When Arnold Schwarzenegger ran in the recall election, he ran as a candidate who would stand up to the special interest groups that have been dominant in Sacramento. These special interests, largely employee unions, are pressing hard for an increase in the amount of the mandate on California employers on the minimum hourly wage that they can pay an employee. Emboldened by the defeat of the Governor’s reform package, they are pushing hard for such an increase to be a part of the Governor’s legislative agenda.

As a well-schooled libertarian, I know that Arnold Schwarzenegger is a big admirer of Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman. This is what Friedman says about the minimum wage:… Read More

In response to yesterday’s post on retired NFL cornerback Scott Turner making a run for Duke’s former congressional seat, which apparently resulted in a few media inquiries, I received a call from Congressman Duncan Hunter’s office this morning.

Scott Turner, although he has interned for the Congressman and assisted the office with support-the-troop efforts, is not an aide to, or in any way a paid employee of Duncan Hunter.

He is, however, running for Congress. (You still read it here first.)

I stand corrected, as does this blog, and I apologize for my reference to Scott as an "aide to Congressman Duncan Hunter."

I am, however, glad to know the media and congressional staff are reading the FlashReport.… Read More

GAY REPUBLICAN CALLS ON GOVERNOR TO REPLACE SUSAN KENNEDY After reading in John Fund’s Monday column, Conan the Appeaser, that the Governor allegedly told Assembly Republicans that their opposition to Democrat Susan Kennedy (pictured to the right advising former Governor Gray Davis, when she was his Deputy Chief of Staff, before being recalled) was based on Kennedy being a lesbian, I was rather taken aback. I have expounded (at length) on all of the reasons why our Republican Governor should not have a former Executive Director of the Democrat Party running his administration. That said, I reached out to a friend of mine, Chris Gilbertson. Chris and I engaged in many battles against the campus Left back in our youth activism days. Chris is gay, and so I thought I would ask him to weigh in on this… Read More

This time of year we often reflect upon the things and people we are most thankful for. Given that traffic is the number one issue among voters in just about every Southern California community, most voters are thankful for just about any proposal to build new freeway lanes. And don’t be surprised if the voters, even the most conservative of the bunch vote for a massive bond measure or sales tax hike if they are promised more lanes.

Orange County Supervisor and OCTA Chairman Bill Campbell is pushing a good idea that would not cost nearly as much as widening a freeway. He along with his colleagues are urging Caltrans to allow carpool lanes in Southern CA to be used by all vehicles regardless of the number of passengers on off-peak hours. Additionally, the proposal is… Read More

Since it’s been a couple of months since we last updated you on Jessica’s Law, here’s the latest. The legislative package (SB 588 and AB 231) has run into Democrat opposition in Sacramento (as mentioned by Jon Fleischman in a recent commentary), most notably by Senate President Pro-Tem Don Perata (D-East Bay) and Senator Dean Florez (D-Bakersfield). The Press-Enterprise editorial page last week called the Democrats’ position "disingenuous," adding that the Democrats’real objection is to the "harshness of the bill." Read it here. The editorial points out that "the Democrat-controlled Senate and Assembly Public Safety Committees killed nearly 30 measures last session that would have placed greater restrictions on high-risk offenders."

Meanwhile, the proposed legislation, which would make California’s laws against sexual predators the most… Read More

Despitethe FR Publisher’s attempt to delete my post. See below. Here is the post Jon didn’t want you to see :).

In a move upsetting the long held assumptions about this race, Harry Scolinos dropped his bid for the Republican nomination in 59th Assembly District.

For my past report on this race click here.

Scolinos’s campaign needed to get get going in order to win this race. A successful lawyer and bisinessman, it looks like he liked making money instead of running for Assembly. (BTW nothing wrong with that)

This changes the dynamic in the raceinthree ways.

This self funding conservative dropping his bid should help front runner Anthony Adams. Clearly Anthony Adams looks like the most conservative candidate.

But in this district geography is an issue. You have the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County and the High Desert in San Bernardino County and a forest in between. Scolinos and the other two major candidates hail from the San Gabriel… Read More

Why do I see her as one of the dumbest people on the planet, and yet Bay Area leftists love her? MDM

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had this to say yesterday about the Republican budget resolution:

“Mr. Speaker, as we leave for this Christmas recess, let us say, ‘God bless you’ to the American people by voting against this Republican budget and statement of injustice and immorality, and let us not let the special interest goose get fat at the expense of America’s children.

“The gentleman from Washington [state], Mr. McDermott, quoted the prophet Isaiah. And as the bible [sic] teaches us, to minister to the needs of God’s creation is an act of worship, to ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us. Let us vote no on this budget as an act of worship and for America’s children.”

When a conservative politician cites the Bible in support of his views on, say, abortion or homosexuality, people like Pelosi get their backs up about the mingling of church and state. We guess Pelosi’s defense here is that she’s insincere, as evidenced by the referece in her press… Read More

The published story this morning is that Escondido Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler is out, and Rancho Santa Fe businessman (read: has money) Ken King is in the race to succeed Duke Cunningham.

The unpublished story, found only here on my blogbarry, is that recently retired NFL cornerback and aide to Congressman Duncan Hunter is just days away from jumping into the mix.

The nine-year veteran of the Redskins, Chargers and Broncos has apparently been thinking about his next career for some time. The following was posted last year on ESPN.com:

August 13, 2004 – Broncos cornerback has his eye on politics in his next career: Scott Turner might someday trade in his helmet and pads for a suit and tie, and start passing laws instead of knocking down passes. Turner, 32, an eight-year veteran, worked as an intern in the San Diego office of U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.… Read More