Take a minute this weekend to answer the following question:

The Legislative Analyst’s Office announced today that revenue in the recently adopted State budget will fall short of projections by $8 billion, with significantly increasing budget shortfalls in subsequent years. Should that news be filed under:

A) Color me surprised,

B) We told you so,

or

C) Fill in the blank ?

If you select C, please provide an answer as to where you believe the news should be filed. Be creative. Post it in the comments or shoot me an email. Let’s not assume that "Tax increases should have been higher" is the best answer.

In the meantime, read Senator Dennis Hollingsworth’s take on the matter:

Senator Hollingsworth Statement regarding Legislative Analyst’s Office Projecting $6 Billion Deficit “The fact that the LAO is projecting a $6 Billion deficit for the 2009-2010 Budget is not a surprise. I… Read More

Insurance Commissioner and GOP gubernatorial hopeful Steve Poizner opposes Proposition 1A, his spokesman, Kevin Spillane, assured me last night.

I felt compelled to give Kevin a call for clarification because there were conflicting statements coming out of the Poizner campaign. Yesterday longtime FR blogger Jennifer Nelson wrote about Poizner’s remarks to a Bay Area Republican group whose meeting she attended, at which, in a response from Nelson, Poizner was clear that he opposed 1A, going even further to say that he would be taking a “major role” in leading the opposition effort.

Here is the relevant excerpt from Nelson’s blog post:

Insurance Commissioner and GOP gubernatorial hopeful Steve Poizner opposes Proposition 1A, his spokesman, Kevin Spillane, assured me last night.

I felt compelled to give Kevin a call for clarification because there were conflicting statements coming out of the Poizner campaign. Yesterday longtime FR blogger Jennifer Nelson wrote about Poizner’s remarks to a Bay Area Republican group whose meeting she attended, at which, in a response from Nelson, Poizner was clear that he opposed 1A, going even further to say that he would be taking a “major role” in leading the opposition effort.

Here is the relevant excerpt from Nelson’s blog post:

I am not one to reprint press releases — but this missive from the Poizner campaign was awesome…

Does Jerry Brown Oppose Both the Budget Deal and Proposition 1A Over Taxes?

Political chameleon Jerry Brown is at it again. This week he's claiming to be a born-again taxpayer advocate who'll oppose new taxes.

Brown made his claims in a lengthy interview with the San Francisco Chronicle's Carla Marinucci that she posted on the newspaper's politics blog on Tuesday. The column states at one point:

The California governor's job this time around could be a no-win situation, he acknowledged. It's an era when just the state deficit is out of control and budget battles are bloody. There's no one easy answer, “there's just pain,” he said.Still, “I would not be advocating new taxes, I'll tell you that,” he said. Already, California is “one of the highest tax states around,” he said. “So we've got to be competitive. We can't drive all the jobs out and tax the few people who stay.”

It's a given that this is ironic coming from… Read More

It seems appropriate on a day when the FlashReport is looking at the issue of earmarking to note that California Congressman Darrell Issa has announced that he is no longer going to be requesting earmarks.

Issa joins four other California Republicans, and 28 other Members of Congress nationally.

The other California Representatives who are on a diet of "no pork" include John Campbell, Duncan D. Hunter, Tom McClintock and Devin Nunes.… Read More

With all due deference to FR friend Bill Leonard who makes a convincing case about the overall effectiveness of furloughs, the Governor and his legal team are on a roll. Today, Judge Marlette issued a tentative ruling in their favor on the case that the Governor launched to force Chiang to implement furloughs to constitutional officers. This is just off the heels of the tentative ruling in the Governor’s favor on the minimum wage case that I wrote about two weeks ago. Chiang, following union orders, first refused to implement the Governor’s executive order to furlough state employees at all and was smacked down by Judge Marlette. He then refused to furlough constitutional officers offices at their request and the Governor promised to take legal action to force him to comply.

The Governor is poised to get another important victory for taxpayers. The… Read More

For politicos who are also classic movie buffs, was a great year. In the political arena, Barry Goldwater ran a principled campaign for President that while unsuccessful that year, paved the way for a future, successful run by Ronald Reagan. That same year, on the silver screen, premiered one of my favorite films – Zulu. While it did not claim an Oscar Award, and it didn’t have any top-notch stars, Zulu was a great historical drama of a 1864 incident in Nepal, Africa, where a 140 man contingent of British Army regulars make a heroic stand at Rorke’s Drift, where they are attacked by 4,000 Zulu warriors.

I recall one scene in particular where the British Soldiers have steeled themselves for the attack, and the silent anticipation of the first Zulu attack is palpable. The Zulu, understanding the importance of “getting inside the heads” of their opponent, are masters of psychological warfare. So before you ever see the first Zulu, you hear the loud banging of their… Read More

FR readers know that in my role as a columnist and blogger on this site I have been quite critical of the system of Congressional "earmarking" that takes place in Washington, D.C.

That said, the party is clearly not monolithic on this subject since most GOP Members of Congress aren’t just earmarking proponents, but spend a lot of time and energy towards the end of "bringing home the bacon" in the form of federal funds for projects in their districts.

Today on the FlashReport I am pleased that we are offering a "pro-con" debate on this issue, in the form of two featured columns. The first, by businessmen David Ellis and Buck Johns, makes the case in support of Congressional earmarking. You can read their column here. The second is the case against the practice of earmarking, penned by our own FR blogging Congressman John Campbell. You can read his column here.

I hope that you enjoy reading to very different views on this… Read More