Today’s Washington Post includes an op-ed by Rep. Duncan Hunter and Pete Hegseth, chief executive of Concerned Veterans for America, calling for a change in leadership at VA. This morning, Secretary Shinseki is before the House VA committee to discuss the VA’s latest budget request. Time to shake up the dysfunctional VA By Duncan D. Hunter and Pete Hegseth When President George …
Smoking is now a pre-existing condition
Seriously? http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/345153/smoking-preexisting-condition-kevin-d-williamson
Enjoy — my “media bias story of the day”
For your edification, here’s your media bias story of the day. For instance, NPR did a story on the “counterweight to the Tea Party” staging a protest outside the White House. Backed by numerous heavyweight leftist groups such as the AFL-CIO, Move-on, NOW, etc., the story got great media play, as all such political mega-rallies in DC deserve. But there …
Taxation Sunk The Iron Lady
“Don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree!”– Senator Russell B. Long As the world mourns former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, I think it’s amusing to note that a new tax scheme ultimately did in her political career. Thatcher abolished the “domestic rates” plan, an assessment based on the rental value of property, and instituted …
Want the Fracking Truth? Thursday Night Screening of “FrackNation”
College Republicans at UCSD and YAF are proud to invite you to a screening of FrackNation and a presentation by the film’s Executive Producer Ann McElhinney. The feature documentary is billed as “A journalist’s search for the fracking truth.” The event will take place at UCSD in the Multi-Purpose Room of the SSC building, this Thursday, April 11th at 7 …
Some Weekend Reads
A $10,000 California State University bachelor’s degree? by Assemblyman Dan Logue in Fox & Hounds SF Chronicle: Grover Norquist takes aim at Gov candidate Abel Maldonado KGTV 10: U-T San Diego political ad rates under scrutiny U-T San Diego: Corruption Investigation Outfall in San Ysidro – Superintendent resigns Cal Aware: Del Mar Schools to pay $42,500 after denying access to public records …
Farm subsidies highlight hypocrisy of politicians from both political parties
I wrote the following letter to the editor in response to an article gushing with praise for the insane farm bill — and the resulting farm subsidies. It was published by VOICE OF SAN DIEGO. To give it wider circulation, I’m including it here and on other blogs and social media. http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/opinion/article_718e5a9a-9d93-11e2-81b8-001a4bcf887a.html Regarding VOICE OF SAN DIEGO article “Why the …
Anderson: Latest Audit Report Proves Gross Mismanagement Continues at Caltrans
“The latest report from the State Auditor of the ineptitude of Caltrans management is appalling and not at all surprising. For the past three years, incident after incident have been revealed of Caltrans putting Californians safety at risk and wasting billions of tax dollars in the process. Yet Californians are still waiting for our Governor and Democratic super-majority to own …
69% of San Diegans Opposed Filner Proposal to Allow “Double Dipping” for ex-Politicians
San Diego – A new poll conducted by Reform San Diego shows a super-majority of San Diegans are strongly opposed to a proposal being pushed by Mayor Bob Filner to allow ex-city councilmembers to return to work for the city on a full salary while drawing a full city pension. “From the beginning, we saw this proposal as “Double Dipping” …
Two Pieces of Chavez Legislation Pass Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee
I am pleased to announce that AB 614 and AB 258 both passed out of the Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee today! Please read below for the Press Release. TWO PIECES OF CHÁVEZ LEGISLATION CLEAR FIRST LEGISLATIVE HURDLE SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember Rocky Chávez (R-Oceanside) announced today that his Assembly Bills 614 and 258 cleared their first legislative hurdles. Dealing with various …
San Diego County Taxpayers Association: The Goldens are Coming
Who are those guys? Click for Event info
An Analysis of the District 4 Special Election Precinct Results
Last Tuesday, the City of San Diego held a special election to fill the vacancy left in the 4th Council District by outgoing Councilmember Tony Young. Using GIS software and data from the San Diego County Registrar of Voters and the United States Census Bureau, the National University System Institute for Policy Research conducted an analysis of the precinct results, …
In yet another surprise move, Fletcher returning to Republican Party
Although the official announcement won’t take place until later this week, SD Rostra confirmed today that former Assemblyman and 2012 San Diego mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher is returning to the Republican Party. Fletcher caused a stir by leaving the GOP and registering non-partisan during last year’s mayoral contest, after failing to win the party’s endorsement in the race. Many political …
California Conservative Grass Roots Activists Can Reclaim the RNC—Contact Shawn Steel
In my last post, I covered how the RNC rules change changed the Republican National Convention from a volunteer-centric political process to an autocratic, candidate-focused pep rally. The Romney campaign team thought they had the general election in the bag and wanted to insure that a primary challenge, in 2016, would fail. Many convention delegates were so focused on unseating …
Braun gets kid-glove treatment, while poker probably comes easy to Rath
Craig Gustafson’s excellent piece in last Sunday’s U-T San Diego, exposing the secret and inept campaign to smear Carl DeMaio and derail his mayoral bid, appears to contain a flaw that deserves a mention. One of the key players involved in the clandestine campaign is Gerry Braun, who was then a top aide to Mayor Jerry Sanders and an early Nathan Fletcher supporter. …
State auditor: California’s net worth at negative $127.2 billion
Governor Brown ET AL loudly crow that “we’re back” — the California economy and government finances are back in shape. Then the doggone state auditors make their report! Bunch of naysayers — that’s what they are. Note the last paragraph of the SAC BEE article: “The list of long-term obligations did not include the much-disputed unfunded liabilities for state employees’ future pensions, nor …
Specialty employee compensation by cities leaves taxpayers scratching their heads
Guest Commentary by Chris Cate Over the past year and a half, the San Diego County Taxpayers Association (SDCTA) has been gathering and analyzing data from 16 cities in the county to determine what taxpayers across the region are spending for “specialty pays.” Specialty pays, or special compensation, are add-ons in addition to base pay that cities report to the …
When People Stop Believing in God, They’ll Start Believing In Anything
Originally published by Communities @ Washington Times SAN DIEGO, March 22, 2013 ― The Belgian playwright and poet Emile Cammaerts once wrote, “The first effect of not believing in God is to believe in anything” (The Laughing Prophets, Page 211, 1937). The nuttier our times become, the more profound Cammaerts starts to sound. Naturally Cammaerts was making a general comment. …
Californians live in the least free state in the nation — except for NY
I write about and compare California with other states. While I cover many aspects, most have to do with monetary issues — taxes, regulation, litigation, utility costs, education funding, etc. But we should also look at a broader index that includes not only the issues I highlight, but also compares the personal freedom factors among states. For years the Mercatus …
Conservative Grass Roots Activists Can Reclaim the RNC—Here is How We Can Do It
The grassroots supporters of the Republican Party were pushed aside at the 2012 Republican National Convention (RNC). Anticipating a Romney Presidency, Romney campaign attorney Ben Ginsberg put forth and lobbied for a permanent change, in the way RNC delegates were chosen, to guarantee that a (expected) President Romney wouldn’t face a primary challenge in 2016. It was controversial. Convention Chairman …
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