What’s the point of "conferring" for conference committee if the Dems are going to ignore the Republicans and fight amongst themselves? Such is the case in Sacramento today and it makes you wonder what part of a 2/3rds vote don’t the Dems get.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the process, Conference Committee isthe process of bringing a bill from the Assembly and a bill from the Senate together to make the bill identical before going to the Gov’s desk. In Sacramento itis only done publicly when the Bill is the Budget bill. And this year’s conference committee handling of the budget bill has once againdemonstrated the great dysfunction of the Democrat majority.

There is no way the Dems can’t be mindful of the fact that the conference committee draft budget will immediately go to the Big5 (both houses’ majority and minority leaders + the Gov) where they will then begin the real work of hammering out a deal.

Which isto say, conference committee’s true value would only be achieved if the committee was fairly balanced to reflect the true vote threshold that will be required topass the… Read More

This morning, the FlashReport wants to draw the attention of our readers to a very important column in this month’s edition of Red County Magazine. While not a lengthy piece, the commentary, We Refuse To Support A Permanent Minority, penned by Orange County Lincoln Club President Rich Wagner and fellow Board Member Chip Hanlon, represents an important watershed moment in Republican politics — the leadership of one of America’s most prominent Republican donor organizations shining a bright spotlight an ugly side of our Republican Senate and House Conferences in Washington, D.C. — an addiction to big government and pork-barrel earmarking. Wikopedia defines the phrase Elephant in the Room as an, "English idiom for an obvious truth that is being ignored or goes unaddressed. It is based on the idea that an elephant in a small room would be impossible to overlook." The strongly-worded… Read More

This morning, the FlashReport wants to draw the attention of our readers to a very important column in this month’s edition of Red County Magazine. While not a lengthy piece, the commentary, We Refuse To Support A Permanent Minority, penned by Orange County Lincoln Club President Rich Wagner and fellow Board Member Chip Hanlon, represents an important watershed moment in Republican politics — the leadership of one of America’s most prominent Republican donor organizations shining a bright spotlight an ugly side of our Republican Senate and House Conferences in Washington, D.C. — an addiction to big government and pork-barrel earmarking. Wikopedia defines the phrase Elephant in the Room as an, "English idiom for an obvious truth that is being ignored or goes unaddressed. It is based on the idea that an elephant in a small room would be impossible to overlook." The strongly-worded… Read More

It’s a mixed bag today, take your pick, in no particular order:

Negotiations continue with high profile California consultant Mike Murphy, breaking at Politico.com now, in a possible move to join the McCain campaign.

A prominent staff member for Rep. Waxman will serve as a "House" liasion for Democratic Presidential nominee-apparent Sen. Barack Obama, from Roll Call (note: subscription may be required). Elsewhere, Rep. Waxman is going after the job descriptions of future political appointees by trying to eliminate "Rove-like" job duties, from The Hill.

Former California GOP Rep. Ron Packard’s name has surfaced in a new lobbying registration, reported today in the "bottom line" section of The Hill.

Some speculation on speculation (oil, that is) on Capitol Hill, also… Read More

I was sifting through my e-mails, and got a heads up from an FR reader that the folks at VSP (Vision Service Plan — the uber-large vision insurance that state employees, and millions of others have) are parking their RV-Style "Mobile Eyecare Coach" at the east entrance of the Capitol. I’m sure that from 10am to 1pm, the VSP folks will be swamped. They won’t have any trouble telling the Republicans from the Democrats. The former will be eyeing the "Coach" skeptically, and asking questions to discern whether any tax dollars went into its creation — and Democrats will all be asking why they can’t see the color red (as in RED INK).

Then again, tomorrow most Capitol workers may be over across the street at The Golden One Credit Union filling out paperwork for interest free loans in lieu of paychecks that will not be coming until after a budget is enacted. (The flyer I got from VSP is attached. This post is proof that just about anything can be fodder for the FR Blog!)… Read More

When the FlashReport first went live back in 2005, I was very pleased to have as an important member of our FlashReport BlogPen a capable conservative activist and leader in San Bernardino County — Brad Mitzelfelt, who hails from the north end of the county (you know, the part you drive through on the way to Mammoth or to Vegas). After we got off the great, Brad passed the baton and took a hiatus from blogging for a while. Well, over a year later, Brad is now a Supervisor for San Bernardino County. He was appointed last year to fill a vacancy on the Board when FR friend Bill Postmus was elected to countywide office. This last June, voters elected Brad in his own rite to a full four-year term. I am very pleased that Brad has decided to rejoin the FR team, blogging on issues of importance that impact California, and San Bernardino County. Brad’s conservative, insightful, writes well, is "plugged in" to what is going on, and (sometimes) is pretty funny. … Read More

Today marks day seven of the new fiscal year — a week without an adopted budget for the state of California. Much has been said already, and will be said over the coming weeks and possibly months about how we’ve ended up with such a budget challenge — but Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters summed it up nicely in a column yesterday when he said, "…today’s crisis primarily stems from voters and politicians spending more money than the revenue system can produce, even in a good economy." Last week it was reported that Assembly Speaker Karen Bass had sent legislators home until July 14. That is ridiculous. The (unfortunate) reality is that California has an overdue budget AND a full-time legislature. That means that, frankly, all of our state legislators, having taken their three day weekend for America’s birthday, should be returning today to the State Capitol to roll up their sleeves and work towards a fiscally prudent state budget… Read More

Today marks day seven of the new fiscal year — a week without an adopted budget for the state of California. Much has been said already, and will be said over the coming weeks and possibly months about how we’ve ended up with such a budget challenge — but Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters summed it up nicely in a column yesterday when he said, "…today’s crisis primarily stems from voters and politicians spending more money than the revenue system can produce, even in a good economy." Last week it was reported that Assembly Speaker Karen Bass had sent legislators home until July 14. That is ridiculous. The (unfortunate) reality is that California has an overdue budget AND a full-time legislature. That means that, frankly, all of our state legislators, having taken their three day weekend for America’s birthday, should be returning today to the State Capitol to roll up their sleeves and work towards a fiscally prudent state budget… Read More