Earlier in the week, Governor Schwarzenegger tapped Democrat Mary Nichols, formerly Deputy EPA Administrator in the Clinton Administration and a senior environmental offical for both Governors Jerry Brown and Gray Davis, to be the new Chairman of the California Air Resources Board. My initial take on that appointment is here, and below is a defense of that appointment by Republican Dan Skopec who until last week served as Deputy Secretary of the Cal-EPA. He has started his own consulting firm now. This piece was submitted by the Schwarzenegger Administration:

Democrats will do anything to get and maintain power. After all, Lenin wasn’t too good a revolutionary. His specialty, once he took power,was tocreate a ruthless system for permanent power at any cost. Democrats hope to do the same in 2008. By any means necessary, get more senate and house seats.

Part of their strategy is to demonize California House Republican leaders. While Duke Cunningham certainly deserved demonization, as does Democrat "Refrigerator" Jefferson, our CaliforniaCongressional Republicans are endlessly attacked with rumors and conspiracy theories, spearheaded by the LA Times. But paintingthe bribery tar brush against Republicans is ringing hollow.

Jerry Lewis is repeatedly skewered by the LA Times, with breathy innuendos of vast sums of money circulating through his office. The only problem is a ferocious lack of facts. Unlike some Congressmen, Lewis has not grown wealthy in Congress. According to Lewis’ financial disclosure statement, most of his… Read More

We here at the FlashReport extend best wishes to you and your family for a great Independence Day! Look for our daily commentary to return tomorrow, with a column from FR correspondent Shawn Steel!

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View Full Commentary… Read More

We here at the FlashReport extend best wishes to you and your family for a great Independence Day! Look for our daily commentary to return tomorrow, with a column from FR correspondent Shawn Steel!… Read More

Al Gore III was arrested early this morning in Orange County after being pulled over for driving 100 miles per hour according to Reuters.

The former vice president’s 24 year-old kid was driving a hybrid Toyota Prius. I have newfound respect for the Prius–the fact that it can 100 mph, I might consider driving one, as a rental, if I had to.

Also, young Gore had the making of a party, if your in to that sort of thing: marijuana, along with prescription drugs including Valium, Xanax, Vicodin and Adderall, said sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino. There were no prescriptions found, he said.

Good luck to young Gore, it can be rough growing up with money and privilege.

Care to post his $20,000 bail? Go to www.ocsd.org for details.… Read More

In a somewhat stunning move for a self-professed conservative, Dana Point Mayor Diane Harkey (and Republican candidate for 73rd Assembly District) has proposed on the City Council agenda tonight a 10% raise in the wages of the contract city attorneys, from $200 an hour to $220 an hour, and an automatic Consumer Price Index for inflation in their hourly wage every July 1 hereafter, regardless of performance by the attorneys.

We spoke with a city councilman today in neighboring Mission Viejo, who told us his city pays only $150 an hour for legal advice. This city councilman, who recently conducted interviews for law firms for Mission Viejo, said he had "never heard of an automatic CPI inflator in a contract for legal services."

Harkey, whose record really is in no way conservative,made her motion to increaseattorney’s fees, and to allow for a mandatory annual increase in attorney wages regardless of performance, in a memo dated July 3, 2007 to the City Council. We understand though, that she has called in "sick" for tonight’s meeting in the meantime, and we are hopeful that sanity will prevail and her motion will be… Read More

The Declaration of Independence: An Exceptional Document By Joe Sheffo Assistant Opinion Editor North County Times Exclusive for the Flashreport

Independence Day, the Fourth of July, is the most unique of national holidays, not only in our own country but perhaps in any nation on earth, because it celebrates not just an event —- the decision of the 13 American colonies to part ways with Great Britain —- but an idea: that all men are created equal.

Unfortunately, for too long multiculturalists, leftists, and the ill-informed have made light of, and even denigrated, this achievement. According to them, Jefferson was a rich, white man looking after rich, white interests. When Jefferson said “all men” he really meant all men like himself, and he meant only men. This is probably the historical interpretation taught in most of our schools and universities.

I most recently heard this attitude in a commentary delivered by National Public Radio Weekend Edition host John Ydstie. Ydstie was actually commenting on the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, the first English settlement in… Read More

Court Rejects State Pension Bonds Because Voters Were Ignored

Victors Call Ruling “a Fourth of July Gift to Californians”

Contact: Harold Johnson Attorney Pacific Legal Foundation (916) 419-7111 hej@pacificlegal.org www.pacificlegal.org

SACRAMENTO, July 3, 2007: A California appellate court today rejected the State’s bid to float $560 million in bonds for government pensions without approval of the State electorate. The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the State’s proposed “pension obligation bonds” are illegal because they were not submitted to voters as the California Constitution (Article 16, Section 1) requires for state debt in excess of $300,000.

“This is a great Fourth of July gift to Californians,” said Pacific Legal Foundation Attorney Harold Johnson, who represented the Fullerton Association of… Read More