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 my opinion, it is now becoming racketeering,” is how I described the voter registration fraud activities of ACORN, the liberal group, Barack Hussein Obama’s former client and current voter registration vendor, to a Christian Science Monitor reporter over the weekend. “That we see it now involving a multitude of states and a multitude of voters, I think at some level ACORN is becoming a criminal enterprise in its engagement of voter registration activities.” See http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2008/10/19/are-voter-fraud-fears-overblown/

And there is plenty of proof that ACORN is mucking up the election to create more votes for Obama, even if they are going to be illegal votes. ACORN’s office in Las Vegas, Nevada (a swing state) was raided by government investigators last week. Claims are pending in 12 states about illegal voter registration activities, including registering one man 72 times who definitely lives in an Obama-leaning precinct.

And in the process of his… 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

Conservative icon and Congressional Candidate Tom McClintock has taken positions on the ballot measures appearing on the November ballot…

From McClintock…

Prop. 1A High Speed Rail Bond. NO: This is the most outrageously expensive boondoggle in California’s long history of outrageously expensive boondoggles. The ultimate cost of this project could end up exceeding $90 billion – or $10,000 per family – all for a train that goes from Los Angeles to San Francisco in two hours longer than it takes to fly. It’s brought to you by the same folks who botched Boston’s "Big Dig." (I’m one of the official opponents of this measure.)

Prop. 2 Farm Animals. NO: Sorry, but farm animals are food, not friends. Plan on somewhat happier cows and much higher grocery bills if this one passes.

Prop. 3 Hospital Bond. NO: Here’s a rather cynical measure that uses children as a front in order to lavish taxpayer funds on private hospital corporations.

Prop. 4 Parental Notification. YES: Parents must give written consent before their teenage daughters use a tanning booth or… Read More