Don’t believe what they tell you — Republicans have a lot of passion for the issue of education. We have good ideas and great interest in making sure that future generations of Californians have a top-notch education.

As a matter of fact, politican animal that I am, I devoted over a year of my life exclusively to the politics of education. I was the Campaign Coordinator for the successful Proposition 227 campaign to put an end to the use of bilingual education programs that were ineffective at helping schools kids to learn English. I was also the Campaign Manager back in 1998 for Gloria Matta Tuchman, the Republican challenger to Delaine Eastin, the lefty Democrat incumbent in the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. We lost by a few points that year, unfortunately.

One great thing about have a Republican Governor is that we have (or should have) a Republican State Board of Education, to offset the liberalism of current Superintendent Jack O’Connell.

So, it was with much dismay, in reviewing the Governor’s appointments today, to see that he made three appointments to the important State Board of Education,… Read More

Longtime FR readers know my rule – that if one flies to or from Sacramento on a weekday, you’re going to know someone on the plane. Today’s lucky passengers (oh to be singled out) – Mark Gaughan from SDGE, and Susie Duvall, the bride of Assemblyman Mike Duvall. My bride is the Assemblyman’s District Director.

Most of my meetings in the Capitol City wouldn’t interest you. And some of my meetings that would interest you a lot are things on which I may not blog. But, we’ll try to post a bit from the center of government growth.

Wheel’s up!… Read More

President Bush signed a tax rebate bill February 13, checks in the mail by mid-spring. From The Hill.

An update on the special election to succeed former Rep. Tom Lantos, from The Hill.

Wonkette knocks house prices in SoCal and comments on Rep. Waxman’s stand on earmarks, here.

House GOP leadership backs McCain, from The Hill.

Roll Call notes the new job move from former Schwarzenegger Comms. Dir Adam Mendelsohn. (subscription req’d). Congratulations!

With more than a billion (not a typo) in outstanding capital (no pun intended) expenses and deferred maintenance issues, the House… Read More

(In the interests of providing a fair and balanced opportunity for debate here on the FR Blog, I’ve posted this submission from Kelly McCarty, in response to this post by our Riverside County Correspondent Barry Nestande.) FROM KELLY MCCARTY:

Assemblyman John Benoit’s Chief of Staff Barry Nestande has posted on this site that it was outrageous for me to have considered running against his employer in the Republican primary if Proposition 93 would have passed.

First, Nestande does not disclose that his brother Brian is one of my opponents for the Republican nomination in Assembly District 64. That would seem to be an important disclosure for an author to… Read More

LOL. There was another article this weekend about big donor GOP liberals worried that the party was too right wing and demanding changes in the structure etc…. This story comes around every so often, usually because someone is trying to benefit financially or politically from the effort. Sometimes both.

These articles always make me laugh. Why? Because it is all fantasy. The State GOP central Committee is not controlled by conservatives and hasn’t been for the over 15 years I’ve been an actual member.

I should point out I’ve been a member of the Executive Committee of the CRP for almost 15 years and served on the Board of Directors from 1993-1999. I have chaired committees including initiatives and been a member of the Rules committee and I am dead on positive Conservatives have never really controlled the party. I think I would have known if they (we) did. So who really controls the party? Let me explain. Back in the late 1980’s at a conference Paul Weyrich, founder of the Heritage … Read More

LOL. There was another article this weekend about big donor GOP liberals worried that the party was too right wing and demanding changes in the structure etc…. This story comes around every so often, usually because someone is trying to benefit financially or politically from the effort. Sometimes both.

These articles always make me laugh. Why? Because it is all fantasy. The State GOP central Committee is not controlled by conservatives and hasn’t been for the over 15 years I’ve been an actual member.

I should point out I’ve been a member of the Executive Committee of the CRP for over 15 years and served on the Board of Directors from 1993-1999. I have chaired committees including initiatives and been a member of the Rules committee and I am dead on positive Conservatives have never really controlled the party. I think I would have known if they (we) did. So who really controls the party? Let me explain. Back in the late 1980’s at a conference Paul Weyrich, founder of the Heritage … Read More

When government agencies or programs provide help or services to children, for some unexplained reason, they are magically bestowed extra credence and autonomy.As a result, those programs are often given unrestrained freedom in spending money and running their programs. Generally, the programs have very little oversight. However, some agencies have wasted millions of taxpayer dollars in funding programs that have benefited children very little…and may have even endangered them. This situation below provides a chilling example.

According to the Los Angeles Times (February 7, 2008), “More than 50 people have been charged in a massive childcare fraud ring operated in part by a federal prison inmate and his wife….”The prisoner-led group was able to do major damage as it “bilked taxpayers out of at least $3 million.”

The clever couple… Read More

Donald Trump is not exactly a conservative icon. He ran for the Reform Party presidential nomination not too long ago; a party with very confused ideals. He has an odd haircut. He is very successful. Hemarries and divorces "crazy" women. He is an ultramega-successful version of someone who hangs out at the Islands Hotel Bar in Newport Beach late on a Friday night.

But Donald Trump has done something VERY RIGHT. He has taken on the California Coastal Commission. The issue? Having to get approval from the government to display an American flag on private property.

Trump did southern California a favor by purchasing the moribund Rancho Palos Verdes golf course a few years ago with intention of building it into a national course. In the process of redevelopment, he decided to erect a 70-foot flagpole and display a large American flag. The winds offer a great waiving flag, backgrounded by a spectacular view of sea and sky.

But the local environmentalists complained that the flag "blighted" the ocean views. After a great debate, the Palos Verdes City Council gave Trump a retroactive approval, by a… Read More