election campaign. I… Read More

Cross-posted here at San Diego Rostra.

It’s time again, peeps! The contest both Reps and Dems equally love, or love to hate. Show us your PPP (political prognosticating prowess).

The “rules,” if that’s what you call some of these…

Read the questions closely. No tricks, just read the questions. Send your guesses to info@sdrostra.com ONLY.The Rostra elves are assisting on this, so don’t send to my email. Do NOT post your answers here. Deadline to submit guesses: Election Day — Tuesday, June 3, 2014 — 7 pm, PST. No exceptions. If you’re reading this on FlashReport and don’t follow San Diego politics, don’t complain.Just … Read More

First-time political candidate Vanila Singh was inspired to run for Congress out of concern about the direction of the country. Singh is running for the congressional seat in California’s 17th congressional district, located in the South San Francisco Bay Area, and the heart of Silicon Valley.

While many political candidates say they are concerned about the direction of the country, Singh is different.

After spending a year as a medical intern at Yale New Haven hospital, Vanila was drawn to acute care medicine. She moved to New York City and completed her residency in Anesthesiology at Cornell Medical Center.

Currently a Professor and Physician at Stanford University, Singh was doing her residency in New York City on September 11, 2001 when the twin towers were bombed by terrorists. Singh spent days treating… Read More

As firefighters bravely fought fires throughout Southern California, many taxpayers were receiving a third round of “Fire Prevention Fee” bills. Given the raging fires, one might think the revenue raised would be used to help pay for hoses, trucks and planes — anything to aid the fire suppression effort.

Think again.

Under the 2011 law passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Brown not a dime of fire fee revenues can be used for actual fire suppression — trucks, planes or hoses. The funds can only be used for “prevention” efforts, which seem to be few and far between.

With these latest bills, Californians who live in a State Responsibility Area have now been forced to pay about $200 million in what I firmly believe are illegal taxes.

In 2012 the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA), with my strong support, filed a class action lawsuit against the so-called fee on behalf of nearly 800,000 impacted rural Californians.

Currently, HJTA is working on getting the lawsuit’s class certified by the court in order to ensure all eligible fee payers receive a refund. We’re continuing to advise taxpayers to protect their… Read More

Toyota’s recent announcement that it is moving thousands of jobs from Torrance, California, to Plano, Texas, sums up the failed policies and political coalitions of California’s liberals led by Governor Jerry Brown. To survive, California must change direction, and the best way to do that is to start at the top.

That’s why it’s so urgent that Californians select wisely when they fill out their vote-by-mail ballots or head to the polls on June 3. It is high time voters replace career politician Jerry Brown with Neel Kashkari, a man of vision for California’s future.

When politicians in Sacramento greedily raid the pockets of taxpayers, the very people they claim to be helping are the ones who suffer the most. The middle class has fallen victim to the never-ending cycle of tax-and-spend policies by the Democratic establishment. Millions of hard-working families are… Read More

“CalSTRS has a $70-plus-billion unfunded liability – even with assumed investment earnings that Brown deems ‘highly unlikely’ – and says it needs about $5 billion more a year to regain solvency.”

– Dan Walters column, “Brown budget reflects state’s massive debt,” May 25, 2014, Sacramento Bee

Those “investment earnings” that Walters quotes Brown as finding “highly unlikely,” refer to the long-term annual return on investment projection of 7.5% used by CalPERS (ref.FYE 6-30-2013 CalSTRS Annual Report, page 29).

So what happens if investment earnings generated by CalSTRS are destined to, as even California’s union-friendly Governor Brown attests, achieve more “likely,” lower returns? In November 2013, using data from CalSTRS FYE 6-30-2012 Annual Report, the California Policy Center released a study “Are Annual Contributions Into… Read More

Gerawan Farming worker Silvia Lopez recently sent a letter to members of the California Legislative Latino Caucus, asking for help in her two-year fight with the Agricultural Labor Relations Boardand the United Farm WorkersUnion.

The ALRB has refused to count the thousands of ballots Lopez collected and her co-workers cast six months ago to decertify the UFWlabor union to end its representation.

But so far, the only sound coming from Latino legislators is the distinctive, quiet sound of nothing. Nada. Crickets.

Lopez, who is leading the effort for the workers, sent Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Los Angeles, Latino Caucus chairman, and each member of the Latino Caucus, a letter in English and Spanish. But Lopez got no response.

“Mr. Chavez once said, that it is ‘never about grapes or lettuce, it is always about people,’” Lopez wrote. “I believe that is true, and that is why I write to you.”

“I am writing on behalf… Read More

I told you in my last missive that I would next write you about income inequality. I pulled an Obama…..and lied. I will get to the income inequality issue in a future edition. But, I’m taking an operational pause in my “Farewell Series” to address a couple of important issues that bubbled up last week in Washington on which I feel compelled to opine. So, here are my thoughts on two current hot topics:

NSA/ FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act): Last Thursday, the USA Freedom Act, a bill to reform some of the now well-known practices the NSA has employed to intercept our personal communications, passed the House by a vote of 303-121. I was one of the 51 Republicans and 70 Democrats voting against this bill. This is one of those times when people on the right and people on the left unite to stop what we believe to be an unconstitutional invasion of privacy. However, in my view, those in the middle have proven to be somewhat less passionate about this duty. Don’t get me wrong, this bill is better than current law. But, it does not stop the practices of the NSA in question and does not limit future action to what I… Read More