[Update: Assemblyman Chuck DeVore just called to say that a late-scheduled session has been set in the State Assembly for 5:30 p.m. today…]

The Democrats in Sacramento must be really enjoying themselves today. What could possibly be more enjoyable for them than to see Republicans boxed into a corner. In the downstairs office, you have a GOP Governor against whom almost all of the Democrats have endorsed, and across the aisle they have GOP legislators, who stand as their longtime opponents in their quest to massively grow the size and scope of state government. It is being reported in articles all around the state (check them out on the main page of the site) that both houses of the legislature are going to be voting today to send a on a package of four bond measures for the November ballot. It is with great glee that Senate and Assembly Democrats are pushing as hard as they can to include literally as much non-infrastructure spending as possible into a bond package on which the Governor would like to stake his re-election. It’s a win-win for… Read More

I have never met Eric Roach. People tell me he is a great guy. He just lost an election to Brian Bilbray (pictured below, to the right) in the 50th CD. I hope he does not run another campaign June 6th.

Given all the residue from Duke Cunningham’s crimes, It is not going to be easy to hold on to this normally safe Republican seat on this confusing ballot where the general election for the special and the primary for 2006 are on the same ballot. Roach can only win the primary by bringing Bilbray down which will only help the Democrat in the race. The most likely scenario for a successful Roach is to win the primary and allow a Democrat to win the general thereby having to face an incumbent in November. That gives us a very high probability of losing the seat completely. This year will be close enough without losing what should be safe Republican seats over internal squabbles.

Politics is a team sport and the Republican… Read More

I want to add my welcome to Congressman John Campbell. I had the pleasure of working on his campaign for Congress. For obvious reasons I can only call him my second favorite member of Congress. I wanted to pass along just a few FlashReport BLOGER pointers

1) Flash is a real editor who pays close attention to everything posted on his BLOG.

2) If your FlashReport e-mail account is like mine, it will soon fill up with e-mails from people in Nigeria asking you to help them get money out of their country and people wanting to sell you body part enhancements of every kind.

3) This is a great political tool that Jon has created and it is an honor to be part of it, especially since the BLOG roster is filling up with VIPs like yourself.

4) You will soon get the pleasure, much to Jon’s chagrin, of serving with Brian Bilbray in Congress.… Read More

A hearty welcome to U. S. Representative John Campbell to the role of Flashreport contributor.

I am particularly proud to have him aboard for two reasons, first, he is my Member of Congress. And second, it really gives me some peace of mind knowing that my Congressman knows how to use a computer and email and even the back-end system that controls the Flashreport.

If you think about it, there are probably a huge percentage of the 535 Members of Congress who haven’t a clue how to check the weather in NYC let alone add their two cents (in the case of John Campbell his two silver dollars) by posting their thoughts on the web.… Read More

One of the great Republicans of San Diego County has been appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to serve on the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Commission. 49 Mark? I never would have guessed. The release:

Mark McMillin, 49, of El Cajon, has been appointed to the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Commission. He has served as co-chairman and chief executive officer of The Corky McMillin Companies, a home building and real estate development business, since 1979. McMillin is past president of the Building Industry Association of San Diego County and has served on the Board of Directors for the National Association on Homebuilders. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $50 per diem. McMillin is a Republican.… Read More

This blog entry doesn’t have much to do with law and politics in California. But since a good portion of my practice is related to the legal aspects of developing property in California (which has much more to do with politics than you might initially guess — think initiative and referendums that often involve land use decisions, like SOAR in Ventura County), I thought this might be of interest to FlashReport readers.

While the volume ofhome sales have slowed in California (with homes staying on the market longer), the market remains robust with home prices in most areas continuing to increase. This result is somewhat of a dichotomy: The law of supply and demand pushes home prices higher (there are still more people in Californianeeding homes than there are homes available, and the regulatory environment still makes it less than easy to build new homes)whilethe economic realities of higher interest rates (though relatively low in historical terms) act to dampen sales volume. Depending on which real estate professional you talk to, we are in for a soft landing "stabilization" or a roller coaster dive in the coming year.

As a… Read More

It is certainly exciting news to have two elected officials on the blog team, but let me be the first to warn Congressman Campbell and Assemblyman LaMalfa – any spin will be met with an avalanche of pain.

You see, the GOP base out here has about had it. We are tired of the spending, seeing airhead Democrats win policy debates, the failure to secure our borders, and the lack of willingness to fight our political adversaries. So…….. this may be not much of a welcome, but to the extent you can demonstrate to your readers exactly what you are doing to change the culture in Washington and Sacramento, respectively, you have a great opportunity here to pick up a lot of support.

As a grumpy old veteran of California politics the first thing I do is check rhetoric against actions, like the actual introduction of legislation or votes on key issues.

Give us the unvarnished truth – good or bad, and you will soon be loved more than you already are.

I look forward to the dialog.… Read More

A federal judge has prohibted Redondo Beach from enforcingits ordinanceto stop day laborers fromsoliciting work. Now you are free to solict work or contribution on steets or highways. Maybe we should do that in front of the judges house. We’ll see what happens. See the article here.… Read More