I don’t blame Congressman Gary Miller for not wanting to talk to the Los Angeles Times. Would you? Miller did, however, talk with Erica Werner from the Associated Press. Here’s Werner’s story: Rep. Miller disputes report he used office for personal benefit By Erica Werner with the Associated Press GOP Rep. Gary Miller used congressional staff for personal errands and tried to get a federal appointment for a city councilman about to vote on buying Miller’s land, according to a published report Tuesday that Miller angrily denied. … Read More

Congressman Gary Miller continues to garner some unwanted attention — today the Wall Street Journal’s John Fund heaps on in the WSJ’s Political Diary e-mail:

Not ‘The Donald’

GOP Rep. Gary Miller of California was unopposed for re-election last month, so reports that surfaced last year about how Congressional earmarks he sponsored increased the value of real estate he owned in his district never became a campaign issue.

But now Republicans in his overwhelmingly conservative Orange County district will have to start asking hard questions about whether Mr. Miller, who came to Congress in 1998, deserves another… Read More

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has agreed to create and run anew project to be entitled "Coalition for a Conservative Majority" under the auspices of the American Conservative Union, the national conservative organization that is best know for its annual ratings of Congress and sponsorship of the yearly Conservative Political Action Conference. DeLay is known as a prodigious fundraiser, and was called "the most effective majority leader of the last 50 years" in terms of influencing legislation, by journalist Bob Novak. He will develop and implement a legislative strategy for the nonprofit ACU, and will join the Board of Directors of the organization.… Read More

Over at the San Diego Union Tribune’s America’s Finest Opinion Blog, FR friend Chris Reed has penned his own critique of Senator Perata’s expansion of government’s role in California healthcare. You should read it here.… Read More

In a brazen attempt to yank to the hard-left the discussions about how to deal with the fact that many Californians do not carry health care insurance, Senator Don Perata, the liberal President of the California State Senate predictably rolled out yesterday a massive government intervention into the healthcare marketplace. Perata is proposing that a hefty lien (tax, fee, or whatever you want to call it) on California employers to ‘provide’ health insurance for those Californian’s who are employed, but do not have coverage. Of course the impact of such a proposal will be exactly counter to what discussions are trying to achieve. If the goal is to reduce the number of Californians who are not currently buying health insurance, then putting Californians out of work, increasing the state’s unemployment numbers, and reducing income to the state of California but stifling tax-producing businesses, is not the way to go. The path towards seeing the number of uninsured Californians reduced is two-fold. The first is working to increase the income to these folks — through better jobs. Secondly there is the need to bring… Read More

In a brazen attempt to yank to the hard-left the discussions about how to deal with the fact that many Californians do not carry health care insurance, Senator Don Perata, the liberal President of the California State Senate predictably rolled out yesterday a massive government intervention into the healthcare marketplace. Perata is proposing that a hefty lien (tax, fee, or whatever you want to call it) on California employers to ‘provide’ health insurance for those Californian’s who are employed, but do not have coverage. Of course the impact of such a proposal will be exactly counter to what discussions are trying to achieve. If the goal is to reduce the number of Californians who are not currently buying health insurance, then putting Californians out of work, increasing the state’s unemployment numbers, and reducing income to the state of California but stifling tax-producing businesses, is not the way to go. The path towards seeing the number of uninsured Californians reduced is two-fold. The first is working to increase the income to these folks — through better jobs. Secondly there is the need to bring… Read More

Today funeral services will be held for Louise Leigh. Many of the activists in LA County and in the state recognize her as an important GOP volunteer. I met Louise when I was first elected to the LA County Central Committee. She convinced me I needed to tutor immigrants in English at a local church. She was also CRA Historian since 1969 and in the last decade was the organizer of Constitution Day. Below is part of an biography provided by Peggy Mew.Our Republic lost a a dedicated patriot and the GOP lost a bundle of energy. R.I.P.

Louise Leigh 1914-2006

She began her constitutional activism as an outreach director for the California Bicentennial Commission in 1987. In 1997 she founded Constitution Day, Inc to organize Constitution Day celebrations with school children, overseas military and Governor’s or their representatives from each state reciting the Preamble to the Constitution simultaneously on September 17 throughout the nation. Last year, Louise was instrumental in getting Public Law 108-447… Read More

The San Jose Mercury News reports that Willie Brown will be the Master of Ceremonies for the Governor’s Inauguration ceremony in Sacramento on January 5. Read the full story.

P.S. I’ll be there, so I’ll give you a full report on the 5th.

Update…here’s what our FR leader had to say in the San Francisco Chronicle…

"Jon Fleischman, publisher of the online Flash Report and former executive director of the California Republican Party, said, "When he was speaker, I cursed his name,” but now, "as Brown goes into his senior years, I look at him as a funny character."

"He should liven up the event," Fleischman concluded. "Willie makes me laugh." Read the full… Read More