Does the average California Democratic Party leader understand the philosophical underpinnings of personal property rights under the U.S. Constitution or do they just reflexively opt for the policy that creates more government power? I want to know. I do know one Democratic party leader in south Orange County that is a liberal, but seems to me to understand that the basic economic model of the Constitution is worth preserving. But that’s the only example I can point too. Is she the exception that proves the rule?

Reading today’s Santa Barbara News Press, I note that "Daraka Larimore-Hall," the Santa Barbara Democrat party "chair," (this inspires so many more questions I have about Democrat party leaders, especially the women. Why do they have so many unusual names like "Daraka" and "Kamala," in comparison to Republican leaders? How come the Orange County GOP "chair" isn’t named something like "Tomas Fuentes-Billingsly?") said yesterday that the Democrats are "ready to hit the ground" in the… Read More

Well, the progressive liberals that dominate main stream media newspaper editorial boards are at it again. This time we see it is the sage and wise lefties on the Sacramento Bee Editorial Board who are telling us that Tom Campbell is the best GOP pick for the U.S. Senate. You know what I say to these fine folks on the SacBee Ed Board who in 2008 levied their endorsement of Barack Obama for President of the United States? Butt out!

This "quaint tradition" of these lefty progressives on editorial boards for newspapers weighing into Republican primaries with their pronouncements of who Republicans should pick is a joke — and a dubious practice. Why should readers trust the motives of an editorial board’s pick in a GOP primary when their ultimate goal is to see the GOP put up a candidate that will lose to the Democrat in November?

I have known Tom Campbell for a long, long time. Sure, I may not agree with him on all of the issues — and he certainly doesn’t agree with me. But he is in a dialogue with Republicans about why he… Read More

Well, the progressive liberals that dominate main stream media newspaper editorial boards are at it again. This time we see it is the sage and wise lefties on the Sacramento Bee Editorial Board who are telling us that Tom Campbell is the best GOP pick for the U.S. Senate. You know what I say to these fine folks on the SacBee Ed Board who in 2008 levied their endorsement of Barack Obama for President of the United States? Butt out!

This "quaint tradition" of these lefty progressives on editorial boards for newspapers weighing into Republican primaries with their pronouncements of who Republicans should pick is a joke — and a dubious practice. Why should readers trust the motives of an editorial board’s pick in a GOP primary when their ultimate goal is to see the GOP put up a candidate that will lose to the Democrat in November?

I have known Tom Campbell for a long, long time. Sure, I may not agree with him on all of the issues — and he certainly doesn’t agree with me. But he is in a dialogue with Republicans about why he… Read More

Two potential death penalty cases have been in the news lately. One involves the murder of Chelsea King earlier this year in San Diego by John Gardner. That has earned world wide media attention. The other involved the murder of Yolo County Deputy Sheriff Tony Diaz by gang member Marco Antonio Topete in June 2008. It is the big news around the Sacramento region.

The father of Chelsea King made a difficult but wise decision by supporting a plea bargain that will mean that Gardner dies in prison. This saves the taxpayers millions of dollars in the initial case and the appeals. This case would have been a media circus and cost San Diego County a fortune. It also will bring some closure to a community that has had to deal with the horror of this crime.

The problem is one that was identified when Chelsea’s father Brent said, "While our unequivocal first choice is the death penalty, we acknowledge that in California that penalty has become an empty promise." He is so right. The most likely cause of death on California death row in old age.

So here in… Read More

Congressman George Radanovich minces no words in his criticism of his former colleague, Richard Pombo, in a hard-hitting column submitted to us here at the FlashReport…

It begins… Those who work with me know that I rarely resort to public exchanges with other members of Congress and reserve that right only when I feel all other reasonable approaches have been exhausted. It is for this reason that I am writing in response to recent columns about former Rep. Richard Pombo, who is a candidate for the 19th Congressional seat that I now hold, and statements made by Rep. Devin Nunes. After nearly 16 years representing our district, I announced late last year that I would not seek reelection so I could spend… Read More

This past Thursday, the Modesto Bee ran an article about Steven Edwards, a parolee and convicted sex offender accused of stalking a young girl. Thanks to his GPS monitoring device, it was easy to prove Edwards had been within 500 meters of the victim’s home and school.

The story clearly illustrates why the safeguards provided by Jessica’s Law, such as requiring GPS monitoring devices and not allowing sex offenders to live closer than 2,000 feet of a school, are so important. In the article, Prosecutor Annette Rees hits the nail on the head when she says, "Here is a case where the mandatory GPS tracking of sex offenders literally prevented further victimization and helped up put away a very scary individual."

Along these same lines, I recently introduced a piece of legislation, SB 1452, that would give local law enforcement the power to require non-revocable parolees to wear GPS devices while they are on parole.

The kind of technology provided through GPS can be a very effective tool in the hands of law enforcement. In this case, I am thankful… Read More

The Tax Man Cometh: I am sure most of you loyal readers of this missive do not need a reminder, butyesterdaywas April 15, and you know what that means…Tax Day. If you think your taxes are bad now…you need to take a look at the lists below.

Tax Increases Enacted since January 2009

This list, totaling more than $670 billion in tax increases includes the Health Care Bill, SCHIP, the Stimulus Package, and several other pieces of legislation which have been signed into law by President Obama.

Pending Tax Increases if Congress Takes no Action

2010:

Every night at midnight I get an e-mail from Scott Lay at ElectionTrack.com. Many of you may know Scott from around the Capitol or from the Community College circuit.

If you are interests in politics his daily e-mail at midnight will give you an idea of how money in moving around the state. Personally, I look at it every night before I go to bed.

The e-mail which is free — tells you all the contribution required to be reported in the 24 hour reporting cycle. You can sign up at www.electiontrack.com

The other night I was looking at my e-mall on my blackberry as I was walking upstairs and noticed that Forest City Residential was nice enough to give Jerry Brown $10,000. That was similar enough to the name of Forest City Residential West that is the company name for Kevin Ratner that serves on the Board of Directors of the California State Chamber of Commerce. He is one of the four people that signed the letter regarding pulling the ad off the air that was critical of the Attorney General.

What was great is that when I went to the Board of Directors for Forest City I found that seven of them… Read More