Hearings on President Barack Hussein Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court are now set to begin in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, July 13. A copy of the Committee’s Questionnaire for the hearings and Judge Sotomayor’s answers is attached below.

A quick review of her answers reveals some interesting things. [She has an excellent educational background and many awards, but those are expected of a Supreme Court nominee (with the exception of Harriet Miers, an awful candidate for the Supreme Court originally nominated by George W. Bush, who subsequently "withdrew") and aren’t that interesting for purposes of this blog.]

She was employed by the "Maternity Center Association" in New York City from 1985-86. It is currently named "Childbirth Connection." According to their website, this group serves as "your source for trustworthy up-to-date evidence-based information and resources on planning for pregnancy, labor and birth, and the postpartum period. Founded in 1918, Childbirth Connection is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to… Read More

We recently reported that last week the State Assembly, with an overwhelming bipartisan vote, voted for legislation that would create a new state commission – The California Blueberry Commission. No, we did not make this up.

If you are a supporter of this idea, either as a legislator, blueberry grower, blueberry eater or whatever — please drop me a line with your reasoning (jon@flashreport.org). I am curious to understand your mindset. Thanks!… Read More

The Decline to State voter, California’s version of independents, is in the unique position to influence partisan Primary Elections. In Primary Elections (other than in Republican Presidential Primaries) Decline to State (DTS) voters have the option of choosing a Republican or Democratic Party ballot.

Earlier this year in January our Capitol Weekly/Probolsky Research California poll found that 15% of DTS voters would choose a Republican ballot and 38% would choose a Democratic ballot. January 2009 was probably the low point for the GOP and the height of the Democratic/Obama frenzy. Flash forward to the brink of summer with continued economic woes and enough time for one-party rule to scare some of these unaffiliated voters and the numbers have shifted somewhat, now 19% want to vote in the Republican Primary and 33% in the Democratic Primary.

Conventional wisdom has been that more moderate candidates, especially on the Republican side have a greater chance of attracting DTS voters to weigh-in for them. However… Read More

This just in from Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association President Jon Coupal…

The Decline to State voter, California’s version of independents, is in the unique position to influence partisan Primary Elections. In Primary Elections (other than in Republican Presidential Primaries) Decline to State (DTS) voters have the option of choosing a Republican or Democratic Party ballot.

Earlier this year in January our Capitol Weekly/Probolsky Research California poll found that 15% of DTS voters would choose a Republican ballot and 38% would choose a Democratic ballot. January 2009 was probably the low point for the GOP and the height of the Democratic/Obama frenzy. Flash forward to the brink of summer with continued economic woes and enough time for one-party rule to scare some of these unaffiliated voters and the numbers have shifted somewhat, now 19% want to vote in the Republican Primary and 33% in the Democratic Primary.

Conventional wisdom has been that more moderate candidates, especially on the Republican side have a greater chance of attracting DTS voters to weigh-in for them. However… Read More

All the talk about a Constitutional Convention reminds me of a con game. Whatever your problem, the Con Con will fix it. You want balanced budgets, come to the convention. You want to repeal Prop. 13, come to the convention. You want to redefine marriage, come to the convention. You want to make chocolate without calories, come to the convention.

For example, the California League of Cities, the California School Boards Association and the California Association of Counties have called a governance summit next month that may very well result in their calling for a Constitutional Convention. On the surface of it, I agree with these local elected officials seeking a discussion of how to restore local control. Addressing that issue would get to the crux of much of what has gone wrong with California in recent decades. I even agree with the statement by the LA Times’ George Skelton about the need to: "reconstruct the tangled, unhealthy relationship between the state and local governments."

The city council members, school board trustees and county supervisors are for rolling back state mandates, which the Governor spoke in favor of in his… Read More

Right now all of the special interests are begging Sacramento not to cut their programs – arguing that their programs are essential. This of course is in the wake of a budget outlook in Sacramento that went from bad to worse after the voters disposed of a slate of propositions that included the largest tax increases in U.S. history.

That outcome should be seen as a mandate for change (to the tune of 65% “No” to 35% “Yes”), but some of the majority Democrats in Sacramento are still attempting to add new, highly expensive and long-term programs that would more than break the state’s already stretched budget.

How to pay for this lack of fundamental reform? Well I’m here in San Bernardino as one of 58 counties being targeted by Sacramento lawmakers looking to withhold, cut and/or “borrow” funds in order to dig out of their budget hole.

I’m talking about local government, counties and cities. We are not an optional program or special interest. We are by definition essential institutions, not luxuries that can be done without. Police, fire protection, streets and roads, jails … these are… Read More

With yesterday’s 65th Annivesary of the "D-Day" invasion of Normandy Beach, and President Obama’s visit two daysago to the site of the infamous concentration camp at Buchenwald, comes an outstanding memorial tribute to a father, as well as some compelling additional details.

Tom Cleary, a senior administrator at a San Diego-area University, provided me the following details and personally-penned article. I simply couldn’t pass it up. I don’t prefer to use the term lightly, but it’s a must read.

"With Obama’s visit Friday to Buchenwald and the stories being told about his great uncle," Cleary said, "I felt compelled to try and get the true story of Ohrdruf’s liberation out to anyone who might care about the facts. My late father was the first American officer to liberate the concentration camp at Ohrdruf, the first camp to be liberated by Americans. He was a first lieutenant with the 89th Division Recon Troop. He and his men found the camp and radioed for re-enforcements,… Read More