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

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

Today at noon, President Obama came up to Capitol Hill to meet with the 178 Republicans in the House. First, I was impressed because he was on time. OK, it’s a little thing but it is a little pet peeve of mine. President Bush was always on time and sometimes early. Governor Gray Davis was always late when I was in the California legislature.

But I digress. Then, it took a few minutes while Members of Congress went up to him to get his signature. Yes, your representatives are no different from everyone else when it comes to famous memorabilia either. Once all that was dispensed with, we got down to business. The President spoke for about 15 minutes and then took questions for half an hour.

Let me first say how impressive a man he is. I have never been in a small room with him before. He is very poised and confident and seems genuine. I doubt that there was a person in the room who did not come away from the meeting liking him. I never met President Clinton, but he had a reputation for his ability to charm a room. A fellow Congressman who had served during the Clinton presidency told me that as good as Bill Clinton was (and… Read More

Last week the Treasury Department finalized its $1.5 billion loan to the financial armof Chrysler (a privately held firm ). That follows a $6 billion government "investment" in General Motors lending arm, GMAC.

The money came from the $700 billion "Troubled Asset Relief Program," which even some California Republican Congressmen supported. But conservative national Congressional Republicans are upset that the money for the auto bailout is coming from "TARP," and among the reasons is the fact that it allows a sort of "shell game" to occur, where some members can claim to the public that they opposed the auto bailout (but really supported TARP, which is funding the auto bailout), or supportedthe auto bailout, (but opposed TARP). It is all a mess, because some members actually do try to play games with their votes, and try to "have it both ways." It gets confusing to a less informed, "outsidethe Beltway" public. When I worked for Howard Jarvis he would occasionally refer to the Congress as "535 clowns." Ithink that is a bit harsh, however, when I… Read More

As regular readers of this blog know, I supported the Rescue Plan (TARP program) last October and believe that this program, along with the aggressive monetary actions by the Fed, prevented a collapse of our still damaged financial system. I also support a large stimulus plan in order to hasten a bottom to this economy and hopefully save many people their jobs, homes, and businesses.

But the Democrat’s $825 billion stimulus plan now working its way through the House, is nothing short of awful. We are expected to vote on this plan on Wednesday, and in all honesty, I refuse to call it a “stimulus” plan since it contains so few stimulative characteristics. Instead, I will hereinafter refer to it as the “Big Spending” plan.

Let me explain.

The purpose of any stimulus plan is to take the recession which we are currently mired in and make it shorter and shallower. If the stimulus doesn’t do that, then it will have a negative effect since it will increase borrowing, increase deficits, and generally retard medium and longer term growth… Read More

Late last week, four legislative Republicans were quoted in two major newspapers with quotes, indicating in varying degrees that they were open to voting for tax increases as part of a solution to California’s overspending-created fiscal crisis.

Let me make this very clear – there is NO POINT AND NO “DEAL” WHERE IT MAKES ANY SENSE WHATSOEVER TO RAISE TAXES ON CALIFORNIANS. The San Diego Union Tribune has an excellent editorial today driving home this point. It is an objective reality that Californians are amongst the most taxed citizens in the entire country.

State Senator Abel Maldonado, and Assemblymen Mike Duvall, Roger Niello, and Anthony Adams were all quoted thusly:

ASSEMBLYMAN ADAMS (in the Bee): "The reforms have to be there," said Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia.… Read More

Late last week, four legislative Republicans were quoted in two major newspapers with quotes, indicating in varying degrees that they were open to voting for tax increases as part of a solution to California’s overspending-created fiscal crisis.

Let me make this very clear – there is NO POINT AND NO “DEAL” WHERE IT MAKES ANY SENSE WHATSOEVER TO RAISE TAXES ON CALIFORNIANS. The San Diego Union Tribune has an excellent editorial today driving home this point. It is an objective reality that Californians are amongst the most taxed citizens in the entire country.

State Senator Abel Maldonado, and Assemblymen Mike Duvall, Roger Niello, and Anthony Adams were all quoted thusly:

**There is more – click the link**

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