I am pleased to offer this original commentary from longtime FR friend Ed Laning, a leader of conservatives in San Bernardino County…

A History Of Conservatives in San Bernardino County Ed Laning

I have known Anthony since 1996.Anthony and I were putting up campaign signs for Jim Lindley when he ran for Hesperia City Council at that time. We were all very idealistic.We were all CRA members and hardcore conservatives. It wasn’t just Anthony Adams but there were Bill Postmus andBrad Mitzelfelt and many others. We all worked hard to move the conservative Republican agenda forward. We began by helping elect Postmus to county supervisor in 2000. He ran against a fellow Republican who had rolled over on us and teamed upwith the… Read More

I am pleased to offer this original commentary from longtime FR friend Ed Laning, a leader of conservatives in San Bernardino County…

A History Of Conservatives in San Bernardino County Ed Laning

I have known Anthony since 1996.Anthony and I were putting up campaign signs for Jim Lindley when he ran for Hesperia City Council at that time. We were all very idealistic.We were all CRA members and hardcore conservatives. It wasn’t just Anthony Adams but there were Bill Postmus andBrad Mitzelfelt and many others. We all worked hard to move the conservative Republican agenda forward. We began by helping elect Postmus to county supervisor in 2000. He ran against a fellow Republican who had rolled over on us and teamed upwith the… Read More

Over the past couple of days, I have been besieged with calls and emails asking me if I had heard the news – that the veteran campaign team of Wayne Johnson and Tim Clark had split up – and had gone through a political divorce. One e-mailer even told me he had heard that there had been a physical altercation between the two! Well, for all of those drama lovers out there, I am sorry to let you down – but Wayne is not in a cast, and Tim is not wearing a bandage over one eye. But there is a story to be told – and having now spoken with both Wayne and Tim, here is what is going on.

The short version: after a very successful run for many years together at JohnsonClark, close friends Wayne and Tim have decided to go their own directions, though they will continue to service mutual existing clients, and will likely work on various projects together in the future, where it makes sense.

Wayne will continue to serve as President of JohnsonClark Consulting. Yeah, I know it is confusing.… Read More

Americans for Tax Reform just posted an interesting article about the enormous salaries for CA judges. According to Tim Andrews, “more than 400 judges in Los Angeles County alone earn more than the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.” The judges get $46,000 in perks on top of their salaries.

Remember how just a few weeks ago the Democrats where complaining that they can’t cut government spending because it will "hurt Californians"? Apparently they didn’t want to cut the perks for judges who so often implement their liberal policies through judicial activism (see Prop 22). Explained Andrews, “While there were some moves to reduce these [perks], the Legislature reinstated the perks just before the budget was passed in February.” So next time you look at a receipt and see the new sales tax increase, think of the 400+ judges in LA and their $46,000 in perks.… Read More

The hue and cry over bonuses paid to AIG executives is both predictable and understandable. This is what happens when a private business allows the government to get into its knickers. But also blame the federal government for this situation. AIG should have been forced into bankruptcy, not been the recipient of $185 billion in taxpayer bailouts.

Certainly AIG itself bears most of the blame for its current plight for taking on risky bets on mortgage-backed securities. They bet and lost, and should have gone bankrupt because of their failed business decisions. But it was geniuses in the federal government, including Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, who are responsible for the anger that taxpayers feel over AIG. They decided that AIG was too big to fail, so they showered them with billions of our tax dollars.

Later when the firestorm of public protest erupted, Frank and Dodd tried to run for cover. When the bailout legislation was being crafted, Senator Dodd, acting on behalf of the Obama White House, specifically inserted language allowing AIG to pay the millions in bonuses that are now the subject of public… Read More

Fox News Channel’s Neil Cavuto will be broadcasting live from the Sacramento Tax Day Tea Party on April 15th. Co-sponsored by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and Americans for Prosperity, among other groups, the event will draw huge crowds to the capitol. At a recent taxpayer tea party “revolt” hosted by KFI radio show hosts John and Ken, over 15,000 people showed up. Similar such protests will be held all over the nation on April 15th as a way for taxpayers to express their outrage at the government’s freewheeling spending.

With national media coverage, the Sacramento tea party is our chance to show the rest of the country that we will not tolerate the excessive taxes burdening each of us. For more details, visit this site.… Read More

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of representing the Flash Report in a bloggers conference call with Republican congressional leadership. Hosting the call were California Congressmen Kevin McCarthy and John Campbell (a fellow FR blogger), who were joined by Congressmen Patrick McHenry and Paul Ryan. The purpose of the biweekly teleconference is to engage the new media and ensure they are well informed of what’s taking place on Capitol Hill. New media have obviously become the major source of information for conservatives who are locked out of the MSM and it’s crucial for Republicans to provide them access.

In this particular call the topic was the President’s budget that will be voted on this week. Instead of simply criticizing the behemoth spending spree, Republicans are proposing their own budget which promises to cut spending and spur economic recovery. Obviously Congressman Campbell can explain the details of the budget much better than I, but I will say that based upon the information shared during the teleconference, this is an “all hands on deck” moment for freedom-loving Americans. Each congressman warned that if this budget passes, America as we… Read More

Anthony Adams is not thereal problem. Democrat dominance of the Legislature is the real problem. If GOPers want to recall somebody, try going after a Democrat in a conservative district. If John and Ken at KFI want to do something meaningful, recall Democratic Assemblyman Tom Torlakson.

I am no RINO squish. I was National Chairman of Young Americans for Freedom when that meant something. I am a Board member of the American Conservative Union, I started the process of Young America’s Foundation buying the Reagan Ranch. I was a senior executive in the Reagan Administration. And though there is at least one Republican member of the Assembly that I believe to be a political fraud and whom I detest, I am not out to recall anybody, because that is political stupidity for conservatives, who are a miserable minority as it is in the Legislature. There are other processes, such as primary challenges, available in the political market that can take care of such issues.

But ginning up an extraordinaryrecall of Republican Adams and wasting limited GOP resources and energy is simply wrong. And those non-radio… Read More