My husband and I were getting coffee this morning at our hotel in San Francisco after enjoying a grown-ups only weekend in the city to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary when we saw televisions with pictures reminiscent of the Loma Prieta earthquake when the 880 freeway collapsed. We were amazed to learn that a tanker truck had crashed and caught fire, causing a portion of the 580 freeway above it to collapse. Thank goodness, we said, that we had decided to BART into the city on Saturday—the collapsed, burnt freeway was the freeway we would have needed to take us back home.

But there was no denying the huge impact this disaster would have on the lives of our friends and neighbors in Oakland. My husband commutes everyday to… Read More

I’m still reflecting back on last week’s Prison "Deal" and the fact that it included over six BILLION dollars in additional indebtedness for California taxpayers. Especially heinous about this mega-debt is that it has been completely authorized by Sacramento politicians and apparently requires no vote of the people. Why wouldn’t they bring this amount of prolific spending to the voters? After all, lately, the electorate has been pretty accepting of big borrowing — having approved all of the Governor’s "big bang bonds" package last year. I am not an expert on intricate and arcane state laws when it comes to borrowing, but I can tell you that using "lease revenue bonds" just smells awful. The name implies that the bonds are issued against specific revenue returns from leasing the property that is built. But who leases state prisons? It’s the state, right? So if the state is responsible for paying itself for these bonds, I don’t see how that is any different from general obligation bonds. Clearly politicians will come up with any way to increase government spending,… Read More

Hunter vs. Reid… The FlashReport had the Washington Times article yesterday on Duncan Hunter’s call for Harry Reid’s resignation, but I thought you might be interested in the full text of the Hunter release. I love "your-my-friend-but-your-also-an-idiot" political statements, and Hunter pulls it off with aplomb:

Hunter Calls on Senator Reid to Step Down as Senate Majority Leader

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Armed Services Committee Ranking Republican Duncan Hunter (R-CA) today called for Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) to resign as Majority Leader following his controversial comments stating that the war in Iraq "is lost."

"In commenting on ongoing operations in Iraq, you recently stated that ‘this war is lost.’ This unfortunate statement is both inaccurate and damaging," opened Hunter in a letter to Reid.

"It can have no effect but to demoralize the brave men and women, who are honorably fulfilling their mission in Iraq, and… Read More

I’m still reflecting back on last week’s Prison "Deal" and the fact that it included over six BILLION dollars in additional indebtedness for California taxpayers. Especially heinous about this mega-debt is that it has been completely authorized by Sacramento politicians and apparently requires no vote of the people. Why wouldn’t they bring this amount of prolific spending to the voters? After all, lately, the electorate has been pretty accepting of big borrowing — having approved all of the Governor’s "big bang bonds" package last year. I am not an expert on intricate and arcane state laws when it comes to borrowing, but I can tell you that using "lease revenue bonds" just smells awful. The name implies that the bonds are issued against specific revenue returns from leasing the property that is built. But who leases state prisons? It’s the state, right? So if the state is responsible for paying itself for these bonds, I don’t see how that is any different from general obligation bonds. Clearly politicians will come up with any way to increase government spending,… Read More

Good work by the California College Republicans over the weekend — one of their members dressed up as the Pander Bear to protest the California Democratic Convention over the weekend. You can read the story and watch the clip from CBS8 here. I love the part where the Edwards supporters take a photo with the Bear.… Read More

The FR would like to point out that Sacramento Democrats are extremely consistent. They are willing to work with the Governor and Republican legislators on any project or program as long as it contains one of the following mandatory requirements: a tax increase, borrowing money, or increasing fees. Oh yes, they will also embrace projects that including increasing regulation or adding mandates to the lives of Californians or their businesses. As everyone trumpets the successful ‘solution’ to the prison overcrowding problem, let’s be real. It was a bitter-sweet victory for GOPers who didn’t want early releases of inmates being ordered by a Judge. Yes, there will be more prisons. But if Republicans had their way, this would have been paid for with general fund dollars. Instead, California taxpayers are going to debtors prison – again. We would like to give a h/t to State Democrats for hosting such a blogger-friendly state convention. From our discussions with lefty bloggers (with whom we disagree on virtually everything), there is clearly an effort being made to reach out and really integrate them into the event, and… Read More

The FR would like to point out that Sacramento Democrats are extremely consistent. They are willing to work with the Governor and Republican legislators on any project or program as long as it contains one of the following mandatory requirements: a tax increase, borrowing money, or increasing fees. Oh yes, they will also embrace projects that including increasing regulation or adding mandates to the lives of Californians or their businesses. As everyone trumpets the successful ‘solution’ to the prison overcrowding problem, let’s be real. It was a bitter-sweet victory for GOPers who didn’t want early releases of inmates being ordered by a Judge. Yes, there will be more prisons. But if Republicans had their way, this would have been paid for with general fund dollars. Instead, California taxpayers are going to debtors prison – again. We would like to give a h/t to State Democrats for hosting such a blogger-friendly state convention. From our discussions with lefty bloggers (with whom we disagree on virtually everything), there is clearly an effort being made to reach out and really integrate them into the event, and… Read More

Well, I take it from Mr. Fleischman’s ongoing posts on the topic of Senator Harman’s SB 1000, a that ended its life in committee recently, that he is itching for a debate on the topic. I somehow think that Jon would be less zealous in his position if it were his property value being quashed, but all the same here we go…

Many inaccuracies concerning sober living homes (SLH’s) come from the misconception that a SLH is anything with six beds or under. This is not the case. A SLH has nothing to do with the number of beds but rather with the services offered. A SLH is a SLH if it has 10 people in it – not just “six and under.”

By way of explanation, there are three types of facilities: treatment, maintenance and sober living homes. Treatment and maintenance facilities offer detoxification, educational counseling, individual or group counseling sessions and treatment or recovery planning. These facilities, unlike SLH’s, are authorized to receive public funds. A SLH offers none of these services and are basically the “last stop” before a person who has gone through successful treatment and maintenance successfully… Read More