Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Richard Rider, Chairman, San Diego Tax Fighters”
For 40+ years I’ve fought against big government and their agencies. But in all my experience, no agency came close to the systemic dishonesty and actual evil that has pervaded SANDAG for decades. It’s not just SANDAG’s current Grand Ayatollah who is the problem. For decades SANDAG has been staffed by highly paid (and pensioned) central planners who consider oppressive, …
As everyone knows, buying a home in California is MUCH more expensive than buying a home in almost all the other states. Generally we compare states using the “median home value.” According to Zillow, the July 2020 median home value in the U.S. is $248,857. The CA median home value is $578,857. BTW, the median home value in our San …
I was on one of my statistical journeys through U.S. Census data when I unexpectedly stumbled upon this the following important fact: According to the latest census figures, the population of San Diego County — a huge county physically larger than the state of Rhode Island that is home to over 3.3 million people — a county population larger than …
UPDATED: 28 February, 2018 What is “fake news“? Definitions abound, of course. But IMHO, the most common examples of fake news in the MSM are “lies of omission.” Our state newspapers have been covering a major story — while diligently FAILING to report a critical aspect of this huge scandal. Over 150 women (I haven’t heard the figure recently) have …
At the U-T’s request, I wrote an op-ed, making the case against taxpayer subsidies for the arts. It’s a response to the City of San Diego cutting its “arts budget” 31% — a decision I support. The column runs in Sunday’s print version of the paper, but it’s online now. For most, it’s available without a subscription: Why taxpayers should …
The annual Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association [California State] Legislative Report Card report is out. The ratings are based on tax votes, with an emphasis regarding attacks on Prop 13.As one would expect, since most of our legislators are Democrats, the majority of our legislators rate an “F” ranking on taxes. The table of information can be sorted interactively in each …
California columnist Joe Mathews raises a great issue in a U-T op-ed — California’s growing problem of increasingly paying more for less. It’s a major issue, especially with government services. But then he fails miserably — not identifying the single biggest factor. In this case, he never addresses the principal reason why the cost of California government services are so …
CAUTION: The following commentary will trigger intense feelings of hatred (of me) among some firefighters. My apologies in advance. Firefighting has always been an honorable profession. It’s a job that, from time to time, definitely can be more dangerous than most occupations. But the “problem” for the California Fire Foundation (CFF) and other boosters of firefighters is that — these …
In America, we have a double standard when it comes to tax issue groups. The press and the Left labels any group that opposes tax increases as “anti-tax.” Yet I’ve NEVER heard the left wing groups pushing higher taxes defined as “pro-tax.” Why is that? Okay, okay — the Left controls the MSM and academia — we all get that. …
In a just-released survey by the nonprofit TRIP, among U.S. urban areas exceeding 500,000 population, my city of San Diego is tied nationally for having the seventh worst city road conditions. Californians will be disappointed (but not surprised) to find that four of the six large population areas that are ranked even worse than San Diego are also located in the Golden …
One of the many liberal talking points against Prop 13 is that it “gutted” public education. Supposedly Prop 13, which passed in 1978, is the main reason our CA schools are so underfunded today — ruining what progressives now claim was once the best K-12 public school system in the nation. But were the CA public schools really that great before they were …
Click for a very interesting website about PRIVATE fire fighting companies in America. Private Firefighting In the U.S. Private firefighting is a rapidly growing industry. Yes, private firefighters make up just 4.3 percent of the nation’s total firefighters, but this is an industry on the verge of catching fire because of a growing trend toward privatization. According to a 2012 …
Recently there’s been a nationwide effort to get some overseas manufacturing jobs “reshored” to the United States, apparently with modest success. But California has received only 2.4% of those jobs — a pretty dismal result. It’s particularly distressing when one considers that CA holds 12.18% of the nation’s population. That means that, per capita, on average the other 49 states …
The LA TIMES owners recently purchased the historically more conservative SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Naturally the U-T readers — primarily right of center — are concerned with the change in tone of the paper, and content. I’ve been monitoring this, and so far, I must say my concerns have not been (yet) realized. The U-T editorials still deliver primarily the conservative …
You’re gonna LOVE this. As you know, the Los Angeles city politicians voted almost unanimously to establish a $15 minimum wage. They did so at the behest of the labor unions. Now the labor union bosses want an exemption for unionized workers! As union boss Rusty Hicks so eloquently put it, “With a collective bargaining agreement, a business owner and …
Lots of funny captions provided by readers for this U-T cartoon. But my wife made an interesting observation: Reverse the roles — make it two MEN with the big gun — and an empty pair of smoking WOMEN’s shoes. I suspect that would NOT be deemed funny, or even offered up for caption-adding to the public. If it were published, …
I’d like to see the actual Chargers stadium proposal, but based on the task force’s official write-up which I presume is accurate, appears to be a $467 million taxpayer giveaway to keep the Chargers here — ignoring cost overruns and “surprises.” And apparently that’s not counting the 60 acres of land valued at $180 million (not sure how land ownership …
The U-T recently ran a guest op-ed touting all the benefits to society of mandated prevailing wage contracts — which jack up the price of public works projects 15%-30% (not counting the inefficiencies of union work rules). But it was fraudulently presented. This piece was authored by some flunky from the “Middle Class Taxpayers Association.” It’s a bogus outfit (though …
From the UT… Michael Zucchet, president of the San Diego Municipal Employees Association, said . . . restoring those [past city worker] cuts will require hiring new workers, which he described as a struggle because many city positions have salaries below market rate based on pay freezes and some pay cuts in 2010. “Funding the positions is only half the …
Here’s a San Diego city firefighter hiring reform we need. Four, actually. 1. Do what EVERY OTHER CITY IN THE COUNTY DOES — hire already qualified firefighters who graduate from accredited firefighter academies — primarily our community college programs. Let the students pay for their firefighter education. No need to start from scratch with a new recruit — putting him …
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