On the first day of the 111th Congress, over 400 bills were introduced. I introduced House Resolution 17 which would effectively abolish the House Committee on Appropriations. This may seem like blasphemy in the tax and spend culture of Washington, D.C., but I believe it is just solution we need for a broken spending system.

This bill wholeheartedly acknowledges that an egregious amount of overspending, waste, fraud, and abuse exists within both parties throughout the spending process which is shepherded by the Appropriations Committee. The House of Representatives invests its spending power in the 25 individuals of this spending panel, whose sole purpose it is to spend the taxpayers’ money; and they do a damn good job at it, and if you ask me…too good. There is no doubt; many Members of Congress have been tempted by the enormous power of spending $3 trillion per year of someone else’s money.

By abolishing the Appropriations Committee, each committee within the House would appropriate money within their specific jurisdiction; take for instance the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Under the new model, this committee would exercise authority over… Read More

Just in case there’s anyone in San Diego actually believing anything is more important today than the AFC Divisional Playoff Game, some tidbits and analysis from the past week… Municipal Fire Consolidation in the Works?… La Mesa Councilman Dave Allan gets a full-page Q&A in Saturday’s Union-Trib, regarding the apparently very early discussions by some cities to analyze a fire department consolidation. Allan, a friend, a one-time County GOP-selected Local Elected Official of the Year, and now a Democrat, is due some kudos for pursuing some outside-the-box thinking. “I believe not only for our communities in our East County, but for the region, regionalization in fire protection is the way to go,” said Allan in the article.

Along with the kudos, I’ll also toss out a caution to my former colleague. Often over the years, many government officials have confused the well-intended goal of efficiency through consolidation with the broader-meaning buzzword, regionalism. In some cases,… Read More

I had a most interesting conversation yesterday.

I was in Sacramento, and I was asked whether I thought a tax increase was in the cards for Republicans to get a budget deal. I said no. The key problem, I said, was that the Governor and the Democrats were asking Republicans to betray a key principle of a key constituency and get nothing in return. The result to any Republican who voted for that tax increase would be the end of their political career. I know, because, I said, I would do everything in my power to make sure of it for anyone who voted for that tax increase, and I know there are a lot of Republicans who think like me.

The fellow who asked me this, a key lobbyist for the education interests in Sacramento got it. He said it would be like asking a Democrat to vote to eliminate collective bargaining. What do you think the unions would do to a Democrat who did that?

He also told me the story about a conversation with a union leader. When asked about eliminating the rule against contracting out enacted when Gray Davis was Governor, the union thug said No Way!!!! In my entire career, this union leader said, I have only had one Democrat… Read More

The race for Republican National Committee Chairman is an important one. Like all of us who care deeply about the future of the Grand Old Party, I have been intently following the intricacies of this competition. I was humbled when Grover Norquist asked my question first at last week’s debate hosted by Americans for Tax Reform — which asked what the RNC Chairman could and would do given that this decade we held the White House, and the Senate and the House simultaneously, yet presided over massive growth in federal spending?

I am still scratching my head at why the Chairman of the Republican National Committee has been, in his role, remarkably silent during his tenure about so many key issues, including the Wall Street bail out, the Automaker bail out, and I haven’t heard one critical word from him about the GOP rejections of earmark moratoriums.

I have always assumed that RNC Chairman… Read More

The race for Republican National Committee Chairman is an important one. Like all of us who care deeply about the future of the Grand Old Party, I have been intently following the intricacies of this competition. I was humbled when Grover Norquist asked my question first at last week’s debate hosted by Americans for Tax Reform — which asked what the RNC Chairman could and would do given that this decade we held the White House, and the Senate and the House simultaneously, yet presided over massive growth in federal spending?

I am still scratching my head at why the Chairman of the Republican National Committee has been, in his role, remarkably silent during his tenure about so many key issues, including the Wall Street bail out, the Automaker bail out, and I haven’t heard one critical word from him about the GOP rejections of earmark moratoriums.

I have always assumed that RNC Chairman… Read More

I thought FlashReport readers would get a kick out of my friend Grover Norquist’s (Americans for Tax Reform) letter to President Bush late last month about all the bailouts, auto, bank, and otherwise. Grover’s letter is extremely short, encapsulates the "true conservative" view, and is attached!!!… Read More

I’m cross-posting this from RedCounty. Today, House Republicans released the 11th Congress roster for GOP members. Here is the full link over at RedCounty.… Read More

As I mentioned yesterday, I had the opportunity to be a fly on the wall during Governor Schwarzenegger’s press conference on the state’s budget problems. To be both biased and balanced, I wanted to point out that despite continuing to talk about raising taxes, the Governor was right on target when he talked about the need to cut spending and make government more efficient – harkening back to his campaign slogan of “blowing up boxes” in Sacramento. When he was asked about what ideological lines the Democrats needed to cross to satisfy him, this was his answer: