Today’s LA Times has a story on study being released today that places blame for the loss of almost 80,000 California-based manufacturing jobs on our regulatory and tax structure. Recently, a group of us joined Assemblyman Dan Logue on a fact-finding trip to Nevada. We had a hearing with companies that have left California and heard stories firsthand just like the ones you can read about in this column. With rising unemployment, the state should be taking action to help create jobs…

I missed the original report last week but was a little surprised that Mark Jacoby, who ran a business that focused on increasing Republican voter registration, plead guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced for filing a "false" voter affidavit in Los Angeles when he actually lived elsewhere. The two concepts of "domicile" and "residence" that appear in the California Elections Code have always had a little fuzzy correlation, allowing some wiggle room, but with the heat on ACORN and other liberal groups for vote related fraud issues across the country, last fall in the closing weeks of the 2008 general election, Jacoby became sort of a "fall guy" for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office and Secretary of State Debra Bowen. The back story is officials employed a fleet of local police squad cars to arrest this fellow at a temporary residence in the Inland Empire,creatinga prosecutorial media event in late October. And the irony was that amid national claims againstliberal groups for fudging the election for Obama, that California was prosecuting a Republican on seemingly similarclaims.

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Rep. John Campbell penned an excellent op-ed last Friday for the Investors Business Daily, in which he discussed the comparative chances entrepreneurism vs. Obama-Pelosi statism for reviving the American auto industry. Campbell, naturally, comes down on the side of liberty and common sense — which unsurpor5isiingly dove-tail with his 25 of experience in that industry:

INCYMI: Entrepreneurs Will Reinvent GM’s Castoffs

By Rep. John Campbell

Before I lost my mind and entered politics, I was in the car dealership business for 25 years. In fact, I was the first Saturn retailer chosen back in 1988, and served on the Franchise Operations Team. I opened one of the first 25 stores in 1990 and eventually owned and operated five Saturn Facilities in Orange County, Calif.

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As you read this, the State Legislature is gearing up to attempt its first raid on local government. The urgency of this warning can’t be overstated; If they achieve this smash-and-grab by taking (not even borrowing) the Highway Users Tax Account gasoline tax, cities and counties will see their ability to maintain their streets and roads crippled.

San Bernardino County currently relies on these gas tax dollars for potholes, rehabilitation and resurfacing of 2,700 miles of paved roads in the unincorporated areas alone. If the County were to lose just the HUTA dollars alone (about $32 million), an estimated 200 essential public works personnel would lose their jobs immediately.

Among budget proposals that will likely be voted on are billions in additional raids of transportation dollars, including deferring the first two quarterly payments of the local (city and county) share of Proposition 42 state sales tax on gas, equal to approximately $300 million, which would further hinder local road safety projects, maintenance and repairs.

These raids would disproportionately impact transportation funding, especially when the industry is facing 20%+ unemployment.… Read More

Apparently while on the stump in Fresno late last week, talking about the state’s fiscal crisis, a frustrated Fresnan lambasted the Governor for the lack of water — and calling for dams and canals to be built.

This unnamed man in the Sacramento Bee story linked above is justified in venting his frustration about the problems of water delivery in the Central Valley — that having been said, his aim is a bit off. If I am a Californian who is frustrated about the water-availability challenges facing the Golden-But-Thirsty state, I would look at these three primary causes, all of which place the blame for our current man-made crisis at the feet of Sacramento Democrats:

1) Federal laws prioritize critters and plant-life over people. The federal government primarily has passed too many laws that deprioritize the needs of people — and rather places a higher priority in the protection of critters and plants. We all understand the need for some balance to ensure that resources are available for this and future generations, but many of these laws… Read More

FlashReport’s official Twitter Feed is here, or you can sign up on Twitter by looking for "FlashReport" — follow us today! (If you are one of the hundreds to have signed up to follow "JonFlash" – my personal Twitter feed — even though I don’t Tweet there, you’ll want to change that.)… Read More

Apparently while on the stump in Fresno late last week=, talking about the state’s fiscal crisis, a frustrated Fresnan lambasted the Governor for the lack of water — and calling for dams and canals to be built.

This unnamed man in the Sacramento Bee story linked above is justified in venting his frustration about the problems of water delivery in the Central Valley — that having been said, his aim is a bit off. If I am a Californian who is frustrated about the water-availability challenges facing the Golden-But-Thirsty state, I would look at these three primary causes, all of which place the blame for our current man-made crisis at the feet of Sacramento Democrats:

1) Federal laws prioritize critters and plant-life over people. The federal government primarily has passed too many laws that deprioritize the needs of people — and rather places a higher priority in the protection of critters and plants. We all understand the need for some balance to ensure that resources are available for this and future generations, but many of these… Read More

Democrat Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has announced that he is not running for Governor.

Clearly a loss for any out-of-LA female television reporters — since the Mayor, thus far, has only showed a penchant for scoring them in his home market.

Conventional wisdom is that Villaraigosa's exit is a boost for the campaign of Attorney General (and former Governor) Jerry Brown.… Read More