**FR EXCLUSIVE** This just in from Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association…

Right on cue, our Hollywood Governor is trotting out the firefighters and threatening Californians with burning homes unless he gets his way. Voters can absolutely be assured that, next week, he and the California Teachers Association will be threatening public education and school closures.

But these threats – reflecting little more than simple extortion – should not be taken seriously. First, the Governor’s own Director of Finance recently testified that the… Read More

This just in from conservative icon Tom McClintock:

Prop 1A: Extend the Tax Increases. NO. This is the fig leaf that hides certain deficiencies suffered by the legislators who caved into pressure for the biggest tax increase in California’s history. This measure EXTENDS the tax increases for up to two ADDITIONAL years in exchange for a spending limit that doesn’t limit spending. The "spending limit" is laughable – it requires placing "unanticipated revenues" into a special fund that is then to be spent for a variety of additional purposes including education, debt service and health care. And since all funds are interchangeable, this merely allows funds spent for one purpose to be shifted for another. The bottom line: If you were against the tax increase, you’re against Prop. 1A.

Prop… Read More

Over on our favorite hard-left blog, the California Progress Report, they featured an interview with Democrat State Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez.

If readers of the FlashReport didn’t already have enough reason to vote down the ballot measures on the May 19th ballot, look at what Flores sees coming down the pike…

CPR: "What happens on May 20?"

FLORES: "May 20 is really clear to me, it’s an all-cuts budget, period. There’s not one more Republican in that house that is going to vote for a tax increase. We lose twenty billion dollars plus in taxes. May 20 is an all-cuts budget, period. I expect it to be a quick budget because we’re not going to have to convince a Republican to vote for this one because there will not be a tax increase in it. It will be the most painful quick budget in California history.

I… Read More

Assembly Republicans are to be commended for withholding their votes yesterday to ratify a new contract for state workers in SEIU 1000, the largest state public employees union. The Schwarzenegger Administration came to terms with union officials on this deal – but a 30,000 foot view of the contract makes it a head scratcher. This is not a “severe recession” contract that gives the state the kind of flexibility it needs to potentially implement workforce reductions as part of reducing state spending down to a level that reflects plummeting state revenues.

So that FR readers are clear, in order for the State of California to approve a union contract, it must be approved by the State Legislature. So in that regard, the Governor and union negotiators have to “bring back terms” to get approved – the union by its membership, and the state by the legislature.

This contract was negotiated with a hope and expectation on the part of the Governor and union leaders that the May 19 “burrito” package of special election measures, including 1A with its trigger of $16 billion in new taxes, would be passed by the electorate. That outcome is looking… Read More

Assembly Republicans are to be commended for withholding their votes yesterday to ratify a new contract for state workers in SEIU 1000, the largest state public employees union. The Schwarzenegger Administration came to terms with union officials on this deal – but a 30,000 foot view of the contract makes it a head scratcher. This is not a “severe recession” contract that gives the state the kind of flexibility it needs to potentially implement workforce reductions as part of reducing state spending down to a level that reflects plummeting state revenues.

So that FR readers are clear, in order for the State of California to approve a union contract, it must be approved by the State Legislature. So in that regard, the Governor and union negotiators have to “bring back terms” to get approved – the union by its membership, and the state by the legislature.

This contract was negotiated with a hope and expectation on the part of the Governor and union leaders that the May 19 “burrito” package of special election measures, including 1A with its trigger of $16 billion in new taxes, would be passed by the electorate. That outcome is looking… Read More

Peter Hechthas a write up over at the SacBee’s Capitol Alert about the petitions being issued in the recall effort against tax-hiking GOPer Anthony Adams.

I have attached a petition below for your perusal.… Read More

Chrysler: Given my 25 years in the car dealership business, of which most of you are aware, I can’t let this week go by without commenting on last week’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Chrysler Corporation. What the Obama Administration is doing with the American car industry saddens me. No, it actually angers me. In fact, I am fired up big time. It has become abundantly clear that the only objective of the Obama task force is to put control of GM and Chrysler in the hands of the UAW union and wipe out anyone who had invested any capital in either of these companies. What’s more, he is using taxpayer money to subsidize the union’s takeover of these companies. Here are some of my observations on what it going on:

Under the Obama plan; the government, UAW, and government-controlled banks will own 95% of GM. They will own 80% of Chrysler. The existing stockholders get 1% of GM and 0% of Chrysler. The bondholders (who are not government controlled banks) get 4% of GM and 0% of Chrysler. The remaining 20% of Chrysler will be owned by Fiat (more on that later).

So, in the Chrysler plan, the… Read More

After six years of Mike Spence’s outstanding leadership, the California Republican Assembly has a new president.

This weekend the CRA met in Bakersfield to select their leadership, including a new president: Ken Mettler from Bakersfield. The new CRA national committeeman and committeewoman are Sergio Picchio (a CRA past president) and Karen England. Six vice president were elected: Ben Lopez, Scott Voigts, Celeste Greg, Cliff Wagner, Karl Heft and me (thank you to the CRA delegates for your votes!).

Congratulations to the Kern County Republican Assembly for putting together a fantastic convention. The entire weekend was packed with informative, engaging speakers. Coming on the heels of the extremely successful tea party rallies (most CRA delegates had participated in them), CRA members were excited about voters taking action against an elitist government bureaucracy—something the CRA has battled since its inception.

All of the GOP gubernatorial hopefuls visited the convention. Friday evening Steve Poizner spoke at the dinner, delivering his stump speech about California’s obtrusive government… Read More