Category Archive

RNC scheme to block candidates from debate should be repealed When someone asks me to name the seven dwarves invariably I fall short. Let’s see, there’s Grumpy, Bashful, Sleepy, Happy, Dopey….Darn it, there are a couple more. That’s kind of how it is when I try to actually write out a list of the 16, 17 (or is it 18?) …

One hazard of the LA TIMES now owning the SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE is that my paper now mindlessly publishes LA TIMES stories.  It’s a ballyhooed “efficiency” of one paper buying the other.  But the hazard is that the fabled LA TIMES liberal news bias now regularly appears in my previously right-of-center San Diego paper.   The story below is …

From Joe Yerardi of inewsource… Republican state Assemblyman Brian Maienschein will not challenge embattled Democratic County Supervisor Dave Roberts for his Third District supervisorial seat in next year’s election. Read it at KPBS

This is a textbook example of how a public employee labor union elects the very people with whom it “negotiates.”  In this case, it’s a firefighters union electing firefighters to the fire district board!  Here’s a summary of the disastrous results: *  44 of these full-time firefighters, 37 percent of them, made over $300,000 in total compensation in 2013. *  …

The very first SD Rostra comment was posted August 29, 2009, from Greg Larkin… “Great stuff. I like the new site.” Compelling. Well, ok, since then there have been a few comments somewhat more compelling. At any rate, nearly six years later, Rostra has accumulated 19,980 comments on 4,730 article postings, averaging over four comments per post.  Some posts receive …

As I’ve noted before, the progressives have latched on the fact that California is the 7th (or 8th) largest economy in the world.  It’s a “so there” rebuttal, intended to prove that all the bad economic policies in our Golden State have had little or no negative effect.  But of course, this grand assertion is accompanied by zero analysis. I’ve ripped …

Again and again we hear the usual laments from the uninformed gun haters about concealed carry — how it would transform — DOES transform — a civilized society into the Wild West. You know  the mantra — shootouts at fender-benders, bars ablaze with gunfights, etc. It’s always fun to inject a dose of reality into such gun haters — it’s …

Below is a pretty good summation of the major potential California tax increases now being proposed by Sacramento politicians.  Here’s a link to even more proposed CA state taxes.  And there’s a link below to “Californians AGAINST Higher Taxes” — seeking funds, of course. While my grassroots taxpayer group San Diego Tax Fighters has joined their coalition opposing this potential avalanche of …

Historically Japanese executives and their companies has been much more comfortable concentrating in California on the Pacific Rim rather than the “inland” and East Coast states.  We have a small but successful Japanese population dating back generations.  CA is not considered a prejudiced state for Asians.  The Japanese have surely felt particularly out of place in the South. Apparently that …

The Brookings, South Dakota volunteer fire department (“Click” photo to enlarge) California’s overpaid, overpensioned firefighters love to claim they merit their astronomical compensation packages because of the risks they take.  They have no answer when I point out that the average California firefighter is paid 60% more than paid firefighters in other 49 states. Meanwhile the CA 2011 median household income (including …

From KPBS… Escondido Mayor Sam Abed is expected to announce Monday that he’ll run next year for San Diego County SupervisorDave Roberts’ seat. Here’s the KPBS story.

Earlier this week I addressed the troubling revelation that the Convention Center defaulted on a $13 million deal that would allow for the expansion space we need to keep events like Comic-Con. This is a BIG deal. I covered this on my radio show on Monday, and then started getting numerous calls that the situation is even worse. So I …

When the dramatic drop in oil prices occurred starting in mid 2014, liberals were conflicted.  They hated the fact that low oil and gas prices increased the attractiveness and use of fossil fuels. But they took solace in the fact that at least the irritating Texas economic boom was finally reversed — that a hick state’s economy built on their …

I’m having a blast with the radio show on NewsRadio 600 KOGO. We’re launching a new video feature called “Last Thought with Carl.” Here’s our first one – on the crisis in teachers’ pensions and our confrontation with the media rep for CalSTRs. Video Link Keep sending in your news tips and we may use them on a show soon!Final …

I’ve posted on this topic before. But the numbers have been updated, with the vaunted post-recession “housing building boom” in California fizzling out.  It’s a sobering graphic. http://www.aei.org/publication/monday-afternoon-linkage-4/   Chart of the Day. More permits for single-family homes have been issued in Houston than in the entire state of California both: a) this year through March (9,184 in Houston vs. …

Recently I spoke to Pacific Beach Realtors about the benefits of Prop 13.  Well received, of course. I’m seeking more such speaking engagements. But for me the most interesting aspect was a private discussion I had with a knowledgeable lobbyist for the CA apartment industry.  The rep made the solid observation that their clients — real estate trusts — LOVE …

A common misconception is that California homes always been much more expensive than U.S. houses.  More expensive, yes — but until relatively recently not nearly as much as people think. Until, that is, the CA state legislature became solidly Democrat, and the progressive policies started to take hold.  The legislature swung Democrat in the 1960’s.  Both houses have remained solidly …

It’s amazing that three CA cities — San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose — are worse cities for renters than uber-expensive Manhattan, which is ranked #4. I’m sure most would conclude that these CA cities are isolated islands of madness in the Golden State. But perhaps even more amazing is that LA and San Diego are ranked just behind Manhattan …