Jim Sills just pointed out to me the recent Rasmussen poll asking Californians how they would vote today on Proposition 13, the Howard Jarvis property tax roll-back of 1978. The answer was 65% yes, only 26% no, and 9% unsure.

Proposition 13 has always been popular, but the stunning new news, unearthed in the cross-tabs by researcher extraordinaire Sills, is that young voters under 30 backed Prop. 13 by a 3 to 1 ratio after it was explained to them, and that African-Americans sided with Prop. 13 by a 4-1 margin! Middle-class, women, and lower middle-class voters all support Proposition 13 by big margins.

I am wondering whomakes up that 26% against Prop. 13? I’m thinking it must be very rich people who don’t care about taxes, Hollywoodand San Francisco liberals, most entertainers, and a smattering of various freaks and communists around the state. However, Sills couldn’t quiteconfirm thatany of my assumptions were statistically valid.… Read More

There is a lot of waste in San Bernardino County government these days. The sad revelations of former GOP rising star, County Assessor Bill Postmus’ drug use, and the scandal about alleged illegal political operations in his county office, affecting another young staff member, underscore how a career in public service originally based on good intentions, can end up wasted.

But the real waste, for taxpayers, is in the extraordinary effort the Board of Supervisors is putting into prosecuting Postmus. Reports are they have hired an outside private prosecutor, the guy who did the Enron prosecution of Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling, with a $250,000 contract. The $250,000 is the initial contract. As a lawyer, I can tell you that with a quarter million green light, that prosecutor will not only be sure to spend all the money, he willbe coming back for more.

Hiring a national big gun lawyer to prosecutewhat is essentially acriminal meth case with some added public agency abuse claims is like blowing up an ant hill with an atom bomb. It is over kill. It is a waste of resources. Like all other counties, San Bernardino… Read More

Radical liberal former Berkeley Mayor now State Senator Loni Hancock (pictured left, of course) has taken the opportunity to tee-off on Americans for Tax Reform, the ATR No New Taxes Pledge, and blasts away at the requirement in the California constitution to have a super-majority vote to raise taxes. You can read her rant here. Below I am pleased to present an official response to Hancock’s rant from Patrick… Read More

Radical liberal former Berkeley Mayor now State Senator Loni Hancock (pictured left, of course) has taken the opportunity to tee-off on Americans for Tax Reform, the ATR No New Taxes Pledge, and blasts away at the requirement in the California constitution to have a super-majority vote to raise taxes. You can read her rant here. Below I am pleased to present an official response to Hancock’s rant from Patrick… Read More

Much has and will be written about the massive wealth redistribution scheme that President Obama calls a “stimulus plan” — which it isn't and which it won't.

It is notable and commendable that NOT ONE REPUBLICAN supported this terrible plan, and so it is now 100 percent “owned” by the Democrats.

It is important that Republicans distance themselves from the liberal welfare statist policies of the Democrats. Today our GOPers did good. Thank you!!… Read More

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Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be looking at the various upcoming races for California Republican Party office, in advance of the State GOP’s organizational convention taking place in late February in Sacramento. At this coming convention, approximately 1500 delegates will vote for the offices of Chairman, Vice Chairman, and for Regional Vice Chairmen up and down the state. I am the current Vice Chairman for the Southern Region, and so I am pretty engaged in this process.

We have asked all of the known candidates for party office to submit a column, that we are going to publish here on the FlashReport. If it is a race where I have weighed in with an endorsement, we’ll share that, too. Which is certainly the case with our first profiled race for Vice Chairman, Central Valley Region.

Well, actually, I am not sure I would call it a race. I am pleased to endorse and recommend the re-election of Laura Gadke, who is seeking re-election to a second term (due to term limits, you can only serve two terms). Laura is a strong conservative, and is the kind of leader who is part of the solution, not part of the problem. I have heard… Read More

It amazes me that there continue to be calls for raising taxes to resolve a state budget fiscal emergency that has been caused by OVERSPENDING. It also amazes me that hiking taxes continues to somehow be “on the table” in budget negotiations. Raising taxes in this situation should be a non-starter for two very basic reasons. The first of which is that while I admit that there is never a good time to raise taxes (Californians are already burdened with practically the highest tax burden in the entire nation), certainly hiking taxes in the middle of a recession has to be the stupidest idea I have over heard. The second reason is that raising taxes requires the votes of Republican legislators. What Republican, in their right mind, would respond to our state’s OVERSPENDING-CREATED financial mess by punishing taxpayers, and violating their pledge not to do so?

If there was ever a line-in-the-sand issue, this is it. In adverse times comes real opportunities for reform – and while many want that… Read More