As the Legislature enters the final weeks of the 2007 legislative session, lawmakers are sorting through the hundreds of proposals that await our action before we adjourn for the year.

The Legislature has a tremendous opportunity this year to end the practice of politicians drawing their own legislative district lines and restore those powers to the people. By working together, Democrats and Republican alike, we can pass a redistricting reform measure that will end politics as usual in Sacramento.

By passing meaningful redistricting reform, we will strengthen the voice of the voters at the ballot box.

Californians deserve better than our current broken system that lets politicians’ hand-pick their voters. By reforming the system, we can give voters a more influential voice, allowing them to choose rightfully who represents them in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

The current system has resulted in severe gerrymandering, which has created a hodgepodge of political districts. Today, some State Senate districts are drawn to take in minor portions of several communities to give advantage to one party or the other. One State Senate… Read More

There is a vibrant Republican primary taking place in the Inland Empire’s 64th Assembly District (a "safe" seat for the GOP). This district that spans from Riverside out to the Coachella Valley is currently represented by conservative Assemblyman John Benoit, who is a candidate for the State Senate. One of the front running candidates in that primary was businesswoman Rose Girard. Well, not anymore. We’ve found out that Girard has made a relatively sudden decision to end her candidacy, supposed to focus more on personal business opportunities. I’m sure that we’ll hear more about this. That said, her departure certainly leaves a vacuum in the field. But, she was also not the only candidate running. Others in the race include John Pate (Cons. Tim Clark/JohnsonClark), Kelly McCarty (Cons. Matt Rexroad/Meridian Pacific), and Angel Sanchez (Cons. Joe Giardello). I caught up to the local State Senator (and a FlashReport correspondent) Jim Battin, who told me that he felt that Girard’s departure makes Kelly McCarty the front runner in the race. In doing a little poking around tonight, it… Read More

The Woodland Daily Democrat is reporting that Charlie Schaupp is running for the GOP nomination in AD 2.

Schaupp served 26 years as a Marine Reserve (he saw action in Fallujah) and his family has been farming in Yolo county Since the 1880s. He was also the Chairman of the Yolo County Republican Party from 1998-2000.

Already announced is former State Senator Jim Nielsen and Siskiyou County Dentist/Party Chairman Sam Wakim

As I mentioned in a previous post, there is still room for a candidate to enter who comes from Shasta County.… Read More

Hundreds of printers, 3,000 cartridges, and truckloads of other paraphernalia in undisclosed warehouses, all leading to millions of wasted dollars. It would be fitting to assume this report is about a counterfeit money production crime ring. Instead, it’s about the LA County Department of Children and Family Services, led by apparent shopaholics with a knack for squandering taxpayers’ money.

According to the Los Angeles Times (August 9, 2007), an audit has uncovered that “Los Angeles County’s child welfare agency wasted more than $1 million on unnecessary or overpriced equipment and failed to adequately keep track of hundreds of thousands of dollars more in supplies.” Despite LA County’s tarnished financial records, the magnitude of this agency’s overzealous buying habits is alarming. “I think it’s probably the most significant departure from purchasing practices that I’ve ever seen,” said the auditor-controller, whose career with the county has… Read More

Test… Read More

Just off the transom from State GOP Communications Director Hector Barajas:

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nùñez continues his disingenuous rhetoric regarding the budget delay, even though a budget deal has been reached. Perhaps the Speaker had a lapse in memory, as he seems to have forgetten that he left California’s needy high and dry while a budget deal was still in the works. For all of his political posturing, Speaker Nùñez has failed to mention that, when he left Sacramento for his European summer vacation, he not only left the wheels of the budget process still in motion, he also consequently left thousands of Californians at risk of losing their Medi-Care coverage and hundreds of summer programs at risk of being reduced or eliminated. Upon returning to California,… Read More

You knew it was going to be a tough budget year for fiscal conservatives from the minute that Governor Schwarzenegger introduced his budget to the legislature — one that was more or less embraced by the ultra-liberal legislators that dominate the State Senate and State Assembly. As a Governor who campaigned in two different elections as a fiscal conservative, we were looking to him to propose a budget that reduced the size and scope of state government. But instead, again, he introduced a budget that contained deficit spending. Using some football parlance, I equate the introduction of this bloated budget by the Governor the equivalent of a football team downing the ball on their own 20 yard line! Where we wanted strong negotiation between Democrats advocating big government on one side and the government championing taxpayers on the other — instead we got a ‘status quo’ budget.

(Need some ideas on how to shrink state spending? Remember this? Or how about these… Read More

FR friend Carol Bone put this together, that is worth a read by all those who chance upon this website:

Earth’s Climate Change

Earth’s climate is one of continual change. It has been much warmer than the present and much colder. For most of the Earth’s history global temperatures were 8 to 15° C warmer than today. Over the last 2 billion years, glaciers have advanced and retreated many times. During the last major ice age, massive glaciers buried much of North America, Europe, and Asia. Sea levels were 300 feet lower than today. Then about 14,000 years ago, glaciers began to retreat. By 8,000 years ago, the land bridge across the Bering Strait was under water, stopping the migration of humans and animals to North America. Forests replaced sheets of ice. The earth cooled again about 12,000 to 10,500 years ago, and then warmed again. Around 5000 to 3000 BC, when many ancient civilizations began, temperatures were warmer than today. From 3000 to 2000 BC a cooling … Read More