The whole issue of providing water stations or at least strategically placed water bottles in the desert for illegal border crossers from Mexico is an interesting dichotomy. Some view the effort as akin to abetting an illegal activity, others as simply keeping people from dying from dehydration in the hot and rough terrain north of the border.

Realistically, it’s a bit of both.

Many are more focused on what they view as the compassion side of the question than they are the unlawful activity. Former Congressman Duncan L. Hunter, he and his family certainly not known for a stance in support of open borders, even has a brother involved in providing water for border crossers. John Hunter is often quoted in news stories on the issue.

Similar to debates over needle exchange programs — philosophically, at least — it’s no different than apologizing for any illegal activity within the context of "settling" for what many believe will take place anyway, like it or not. The message seems to be clear:People will break the law in a particular arena, so as long as they will be doing so, they might as well not die in the… Read More

Dr. John Eastman is one of the preeminent legal minds and constitutional law experts of our time.

He currently serves as the Dean of the Chapman University College of Law (were he has been lauded for his job performance), but his curriculum vitae is much deeper than that. Dr. Eastman served as Director for the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, which is affiliated with the Claremont Institute.

Eastman is a national leader within the Federalist Society and served as a law clerk with Justice Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court of the United States and with Judge J. Michael Luttig at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Dr. Eastman practiced with the national law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, specializing in major civil and constitutional litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. Dr. Eastman earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, where he graduated with high honors in 1995. Dr. Eastman also has a Ph.D.… Read More

An interesting ballot initiative case from our neighboring state:

A Nevada State court today threw out a proposed ballot initiative which attempted to define a person as someone "possessing a human genome." The initiative–which sought to define the beginning of life–was challenged by Planned Parenthood. The judge said that the initiative was too vague. Supporters responded that although the language was intentially broad, it was not vague. You can read the SF Gate article on the decision here.… Read More

STATEMENT FROM SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER DENNIS HOLLINGSWORTH Senate Republicans are glad to see Governor Schwarzenegger’s commitment to not raise taxes again and his focus on job creation and beginning the process of eliminating job killing regulations,” said Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth. “While this budget involves tough choices, that’s no different than the tough choices every California family has to make in these difficult economic times. Controlling spending and not raising taxes have to be our top priorities in order to get California back on the right track- this budget is a good start. STATEMENT FROM ASSEMBLY BUDGET VICE-CHAIRMAN JIM NIELSEN The Governor’s budget proposal is an important starting point for what will be a year of very difficult… Read More

[Cross-posted from RedCounty.com]

TheLiberalOC.com reports that Democratic businessman Phu Nguyen is getting into the 68th Assembly District race:

We recieved the following press announcement that may very well shake up the 68th Assembly District contest this year.

Successful small business owner Phu Nguyen announces bid for 68th Assembly District

You can read the rest of the entry here.… Read More

Looking at it broadly, I think that the budget proposed by the Governor starts off the negotiating process from the right spot — which is with the premise that California taxpayers should not be punitively taxed to make up the budget shortfall. There are a lot of innovative solutions being proposed which is critical given the funding shortfall. This proposal recognizes that that the long term health of state government depends on an economic recovery.

With concern for the taxpayer being the top priority, there are concerns about the return of the tax on homeowners insurance, counting on new revenue from red light cameras, and the myriad of proposed "revenue increases" that appear on a list to potentially implement if the federal government does not kick in requested funds to balance the budget.

It is my hope that GOP lawmakers make it clear pretty quickly that the Governor is right when he says we need to live within our means, and that new taxes and fees (aka: "revenue increases") are not on the table, period.… Read More

Ron Nehring, Chairman of the California Republican Party, has just sent us his thoughts on the new proposed budget. We’ve formatted it as a column which you can read by clicking here.… Read More

The Governor just introduced his 2010-2011 proposed State Budget. It’s big and fat and filled with a ton of details. If you are THAT FlashReport reader, thanks to Capitol Weekly a nearly-200 page document with a lot of details are available online here.

Linked below this post are three helpful documents. The first one is a succinct three-pager from the Governor’s office for the more "normal" non-wonkish types to get sense of the budget proposal. Also is a list of money that Governor wants from the federal government, arguing that our state pays more into the U.S. Treasury than we get back. Finally the Governor’s office created a one-pager concerning proposed education reforms.

Again, there is a LOT to digest here. Look for those controversial components of the proposal to get more attention here on the FlashReport and elsewhere.… Read More