NEW LEGISLATIVE BLOGGER Next week, there will be about a dozen new Republicans sworn into terms in the California State Assembly. We are very pleased to announce that one of these incoming GOP freshmen, Anthony Adams (pictured to the right), has agreed to come onboard as a new State Capitol Correspondent for the FlashReport Blog! Anthony was elected as the new legislator representing the 59th Assembly District, which has been represented the past six years by Dennis Mountjoy. The 59th District is a large on that is split roughly in half — with one part being the far east end of Los Angeles County, and the other part going into San Bernardino County, shooting up into the high desert. I’ve known Anthony for some time, and he has just the right mix to be a great addition to our team — he is conservative, he is smart, and he is technologically savvy — thus… Read More

Good news, it seems, sometimes lasts only…well, one short paragraph.

Last Monday, the SDUT reported the following:

Consumer advocate Michael Shames is close to a legal settlement with the city of San Diego that would give small refunds to about 225,000 single-family sewer customers for subsidizing the bills of business customers for a decade. It was the next paragraph that was the "bad news," in this version ofwhich-do-you-want-to-hear-first:

The credit likely would be consumed by a larger rate increase.

The next day, Tuesday, as if on cue, Mayor Jerry Sanders proposed huge increases in water and sewer rates, 29% and 35% respectively, while vowing certain safeguards.

On Wednesday, the SDUT editorialized on the… Read More

Tomorrow we will see more changes taking place in the Blog Roll here at the FlashReport. One of FR’s original blogging team will be retiring, to be replaced by another outstanding local correspondent…and we will be introducing another member of the California State Legislature who will join Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa in bringing us insights from under the Capitol Dome. NO PAY RAISE FOR ME — OK, MAYBE A PAY RAISE FOR ME Unlike the last few days, where reading on California politics has been quite anemic, there is a lot of interesting reading to take in on FR’s main page. "Above the fold" we have an expose from the Sacramento Bee where they reveal that of the large group of State Legislators that publicly declined a $12,000 pay raise, seven of them later decided to go ahead and take the salary bump. It’s my opinion that if you are going to define the job of a State Legislator as full-time, the raise was probably appropriate. The newsworthyness comes from the fact that in many instances, these… Read More

Tomorrow we will see more changes taking place in the Blog Roll here at the FlashReport. One of FR’s original blogging team will be retiring, to be replaced by another outstanding local correspondent…and we will be introducing another member of the California State Legislature who will join Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa in bringing us insights from under the Capitol Dome. NO PAY RAISE FOR ME — OK, MAYBE A PAY RAISE FOR ME Unlike the last few days, where reading on California politics has been quite anemic, there is a lot of interesting reading to take in on FR’s main page. "Above the fold" we have an expose from the Sacramento Bee where they reveal that of the large group of State Legislators that publicly declined a $12,000 pay raise, seven of them later decided to go ahead and take the salary bump. It’s my opinion that if you are going to define the job of a State Legislator as full-time, the raise was probably appropriate. The newsworthyness comes from the fact that in many instances, these… Read More

As FR readers know, we are going through an ‘augmentation’ of the FlashReport Blog as we go into the new election season. Most of our regular staple of contributors will be staying on, continuing to offer you their great insights on California politics. But, we have decided to expand the talent pool, bringing you more contributors with even more to offer.

So far this week we have announced the ‘arrivals’ of Ray Haynes, Tab Berg, and Jim Lacy.

Today, I am pleased to introduce FR readers to longtime friend Shawn Steel. Many of you may know Shawn already as he has been featured on this site many times. Shawn is currently the Chairman of California Club for Growth, and is the Immediate Past Chairman of the California Republican Party.

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

As FR readers know, we are going through an ‘augmentation’ of the FlashReport Blog as we go into the new election season. Most of our regular staple of contributors will be staying on, continuing to offer you their great insights on California politics. But, we have decided to expand the talent pool, bringing you more contributors with even more to offer.

So far this week we have announced the ‘arrivals’ of Ray Haynes, Tab Berg, and Jim Lacy.

Today, I am pleased to introduce FR readers to longtime friend Shawn Steel. Many of you may know Shawn already as he has been featured on this site many times. Shawn is currently the Chairman of California Club for Growth, and is the Immediate Past Chairman of the California Republican Party.

Shawn is an accomplished attorney, and has been an activist in pro-liberty and freedom causes going back longer than he would care to admit. He has been a friend and a mentor to me since the late 1980’s, and it is great to welcome him to… Read More

Since clearly everyone else who writes about California politics has taken today off, I will as well. We’ve cobbled together some interesting reading on the main page – which wasn’t easy. I hope you havea great Friday of this great four-day weekend. Over the weekend we’ll be introducing two more new contributors to the FlashReport weblog, so you’ll want to check back for that!

Care to read comments, or make your own about today’s Daily Commentary?

Just click here to go to the FR Weblog, where this Commentary has its own blog post, and where you can read and make comments.… Read More

According to disclosure reports filed as of 10/18/06, financial guru George Soros dumped $2,150,000 in “soft money” into the recent Congressional elections, to an outfit called “America Votes 2006,” to help register voters and get them to the polls. “Soft money” are funds that are illegal to be used in influencing a Congressional election, but can be used for voter registration and get-out-the-vote purposes. Here is a list of America Votes 2006 “coalition partners” in this effort, obtained from their website:

21st Century Democrats, ACORN, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, Alliance for Retired Americans, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence united with the Million Mom March, Campaign for America’s Future, Clean Water Action, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, Democracy for America, EMILY’s List, Human Rights Campaign, League of Conservation Voters, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), MoveOn.org Political Action, Music for America, NAACP National Voter Fund, NARAL… Read More