When I saw that former U.S. Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Bakersfield, had been named vice chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, I started paying attention.

Thomas is a fiscal policy expert who knows tax law as well as anyone. He is a Republican with the sort of common-sense approach that represents the GOP at its best.

And he’s very familiar with our region because much of San Luis Obispo County is part of the 22nd Congressional District, which he ably represented for many years.

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