The well regarded CATO Institute in Washington, D.C., has released their annual Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors. What do they have to say about Governor Schwarzenegger, who barely eeked out a "C" grade (thanks to GOPers stopping tax increases)? You can read the report online here (Page 13 has the California section) although you really should read the executive summary on Schwarzenegger’s performance, which I thought was spot-on. I have excerpted that below… Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican… Read More

Last Friday I penned a column here on the FlashReport that focused on former eBay Chairman Meg Whitman, and the aggressive role that she is playing as a National Co-Chairman of the McCain for President Campaign. In that piece, I mentioned that Whitman is in the process of looking at a run for the Republican nomination for Governor in 2010.

Well, in a very clear sign that even though this year’s Presidential contest has yet to be resolved, many are already looking to 2010, since publishing my piece on Whitman, I have been literally barraged with e-mails from FR readers all around California letting me know that Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has been out to their local community. In many instances, there have been glowing words of praise for Poizner as a candidate for Governor along with those e-mails.

After getting a… Read More

Today Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner spent some time at the St. John’s Shelter Program for Women & Children, in Sacramento. Poizner’s visit to this facility coincides with an annual week of volunteerism that is hosted by the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation. During the week of October 20, 2008, thousands of insurance employees will donate upwards of 12,000 service hours across the nation.

Poizner’s visit to St. John’s provides me with a long overdue opportunity to sing the praises of a good friend of the FlashReport, Michele Steeb. Formerly a Vice President with the California Chamber of Commerce, Michele left the political arena to focus on a charitable endeavor, and serves as Executive Director of St. Johns Shelter.… Read More

Hot off the presses, former eBay Chairman (and ersatz California Governor) Meg Whitman today took out her rather sizable checkbook, and wrote a rather sizable check to the campaign against Proposition 5, which we here at the FlashReport like to call the "Let Criminals Out of Jail" Measure. Law enforcement leaders, and frankly most political leaders around the state have unified against the measure (heck, anything that gets Orange County’s conservative D.A. Tony Rackauckas and actor Martin Sheen on the same side, against it, must suck on a whole new level).

Whitman’s contribution certainly represents a high-profile donation, and the No on 5 campaign can use it. While the initiative is terrible, the reality is that raising money to defeat it has been very difficult.

Of course, I have to finish off this post by juxtaposing some 2010 Gubernatorial politics. With this donation, Whitman will be sure to get a boost with law enforcement types, who are all opposed to this thing. If… Read More

The New York Times has an article today on ACORN’s nonprofit problems that echoes much of my concerns in a detailed post yesterday and adds a lot more. For those who want to know more, see the article, "Acorn Report Raises Issues of Legality " by Stephanie Strom at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/us/22acorn.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

In the meantime, we can be assured Debra Bowen’s office and her team will be closely monitoring the fairness of Troop 154’s Eagle Scout nominations in Chico. Perhaps there is a Republican Scoutmaster Bowen can indict for ballot stuffing.… Read More

House Republican Leader John Boehner today urged the Administration to cut-off funds to ACORN, the "nonprofit" group accused of voter fraud on behalf of Democrats in 12 states, that has received$31 million from the Federalgovernment in the past nine years.

"It is evident that ACORN is incapable of using Federal funds in a manner consistent with law," said Boehner, echoing my calls over the weekend publishedin the Christian Science Monitor that ACORN has become, essentially, a racketeering outfit by virtue of voter fraud claims so bad, one person was registered to vote by them over 70 times in an Obama-leaning precinct in Ohio.

Liberal election lawyers are fit-to-be-tied on the election law blogs about the recent ACORN revelations. (Some must be paid by ACORN or its subsidiaries!) Their rationalizations for ACORN range from "they are a central organization overseeing nonprofits" to "failure to be tax exempt is not uncommon for a nonprofit." ACORN claims to be a "nonprofit" but can’t produce an "IRS tax determination letter"… Read More

In the course of the race to fill the 4th Congressional District seat, I’ve attended several debates featuring Tom McClintock—both in the primary and the general elections. At each of these debates one fact is certainly confirmed; a fact that I’m sure many Californians familiar with McClintock would share: you can’t win a debate with Tom McClintock. Unfortunately for Democrat candidate Charlie Brown, the universal truth of one’s inability to best Tom McClintock’s debating skills was affirmed this evening at their final debate of the campaign. Appearing before a standing-room-only crowd at the Nevada County South Chamber event, both candidates commented that this was the best attended debate thus far in the general election.

Charlie Brown’s opening statement reiterated his campaign’s theme of his 26-year service in the United States Air Force. For those unfamiliar with the 4th Congressional District’s recent history, Charlie Brown challenged sitting Congressman John Doolittle in 2006 and came within just a few percentage points of ousting the incumbent. Focusing on Doolittle’s past connection to disgraced (and criminal) former lobbyist Jack Abramoff,… Read More

A new SurveyUSA poll suggest that protecting traditional marriage is edging out gay marriage.

Conventional wisdom suggest that social issues take a back seat to the fiscal concerns of voters when times are tough. And these latest results suggest this is holding true this year. Generic support for traditional marriage runs 60%+ in California. Yet if SurveyUSA is right, voters seem to be distracted.

The poll shows Prop. 8 winning 48% over 45% who say they will vote no. Seven percent say they are still undecided.

There are no real surprises based on the various demographics…80% of pro-lifers support Prop. 8, 65% of those who regularly attend religious services support Prop. 8 and 55% of Bay Area voters oppose the initiative.

SurveyUSA is useful research tool, but I don’t trust the results entirely. Among my concerns is the fact that they interview people who are not registered to vote. In the case of this poll, 90 of the 800 Californian surveyed were not registered voters. I find all data interesting, but those 90 respondents skew the results and have no impact on the real outcome on Election Day. Results for how these… Read More