Under the heading of “What You Should Be Reading,” Cal Watchdog.com certainly comes to mind. They have great coverage of key California state issues from what appears to be a conservative perspective, but that might be the result of all the bad governance by the lefties that run this state. Chris Reed is a frequent contributor and covers California politics …
Minimum Wage – Robots Replacing Workers
The minimum wage laws in this country are daggers to the heart of opportunity for our poorest and least skilled citizens. Those in favor argue that it helps the poor because they get paid more, and that there is no adverse impact on the economy, overall. I disagree, but want to focus on the very people that the left proposes …
Government Gangsterism in San Diego
The news of indictments involving associates of Mexican businessman Susumo Azano makes for entertaining reading. There is a trail of illegal campaign donations to various mayoral candidates funneled through a straw-donor and a social media guru. The U-T is all over the story, with the best overall description of the case published in Sunday’s paper. I also want to give …
Is Kashkari’s Approach a Winner for Cal GOP? UPDATE
UPDATE Neel Kashkari is officially running: It will take a lot of work to turn CA around, but we can do this. And we must. Join us at http://t.co/rXUUjDZQsl pic.twitter.com/9ETneEaXmD — Neel Kashkari (@neelkashkari) January 22, 2014 END UPDATE I was hoping that my 100th post on San Diego Rostra would be more auspicious, but as the old saying goes …
Rescind Egregiously Stupid Tax – San Diego Linkage Fee
Rare is the day when we have the ability to directly rebuke the stupidity of our city council; but that day would be today. Two months ago I pointed out the uselessness of linkage fees in alleviating affordable housing problems, even if that is the stated purpose of the tax. Felipe Monroig of the SD County Taxpayer’s Association showed that …
Public Employee Pension Roundup – Illinois, Detroit Update
Here is a summary of key areas in the fight to prevent state and local public employee pensions from bankrupting governments. Detroit. Judge Stephen Rhodes will rule today at 10:00 a.m. (EST) on whether the city is eligible to enter bankruptcy. From the LATimes. Most legal experts expect Rhodes to declare that Detroit is eligible for bankruptcy protection. A ruling …
When Pension Reform Goes Bipartisan
Eventually the mathematical results of under-funding ever more generous pension benefits for state and local employees becomes a problem for Democrats too. Illinois legislators are expected to vote this week on pension reform that would pare back pension benefits in three important ways. Reducing cost of living increases. Increases retirement age. Capping the salary amount available for pension calculations. There …
What You Should Be Reading
I took a real vacation and paid only a little attention to the political world and made no attempt to blog. It was worthwhile to re-unite with my oldest son and enjoy some of God’s creation and some good man-made stuff too. Mrs. Daddy and I loved the colder and wetter weather we encountered, not typical of Arizona, we hit …
Will Alvarez’ Rise Be Enough?
The conventional wisdom, based on extensive polling, is that the San Diego mayor’s race is for second place between David Alvarez and Nathan Fletcher. Kevin Faulconer is expected to easily take first place but not to get over the 50% threshold needed to avoid a run off. Craig Gustafson writes in the U-T that Fletcher still leads Alvarez, 24% – …
Todd Gloria’s Public Service Announcement
Democrat Todd Gloria is the acting mayor of San Diego and chair of the City Council budget committee. He has performed a public service by providing a breakdown of the city budget deficit for 2015. Bottom line, the budget has a deficit, but that deficit will be made worse by spending promises made by the city council over the past …
CA-52 Getting Interesting – #ACA Toxicity
To see the impact of the health care law’s implosion on political campaigns, look no further than my own 52nd Congressional district here in San Diego. Scott Peters, the incumbent,is expected to face a tough re-election campaign against the well-known Carl DeMaio. (I supported DeMaio for Mayor last year.) While DeMaio has a Republican primary to get past, his high …
Linkage Fees Do Nothing for Affordable Housing
The need for a Republican mayor to veto leftist nonsense was on display Monday, when the San Diego city council passed whopping increases in the “linkage fees” on new development that ranges from 377% to 744%. The fees are supposed to help provide affordable housing when new development results in low paying jobs. Don’t ask me how creating jobs makes …
Debate Questions for Mayor’s Race
This is a bit of a re-run of a previous post, but with all the focus and hoopla on filthy-Filner and the who’s in and who’s out of the campaign, we have lost sight of the fact that America’s Finest City still has challenges. Here is an update on what I would ask the mayoral candidates in a debate. Will …
McDonald’s, Subway then In-N-Out
The title of the article refers to my dining plans for breakfast, lunch and dinner in light of the “fast-food” strike set for tomorrow in San Diego and elsewhere. I will be showing solidarity with the workers of those establishments who choose to show up and provide the generally good service we have come to expect in all American businesses. …
Why Recalling Filner Matters
Some Republicans have privately told me that they are sitting out the effort to recall Mayor Filner, saying it makes little difference to governing San Diego and that the GOP might be better off if Filner drags down Democrats. I wholeheartedly disagree. Exhibit A is the July 30 ordinance requiring a “prevailing wage” for city contracts for public works and …
Insanity in our Backyard – Filner Must Go
There is plenty of coverage of the allegations regarding Filner’s sexual harassment. Leslie Eastman at College Insurrection has a nice summary and sdrostra.com is chock full of articles on the subject. But Filner has demonstrated plenty of other out-of-control behavior that together paints a portrait of a man teetering on the edge of sanity. Most disturbing to me, because it is …
Filner WILL Resign – Some Questions for the Next Mayor
There is no doubt that Bob Filner is on his way out as Mayor. I predicted he might not make it, but this is fast. Today both the U-T and KPBS reported that prominent Democrats, including Donna Frye, are urging the mayor to resign over sexual harassment allegations. There is also the little matter of an FBI investigation into a …
San Diego Hotel Tax Update
In a ruling that certainly disappoints, Judge Steven Denton has dismissed the lawsuit of Mel Shapiro challenging the 2% hotel tax that supports the San Diego Tourism Management District (TMD). The suit was dismissed on the technical grounds that Mr. Shapiro lacked standing to file the suit because he was not an affected hotel owner. From the U-T: Shapiro, the …
Filner and Marijuana
I should have known. First, let me say that I am in favor of all forms of legalizing marijuana, so of course, I am not opposed to medical marijuana. I followed the link on this tweet from Craig Gustafson to read about Bob Filner’s medical marijuana proposal: Story on @bobfilnermayor ‘s med pot ordinance now with docs — executive summary …
Will Filner Finish His Term?
Bob Filner appears a little unhinged, and frankly unprofessional in a video from local news station NBC 7. He hijacks a news conference by City Attorney Jan Goldsmith to make accusations of unprofessional conduct. His view of the role of the City Attorney appears entirely unbalanced. The City Attorney can’t be fired by the mayor, because he is elected directly …
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