Well, my convention guest, Erik Brown, and I just landed in Minneapolis airport. While we were generally disappointed no passengers on our flight in were carryinh stuffed red, white and blue elephants, we had a great trip out.

While we are tired from all of the cross-country travel, we’re not the most tired. Staring at an empty baggage carousel near ours, waiting for baggage after an even longer flight was the GOP Governor of Hawaii, Linda Lingle. Erik and I said hello with a tired enthusiasm that she managed to meet.

We’re currently off to the Bloomington Sheraton, which will now be the satellite HQ of the FlashReport for the next five days.

This week I encourage FR readers to keep an extra eye on the FlashReport and this blog for fun snippits out of the Republican National Convention. As my friend Anthony York of Capitol Weekly pointed out in his DNC Convention coverage — no real “news” comes out of these staged events. So we’ll be looking to bring you some up-close observations. For my part, I will attempt to be sarcastic and insightful in my observations, as you would hope and expect!… Read More

This afternoon, a Republican budget package was released at a press conference here at the Capitol. It has no tax increases in it and is a very responsible base to work from in the budget discussions that need to happen very soon. Speculation is there will be an actual vote on it in the Senate. Many details [and criticisms from the spending community] will come soon!… Read More

Imagine a family – we’ll call them the Smiths – who are financially successful beyond the dreams of most Americans.

They have all the trappings of wealth – a large custom home with a pool and a wine cellar; a ski chalet in the mountains and home at the beach; two expensive cars in the garage; membership at a private golf course; designer clothes; annual exotic vacations; all the latest toys and gadgets for their children – the list goes on.

Now imagine the Smiths have hit tough financial times – but not because of job losses or failing health; in fact both Smiths have received substantial pay raises and bonuses in the past five year.

No, their financial woes stem from overspending and poor planning. For every dollar they’ve earned, a $1.10 was spent.

The most likely means to eliminating their debt and building a savings is through selling off assets and cutting back on vacations, designer clothes and golf.

But the Smiths will have none of that. Instead they ask for their friends to bail them out. Of course, their friends are outraged. After all, the friends have acted responsibly by living within their means and putting… Read More

UPDATE 5:30PM — Senate Republicans released more details on their plan. I have replaced the attachments to this post with one new single attachment (in .pdf form) containing all of the details released on this no new taxes plan. California’s Republican legislators today unveiled a budget compromise that balances the state budget with no tax increases, and with no borrowing from local government or transportation funds. The proposal was unveiled earlier this afternoon by Senate Republicans, led by Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill who was joined by his colleagues. They were joined by Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines and also Roger Niello, the Vice-Chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, in a strong statement of GOP bicameral support.

I have attached some documentation that was disseminated by Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill with some high-level detail on the plan. Gone is the Governor’s proposed increase in the… Read More

Even though I officially term out the end of November, today is really my last day as a voting member of the California Legislature. (except for that pesky budget – which I am going to ignore in this farewell post – we’ll get it done eventually).

I’ve had the great honor and privilege of serving my constituents for 14 years and I have to say — it was a great run.

My father’s career as a member of congress and later a federal judge is what got me interested in public service. He showed me if you stayed true to your beliefs and handled your responsibilities with integrity, then you could make a positive difference. I hope I lived up to his standard.

Fourteen years ago I thought I’d give it a shot and ran for the Assembly. I knew from the beginning I was going to win – it was only after I was elected did I learn that nobody else in Sacramento shared my optimism. You’re not supposed to be able to beat the Democrat Majority Leader and Willie Brown’s handpicked heir apparent as the next Speaker. Nobody told me that. Nobody told the voters that, and we won that year be 13… Read More

I’m shedding tears of joy.

McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin as his Vice-Presidential running mate is spectacular. Yes, the media will focus on her being well a woman. I understand that. But she is more than that. Palin is a reformer. She has a track record fighting corrupt sell out Republicans. She has taken on pork barreling and big government

She is a sportsman, sorry sportswoman or is it sportsperson? Bottom line. She can shoot a gun.

Palin is pro-life in theory and practice. Here is her statement on the birth of her son this year Down’s syndrome.

"Trig is beautiful and already adored by us. We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed."

She has a another kid headed to Iraq.

And just wait until Joe Biden and her tangle on oil-drilling.

I am still crying.… Read More

UPDATE 5:03pm – Based on some e-mail traffic, it would appear that I need to be more specific on what I was told on this. Besides what I said below, Morgan conveyed that this idea is not one that has been floated by Assembly Republicans, and that, to be clear, Republicans would not put up votes on a budget (that requires a two-thirds vote) if the Democrats separately pass this scheme (which they can do by a majority vote if they wanted).

Sometimes there are complex policy issues that come up that are difficult to distill in a blog-length post. But I am going to try to explain. But let me place the conclusion first, and the details afterward. Basically, there is some talk in the Capitol that there is a way to raise local sales taxes by .25 percent by just a majority vote (I’ll explain below), and that doing so would bring in $1.4 billion in new tax revenue. Some of the “chatter” was that this proposal might get “sign off” from Republicans in a budget deal.

Not true. I spoke with Morgan Crinklaw, Communications Director for Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines, who checked with his boss, and… Read More

Today, Senator John McCain has chosen a Governor, a fellow maverick, a mother, and the first woman to ever be a part of the Republican presidential ticket. After watching Senator Barack Obama last week make what I thought was a weak, defensive and underwhelming choice of Senator Biden as his running mate, I am thrilled that McCain used this opportunity to seek out someone who can turn the election on its head.

Governor Sarah Palin has chief executive experience – something frankly no one else on the ticket on either side can boast, but is greatly needed in the White House. And I know there will be lots of talk about experience during this election cycle, especially with Obama’s lack of it. But with Sarah Palin, she brings another kind of experience that is found nowhere else on the ticket. She is a mother of five. As a new mother of one, I am blown away by her resiliency and her efforts at doing it all.

Also intriguing is the perspective she might bring as a union member, the mother of a serviceman who is headed to Iraq, a former member of the PTA, and the mother a special needs child.

In addition, her appeal in the west… Read More