The Rostra Archive

Mark Powell, a 2012 candidate for the San Diego Unified School Board, recently had the article linked below published in the UT San Diego. “To gain the trust of voters and decisively win more elections, the Republican Party must become more attractive to the electorate,” Mark tells SD Rostra. “Republicans must explore and identify all available venues and show their true …

Guest Commentary by Eric Andersen On February 12th, 2012, I signed an oath in which I solemnly swore to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I happen to believe that document still provides a valid road map to prosperity and happiness. I also believe Congressman Duncan Hunter has been negligent in his duty …

by Aaron Byzak Here’s a basic rundown of my fiscal politics: I came from nothing. Broke as hell. I’ve worked my tail off to realize some professional, educational and personal success. I am reimbursed for my professional endeavors with something called money. This is my property and the foundation of my economic liberty. Yet roughly 50 percent of my economic …

Guest Column by Joel Marchese Contrary to popular belief, we still have lots to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Holiday. We still live in a free society. We still maintain the right to vote, the right to free speech and freedom of religion. And, we still have countless other rights and privileges not enjoyed in other countries and by many …

Guest Commentary by Steve Vaus Living in Poway for 21 years I’ve witnessed first-hand the power of volunteerism to fill a need — the amazing things possible when a helping hand is extended. But serving on City Council I’ve found there are often needs that go unmet because they are unknown. There’s been a missing link when it came to …

Guest Commentary by Joel Marchese Conservatives always lash out at liberals for using class warfare as a tool to win elections. Liberals respond by saying that if only tax rates were higher for the rich than they are now, we wouldn’t need this debate. Historically, the conservative argument for keeping taxes lower always wins when the empirical data is analyzed …

Tonight the Carlsbad School Board will decide who gets to fill the vacancy left by Kelli Moors’ departure. Republican Sage Naumann has applied for the position. Here is a recent interview with Naumann. Guest Column by Michael Schwartz Recently Sage Naumann, a Republican candidate for Carlsbad Unified School Board, made the news for pointing out that a current member of …

Guest Commentary by Sage Naumann If the Bob Filner saga taught us anything, it’s that principles matter. Those who are elected to public office are there to exercise a set of principles, and among these are selflessness and honesty. Unfortunately, the Bob Filner saga overshadowed another disappointing episode in Carlsbad Unified, where one of our trustees broke the trust of …

Guest Commentary by Michael Schwartz Did You Hear What Filner Did This Time? I didn’t either. But here’s something that’s politically important too, believe it or not. We are looking at a fairly dire future in California in many ways. One important reason is the future of gun ownership. Approximately one in five Californians (counting the entire population of men, …

by John Dadian Here is the perfect speech that San Diego Mayor Bob Filner should give. I would love to charge him a speech writing fee but I can’t. This speech is an edited version of President Nixon’s resignation speech given almost forty years ago on August 8, 1974. To commemorate this anniversary, Filner should use this version so all …

Guest Commentary by Eric Andersen The Freedom Index for the 113th Congress is now available and I have found something disturbing. Freedom and prosperity are directly correlated to how closely we adhere to our founding principles. Here is what I discovered. If you think this is the voting record of a patriot I have ocean front property in Arizona for …

by Fred Schnaubelt Please don’t recall Mayor Bob Filner. Mayor Filner has made the Sunday Talk Shows. He has garnered more national publicity in the past month than in all 20 years in Congress, in fact, in his entire political career. Like Anthony Wiener, he craves this publicity. This is the oxygen they both thrive on. Bob Filner is the …

Guest Commentary by Jim Trageser Given the ongoing soap opera surrounding the San Diego mayor’s office (hello Gloria Allred!), it’s understandable that relatively little attention has been paid to the ramifications of hiring Walt Ekard as de facto city manager. And what coverage and discussion there has been on Ekard’s hiring has focused almost exclusively on the details of Ekard’s …

by Kirk W. Effinger Anyone who wonders why Mayor Bob Filner stubbornly refuses to resign in the face of the mounting evidence of his appalling behavior toward women over the years needs to spend a bit more time reading the transcripts or watching the video of his accusers recounting the details of his transgressions to get their answer. This is …

Guest Commentary by Kirk W. Effinger Local Democratic Party leaders are all atwitter over what to do about embattled bad-boy San Diego Mayor Bob Filner. Now that former backers have gone public with accusations of behavior that has been rumored about for years, it seems the cover he had been given by the party has been blown away. Not unlike …

Guest Commentary by Michael Schwartz I have never seen this message better stated than in this video. Louisiana State Senator Guillory’s defection from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party is an important event. It’s an opportunity for Republicans to set history straight and introduce our vision of our country’s future to a new generation of voters. In order to …

Guest Commentary by Tom Del Beccaro As published on Political Vanguard My Thought for Today: The Historic Same Sex Marriage Decision.  My goal in all of my writing is to place events in historical context – to let you see the part, in light of the whole as Will Durant would say. With that understanding . . . I am …

Guest Commentary by Eric Andersen Sigh.  I wish “same sex” marriage was our problem. It is not. The problem is other Christian believers and I have failed to consistently apply our founding ideals. The body of Christ, well intentioned we are, inconsistently uphold the principles of “the laws of nature and Nature’s God” at the ballot box. The same sex community may be …

Guest Commentary by Sage Naumann As many of you may know, if something isn’t done quickly, Carlsbad risks losing its high quality of education. Continued negligence on behalf of the current School Board has resulted in budget deficits, pink slips, and larger classroom sizes. The board has not listened to or even acknowledged the dozens of parents, teachers, concerned citizens, …