Doesn’t the "I threaten to veto all bills unless" approach get a little old, especially if after the stated threat, one always comes up with a few "except that one" bills that are "too important" to have been lumped in with the rest of the lot?

Just a question.

If, in fact, we could really count on a veto of all pending bills, including the twenty or so terrible ones that Jon Fleischman has been tracking on these pages, perhaps we should actually support a no deal on water for the time being.

Just a thought.… Read More

I will have to admit – I’m tired of posers. What we need are principled fiscal conservatives leading California’s Government. I would love to go for the old "outreach template" in the Governor’s race, but its never produced an effective leader.

This morning over at the Capitol Weekly, they have a short item where they list those legislators who have authored the most bills that currently are sitting on Governor Schwarzenegger’s desk, awaiting either his signature, his veto, or his non-action (which would result in them becoming law).

Sixteen legislators together have 210 bills out of the 700 or so on the Governor’s desk.

FlashReport readers are welcome to take a guess here — how many of those sixteen legislators are Republican?

If you answered ZERO you would be correct.

We once again express our hope that the Governor will just veto all of the bills on his desk. Sure, there are a few bills that are okay, but by and large California would be better off if the entire final product of this legislature session was torpedoed.

We support nuking the package based on the substance of the bills themselves. But we are okay if he votoes them for the very fair reason that he doesn’t have time to review them while he is busy trying to get Capitol Democrats to agree to a reasonable water solution for the state — one that gets water to people and businesses to solve… Read More

I think it is fairly safe to say that San Francisco Assemblyman, liberal Democrat Tom Ammiano and former California Republican Party Chairman Mike Schroeder of Orange County, who is heading up the recall of Anthony Adams for breaking his pledge not to raise taxes, have virtually nothing in common.

That said, they do share one proclivity with each other — walking out on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A couple of years ago, when Schwarzenegger came to the State GOP Convention and gave his infamous "you are losing at the box office and need to be more like the Democrats" lecture, Schroeder got up at the beginning of Arnold’s remarks and left.

Capitol Weekly reports today that Governor Schwarzenegger made an… Read More

Last week I had a chance to sit down with Gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman for the better part of an hour. Our interview covered a number of policy areas including global warming/AB32, eminent domain, gun control, abortion, and philosophy about government. Because we had the handy FlashReport digital recorder along, we’ll be able to bring you some direct excerpts from the interview. THIS IS THE SECOND INSTALLMENT OF THIS INTERVIEW. YOU CAN READ PART ONE (ON THE ENVIRONMENT, GLOBAL WARMING, AND AB 32) CLICK HERE… Read More

Last week I had a chance to sit down with Gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman for the better part of an hour. Our interview covered a number of policy areas including global warming/AB32, eminent domain, gun control, abortion, and philosophy about government. Because we had the handy FlashReport digital recorder along, we’ll be able to bring you some direct excerpts from the interview.

THIS IS THE SECOND INSTALLMENT OF THIS INTERVIEW. YOU CAN READ PART ONE (ON THE ENVIRONMENT, GLOBAL WARMING, AND AB 32) CLICK HERE.

Because of the location at which we met in Menlo Park on the San Francisco Peninsula,… Read More

Assemblyman Alberto Torrico’s (D- Newark) likes to talk tough, but he can’t even back up his own statements.

In a recent article by Capitol Weekly, Asm. Torrico referred to Governor Schwarzenegger and Senate Republican leader Dennis Hollingsworth as extortionists because they are holding firm for a comprehensive water solution. The legislative session ended on September 11, 2009 and nearly one month later the Democrats still haven’t delivered a plan to solve for our states water crisis; yet Asm. Torrico has the gall to criticize them?

It was Torrico who went on the Spanish language station of Univision on August 29, 2009 and declared that the Latino Caucus believed helping the Central Valley should take precedent over green concerns. He also called this a “necessity” and the “number one priority.”

It is difficult to call this issue a “necessity” and the “number one priority” when you are out chastising others for making it… Read More

It would appear, according to the Fresno Bee, that Senate and Assembly Democrats need a reminder that in trying to come to a solution that solves the problem of people in California not having enough water for their personal and business needs, passing a solution through the legislature is only the first part of a two-step process. Any solution, because of the inevitable need to borrow large sums of money, will require voter approval.

So it is with a certain level of cynicism that I read today in the Fresno Bee that Assembly Republicans have identified a staggering $3 billion in what Assemblyman Tom Berryhill refers to as "environmental pork" in the package as proposed.

Or put another way, Democrats apparently (and shamefully) want to use the water crisis as a means to try and get voters to approve billions in borrowing that have nothing to do with actually delivering water to those people and business in need. Unbelievable.

I would remind the legislature that the last time a poorly-devised "plan" was hatched in the Capitol and sent to voters, the… Read More