Famed politico and senior level Whitman for Governor consultant Mike Murphy fired a shot across the bow of the S.S. Poizner, in response to the accusations leveled by Poizner this morning (see the blog post below this one). Murphy’s statement: "After reading the ridiculous charges made by Steve Poizner during today’s strange press conference, all I can say is that I’m starting to worry about Commissioner’s mental condition. It is true that I have been trying to find a way to avoid a costly and unnecessary Republican primary. I believe it is important that Republicans across California unite around Meg Whitman to defeat Jerry Brown in the fall. It is also true that I am not the only one with this view. Many Republican leaders are more and more concerned that the Poizner campaign, now 28+ points behind in the… Read More

I just got off of the phone listening in on a press conference called by gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner. I was going to try and write up the issues he raised in the event, when I got a press release from Poizner’s campaign. I don’t do this often, but for the sake of getting information out quickly, I will reprint the release below… Interestingly, Poizner files a complaint with, among others, Attorney General Jerry Brown, the likely Democrat nominee for Governor.

Whitman campaign’s threats and intimidation cross the line; FBI, U.S. Attorney, and AG Brown are notified of the Whitman campaign’s attempts to cancel the election. Republican candidate for governor Steve Poizner today revealed intimidation tactics from Meg Whitman in which her top political advisor threatened to spend… Read More

[As you read this, please note that the Hillary Clinton Campaign has acknowledged to Chief Justice George’s attorney that he appears on their campaign reports in error. So my story was based on inaccurate information on the FEC website, and my accusation was, as it turns out, unfounded. See more here – Flash] Back in 1977, when I was ten years old, you were "cool" if you were listening to an awesome new song by The Eagles — Hotel California. You were "un-cool" if you were "jive dancing" to Andy Gibb. Star Wars debuted that year, and Elvis Presley moved on to Graceland in the sky. Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown was Governor of California, and that was the year that he… Read More

I just got off of the phone listening in on a press conference called by gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner. I was going to try and write up the issues he raised in the event, when I got a press release from Poizner’s campaign. I don’t do this often, but for the sake of getting information out quickly, I will reprint the release below… Interestingly, Poizner files a complaint with, among others, Attorney General Jerry Brown, the likely Democrat nominee for Governor.

Whitman campaign’s threats and intimidation cross the line; FBI, U.S. Attorney, and AG Brown are notified of the Whitman campaign’s attempts to cancel the election. Republican candidate for governor Steve Poizner today revealed intimidation tactics from Meg Whitman in which her top political advisor threatened to spend… Read More

Today Meg Whitman’s campaign announced that their latest radio commercials feature a commentary from former California Governor Pete Wilson.

You can hear the ad by clicking on the YouTube spot below (conveniently provided by the Whitman campaign)…

The Whitman campaign says this is their eighth radio spot…

… Read More

As far as the “jobs, jobs, jobs” mantra, we can spend with borrowed money, which is not popular with voters, or we can look at what is right in front of our noses. To stop the hemorrhaging of jobs, the obvious thing for government to do is lower the cost of labor by cutting back on payroll taxes paid by employers and workers.

I plugged in data for an imaginary California worker making $45,000 a year who is single with no deductions and here is how it breaks out:

Gross pay (per month): $3,750 Federal income tax: $543 FICA (social security): $232.50 Medicare: $54.38

So already out of a gross pay of $3,750, this hypothetical Californian has over $829 taken out by the federal government before he gets a dime. But we need to add California’s payroll taxes.

California has four State payroll taxes which are administered by the Employment Development Department (EDD). They are Unemployment Insurance and Employment Training Tax, which are employer contributions, and State Disability Insurance (SDI) and Personal Income Tax… Read More

The Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District’s governing board this past Monday decided to send a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature requesting the suspension and/or repeal of AB32, the "Global Warming Solutions Act." This action was prompted by imminently conflicting federal and state regulations and the simple bad economic timing of implementing such a law now or in the near future. (Continued below.) AB32 calls for California to cut its "greenhouse gas" emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 – a reduction of 30 percent – followed by an 80-percent reduction from 1990 levels by 2050.

The Mojave Desert AQMD, as an agency charged with and committed to improving air quality, raised some eyebrows as a result of the announcement of its soon-to-be-issued request, including those of KFI’s John and Ken, who interviewed me as a member of the district board on Thursday. (You can listen to the interview by clicking here.)

During the… Read More

(For the purposes of this posting, I am now the Flashreport Middle East Correspondent)

Just before last Christmas my local Rabbi, Isaac Jeret, invited California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring and me to visit Israel, as guest of the Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces. Only 4 days on the ground going to places few can visit, we jumped at the chance.

I’ve never been to Israel. Until 9-11, I was agnostic between the struggles of Arab countries and the state of Israel. Never a friend of too-generous “foreign” aid, I had a laissez faire attitude. After the brutal realization, that for over a hundred years brewed a massive resurgence of extremist Islam that threatens western civilization, I reconsidered and now believe Israel is a vital link in our war against Islamic Terror.

We visited the HQ of the Southern Frontier along the Gaza front. We met with the general in charge at the Re’im Base. We witnesses instruction to IDF soldiers how they are taught to minimize civilian injuries. IDF soldiers risk or suffer casualties, by… Read More