This afternoon I read a statement that State Senator Dave Cogdill plans on retiring from the legislature at the end of his first term in the legislature’s upper chamber, I contemplated what I wanted to say. And decided to think about it for a little while.

Let me start this way. I’ve known Senator Cogdill for some years now. While not a close friend, I have known him to be an honorable person, and someone who is dedicated to the ideas of liberty and freedom for Californians. I have found that you can tell a lot about the character of a legislator by the staff that they hire, and the loyalty engendered to that legislator by the people in their organization. Chuck Hahn, Erin Guerero, Sabrina Lockhart, and for his time as leader, Ron Rogers are all people whom I respect greatly and it speaks volumes about Cogdill that these people have all been or continue to be a part of "Team Cogdill" — not to mention the other great people whom i just don’t know or know as… Read More

Last Friday I had the privilege of attending an event at the Ronald Reagan Library commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library and The Heritage Foundation hosted the remarkable event in the gorgeous Air Force One wing of the museum. During the course of the day, attendees listened to fascinating panel discussions featuring those personally involved in ending the Cold War. The event kicked off with the reading of a letter from Mikhail Gorbachev sending his greetings to attendees. The first morning panel, "Insider Perspectives on Ronald Reagan and the Fall of the Wall," included Reagan Administration Attorney General Ed Meese, National Security Advisor Richard Allen, Secretary of the Navy John Lehman, and White House Speechwriter Peter Robinson, who wrote the historic Brandenburg Gate speech. The insider perspectives and stories panelists shared were simply remarkable. Meese commented that if a leader … Read More

I just got the call and am listening in on a Tom Campbell Teletown Hall. It seems like most of the questions are coming from seniors.

If you are not familiar with Teletown Halls, they function like talk radio but works over the phone lines. They call out to thousands of households at one time and they can all listen in and some people can ask questions, the operator can take polls of people on the call and people can leave messages for call back or follow-up.

Based on the people and the talk, it seems that the call is largely including Orange County voters.… Read More

I would like to give a "Friend of the FlashReport" shout to newly appointed Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit. He was appointed late last week by Governor Schwarzenegger, and had tendered his resignation from the State Senate effective yesterday, and was all set to be sworn in today…

It turns out, though, that if Benoit delays his resignation from the Senate for just a little while, it will likely allow one of the two special elections (the "general") to fill his vacant Senate seat to be held in conjunction with the June primary, saving taxpayers the expense of an extra election.

Knowing how John is ready and anxious to roll up his sleeves and start "Supervising" at the County, I think it speaks volumes about his advocacy for taxpayers that he has decided to wait a few more weeks before leaving the Senate.

Kudos!… Read More

On Saturday, the San Jose Mercury News reported that Meg Whitman’s personal foundation has donated thousands of dollars to protect the delta smelt – a revelation that seriously calls into question Whitman’s credibility on water issues and her credibility with voters in the Central Valley.

In 2007, Whitman donated $100,000 to the Environmental Defense Fund’s Center for California Rivers and Deltas. The Environmental Defense Fund is a liberal group that proudly advocates for the rights of the Delta Smelt over the rights of our farmers in the Central Valley.

A donation to the Environmental Defense Fund is bad enough, but directly contributing to the EDF’s main… Read More

Senator Jeff Denham, who cast his vote against the $11 billion dollar bond and regulatory package that has been billed as a "comprehensive solution" to our state’s water infrastructure needs, just sent this over… IT’S A DAM SHAME Senator Jeff Denham

It’s a dam shame that the water package doesn’t address the current crisis of breadlines and devastating unemployment. It’s a dam shame the water bond does nothing to guarantee water for next year so that farmers can plant crops and put people back to work. … Read More

Earlier today the Carly Fiorina for U.S. Senate campaign launched a new web-based splash page, CallMeBarbara.com, where visitors can be reminded about the disrespectful manner in which Senator Boxer berated Brigadier General Michael Walsh from on-high at a Senate Committee hearing. What’s that, you don’t remember that? Here is the video…

Clearly Carly Fiorina wants everyone to remember how the shrill, leftist Junior Senator from California carries herself.

“Barbara Boxer, who by any measure has a failed record as a U.S. Senator, disrespectfully demanded a Brigadier General refer to her as ‘Senator’ instead of ’ma’am’ during a recent Senate hearing. Boxer’s arrogance and disrespect for our nation’s military leaders is way out of line,” said Carly for… Read More

Yesterday the Governor spent time with the Fresno Bee Editorial Board. The live-streamed it, and now you can watch the archived video… The best moment of the entire interview takes place just after the eight minute mark — the Governor is talking about how you can’t really call the so-called Peripheral Canal a canal, because it may very well be an underground tunnel. He then says that they have advanced tunneling machines, and references a machine that they had similar to these, but much smaller, in the film Total Recall. Check out this video click from Total Recall. Schwarzenegger actually destroys the boring machine — wonder if Alyson Huber will try out that maneuver.

… Read More