Health Care Update: As you have probably heard, the Senate Finance Committee last week rejected attempts to put the government-run "option" in the Senate health care bill by a vote of 15-8. What you probably did not hear was that only about an hour later, Speaker Pelosi held a press conference and stated that the House version that she intends to bring to the floor would have the government option in it. So what gives? It takes 218 votes to pass a bill in the House. Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) has introduced a health care bill that is a full-blown, complete "single-payer" system with the entire health care system being run by the government and private health made illegal. This bill hasnearly 100 cosponsors – all Democrats. Since Republicans are being excluded from the health care billdesign & negotiations, thereis no Republican thatwill vote for what they have now. That means thatnearly half of all the people who will vote for the Pelosi bill are on … Read More

Last week I had a chance to sit down with Gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman for the better part of an hour. Our interview covered a number of policy areas including global warming/AB32, eminent domain, gun control, abortion, and philosophy about government. Because we had the handy FlashReport digital recorder along, we’ll be able to bring you some direct excerpts from the interview. Because of the location at which we met in Menlo Park on the San Francisco Peninsula, we’ll call these "Excerpts From The Peet’s Coffee Interview" — and here is a segment where we discuss the environment, global warming, and the implementation of AB32, California’s legislation that requires strict reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of all sorts… Enjoy! Flash.… Read More

Last week I had a chance to sit down with Gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman for the better part of an hour. Our interview covered a number of policy areas including global warming/AB32, eminent domain, gun control, abortion, and philosophy about government. Because we had the handy FlashReport digital recorder along, we’ll be able to bring you some direct excerpts from the interview. Because of the location at which we met in Menlo Park on the San Francisco Peninsula, we’ll call these "Excerpts From The Peet’s Coffee Interview" — and here is a segment where we discuss the environment, global warming, and the implementation of AB32, California’s legislation that requires strict reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of all sorts… Enjoy! Flash. … Read More

UPDATE: Longtime FR friend and national talk show host Hugh Hewitt rips the Sacramento Bee a new one in this lengthy blog post on his website. Worth a read for those following this issue (which based on reader feedback would be everyone).

Just off the transom — the Meg Whitman Campaign sent the following letter to Amy Chance of the Sacramento Bee in response to piece on Whitman’s (lack-of) voting record that ran September 24th…

Letter from the Meg Whitman Campaign to The Sacramento Bee … Read More

Testimony of then 14-year-old female victim against alleged 49-year-old perpetrator:

– She said he plied her with alcohol and drugs to lower her resistance.

– "After that, he proceeded to rape me.”

– “Anything I showed resistance or hesitation to, he would say, ‘…you have to experience the lowest form of humanity…’”

– She said he was motivated by sex and used his supposed position to get what he wanted.

Testimony of then 13-year-old female victim against admitted 43-year-old perpetrator:

– She said he plied her with alcohol and drugs.

– She said he then performed oral, vaginal and anal rape on her.

– She told him she wanted to go home. "I was ready to cry. I was going, ‘No. Come on. Stop it.’” – She said that after he found out she was not using birth control, he anally raped her.

It doesn’t really matter which of the two testimonies is from the… Read More

Today, the Wall Street did a story on recent all night sessions of the legislature. While not a new occurrence, there has been an increased frequency of sleep deprived legislators being asked to vote on legislation that few have had a chance to review. It isn’t a good trend. Legislators, their staff, the public, and the press have a right to be involved in the legislative process. Next year, I’ll be introducing legislation to require all bills to be in print and online for 72 hours before they can be voted on. It will include a prevision for a natural disaster or unforeseeable situation that would require quicker action. But in my 11 months in the legislature, I can’t remember a single vote that could not have waited a few hours for the proper sunshine.

Check out this link to read the entire… Read More

Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman and her team have been having to endure what is now over a week of intense scrutiny after an investigative piece published in the Sacramento Bee last week concluded that until just a few years ago there is no sign that Whitman had voted in any elections.

Normally when a candidate is faced with a "bad" story, the tactic of the campaign is to try and "starve it" and wait it out — change the subject. Sometimes, though, stories become big enough that you have to deal with them with a press statement, or at a press conference.

This story apparently has enough legs that Whitman has decided to actually create a professional video message to supporters and potential supporters, confronting it head on…

Check it out below…

… Read More

I’ve been away from a computer since early this morning. Seems appropriate to note that ex-Assemblyman Mike Duvall has jumped out of the frying pan, and it remains to be seen if he falls into the fire.

As Barry Jantz noted below, ace political reporter Carla Marinucci, anxious to let all Republicans who missed her at convention that she is back in town, blogged about GOP candidate Meg Whitman’s having supported Barbara Boxer early on in her 2004 re-election. For my part, reading about Whitman’s check to Boxer was not news — that had been out for a while. But it was the fact that she was visibly out there, with her name on media release put out by the incumbent whacky-left Senator that startled me (see it below).

In reading the Marinucci story, Whitman’s spokesperson says, get this, that her support of Boxer was anti-tax. Nice.

A lot of… Read More