This is an expanded version of a letter to the editor concerning education that I submitted to the U-T newspaper. It didn’t run, but no need for my research to go to waste. Dear U-T Editor: Teacher Sharon Collins’ letter selflessly calls for higher taxes for education, citing socialist Sweden as her shining light. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jun/21/letters-sd-schools-teachers-labor-pact/?print&page=all She didn’t do her homework. …
Gov Brown vetoes a paltry 0.14% of state budget – pathetic
A whopping 0.14% of the bloated state general fund budget vetoed by Brown. Sadly, this paltry line item veto amount continues the California governor bipartisan tradition of vetoing almost none of the spending. The traditional amount is about 0.25% — one quarter of one percent. Jerry couldn’t reach even this low benchmark. http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/06/gov-jerry-brown-vetoes-195-million-from-final-ca-budget.html
Why Roberts Got It Wrong
The Supreme Court just delivered its landmark opinion in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (aka, the Obamacare case). The Court’s opinion—penned by Chief Justice John Roberts—found that the Commerce Clause does not validate the individual mandate, and that it is a penalty for purposes of standing…but it is constitutional as a tax (rather than a penalty) under the …
RIDER OP-ED: Absent defense, our local economy is awful
Today the NORTH COUNTY TIMES ran my op-ed on the effect of defense spending in San Diego County. My thesis is that, absent our massive federal defense spending (responsible for 1 in 4 jobs in the county), the San Diego economy is simply “awful.” This fact is amazing, considering that that San Diego has the best climate in the nation. …
Encinitas Mayor Jerome Stocks Endorses Rocky Chavez in AD 76
This press release was issued today… June 27, 2012 ENCINITAS MAYOR ENDORSES ROCKY Mayor Jerome Stocks backs Rocky, further uniting District 76 ENCINITAS – The people of Assembly District 76 are uniting in support of Rocky Chavez. Today, Encinitas Mayor Jerome Stocks announced his endorsement of Rocky for California Assembly. With his support, Stocks joins dozens of elected and former …
Pension Reform Ballot Measure Won Every Council District
Will of the Voters Must Be Respected and Prop B Implemented Prop B, the Pension Reform ballot measure not only passed resoundingly with 66% of the total vote, it also carried each of the nine San Diego Council districts. The overwhelming victory comes as no surprise to the thousands of volunteers who worked tirelessly in every community collecting signatures to …
Assemblyman Brian Jones Releases Third Edition of ‘Are You Kidding Me?’
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Laurie Paredes (916) 319-2077 SACRAMENTO – Assemblyman Brian Jones, R-Santee, releases his third broadcast commentary in the “Are You Kidding Me?” series. Assemblyman Jones discusses how California can reduce welfare dependency. The “Are You Kidding Me?” series consist of brief radio and television recordings on current state issues. Video Link: http://arc.asm.ca.gov/member/77/?p=media&sid=431&id=12377
Professors’ Pensions Restrict Access to UC Education for Poorest Californians
Guest Commentary by Brian Brady UC-Davis students are being pepper sprayed for chalking protests to tuition increases. At UC Berkeley, guns were drawn and billy clubs were used on the protesting students. While the media attributed this use of violence to Republicans’ resistance to tax cuts, The OC Register finally had the courage to discuss the root cause of the problem: Professors’ pension costs are driving …
NCPA: “Is It Time to Stop Building Convention Centers?”
