Doesn’t the "I threaten to veto all bills unless" approach get a little old, especially if after the stated threat, one always comes up with a few "except that one" bills that are "too important" to have been lumped in with the rest of the lot?

Just a question.

If, in fact, we could really count on a veto of all pending bills, including the twenty or so terrible ones that Jon Fleischman has been tracking on these pages, perhaps we should actually support a no deal on water for the time being.

Just a thought.… Read More

When I met both Chris Norby and Dick Ackerman, both were serving on the Fullerton City Council. It was entertaining, to say the least, to watch the two of them duke it out in a special election for the Assembly back in the early 90’s.

Given that both the Ackermans and Norby have long histories of involvement in the city, I think it is at notable that Linda Ackerman’s campaign is rolling out endorsements from five of Fullerton’s current and former civic leaders… Current Fullerton Mayor Don Bankhead and current Councilman Dick Jones…as former Mayors Buck Catlin, Jerry Christie and Linda Le Quire (the latter of whom I enjoyed working with immensely during our time working together in the office of Congressman Ed Royce back in the day).… Read More

When was the last time you read that a President appointed a "devout" Jew or a "devout" Christian to any government post?

… Read More

I think it is fairly safe to say that San Francisco Assemblyman, liberal Democrat Tom Ammiano and former California Republican Party Chairman Mike Schroeder of Orange County, who is heading up the recall of Anthony Adams for breaking his pledge not to raise taxes, have virtually nothing in common.

That said, they do share one proclivity with each other — walking out on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A couple of years ago, when Schwarzenegger came to the State GOP Convention and gave his infamous "you are losing at the box office and need to be more like the Democrats" lecture, Schroeder got up at the beginning of Arnold’s remarks and left.

Capitol Weekly reports today that Governor Schwarzenegger made an… Read More

This morning over at the Capitol Weekly, they have a short item where they list those legislators who have authored the most bills that currently are sitting on Governor Schwarzenegger’s desk, awaiting either his signature, his veto, or his non-action (which would result in them becoming law).

Sixteen legislators together have 210 bills out of the 700 or so on the Governor’s desk.

FlashReport readers are welcome to take a guess here — how many of those sixteen legislators are Republican?

If you answered ZERO you would be correct.

We once again express our hope that the Governor will just veto all of the bills on his desk. Sure, there are a few bills that are okay, but by and large California would be better off if the entire final product of this legislature session was torpedoed.

We support nuking the package based on the substance of the bills themselves. But we are okay if he votoes them for the very fair reason that he doesn’t have time to review them while he is busy trying to get Capitol Democrats to agree to a reasonable water solution for the state — one that gets water to people and businesses to solve… Read More

The debate increases daily over whether government agencies at all levels can continue to provide generous defined benefit pension plans to their employees. More and more local elected officials are beginning to face the reality that these plans are simply financially unsustainable, while in many cases — sadly — also trying to figure out how to vote for fiscal integrity without upsetting labor groups.

There’s nothing that drives the debate moreso than facts. The San Diego County Taxpayers Association has issued what clearly stands as a significant 52-page report on the impacts of pension systems in the region, a first ever analysis of 17 city governments in San Diego County that participate in the California Public Employee Retirement System.

The report draws a conclusion. Increased taxes are the direct result of high pension costs in some cities.

The media embargo was lifted on the report at 10 p.m. tonight. It’s 10 p.m. at the FlashReport. So, here is the press release, with the report attached below.

City Pension Costs Linked to Higher… Read More

For those online tonight (or catching up tomorrow), I am about to “live twitter” the California Republican Assembly's candidate debate in AD 72 — where Linda Ackerman, Chris Norby, and Richard Fahr will have their first public debate. My feed is on twitter at “FlashReport”.… Read More

It would appear, according to the Fresno Bee, that Senate and Assembly Democrats need a reminder that in trying to come to a solution that solves the problem of people in California not having enough water for their personal and business needs, passing a solution through the legislature is only the first part of a two-step process. Any solution, because of the inevitable need to borrow large sums of money, will require voter approval.

So it is with a certain level of cynicism that I read today in the Fresno Bee that Assembly Republicans have identified a staggering $3 billion in what Assemblyman Tom Berryhill refers to as "environmental pork" in the package as proposed.

Or put another way, Democrats apparently (and shamefully) want to use the water crisis as a means to try and get voters to approve billions in borrowing that have nothing to do with actually delivering water to those people and business in need. Unbelievable.

I would remind the legislature that the last time a poorly-devised "plan" was hatched in the Capitol and sent to voters, the… Read More