Our freedom to do things that might otherwise seem unreasonable is as essential to democracy as orderly elections, the cumbersome legislative process, and the awkward but effective republican form of government.

This push-pull is what we’re seeing in recent days as everyday Americans take to the streets, town hall meetings, and as my FR colleague Carl Fogliani reports, even to everyday appearances by elected officials.

If you believe the rhetoric of Democratic party leaders and activists, the behavior exhibited by so many Americans is well, "un-American." But if you believe that representative government is by design perhaps ugly, awkward and confrontational, then what you are seeing is something greater: the real deal–it is uniquely American.

By now we’ve all seen the video of Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee answering, and conducting, a phone call essentially interrupting a constituent who asks a direct, albeit assertive, question. Then there is the videos of counteless other members of congress being confronted by angry constituents–such as that of the "dean" of the House, Rep. John Dingell facing the… Read More

Before going on Sean Hannity’s "Great American Panel" on Fox News a few weeks ago, I was waiting in the "green room" before the live broadcast. While waiting to go on set, I had the privilege of meeting Daniel Hannan, a British Member of the European Parliament who had just finished a TV interview himself. For those of you who don’t know, this is not a Member of the traditional British Parliament. Countries that are part of the European Union (EU) are able to send delegates to the European Parliament in Brussells, Belgium, where the 27 member countries decide what the EU will do and not do.

Anyway, he asked about President Obama’s socialized medicine plan and what might become of it. After we discussed that for a minute, he gave me a few facts about the socialized medicine plan in Britain, known as the National Health Service:… Read More

Jon’s commentary today featured the new coalition of small businesses that have formed to combat the ridiculous and dangerous energy policies being imposed upon Californians by the California Energy Commission. The coalition, Californians for Smart Energy, held a press conference in Sacramento today to discuss how the CEC’s latest limits on our energy consumption are further hurting our economy. The press conference mostly covered a lot of the details Jon mentioned in his commentary: the new limits on TV electricity usage would essentially ban big screen TVs in our state. Looks like Super Bowl Sunday will become a major travel day in California as citizens visit friends or family in other states who are allowed to have their big screen.

During… Read More

Last night, Congressman Dennis Cardoza was scheduled to address a meeting of the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau. After a local radio show mentioned this fact, Cardoza cancelled his appearance which led to a cancellation of the meeting. While Democrats in safe districts host town halls, it’s obvious the folks representing vulnerable districts are under strict orders from their handlers to hide.

Cardoza likes to tout that he is a bluedog. I propose that Cardoza resign from the bluedogs and start his own group of Congressmen who are currently in hiding. He could call it the "bluechickens." His first member could be fellow Democrat Congressman Jerry McNerney, who has completely disappeared from the district after he cast a YES vote for the government takeover of our healthcare system.

Under pressure, his spokewoman said he is conducting a "tele-townhall" this evening when pressed by the Tracy Press as to why he wasn’t having townhalls. She even called it part of his listening tour…AFTER HE HAS VOTED FOR THE BILL! I’m sure that will be a tough one. We all know that tele-townhalls have a screening mechanism… Read More

Californians should be skeptical when their legislators ask them to make great sacrifices for dubious reasons. Sure, there are times when citizens need to be mobilized to make do with less for the greater good – World War II era rationing comes to mind. But the type of collective sacrifice now fashionable among liberal politicians based on scientifically “proven” global warming research certainly deserves our skepticism, and not just because the world has been experiencing record cool temperatures.

The liberal-dominated Legislature has fully accepted the apocalyptic calls from radical environmental special interest groups and forced California to unilaterally reduce so-called greenhouse gases when it passed Assembly Bill 32 (the Global Warming act) back in 2006. Unfortunately, Californians are now stuck footing the bill. The effects of this policy monstrosity, once it is fully implemented, will be felt by every resident.

A recent study from Sacramento State University estimates that California small business will pay nearly $50,000 more in costs due to AB 32. Naturally, these costs will be passed on to the consumers. Indeed, after full implementation, AB… Read More

Like it or not, there is something distinctly, even "raw"-ly capitalistic about shopping at Whole Foods. If you believe my friends in the ag business, it’s darned hard to prove that organic food has any better nutritional value than conventionally-grown products. But that doesn’t stop Whole Foods from making money in a sector long thought to operate on razor thin margins with very little consumer loyality. And today I learn that the company’s CEO is really a living, breathing capitalist.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods penned an op ed column in today’s Wall Street Journal. To wit, on health care reform proposals:

"While we clearly need health care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health care system."

"While all of us empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have more of an intrinsic right to health care… Read More

UPDATE:

This just in from ProtectMarriage.com – a statement from Ron Prentice:

Original Post (1130am): Just a few minutes ago, the folks over at Equality California, the umbrella group… Read More

FlashReport readers will recall that I recently bestowed the “honor” of our Golden Trashcan Award to policy being put forward by the California Energy Commission (CEC) to ban big screen televisions in the name of Orwellian efforts to reduce energy consumption by – you!

Since I wrote that commentary, I noted that a new coalition has formed to fight this lame-brained idea, and others like it – Californians for Smart Energy. Today members of this coalition held a news conference outside of the CEC’s offices to oppose the big screen ban, and it arbitrary energy limits on televisions.

That’s right, a bunch of unaccountable, unelected bureaucrats now want to control what TVs we can or cannot buy here in the “Golden State.”

Californians for Smart Energy is a… Read More