PLEASE READ THIS THROUGH, LISTEN, AND THEN CONTACT STATE SENATOR ROY ASHBURN!

Upon returning from my vacation, I was impressed upon by some Capitol insiders that there was a "problem" within the Senate Republican Caucus — and that we may no longer have a unified team to oppose a tax increase. As you know too well from last year, it takes a two-thirds vote to pass a budget, as well as to pass a tax increase (or place one on the ballot). That means that only two GOPers need to "go south" before the entire defense against new taxes shifts over to the Assembly where six votes of Republicans (or perhaps seven due to the illness of one Democrat member) are needed, along with every Democrat, to pass a budget, raise taxes, or place a tax increase on the ballot.

I was told that State Senator Roy Ashburn was publicly saying there were circumstances under which he would be willing to support Governor Schwarzenegger’s "temporary sales tax… Read More

For many reasons, a race to the political middle has blurred the once-clear philosophical lines dividing the two major political parties. Today, the Wall Street Journal (subscription and / or registration required) does an exceptional job of erasing the muddled middle and aligning politicians with philosophy. The paper ran columns by Attorney General Brown and Newt Gingrich each outlining what could be done with $10 billion.

Brown showcases myriad government regulations and controls as well as grant programs that can come, he says, to achieve energy efficiency and other goals.

Gingrich, on the other hand, outlines seven separate goals to be set and a corresponding billion dollar (in some cases multi-billion dollar) prize(s) to incentivise private sector progress toward worthwhile goals.

California’s present fiscal reality shows the limits of excessive spending and pursuit of problems arguably addressed elsewhere. While the federal government is… Read More

Assemblywoman Mimi Walters isn’t termed out, but she is leaving the Assembly at year’s end to go to the State Senate, but she send in this statement in response to this morning’s commentary… (Keep ’em coming!)…

“I will not vote for any budget bill or any other bill that raises taxes. The state’s budget deficit was caused by over-spending. Raising taxes and giving the Legislature more money to spend on new and bigger government programs does not solve the problem – it makes it worse. We need to pass a balanced budget using current resources and also pass a strong deficit prevention measure to constitutionally limit the growth in state government spending.”… Read More

My family just returned from an amazing two week trip to Italy, where we traveled to Rome, Venice and Florence. It was an amazing trip, the memories of which I will cherish forever.

I wanted to extend my sincere appreciation to the awesome team that we have here at the FlashReport. While I was away, the site continued to provide our daily news roundup, insiteful columns, and great commentaries and blogs from our contributors (I did manage a few blog posts from abroad myself!).

Thanks again to the team!… Read More

It’s being reported that pressure is being applied to termed-out Republican legislators, trying to garner support to get them to either support an increase in taxes, or to vote to place a proposal that includes a tax increase on the November ballot.

We have blogged here before about how proud we are of our Republican legislators and their uniform opposition to increased taxes. Every termed-out Republican has actually signed a pledge from Americans for Tax Reform to oppose efforts to raise taxes.

That said, we are looking for statements from termed out Republicans re-iterating their pledge to oppose ANY efforts to raise taxes on Californians, period.

If you are terming out, and would like to send us a statement for FR readers, just e-mail it to me here, and we’ll get it up on the FR blog. Or if you don’t want to put out a statement, but do want to let FR readers know you aren’t budging, you can let us know that, too.

We will also start the process of reaching out to these folks directly, and we’ll report back on the progress.

As I said, I have no reason whatsover to… Read More

It’s being reported that pressure is being applied to termed-out Republican legislators, trying to garner support to get them to either support an increase in taxes, or to vote to place a proposal that includes a tax increase on the November ballot.

We have blogged here before about how proud we are of our Republican legislators and their uniform opposition to increased taxes. Every termed-out Republican has actually signed a pledge from Americans for Tax Reform to oppose efforts to raise taxes.

That said, we are looking for statements from termed out Republicans re-iterating their pledge to oppose ANY efforts to raise taxes on Californians, period.

If you are terming out, and would like to send us a statement for FR readers, just e-mail it to me here, and we’ll get it up on the FR blog. Or if you don’t want to put out a statement, but do want to let FR readers know you aren’t budging, you can let us know that, too.

We will also start the process of reaching out to these folks directly, and we’ll report back on the progress.

As I said, I have no reason whatsover to… Read More

Recently it was reported in the New York Times that a guy named Matzzie (who is an ultra-left activist and supporter of BHO for President) has started a group called "Accountable America" that is going to identify thru public records every conservative donor to a 527 group in this election and send them a letter suggesting their contribution might be illegal and they should contact the group they gave to for assurance of legality or ask for their money back.

I subscribe to an email blog for election lawyers and professors and there has been a lot of discussion of this over the past few days. To their credit, a couple of liberal law professors I know have taken the position that the Matzzie tactics are "McCarthyism" and wrong. But a number of the usual liberal law professors on the blog have taken the position that it is perfectly OK for Matzzie to send our his threatening letters to conservative donors, because it is just a part of preventing perceived corruption in the political process, whether or not the actions of the 527s are legal.

Because I thought readers would find it of interest, below… Read More

No need for me to write anything SD-specific this morning. Logan Jenkins’ column in the UT today does a great job providing some insights on Farrah Douglas, a local city council candidate….

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/jenkins/20080810-9999-1mc10jenkins.html

Carlsbad candidate has come long way The winter day the shah fled Iran, Farrah Douglas was trapped in gridlocked traffic with her American husband, Rick, and their 2-year-old son, Kevin.

They had just been at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran to apply for Farrah’s green card for an eventual move to America. The Islamic revolution had caught them by surprise.

“Everyone got out of their cars and started dancing, they were so happy,” she told me. A young Iranian stuck his head in the window and said to Rick, “After the shah, it’s your turn.”

Farrah thought to herself, “This is end of my country as I know it.”

The family made it home that day – Jan. 16, 1979 – to learn that… Read More