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=22070&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ncpadpd+%28Daily+Policy+Digest%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher Daily Policy Digest June 26, 2012 Is It Time to Stop Building Convention Centers? Over the last 20 years, convention space in the United States has increased by 50 percent; since 2005, 44 new convention spaces have been planned or constructed in this country alone. That boom hasn’t come cheap. In the last 10 years, spending on convention centers …
The Supreme Court Got it Right in Upholding Key Provision of SB 1070
Guest Commentary by Rhonda Deniston In a 5-3 decision the Supreme Court upheld a key provision of Arizona’s immigration Law, SB 1070. Law enforcement can constitutionally inquire about immigration status during stops when there is reasonable suspicion to believe an individual is undocumented. The Supreme Court got it right. Law enforcement at a local, state and federal level have always had broad …
The fiction of majority vote
Guest Commentary by Fred Schnaubelt Who Speaks For You? – Who Speaks For The American People? The “American people” want compromise says the New York Times. The “American people” want a balanced budget say the Republicans. The “American people” want free medical care, free college tuitions, free contraceptives, free food stamps, free mass transit, free immigration, and free or partly …
Pathetic 15 person left wing “rally” scores U-T media coverage
The U-T ran a story today (Monday) covering the Sunday downtown protest against the evil-Koch brothers and other rich folks reportedly meeting in an unknown area hotel to discuss funding limited government candidates and causes. Fair enough. Political rallies and protests by every side deserve media coverage. But a FIFTEEN PERSON protest? Come ON, man!! http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jun/24/rally-targets-kochs-political-influence/ “Rally targets Koch brothers’ …
Congressman Brian Bilbray Disappointed with Supreme Court Ruling on Mount Soledad War Memorial
Congressman vows to exhaust efforts to save veterans war memorial Washington, D.C. – Congressman Brian Bilbray (CA-50) today issued the following statement regarding the United States Supreme Court’s decision not to hear San Diego’s Mount Soledad War Memorial case: “The lawsuit against the Mount Soledad War Memorial is an insult to our veterans and their service. I am disappointed that …
California Tobacco Tax Defeated
In a little noticed report from the AP, Proposition 29, the Tobacco Tax initiative has narrowly been defeated. Although anticipated, this is the first news announcement I have seen on the issue. With about 5 million ballots cast, opponents of Proposition 29 led by about 28,000 votes. The Associated Press analyzed areas where the roughly 105,000 uncounted votes remain and …
The Winners! – The Great Rostra/FlashReport San Diego Primary Election Contest
The results have been tallied for our little Election Contest (see the questions here), with about 45 participants. I’m pleased to say it was the most competitive contest yet. Maybe the questions were too easy. I’ll remember that next time. But, we do have some winners. First, some stats — since the type of ner … uhhh, I mean wonks …
Fortnight for Freedom – In Defense of Religious Liberty
Re-posted with permission from the author at W.C. Varones blog, regarding mass at Mission San Diego de Alcala, Wednesday evening. First they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak up because I was not a Catholic… The W.C. Varones Blog stands squarely with American Catholics as they defend their religious liberty from unprecedented assault by the Obama regime. …
Earth to Moonbeam: Cut, Cut, Stop, Reform
by Brian Brady Those of us in the limited government camp, who subscribe to the Austrian School of Economics, have a message for Governor Jerry Brown; cut, cut, stop, reform ! The historical precedent for cutting government is conspicuously absent from high-school history books but government-funded schools aren’t going to bite the hand that funds them: Why you’ve never heard …
Plescia to Block: Put Pensions On Ballot
From the George Plescia for Senate campaign… While San Diego Leads the Way On Pension Reform – Marty Block Remains Silent San Diego – George Plescia today called on his opponent for the 39th Senate District, Assemblyman Marty Block, to support placing a state-wide voter initiative on the ballot before the deadline to take such action passes. Block has been …
Children’s Education Suffers in Government Schools
Two unrelated articles show how the education of children comes last when dealing with the government education bureaucracy and the labor unions representing teachers. In San Diego, the unions and the district struck a deal yesterday to avoid 1,481 layoffs, according to the U-T. Representing 7,000 teachers, the San Diego Education Association agreed to extend furloughs for a third and …
How Barack Obama Fooled Bill O’Reilly
Written by Bob Siegel and originally published in his column, Forbidden Table Talk in Communities At Washington Times SAN DIEGO, June 14, 2012 — Journalist Edward Klein’s recently highlighted interview with Rev. Jeremiah Wright continues to spawn debate, but a much more revealing exchange took place in 2008, between Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly and Barack Obama. Unfortunately, most people missed …
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