It was good to see Governor Arnold get it right in today’s LA times, on the subject of immigration. Congress has had five years since 911 to build an administrative infrastructure to support a guest worker program with a realistic deportation feature, and has done nothing.

We cannot deport illegals until wehave a rational system of entering the country. The technology exists to cut the wait time from years to weeks, yet the federal government doesn’t have it. If we don’t build the required technological infrastructure to accomodate a guest worker program, nothing the Congress might pass in the way of legislation will work. Nothing. And deportation is only a good tactic if wait times to enter legally are dramatically reduced.

Maybe the Governor’s people are paying attention to my blogs finally. OK, I don’t have anywhere near the ego to believe that. But make no mistake of this: assigning blame… Read More

On this very quiet Sunday, Jon is taking the day off (after setting up the main page for Sunday news-junkies).

I always recommend a glance at the FR Weblog, and at the Featured Columns Library, or the Jon’s Commentary Library.

We were pleased to announce last week the additions of State Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa as our ‘North California’ correspondent, who will be bringing you tidbits from the other side of Sacramento (there is something north of the Sacramento airport), and Congressman John Campbell, who is our new D.C. "Inside the Beltway" correspondent, bringing us the latest out of our nation’s capitol!

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

On this very quiet Sunday, Jon is taking the day off (after setting up the main page for Sunday news-junkies).

I always recommend a glance at the FR Weblog, and at the Featured Columns Library, or the Jon’s Commentary Library.

We were pleased to announce last week the additions of State Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa as our ‘North California’ correspondent, who will be bringing you tidbits from the other side of Sacramento (there is something north of the Sacramento airport), and Congressman John Campbell, who is our new D.C. "Inside the Beltway" correspondent, bringing us the latest out of our nation’s capitol! COMING YOUR WAY… Tomorrow, look for a great column from State Senator Jeff Denham, and also the announcement of yet another new member of the FR Weblog team — an old friend of the FR joins Dan Schnur as an official "State… Read More

USA Today Covers La Suer Bill Targeting Convicted Athletes… I’m posting this a little late, perhaps, but what political junkie reads USA today? Glad I came across it now. La Suer’s AB 2165 would ban college students from team sports or collegiate sporting events if the athlete is convicted of a violent felony, until after paying their debt to society. This after last year’s state community college football champs (Grossmont College) apparently fielded some thugs…meaning thugs off the field…thuggery on the field is still ok, it is football.

Even the ACLU couldn’t have a problem with this bill, could they…or should I ask?

See the story here.

Those Damn Water Boards Will Get You Every Time… A press release from the campaign of 77th AD Candidate Joel Anderson referred tohis service as president of the Padre Damn Water Board. A prime example of just why you can’t rely on spell check. Other… Read More

This post was first attempted yesterday from an airport and didn’t quite work.

As I sit here at LAX reading the news of a new GOP poll showing Brian Bilbray losing to his liberal challenger I can only think one thing – good.

I’ve been warning of a GOP calamity since December, 2004, and its real simple: spending, immigration, lack of leadership on reforming entitlements, and a reactive rather than proactive approach to everything. This is the work product produced by "safe" seats where no one has to compete. Its called CRAP.

If Bilbray loses the only additional thing we need to create wholesale change in the GOP is a few bruising primary challenges to our own members. Then maybe we can dust off the pictures of Reagan, pull out the playbook from 1994 and start winning again on principle

… Read More

GOP Assemblyman Keith Richman wants to take on Democrat Attorney General Bill Lockyer for State Treasurer. Interesting, then, that on all of the bonds, he cast the same ‘aye’ votes that Lockyer would have cast. I thought I knew a lot of jargon, but Katie Levinson at the Schwarzenegger Campaign office has me beat. Do you know what it means to ‘run traps’? Now I do. Maybe we’ll need to ask her for a ‘jargon of the week’ column. Last week, I stood with Eric Roach outside of the big fancy doors to the now-vacant 50th Congressional District office on Capitol Hill. Eric didn’t walk into it on that trip. But I hope he walks into it in January. Speaking of Washington, D.C., Republican Congressman Richard Pombo gets a big TY for lining up White House Tour tix for my Aunt and Uncle. Their lame Democratic Congressman totally let them down. Pombo has a GOP challenger in June — who supporter Kerry for President. LOL. John Howard, the managing editor over … Read More

Like me, Karen Hanretty (who appeared on once, not twice not three times, but FOUR times this week on the FOX News Channel – way to go!) read a piece in the Los Angeles Times, Governer says Borders are Vulnerable, and got her hopes up. In the piece, the Governor says, "I think that all of this comes down to one thing: The federal government has failed the people of America in a terrible way, in a disastrous way, when it comes to this immigration situation."

Since the Governor has come out in support of a guest worker (read: amnesty) program to legitimize the residency of those who snuck/smuggled/crept/lied/broke the law to come into America, I am trying to figure out if the Governor thinks that the federal government has failed because all of these foreign nationals are here at all? Or does he mean that they have failed because they all should have been allowed to walk into this country ligitimately?

Where is the outrage and desire to deal with the lawbreakers? How can we be a country of laws if we advocate that we excuse citizens of… Read More

I was going to make this post a congratulations to Congressman John Campbell and Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa for joining the stable of FlashReport correspondents. Then, I realized. Before the addition of these two gentlemen to the FR ranks, Jon Fleischman’s 15 bloggers included only two elected legislative officials … Mike Spence and yours truly.

I hadn’t much thought about this prior, but of all the illustrious talent blog-posting on this site … names like Schnur and Whalen, Ross and Probolsky, the Professor and Maryanne … only two were held in such high esteem that we could be called HONORABLE. And, even though it was only two of us, no one was apparently clamoring for more "electeds" to post … were they? Mike and I were obviously more than adequate. Then, Jon goes off and "hires" two more.

Come on, what can a congressional representative and a state legislator add to the FlashReport that a councilmember and a school board member can’t? I mean, besides being one of only 435 and 80, in their respective houses, as representatives forthe most powerful nation in the world and arguably the… Read More