[Publisher’s Note – We are pleased to offer this column from Ed Ring, Executive Director of the California Public Policy Center. He is one of the state’s leading experts on public employee and public employee union finance issues – Flash]

Last week UnionWatch reported on new efforts underway in the northwest to implement right-to-work laws. In particular, we reported on a public sector right-to-work initiative proposed for the November 2014 Oregon state ballot, “Oregon ‘Public Employee Choice Act’ Aims for 2014 Ballot.” These efforts will trigger a union funded backlash that will intensify in direct proportion to the probability these reforms may have to be successful. What happened on Sept. 4th in Vancouver, Washington is a sobering, and mild, reminder to reformers of what they are in for if they ever gain real momentum with voters. Click on the links, especially the video.

From the Macinack Center website: Two people were arrested Thursday night as part of an anti-worker… Read More

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[Publisher’s Note: Doug Lasken is a long time friend of the FlashReport. From time to time we publish some of his thoughts for our readers. Enjoy! – Flash]

I started political life asking what a Democrat is. My parents were lifelong liberal Democrats, but during the Nixon administration I came of age and broke politically from them. It was the spectacle of Nixon’s travails that did it. His career was one of the last attempts by blue-collar, religious white America to stand equally beside the ruling class, i.e. the Ivy League and Associates techno-bureaucrats who run the show to this day. Not that I have anything against techno/bureaucrats as such (I love their literary organ, The New Yorker Magazine), but they can be an arrogant bunch, particularly the Democrats. I joined the Republican Party during Watergate, not so much out of sympathy with Nixon as out of disgust with the relentless holier-than-thou pontifications of Democrats.

So Nixon spied on people did he? Look at us today. It’s a Democratic liberal icon who blandly tells us that for the good of the state we must give up all communications… Read More

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[Publisher’s Note: Last weekend the California Young Republican Federation held their organizational convention in Long Beach. We are pleased to feature this original column from that organization’s newly elected State Chairman Nathan Miller – Flash]

Today is September 11th and for many directly affected it’s a day of remembrance and resolve. I looked at the world differently after that day. It renewed my sense of patriotism and duty. More importantly I learned to truly value our unique home. I always identified as a Republican and though I don’t think I realized it at the time, the seeds of political activism were planted into my heart.

Fast forward to the weekend of September 6th and September 7th, hundreds California Young Republican Federation (CYRF) members and guests descended upon the luxury cruise-liner, one time WWII battleship known to us as the Queen Mary, now docked in Long Beach harbor. I couldn’t think of a more fitting location for a convention of young energized activists and professionals dedicated to advancing the causes of… Read More

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This time they’ve gone too far.

Many Californians, and people across the country, were left shaking their heads in disbelief when they learned about the new law the California Legislature enacted mandating that any student be given access to sensitive school facilities like showers, bathrooms and locker rooms reserved for the opposite sex based on a claim that the student “identifies” with the opposite gender. It’s the only law like it ever enacted by a Legislature anywhere in the country.

A new poll conducted by SmithJohnson Research for the Privacy For All Students coalition shows that voters strongly oppose this law and are very likely to flush it if given the opportunity. (Sorry, I couldn’t’ resist.) The poll found that only 35% of voters support the new law, while 51% oppose it.

The encouraging news pointing to voter rejection of the law is despite an obvious attempt by California Attorney General Kamala Harris to bias voters in favor of a vote to approve it. She gave the referendum the title of, “Overturns non-discrimination requirements for school programs and activities.”

It’s certainly encouraging that voters see through… Read More

Clearly Democrats in San Diego are worried about their future. With their leader recently being forced out office amidst a sex scandal that received international attention, Democrats are looking for any avenue whereby they can keep hold of the Mayor’s office. And in their efforts, they have already launched a hateful smear campaign against the Republican they fear most. Their target is former Councilman Carl DeMaio, an openly gay Republican who ran against Bob Filner for Mayor in 2012.

After his unsuccessful campaign in 2012, DeMaio,, an advocate for accountability and transparency in government, continues to provide leadership in San Diego on those issues. But seeing that he could have a large voice on issues of importance to taxpayers, he announced his candidacy for Congress. But now fast-forward to the Bob Filner scandal and resignation. Many pundits had thought Carl… Read More

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“Whatever Labor wants, Labor gets.”

That’s an actual quote from my colleague Senator Leland Yee of San Francisco during a recent labor rally. It sums up what Flash Report readers should expect over the next four days before the Legislature adjourns for the year.

There are approximately 400 bills left – some may be held over until next year, but we’ll be working late this week to consider most of them. Big labor, anti-public safety advocates and trial lawyers are counting on the ruling party to do their bidding this week. Taxpayers, small business owners and working families have the most to lose. Here’s what to keep an eye on, and yes they’re all authored by Democrats:

SB 25 by Senator Steinberg makes it easier for unions to force an employer to adopt a collective bargaining agreement. It’s a “surgical strike” against the agricultural industry. Some farm owners have said this bill could destroy their business, cost thousands of farmworker jobs and force hundreds of California farmers to shut down. The ruling party wants to make it more difficult for agriculture to operate in California, which will drive up the cost of… Read More

We’ve decided to kick off a new feature here on the FlashReport to help our readers get to know the non-incumbent Republican candidates running for Congress around California. Entitled, “Where They Stand,” this periodic feature will allow us to throw a question out credible GOP candidates running in either an open “safe R” seat or seeking to challenge an incumbent Democrat in a competitive district. The question will typically be something up for a vote in Congress, so that these folks can weigh in on the public debate.

We sent the first question to Igor Birman, Elizabeth Emken and Doug Ose in CD 7, Tony Strickland in CD 26, Assemblyman Brian Nestande in CD 36, Pat Maciariello, Supervisor John Moorlach, and State Senator Mimi Walters in CD 45, and Carl DeMaio and Kik Jorgensen in CD 52. All the candidates responded except for Strickland, whose campaign indicated that they would participate in the future.

The first question that we have posed to the candidates, with 300 words or less to answer, was: If you were in Congress now, based on the information you have available to you, would you vote for a resolution… Read More

It’s somewhat ironic, really. The California Coastal Commission (Commission) wants to upend the process for penalizing property owners it says are eroding our coastal resources by – wait for it – eroding due process rights for those same property owners.

For several years the Commission has sought to expand its enforcement authority greatly by allowing it to impose penalties and fines for violations of the Coastal Act instead of having to impose them through the independent judicial process. This year, with Friday’s passage of Assembly Bill 976… Read More