FlashReport readers will recall that I recently bestowed the “honor” of our Golden Trashcan Award to policy being put forward by the California Energy Commission (CEC) to ban big screen televisions in the name of Orwellian efforts to reduce energy consumption by – you!

Since I wrote that commentary, I noted that a new coalition has formed to fight this lame-brained idea, and others like it – Californians for Smart Energy. Today members of this coalition held a news conference outside of the CEC’s offices to oppose the big screen ban, and it arbitrary energy limits on televisions.

That’s right, a bunch of unaccountable, unelected bureaucrats now want to control what TVs we can or cannot buy here in the “Golden State.”

Californians for Smart Energy is a… Read More

UPDATE:

This just in from ProtectMarriage.com – a statement from Ron Prentice:

Original Post (1130am): Just a few minutes ago, the folks over at Equality California, the umbrella group… Read More

Californians should be skeptical when their legislators ask them to make great sacrifices for dubious reasons. Sure, there are times when citizens need to be mobilized to make do with less for the greater good – World War II era rationing comes to mind. But the type of collective sacrifice now fashionable among liberal politicians based on scientifically “proven” global warming research certainly deserves our skepticism, and not just because the world has been experiencing record cool temperatures.

The liberal-dominated Legislature has fully accepted the apocalyptic calls from radical environmental special interest groups and forced California to unilaterally reduce so-called greenhouse gases when it passed Assembly Bill 32 (the Global Warming act) back in 2006. Unfortunately, Californians are now stuck footing the bill. The effects of this policy monstrosity, once it is fully implemented, will be felt by every resident.

A recent study from Sacramento State University estimates that California small business will pay nearly $50,000 more in costs due to AB 32. Naturally, these costs will be passed on to the consumers. Indeed, after full implementation, AB… Read More

Confirming the breaking news presented here on the FlashReport by San Diego County Correspondent Barry Jantz, the following release just came over the transom…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: John Wainio John@TheSanDiegoGroup.com

David Bejarano to be next Chula Vista Chief of Police

Campaign for Sheriff Ends

Chula Vista, CA. August 11, 2009 – David Bejarano today announced that he has accepted the opportunity to serve as Chief of Police for the City of Chula Vista. "The decision was based on the ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to return to my passion of being a local municipal Police Chief for the community that my family and I have ‘called home’ for almost thirty years," said Bejarano.

Bejarano is excited about making a public safety contribution for the Chula Vista Police Department and the community where he is active through various non-profit organizations, a community bank, and as a Trustee for the Chula Vista Elementary School District.

Today’s announcement also means… Read More

***Exclusive to the FlashReport***

The item on today’s Chula Vista City Council meeting agenda is simple:

22. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE APPOINTMENT PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54957 Title: Police Chief

That could mean a lot of things. However I have it from an impeccable source that David Bejarano, the leading fundraiser in next year’s San Diego County Sheriff’s election, will be appointed as chief of police in Chula Vista, to be followed by his announcement that he will drop his bid for sheriff.

The obvious impact on the sheriff’s campaign may be more significant news for some than the police chief announcement itself. For Bejarano, I’m guessing not!

The source is "vaunted" enough, that I am calling the news now.

More to follow.

9:10 am Update: The news is confirmed. See follow-up post.

2:00 am Update: The Union-Trib has … Read More

Former Democrat turned Decline-To-State Assemblyman Juan Arambula of the Central Valley queried the Legislative Analyst, Mac Taylor, as to the sum total of California state governments aggregated liabilities (all of our long term debt). The response that Arambula received from Taylor is attached below, and is a "must read" for all FlashReport leaders. The amount of liability is nothing short of staggering, and Taylor organizes the types and specifics of the liabilities in a way that is easy to digest — even for non policy-wonks (like me).… Read More

This weekend the excellent "OC Watchdog" series of the Orange County Register focused on a recent report on nonprofit pay released by an organization called "Charity Navigator" which revealed, among other things, that more than a few Orange County and California based nonprofits are paying pretty hefty compensation to corporate insiders, some have questionable management practices favoring corporate "insiders," and that Attorney General Jerry Brown iskeeping an eye on the situation.

For example, Costa Mesa’s Trinity Broadcasting Network is reportedly paying television preacher Paul Crouch as much as $419,500 annually, and it has a lot of relatives working for the nonprofit in various capacities, as does the Irvine-based Ayn Rand Institute, which is raising questions. A Santa Ana outfit named "Association for Firefighters and Paramedics" is spending 97% of its annual $3 million of funds raisedon fundraising and overhead, and $125,375 on its CEO, and has drawn the ire of the Attorney General, who is suing it for deceptive fundraising.

Persons who can exercise… Read More

"The insight of conservatism is the lasting power of America’s founding principles. The Claremont Institute articulates these principles with brilliant clarity, and challenges each and every Lincoln Fellow to live up to them. There is no better training ground for a lifelong campaign in the trenches of political warfare."

This week, I have the honor and privilege to have been selected to be one of twelve participants in the Claremont Institute’s Lincoln Fellowship Program. I am very excited about it – frankly, it’s a really big deal for me.

First and foremost for those FlashReport readers who are not familiar with the Claremont Institute, the mission of the Institute is to restore the principles of the American Founding to their… Read More