Hell hath no fury like a defense contractor scorned or members of Congress miffed at a Pentagon decision impacting jobs and a major American corporation during an election year. Boeing, American labor and a motley crew of all stripes are rallying to protest the recent $40 billion Air Force contract awarded to Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman (Airbus, et al) for next generation aerial tankers built on an Airbus airframe. Here, here, and here.

Speaker Pelosi and Democratic members continue the push on "ethics reform", here and here, from The Hill and Roll Call respectively.

The McClintock or McClintock-hinted race in Rep. Doolittle’s soon-to-be former seat is noted in… Read More

After reading Jon’s post about the Legislative Analyst I was compelled to disagree in writing on several points.

You aren’t going to hear anything from me that encourages tax increases. It would be my preference to eliminate large sections of the state government. Despite this preferred course of action the comments Jon made about the role of the LAO and their budget proposal should not go unchallenged.

The budget proposal from the Governor that Jon praises is the easy way out. It makes 10% cuts to most all state programs. This assumes that all state programs are of equal value to the people of California. That is clearly not the case. It also makes it easy to grow all of those programs back to full-size when revenues increase.

Some people may be looking at revenue shortages as a problem. They should be looked at as opportunities to restructure… Read More

Just when you think that the legislature doesn’t know how to trim the fat they come up with this kind of bill. AB 2352 (Fuentes) would expand Child Abuse laws to allow courts to take away kids from their parents if they are too fat.

No. I’m not making this up! Your Fatty Patty eats too many Ding Dongs and presto they are with a foster family. The bill doesn’t increase the reimbursement rate foster families need for thethe caloric intakethat these jumbo juveniles crave.

As a result this bill will lead to more abuse. Kids used to eating Cheetos and playing video games could be locked in rooms with treadmills and celery. It isn’t funny. It could get that bad.

One has to wonder how this bill will be enforced. Will teachers be mandatory reporters of poor Obese Clarisse as she waddles down her high school hall?

What happens if Burley Hurley gets rounded up and sent to a prison for the plump, but still keeps the weight on? Will the counselors and other be arrested for the “abuse” inflicted on him?

Hopefully, the Assembly will realize that real child abuse… Read More

I’m not sure whether to dub this "Who’s on First?" or the "Chicken or the Egg," but I see where it’s going.

Steve Francis: "Those were my ideas, thanks for using them."

Jerry Sanders: "I was working on them before you announced them as part of your plan."

Francis: "No you weren’t, you stole them from me."

Sanders: "No I didn’t."

Francis: "Yes you did."

Sanders: "Did not."

Francis: "Did too."

Whatever….here’s the Francis press release:

Steve Francis Pleased Mayor Sanders Adopts his Taxpayer Protection Plan San Diego — Steve Francis, candidate for Mayor, released the following statement today in response to Mayor Jerry Sanders’ press conference today announcing his support of Steve’s Taxpayer Protection Plan:

"I was pleased to learn that Jerry Sanders held a press conference today and announced his public support for two components… Read More

It’s relatively quiet here today, probably because everyone is amped up for the 60-plus degree temperatures!

Some interesting news tidbits:

RedState has a couple interesting WFB tributes here.

The LA Times and the Washington Post both have ongoing coverage of the big coup for Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman in the next generation air tanker bid battle.

A couple aides with California connections have launched a new energy-related venture here in DC. Lisa Wallace and Brian Kennedy were both with Chairman Pombo during his tenure as House Resources Committee Chairman; both also worked together for Rep. Radanovich. Here is the news on their new firm’s launch.

An inside-DC tax publication we… Read More

As we start out a new week, the 120 members of the California legislature are back at work, as is Governor Schwarzenegger. I think that it is important to start off this Monday morning, frankly, right where we left off before the weekend. This year’s budget debate started out on such a positive note. Well, as positive as a budget could be if you consider that without any changes, it would be over $15 BILLION in the red.

When I say starting out on a positive note, I mean that the Governor charged hard out of the gate with a very important, and very accurate message: we have an over-spending problem. The Governor was unequivocal — that he would not raise taxes and make California taxpayers shoulder the burden for over-spending in the Capitol. He then proposed a budget that would have shaved off 10% from what might otherwise have been introduced. From our perspective, given the spending increases, this is actually a modest proposal. Yet, the yells and screams from lefties in the Capitol could be heard by dairy cows in Yolo County. Here at the FlashReport, we devoted some serious editorial space to praising our Republican Governor… Read More

As we start out a new week, the 120 members of the California legislature are back at work, as is Governor Schwarzenegger. I think that it is important to start off this Monday morning, frankly, right where we left off before the weekend. This year’s budget debate started out on such a positive note. Well, as positive as a budget could be if you consider that without any changes, it would be over $15 BILLION in the red.

When I say starting out on a positive note, I mean that the Governor charged hard out of the gate with a very important, and very accurate message: we have an over-spending problem. The Governor was unequivocal — that he would not raise taxes and make California taxpayers shoulder the burden for over-spending in the Capitol. He then proposed a budget that would have shaved off 10% from what might otherwise have been introduced. From our perspective, given the spending increases, this is actually a modest proposal. Yet, the yells and screams from lefties in the Capitol could be heard by dairy cows in Yolo County. Here at the FlashReport, we devoted some serious editorial space to praising our Republican Governor… Read More

My reading, listening and viewing habits are broad. I tend to read magazines like the New Yorker or the Atlantic, listen to NPR, and watch the BBC America. Liberal stuff? Sure. But when you work in Republican politics day in and day out, Lake Woebegoneis a welcome change of pace.

So last night I was pulling a turkey out of the oven and listening to Air America. When I lived in Los Angeles I was a regular listener of the Pacifica Network, which is your basic run of the mill far left craziness mixed with ‘global’ music. Nutty and dated? Yes. But it was entertaining. Last night I listened to Air America for nearly two hours and I can truly write, with no qualms, that it was not entertaining.

Now understand, I’m not judging the programs I heard based on ideological content. I don’t listen to get angry, or educated, or whatever. I listen for entertainment. And the quality of the entertainment was just low. It wasn’t funny. It wasn’t sharp witted. The format of the programs were difficult to keep clear, the individuals talking talked over each other, and there was no attempt to stick to a topic for more than a couple… Read More