After facing two rounds of devastation election defeats, tomorrow House Republicans will gather to elect their leaders.

I wish that I could tell you that after the drubbing we took, that the incumbent Leader of House Republicans, John Boehner of Ohio (a.k.a. “Mr. Nice Guy”) had done the appropriate and honorable thing (like the #2 and #3 members of his leadership team) and stepped aside.

I wish that I could tell you that there is a vibrant contest taking place for who will be our new leader, with the idea that whomever it would be would be able to present a new face, and new image, and a new commitment to returning the Republican policy agenda on Capitol Hill back to one of increasing freedom for Americans and putting the federal government on a diet.

I wish that I could tell you that with the election of a new Republican Leader, that would mean that a long over-due shuffling of Committee Ranking Members would be taking place, the kind of changes that only take place through the dynamics of a competitive race for leader.

I wish that I could tell you that the infamous pork-loving GOP… Read More

On behalf of the FlashReport, I would like to extend a hearty congratulations to Frank Russo of The Progress Report who has just announced that he has been hired as the new Chief of Staff to incoming freshman Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley). Frank and I don’t see eye to eye on much (maybe not on anything at all) — with me being a free market oriented conservative, and Frank being — well, a devout advocate of socialism. That said, I have a healthy respect for Frank’s commitment to his principles, and for all of the work that he has put into his lefty blog site.

Russo and the Assemblywoman can sit around the office and talk about the great social injustice in the world and try to figure out how to play a key role in using government to take wealth from one Californian to give it to another (if history is any indicator, they will probably succeed in their quest).

And if the stereotype of the socialist blogger going to work for the legislator from the People’s Republic of Berkeley isn’t enough, let’s not forget that LA Times… Read More

The last couple of weeks, we have featured a dozen columns from GOP leaders around California, giving their input on the future of the Grand Old Party in the wake of this year’s Presidential Election defeats. We will continue to feature more of these columns. But we have also been getting quite a few submissions from FlashReport readers on the subject, and we’ll start to run some of those today. If you would like to join in on the discussion, just send me your thoughts (up to 400 words) for publication right here on the FR Blog. Please include a one-sentence bio, and if you have one, a .jpg format headshot of yourself.

Jump in — the water’s warm!

(If you want to go back and peruse the columns we’ve already run, most of them are here. And there is one here, here, and… Read More

The last couple of weeks, we have featured a dozen columns from GOP leaders around California, giving their input on the future of the Grand Old Party in the wake of this year’s Presidential Election defeats. We will continue to feature more of these columns. But we have also been getting quite a few submissions from FlashReport readers on the subject, and we’ll start to run some of those today. If you would like to join in on the discussion, just send me your thoughts (up to 400 words) for publication right here on the FR Blog. Please include a one-sentence bio, and if you have one, a .jpg format headshot of yourself.

Jump in — the water’s warm!

(If you want to go back and peruse the columns we’ve already run, most of them are here. And there is one here, here, and… Read More

Submitted to us by FR reader Andrew Russo of Monterey County…

Whither the GOP? Barack Obama’s election and the concurrent loss of additional Republican seats in the House and Senate are the direct and inevitable result of the destruction George W. Bush and his merry band of neo-conservatives wreaked upon a once proud and principled political party. George W. Bush – like his father before him, but to a much greater and more dangerous degree — repudiated the traditional small government philosophy that elected Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984 and led to the Republican sweep in the 1994 congressional elections.… Read More

Here is a submission from looooongtime FR friend Sean Loranger (hailing back to our YAF days)… REPUBLICAN MESSAGE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE By Sean Loranger Republicans must give Americans a message they can understand, trust and believe in. Those leaders incapable of delivering the message or living up to it should not be allowed to represent the Republican Party.

This message can be delivered utilizing these ten simple statements: … Read More

With Governor Schwarzenegger and others calling for a "Federal Bail Out" of California State Government, I thought this letter from Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform to the Treasury Department to be very timely.

Perhaps we should all be applying for funds? I think the FlashReport could use a few hundred billion, myself!… Read More

The five official Proponents of Proposition 8, along with the ProtectMarriage.com – Yes on 8 campaign, today filed legal papers with the California Supreme Court asking the Court to accept original jurisdiction of three lawsuits challenging the measure’s validity, seeking to intervene in the lawsuits as Real Parties In Interest, and urging the Supreme Court to reject a stay of the initiative.

We are confident that we will prevail on the merits and that Proposition 8 will be upheld.

In calling for the Supreme Court to take original jurisdiction of three challenges to Proposition 8, we said in our legal papers, “The people of California are entitled to a prompt resolution of whether Proposition 8 properly amended their Constitution. Proposition 8 was the subject of a vigorous and expensive campaign that generated an intense debate and very strong feelings on both sides. The people have a right to know as quickly as possible the status and definition of marriage under the California Constitution.”

Three lawsuits have been filed with the California Supreme Court claiming that Proposition 8 is a “constitutional revision” and thus allegedly… Read More