Monday’s schedule calls for our floor session in the afternoon, 1PM [or so] and also a key hearing of the Special Session Committee on Water. A couple water bond ideas will be heard [containing real storage?] as well as a bill on assessingthe green house gas effects by building water supply.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday have nothing scheduled other than we are "on call of the Speaker." Friday has a floor session scheduled with Sunday being the last possible day to handle this years legislation [that is, without extraordinary steps to take any up after, such would require a super-majority to bring up]

Should be an interesting week, with bonds proposed and late nights likely.… Read More

As the Republican National Convention approaches (I fly out in one week – to provide FR readers with live updated from the ground throughout the big event), I am starting to get excited about a week in Minneapolis with thousands of fellow Republicans, unifying around our nominee, and celebrating a political party, that for over a century and a half has stood for freedom, limited government, and family values. I’m excited to be a member of the California delegation!

As a strong conservative, I have to admit that I was more than a little bummed earlier in the week when I received a press release from the outstanding free-market group, The Club for Growth, in which they were expressing their disappointment that a whole host of real taxfighting leaders nationally for the GOP do not appear on the convention program. Among those singled out by the Club for their absence are Senators Coburn and DeMint, the clear leaders for fiscal sanity in the upper chamber. There… Read More

Now that Democrats have conceded that the world is a scary place, and Obama can’t handle it alone, they have named Senator Biden as the VP/Man-Behind-the-Curtain for their ticket. And the Democrats are exactly right…the world is a scary place. Iran continues to be the biggest threat to peace in the Middle East, and while we’ve got them pinned down in an unwinnable two front war scenario with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, Russia is taking full advantage of our situation by making a rush to control natural gas pipelines to Europe before winter sets in so they can hold the EU hostage in choice between freezing to death or capitulating to Russia’s geopolitical demands. Come January 2009, the White House is no place for amateurs or understudies.

This is why I’m keeping my fingers crossed that native Californian Condoleezza Rice will be… Read More

Obama picks Sen. Joe Biden for VP — the announcement apparently going out over email to Obama supporters.

The Senator from Delaware was a front runner in the Democrat VP sweepstakes, but you have to wonder how a 65-year old New Englander who spent almost half his life as a DC insider fits with the "change" theme of the freshman Senator from Illinois.

For me, Biden highlights the uncertainty of Obama. It’s kind of like putting a vintage Shelby Cobra shifter on a Mazda Miaita…it only serves as a reminder you’re still driving an under-powered roadster that’s more about flash than substance.

Biden does bring some foreign policy expertise to the ticket — and perhaps some maturity and comfort to older voters, but I see more desperation than inspiration in this selection.

Pundits will have a field day analyzing the impact of the Obama-Biden ticket, but I can’t help but think that this selection more about appeasement rather than a inspired running-mate.… Read More

This week I have the opportunity to do something most Republicans would love (or fear) to do…attend the Democratic National Convention. As a Republican, I won’t have credentials to get into the Pepsi Center, but national convention attendees know that much of the more interesting action takes place outside the convention hall anyway.

I’m here as part of the team promoting documentary film Obsession. This award-winning movie is a startling revelation of the full threat radical Islamic terrorism poses to the West. If you haven’t seen the film already, definitely make it a priority. Our team will be launching a media blitz this week, calling on Senator Obama and his party to truly address radical terrorism—and that doesn’t mean simply talking about hope, change and peace.

With Obama’s choice of Joe Biden to fill his national/international security credibility… Read More

I’ll haveacolumn later this week about why the GOP is losing voters, but I can guarantee this, it isn’t because Republicans in the Assembly are hanging tough in the latest State budget fight. In fact, if they keep it up, they’ll likely wind up gaining back some of the respect that our GOP officeholders have lost over the years. With the Governor spewing more nonsense yesterday, questioning the "courage" of the State legislature, it is instructive to look at Assembly Leader Mike Villines response:

Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines of Clovis questioned the governor’s own gutsiness.

"I don’t believe it shows strong backbone to have said (no tax increases) publicly for years and years and years – and then to change your position overnight," Villines said.

Now, even though Villines is my friend, I am more than objective about our elected leadership. I happen to think Mike Villines is one of the more under appreciated elected officials in California. He speaks and reacts from his gut – and he’s a conservative before he’s a… Read More

From the Wall Street Journal’s Political Diary E-mail — good news!!

Free to Blog

It isn’t every Tuesday that DailyKos and the Heritage Foundation find common cause, but that was the case after a Federal Election Commission ruling this week that exempts political bloggers from rules governing political organizations. The decision, great news for bloggers, also highlights the proliferation of chronic whiners that the campaign finance laws have produced. Politicians and their allies increasingly are resorting to lawsuits and regulatory complaints in an attempt to silence opponents and critics.

In this case, the whining was done by a Hillary Clinton supporter who complained that a pro-Obama blog called "Iowa True Blue" was working hand-in-glove… Read More

About a third of FlashReport daily readers are signed up for our Daily Update E-mail, and while that is thousands of readers, we encourage the rest of you to consider signing up.

The e-mail is sent out once a day, right after the main page is updated with the day’s current news — with a convenient link to take you straight to the site.

Also, in each daily update e-mail, we include a listing of all of the headlines that appear on the main page. We just upgraded the email so that it also indicates which news source the headline is from (as we do on our main page).

We also, on occasion when it is merited, will send out breaking news alerts to the list. But that is quite infrequent.

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Oh yes, you have our guarantee that your e-mail address is kept confidential, and this list is NEVER sold, rented or given out to anyone else.… Read More