Let’s Tax Services and Make Everything Worse By The Honorable Michelle Steel, Member, Board of Equalization We’re all over-regulated. A recent study for the California Small Business Advocate’s Office shows that regulation costs California’s families $492,994 billion. This translates to a total cost per household of $38,446.76 – just about the median household income – or $13,052.05 per resident. In terms of jobs, this means 3.8 million lost jobs – that’s a tenth of California’s total population! Because of high regulation, we lose a third of gross state output and four and a half times the state budget every year.… Read More

When I fly to Sacramento I typically blog about the politicos on the flight. Sacramento being the mecca for California politics, there is always a familiar face on that flight.

Today I am flying up to San Francisco, and I am relatively pleased to say that I don't recognize anyone on my flight!

I did spot some familiar faces in John Wayne Airport — coming off of their flight from Sac were Dick and Linda Ackerman! So it is still a small world.

Wheels up!… Read More

I’m pleased to report that my long-time friend, Laura Cunningham, is seriously exploring a run for Orange County Clerk-Recorder. She received encouragement to run after Sup. Chris Norby jumped into the 72nd Assembly District special election, instead.

Laura has already racked up some significant endorsements, such as OC Supervisors Bill Campbell and Pat Bates, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, former Supervisor and current Assemblyman Jim Silva, as well as a number of local elected officials. John Lewis and Matt Holder, who have run a number of successful county-wide races, have agreed to serve as her consultants.

I’ve known Laura for many years, and think she would make a tremendous Clerk-Recorder. She brings leadership skills, political savvy and organizational and operational experience from both business and government. Given her breadth of political experience and connections, Laura will make a formidable candidate."

This may be déjà vu for some long-time OC politicos: Laura ran for the post 12 years ago when incumbent Gary Granville decided to retire. She… Read More

Affecting my old Assembly district, Siskiyou and Modoc Counties, comes todays news that the PacifiCorp group, who owns a series of dams on the Klamath River which runs basically parallel to and near the Oregon-California border, has agreed to surrender its ability to produce clean renewable Hydro power, which does not bode well for new projects of any kind in California.

This settlement agreement has been a long time in process, about nine years, with farmers, fishermen, local tribes and a plethora of environmental groups all wrestling along with many government agencies of 2 states and the federal level and the actual owners of the dams. 4 dams now are slated to be destroyed and removed if the provisons ofthe agreement come to fruition. Indeed there are 29 signers to this settlement agreement draft. The net loss to Californians and Oregonians will be low cost, renewable, green hydroelectric power that serves about 75000 customers, power that will have to be replaced. With theever tightening noose of regulations of how and where electricity is sourced for… Read More

The Governor’s Commission on the 21st Century Economy delivered its much anticipated report today. Some of the recommendations are valid and should be embraced by the Legislature. But unfortunately, the report also calls for a hidden tax on business (known as the business net receipts tax) that would lead to taxing services.

At a time when California’s business climate is the third worst in the nation and when its unemployment rate is breaking Depression-era records, the notion of a hidden tax will go over like a lead balloon with taxpayers, with economists and certainly with Republicans.

How can we support any idea that will make California less competitive in business, kill jobs and evaporate the entrepreneurial spirit that Californian is known for the world-over? It’s obvious that further taxation will do all of these things, and in the process send California’s business climate to rock bottom and push our joblessness rate through the roof.

Perhaps instead, Legislative leaders and the governor should get serious about… Read More

MY DAD AND KAREN BASS Yesterday was one of the Jewish High Holidays – Yom Kippur. My mom and dad, who are members of Temple Akiba in Culver City, attended the Temple’s Yom Kippur services at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Who should be there but the local member of the California State Assembly, Speaker Karen Bass. My dad took the opportunity to introduce himself to Speaker Bass, identifying himself as a Republican. When the Speaker asked for dad’s name, which he gave her, she asked if he was any relation to me! She proceeded to tell my father that the FlashReport is a "must read" for her every day! Maybe it is, or maybe it isn’t — but it was very cool of her to say that to dad! And polite to leave it at that ;-) CONSIDERING… Read More

MY DAD AND KAREN BASS Yesterday was one of the Jewish High Holidays – Yom Kippur. My mom and dad, who are members of Temple Akiba in Culver City, attended the Temple’s Yom Kippur services at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Who should be there but the local member of the California State Assembly, Speaker Karen Bass. My dad took the opportunity to introduce himself to Speaker Bass, identifying himself as a Republican. When the Speaker asked for dad’s name, which he gave her, she asked if he was any relation to me! She proceeded to tell my father that the FlashReport is a "must read" for her every day! Maybe it is, or maybe it isn’t — but it was very cool of her to say that to dad! And polite to leave it at that ;-)

CONSIDERING THE TAX COMMISSION REPORT AS A PACKAGE … Read More

I just read that former California Republican Party Chairman Bob Naylor, who had endorsed Steve Poizner at some point, has now pulled that, and instead endorsed Meg Whitman. I admit that I wasn’t impressed to see Naylor on Poizner’s endorsement list, nor will I be to see it on Whitman’s. Naylor is a controversial figure in GOP circles because he always seems to side with the special interests that he represents as a lobbyist over the interests of the Republican Party he once lead.

An extremely affable guy, this former Assembly Republican Leader is definitely NOT in the "mainstream" of Republican thought. Naylor was one of the only, if not the only former CRP Chairman to endorse the controversial Proposition 1A, which if passed would have smacked California taxpayers with over $16 billion in higher sales, income and car taxes. Just this summer Naylor penned a… Read More