As the administration of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger comes to a close, this a is a great opportunity for me to express my appreciation and admiration for two hard working Republicans in his administration with whom I have worked fairly closely the last few years — Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director Matt David and Press Secretary Aaron McClear.

I first met Matt when he was working on Governor Schwarzenegger’s re-election campaign in 2006. Brought in as a part of then campaign manager Steve Schmidt’s team, working as Deputy Communications Director, Matt really drove a lot of the messaging on Democrat Phil Angelides. In that capacity, he and I worked together a lot. Matt did some time on the McCain for President campaign and for Freedom’s Watch, before returning to take his current position as Communications Director.

Personally I can’t imagine anything more challenging than trying to coordinate messaging for a Governor who is a… Read More

Earlier tonight I had a lengthy conversation with Beth Gaines. Beth’s husband Ted is currently a member of the California State Assembly and is the Republican nominee for State Senate in a special election to take place next Tuesday. The Senate District, formerly held by Senator Dave Cox who unfortunately passed away after a long bout with cancer, is considered a "safe" GOP seat.

Beth and I talked about Ted’s campaign — she and Ted feel very good about the election, on which they are both working hard, taking nothing for granted. (Ted and Beth are pictured to the right.) Then our conversation turned to the pending vacancy in the 4th district where it was rumored that Beth has been contemplating a run (h/t to Linda Hunter at… Read More

Last week I blogged about the Governor’s ability to fill a lucrative vacancy on the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (CUIAB). Actually, I spoke too quickly. Apparently there are several vacancies on this commission that is made up in its entirety by former, now termed-out legislators. The position pays a cool $130,000 or so a year and comes with Cadillac benefits. You can read more about the CUIAB and who is currently on it by checking out my previous post.

The FlashReport has learned that Ex-State Senator Roy Ashburn ("R" – Bakersfield), who notoriously disregarded the no-new-taxes pledge he signed when running for office, and who was the deciding vote last year for massive increases in the income, sales and car tax — has been secretly appointed to fill a vacancy on the CUAIB (secret in that he was appointed but there has been no public release of that… Read More

THE GOLDEN PEN: JON COUPAL, HOWARD JARVIS TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION Exclusive Debut: OOPS AND OPM: THE TRAGEDY OF HIGH SPEED RAIL

BONUS OPINION COLUMN Some Advice For New Legislators — OCRegister (Jon Coupal, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association & Jon Fleischman, FlashReport)

SOME LINKS: Arnold’s Budget Legacy: The Problem Persists – … Read More

Here are some news links from yesterday and today. Preceded, of course, by a Golden Pen selection (and in this case, a bonus column as well)… THE GOLDEN PEN: PROFESSOR STEVEN HORWITZ CONSUMERISM IS KEYNESIANISM – Foundation for Economic Education This relatively short, thoughtful column from Steven Horwitz is an excellent reminder that those who support free market solutions should be focused on getting government out of the way the private sector creating an environment for production. It has been an egregious and fallacious focus by those in government on spurring consumption that is making our situation worse. A brief excerpt:… Read More

A few links from stories that ran today, Christmas Day…

THE GOLDEN PEN: PAUL JACOBS Productive Politicians Ignore Voters… Townhall

More links…

Earlier this week, the California Court of Appeals for the 4th District, which sits in Orange County, issued a decision which threw out the long standing criminal charges against former Capistrano Unified School District superintendent James Fleming, whose criminal trial was pending, for using taxpayer funds to set up an “enemies list” of district residents unhappy with his policies, and to help incumbent trustees ward off a recall attempt. Justice Dave Sills, a Republican by the way, ruled that maintaining such a list, and Fleming’s help for the incumbents, was just part of the job. As a potential witness in the case who was on the list because of my Public Records Act requests and assistance to the original Capo recall team, I was very disappointed in Justice Sills opinion, not just because I was on the list, but mostly because now the lawyers who make hundreds of millions annually off of advising California’s out of control school systems will be advising incumbent trustees and superintendents all across the state that it’s OK to use our tax dollars to fulfill political agendas rather that spend it in the classroom. I note that Richard… Read More

As time permits (which it did today) a few highlights…

THE GOLDEN PEN: KATY GRIMES San Francisco’s Fiona Ma wants to ban parties in public buildings, and regulate how you can have them on your property… Cal Watchdog’s Katy Grimes pens today’s Golden Pen on the subject… CalWatchDog

More links…