It appears that interest in and activity on this formerly robust blog has dropped dramatically. I suspect that there is more to it than simple GOP post-election blues or holiday slowdown (I see other conservative/libertarian political blogs still quite active). Here’s one reason we should consider — the HOURS-long delay in posting comments. I imagine that many people lose interest …
A CA family moves to North Dakota for typical $90K oil job
Many people are sitting around unemployed (or often UNDERemployed) in California, waiting for the state’s economy to recover. The state and federal governments’ response is to PAY people to stay unemployed — with unemployment benefits, food stamps and a host of other taxpayer subsidies. And, sadly, too often this policy produces exactly what one would expect — persistent unemployment. In …
The gun-control issue: Avoid knee-jerk reaction
“To everything there is a season: a time to plant and a time to harvest; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” Now is a time to mourn. This is not the time to yell at one another in partisan bickering. The last thing the people in Newtown need …
Economy and My Son’s Union Job
After about a year of looking for work, my youngest son (M) got two job offers within a matter of a week. The first was with a fast food outlet and the second with a grocery chain. Signs that the local economy is picking up? I hope so. The alternate explanation is that hiring by local stores, ramping up for …
Time to kill off San Diego’s planned Mid-Coast trolley line
Today the U-T reports that the San Diego proposed 11 mile long “Mid-Coast” trolley line is going to run a bit over its projections. Instead of costing “only” $1.24 billion (over $110 million PER MILE), it’s now projected to cost $1.7 billion — a $460 million increase from two years ago. Among things omitted from the original projection were such …
Taxpayer advocacy group “Stop Taxing Us” alleges misconduct on “Yes on EE” campaign
Press release from Stop Taxing Us alleges nefarious link between The MiraCosta College Foundation and the Yes on Proposition EE bond issuance campaign. From the press release: December 19, 2012: (Carlsbad, CA) The MiraCosta College Foundation appears to have violated the law and jeopardized its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status by making a large political contribution to the Yes on EE campaign. …
The Winners! – The Rostra/FlashReport General Election Contest
Finally, the results have been tallied up in our General Election Contest (here are the questions) … and we have some winners! I know you’ve been waiting breathlessly, now six weeks after election day. My only excuse is that I knew we’d have a tie-breaker. With many entrants guessing to a hundredth of a percent on the difference in the …
Post Election Thoughts
Guest Commentary by Leland Ping The 2012 election marks the fifth presidential election in which I’ve participated. Of these five, I’ve been on the winning side twice and on the losing side three times. After this election, I have found myself more concerned about the future of the Republican Party of which I am a strong supporter than in any …
Hotels, Politics and San Diego
Looking for San Diego news to blog about, I notice the extent to which news regarding rich hoteliers looms large locally. Perhaps because tourism is so important to the local economy, we see so many stories. 1. Evans Hotels was recently granted an extension to the lease of the Bahia Resort land on Mission Bay for another 21 years under …
CA civil courts now nation’s undisputed top “judicial hellhole”
Last year the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) ranked California as the worst STATE judicial hellhole in America. But the corrupt courts in the city of Philadelphia gave that berg the top hellhole ranking of all. Those days are behind us. The Philadelphia courts have since undergone some encouraging reforms, making California now the undisputed judicial hellhole ANYWHERE in America, …
Are “Right-to-Work” Laws Sometimes Wrong ?
Like most folks on the right side of the aisle, I’m thrilled that the Michigan Legislature and Governor advanced economic freedom by passing right-to-work legislation. Closed shops, created by law (Wagner Act), are reprehensible. But as much as we don’t want to force workers to join unions, can we prevent business owners, from entering into agreements, with a labor union, …
Russell Kirk on Conservatism
“Conservatism, then, is not simply the concern of the people who have much property and influence; it is not simply the defense of privilege and status. Most conservatives are neither rich nor powerful. But they do, even the most humble of them, derive great benefits from our established Republic. They have liberty, security of person and home, equal protection of …
Jan Goldsmith: City Attorney’s office — A long way from where we were four years ago
Excerpts from City Attorney’s Second Inaugural Speech… San Diego has had a history of sometimes cutting corners on the law – so our office has worked very hard to get things right – we give legal opinions based on the law that aren’t necessarily what people want to hear. Our lawyers are encouraged to raise red flags and stop something …
Is it racist and sexist to doubt the qualifications of Susan Rice?
Originally published by Communities @ Washington Times SAN DIEGO, December 7, 2012 — Ohio Representative Marcia Fudge may be the newly-elected chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, but there is nothing new about her defense of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice. At a recent press conference, Fudge defended Rice against Senator John McCain and other Republicans who dare to assert that a …
DeMaio to Present Plan for “Better Infrastructure Without Tax Hikes”
San Diego – Can San Diego rebuild its crumbling infrastructure without a massive tax hike that some city leaders are pushing? Carl DeMaio says the answer is YES – and will lay out how to achieve better infrastructure without tax hikes in a major speech today. Carl DeMaio will be the keynote speaker today at the San Diego Chapter of …
What is the proper role of government? To create unions jobs!
Radio host Mike Slater sai, on his program today, that if you’re Mayor Bob Filner you answer that question by saying, “to create union jobs.” I don’t disagree with Slater. Filner is taking aim at the managed competition process, a program which San Diego voters overwhelmingly passed some five years ago. While the voters told the public-sector unions to “compete …
Do you live in a “death spiral” state? Californians take note
What is a “death spiral state”? If you live in the largest state on the West Coast, I think you know the answer. The Forbes article below uses objective criteria to establish rankings — with the idea of suggesting that folks should not buy homes or municipal bonds in the declining states. The comparison uses two criteria. One is the …
CA appeals court overturns “soak businesses” parcel tax
I hate being a Cassandra, always reporting bad news. Well, I’m SUPPOSED to hate being a Cassandra. I’m a little weird about it, actually. But no matter. Today I have a bit of GOOD news for California taxpayers. In a significant 3-0 ruling by a California appeals court, a wrongly structured Alameda school district parcel tax was struck down, and …
Feds spend $368 million for FEWER San Diego courtrooms
Here’s a story suitable for the Bizarro comic strip. The U.S. government has spent $368 million on a lavish new federal courthouse addition in San Diego, largely to increase the number of courtrooms to handle the increasing workload. But the geniuses in DC decided that the spending was too lavish (it was), so they deduced that the solution was to require FEWER …
Lorena Gonzalez — Yep
Labor leader Lorena Gonzalez announced for State Assembly this evening. That should be no surprise to Rostra readers. See Steve Gramm’s piece from March of this year, specifically the first scenario… sdrostra.com/?p=26405
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