As foretold the South Pasadena Unified School District’s parcel tax passed. It was a little closer than I thought. The margin was 67.26%. It takes a 2/3rds vote to pass parcel taxes. This was the first of four tax elections in school districts in Los Angeles County. Voters seem have very few problem passing these taxes.

Local control seems to be the key for many of these communities. They feel they get their monies worth and have a say in how it is spent. How many can say that about Sacramento?… Read More

When spending season rolls around on Capitol Hill, Americans cringe, and for good reason. But this season something is different. Yesterday evening when Congress began debate on its spending bills, it was brought to a screeching halt at the first sign of a Republican amendment, 30 minutes in.

It has been a long standing tradition that the spending bills that Congressconsiders are doneusing what is called an ‘open rule’ which allows for an unlimited amount of amendments to the bill, but the cabal led by Speaker Pelosi, President Obama, and Senator Reid has squelched the voice of opposition once again. Instead, they have decided to limit the number of Republican amendments, breaking with the open-rule precedent for the first time in as long as anyone can recall.

We’ve seen it in the automotive industry in the abrogation of dealer contracts and moving Americans out of cars, and now we are seeing it in how Congress spends the money of the American people. This is just further indication that if Obama, Pelosi, and Reid can’t coerce you into doing what they want, then they will force it upon you. They are trying to control much of our lives and now they… Read More

As previously predicted, Undersheriff Bill Gore was just appointed by the County Board of Supervisors to the vacant position created by Bill Kolender’s mid-term resignation. It was expected the Supervisors would conduct interviews today, with a vote next week. However, the board proceeded with the decision to fill the spot just minutes ago.

The vote total by ballot, prior to the decision being memorialized by adopted motion, was as follows:

Bill Gore – 4

Jim Duffy – 2

Jay La Suer – 1

If it doesn’t seem to add up, that’s because each Supe was allowed more than one vote if needed to narrow the field. Supervisor Dianne Jacob voted for all three of those listed, prior to the final motion being adopted.

Gore will now be able to run as the appointed incumbent in next year’s election. Both Duffy and La Suer have announced campaigns, as have David Bejarano and Bruce Ruff. The latter two did not file the paperwork necessary to be considered to fill the vacancy by appointment.

With Gore’s appointment, it remains to be seen if all of the previously announced candidates stay in the… Read More

FR friend John Myers with KQED Public Radio had an opportunity to sit down with Governor Schwarzenegger for a one-on-one interview. Myers 30,000 foot take from the exchange was that the Governor is flexible in terms of ideas that legislators may have to come up with $24 billion in cuts to resolve the state’s fiscal imbalance, with so much more money budgeted to spend than is actually available. But Myers says that the Governor is resolute about his opposition to resolving the situation with any tax increases.

You can click here to see Myers’ recent entry on his Capitol Notes Blog which gives more of his summary of the interview, along with a number of audio excerpts. If you are a public employee, retired, or a total political hack, you can listen to the entire twenty minute or so interview here.… Read More

You have to love the creativity of the public employee unions that have lorded over the massive growth in state government spending — they have come up with a "pretty name" for their efforts to politically attack Republican legislators who have drawn a line in the sand against punishing Californians with higher taxes — "The Fair Budget Coalition" — hey, who would be opposed to a fair budget? No one, right? Well, I guess what you have to ask yourself is, "Fair to whom?"

You’ve heard this here before, and you will hear it a lot — public employee unions have two and only two core purposes. The first is to increase the wages and benefits for their respective members. The second is to increase their number of members. EVERYTHING else is window dressing.

The public employee unions that make up the "Fair Budget Coalition" — the California School Employees Association, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, United Public Employees PAC, State Building and Construction Trades, Professional Engineers… Read More

With warnings from State Controller John Chiang that if something isn’t done about the state’s out-of-whack finances that state government will soon literally run out of operating funds, and State Treasurer Bill Lockyer making it clear that if imminent action isn’t taken soon, even with massive cuts there won’t be time to do the financing that the state would typically need to do this summer to pay its bills – you can be sure that the Democrats in the State Capitol will do something.

If their rhetoric and lack of action on substantive cuts in the Joint Budget Conference Committee are any indicator, despite the overwhelming results of the May 19th Special Election and a repudiation of tax increases, you can bet that Democrats are going to look to raise taxes – perhaps with “majority vote” fee solutions that are, in fact, tax increases that seek to end-run Proposition 13’s 2/3 vote requirement.

What does this mean? Well, it means that before we see a real “all cuts” solution to the state’s massive overspending-created woes, the Democrats are going to see if Governor Schwarzenegger means what he says. The Governor has made it abundantly… Read More

With warnings from State Controller John Chiang that if something isn’t done about the state’s out-of-whack finances that state government will soon literally run out of operating funds, and State Treasurer Bill Lockyer making it clear that if imminent action isn’t taken soon, even with massive cuts there won’t be time to do the financing that the state would typically need to do this summer to pay its bills – you can be sure that the Democrats in the State Capitol will do something.

If their rhetoric and lack of action on substantive cuts in the Joint Budget Conference Committee are any indicator, despite the overwhelming results of the May 19th Special Election and a repudiation of tax increases, you can bet that Democrats are going to look to raise taxes – perhaps with “majority vote” fee solutions that are, in fact, tax increases that seek to end-run Proposition 13’s 2/3 vote requirement.

What does this mean? Well, it means that before we see a real “all cuts” solution to the state’s massive overspending-created woes, the Democrats are going to see if Governor Schwarzenegger means what he says. The Governor has made it abundantly… Read More

Here are a few simple questions for you.

Do you love California politics? Do you obsess over following the daily goings-on of California politics? Do you love the FlashReport? Do you think state government is too big and spends too much? Do you wake up early?

If you answered yes fives times in a row to the questions above, then we may have a place for you in helping out with putting together the FlashReport!

If I have have piqued your interest, drop me an e-mail.

Jon Fleischman Publisher, FlashReport… Read More