The IHSS program has seen disproportionate growth over the past several years, and IHSS costs have grown nearly twice as fast as inflation and population growth.

With this remarkable growth has come a growing element of fraud, estimated to be as high as 25% of all funds expended. The Governor is seeking simple reforms to help rein in growing fraud in this worthy program. They are:

These are simple steps that ought to be easy to support to ensure scarce funds go farther.

The chart below shows the incredible growth in the IHSS program. Yet another example of a program with rapid growth, runaway fraud, deserving of additional scrutiny to ensure more funds are available to the truly needy. For 2009-10, the chart reflects what expenditures would be without the Governor’s proposed reductions. … Read More

Anyone reading the Flashreport knows that these are not average times for California. This great state of my birth is collapsing around us, and we need exceptional leadership during these exceptional times. I believe Meg Whitman best fits that bill for 3 reasons:

1) We don’t just need a governor, we need a game changer. Meg has the potential to truly change the political landscape in California. She brings a strong background from eBay, and her capabilities, determination, and character, are exactly what we need. Technical changes, tinkering around the edges or working within the system will not get it done. The next governor must command the stature to lead us to a new place and I believe Meg Whitman can do that.

2) She is not afraid to take an unpopular position in which she believes and then stand firmly by it. Clearly, governance by polling has not worked for this state. We have seen Meg Whitman take a principled stand on Prop. 8, in the face of opposition from her core constituencies in the Bay Area internet community. She will lead… Read More

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has launched a statewide radio buy blasting Democrats for wanting to raise taxes. Echoing the theme of Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, Jon Coupal, HJTA’s President blasts Democrats for wanting to raise taxes to finance highly paid union workers — "They say more money is required to help the needy, but what they really want is more money for government employees."

You can listen to the ad right here.… Read More

For those who weren’t watching the CalChannel for last night’s Assembly Session (where the Democrats pushed through billions in illegal majority-vote taxes), which we hope is most of you, you certainly will not want to have missed the best floor speech of the night — a two minute oration from Assemblywoman Audra Strickland. Her remarks incensed the Democrats causing many of them to take to their microphones in protest… Audra’s speech really highlighted how these Democrats have made a priority of growing state government itself, doing no favors for those at-risk people who would benefit from a less costly way of delivering services. Good job, Audra! (h/t to Eric with killmedia.tv for the footage) … Read More

Cap and Tax Bill: I write you this to you after one of the biggest votes of my Congressional career. I’m sure you have already heard a lot about this bill that passed by a vote of 219-212 on Friday evening. It is known by a variety of titles, but most commonly as ‘cap and trade,’ ‘cap and tax,’ or ‘the national energy tax.’ I won’t repeat a lot of what you already know. But suffice it to say, this bill will be a disaster for our economy, which is already in huge trouble.

The bill is so bad that it took a full court press from the President, the Speaker, and just about everybody who works in the West Wing to cajole the votes necessary with threats and treats. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) was even brought out of rehab where he is undergoing treatment for substance abuse for this vote, and rumors abound that some members were promised 9 figures of pork for their districts if they voted for the bill.

Why is it so bad? According to MIT, it will result in an energy tax that will, on average, cost American families about $3,000 per year! In addition, according to the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis… Read More

UPDATED: Governor Schwarzenegger just put out this statement… "I will veto any majority vote tax increase bill that punishes taxpayers for Sacramento’s failure to live within its means," the governor said in a prepared statement. "The Legislature will have a difficult time explaining to Californians why they are running floor drills the day before our budget deadline. We do not have time for any more floor drills or partial solutions. It’s time for the Legislature to send me a budget that solves our entire deficit without raising taxes." ORIGINAL POST:

Last night watching the CalChannel on my laptop was like watching an episode of the Twilight Zone where in some horrible, alternative California, it deosn’t take a 2/3 vote of the legislature to enact tax increases. By a majority… Read More

Normally, half a loaf is better than none, but under the Capitol dome that kind of logic does not always work. Over the last few days the Democrats have offered a solution to the short-term cash flow crisis but not to the on-going problem of overspending. The Republicans are split, with some advocating the partial solution then returning to the issue of a long-term fix while others argue that the problem is so acute that we do not have the luxury of time to address the problem incrementally. Earlier I was on the side of those suggesting that we agree on what is offered and come back for more debate on the rest of the problem.

However, Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter), who is Majority Leader, brought me up short. During the debate on Friday about the short-term measures, he argued eloquently that preventing the state from issuing IOU warrants was the most important item before the Legislature, and since everyone agreed that the proposed bills would cut spending enough to cover the cash gap, they should be adopted now. Then he shocked me with way too much disclosure of the Democrat strategy by saying that the structural deficit and the imbalance of the current… Read More

Note: Thanks to a phone call from Senator Bob Dutton, I stand corrected on my initial posting of this item which claimed the entire San Bernardino County legislative delegation supported raiding local gas tax (road maintenance and repair) dollars.Actually, it was the entire ASSEMBLY delegation from San Bernardino County that voted that way.Only one Senator, Gloria Negrete-McLeod (D-San Bernardino), voted for it. My apologies to Senators Dutton, Runner, Ashburn and Huff.

As of Friday, the state’s attempt to raid the local gasoline tax money cities and counties use for street and road maintenance and repairswas continuing.That’s $288 million in Prop. 42 "deferments", withan outrighttaking of $1.7 billion in HUTA local-share gas tax still on the table.

Let’s review what this would mean if it gains final approval:We would give up our local streets and roads maintenance so they can pay off some state bond debt, prop-up the state’s cash flow and credit ratings, and… Read More