As reported here previously, Senator Grassley has been investigating ATF gun programs “Project Gunrunner and Operation Fast and Furious.” His investigations led to the discovery of Department of Justice and ATF misrepresentations the number of “missing or walked” firearms. An internal ATF inspection report finds, on average, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) loses track of roughly …
DeMaio Campaign Raises $540,000 in 25 Days
DeMaio Campaign Raises $540,000 in 25 Days Demonstrates Deep Grassroots Support in Key First Campaign Reporting Period FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio announced today his campaign grossed $540,000 in the first 25 days of the campaign. Nearly 90% of donations came from within San Diego County and the median contribution was only $150, which illustrates an impressive grassroots donor base …
SD Young Democrats’ Colin Parent To Brown Administration – Congratulations!
The San Diego Reader’s David Rice has the story. Colin Parent, a Two Cathedrals contributor and political director of the San Diego County Young Democrats, has taken over as Director of External Affairs for the California Department of Housing and Community Development as of July 5. Parent tweeted the good news yesterday. According to the Young Democrats press release, at …
Breaking: Labor Corruption…SD Labor Council Seeks to Oust Taxpayer Advocate from Oversight Committee
Turns out it is not just occasional sewage flowing from the Tijuana River that sullies San Diego’s South Bay. San Diego/Imperial County Labor Council’s “Middle Class Taxpayer’s Association” does a fine job of soiling the South Bay as well. Proposition R passed in fall 2008, thus allowing the Southwestern Community College to issue $389 million in bonds to construct and …
Advocating Higher Taxes, Or Just Giving Info? It’s Higher Taxes!
In the comments to my post about the deceptively named Middle Class Taxpayers Association, Lucas O’Connor makes three points worth responding to: One false, one irrelevant, and one true. The false claim is that I criticized the union- and Democratic-backed group because of its ideology. No, the deception is what I criticized. When groups advertise themselves under a false flag …
Stop the “Cat Tax”
Shameless Revenue Grab, Intrusive Bureaucracy Today I urged the Mayor and Council colleagues to “send to the litter box” a proposal unveiled at the City’s Audit Committee which would require every San Diegan who owns a cat to register their cat and pay a fee – roughly $25. The goal of the proposal is to generate a half-a-million dollars for …
UPDATED: Union Backers, Democrats Behind ‘Nonpartisan’ Middle Class Taxpayers’ Association
UPDATE, 1:50 pm July 11: Here’s a revealing Tweet from Murtaza Baxamusa, a board member of the Middle Class Taxpayers Association: Why is a supposed protector of middle class taxpayers advertising a Daily Kos story that claims Americans want higher taxes? Answer: Because according to Baxamusa, it’s a “fact” that Americans are undertaxed! How about a truth-in-advertising name change to …
Deficit Reduction – The Voters Will Need to Speak Clearly
The collapse of talks between Boehner and Obama on a “grand bargain” on the debt ceiling and future deficit reduction can be blamed on many things, but ultimately, the perceived self-interest of all parties makes such a deal impossible. There is no solution that will get enough Republican votes to pass the House that would also get enough Democratic votes …
Filipino-American and Vietnamese-American voters trending Republican in San Diego — Democrats are now in 3rd place!
Two ethnic groups with growing power (Filipinos and Vietnamese) are breaking bad for Democrats in San Diego, a new report reveals this week . Figures in the above chart are from a novel SD Registrar of Voters study, combining requests for foreign-language ballot materials with other ethnic identifiers. The high impact of Fil-Am voters in the South Bay, and Mira …
Private Donations And Public Interest In Balboa Park
Lucas O’Connor over at Two Cathedrals has raised some interesting questions about the implications of private donors exerting influence over public space and services. His post begins: A new front opened last night in the saga of Balboa Park, with the Old Globe’s Executive Producer emailing the theater’s email list with a pitch for the Plaza de Panama Committee’s recommendations …
The Good, the Bad, and the Costly
The San Diego County Taxpayers Association recently took a look at the new labor agreements approved in a number of cities within San Diego County setting terms for wages and pension benefits as part of new budgets for this fiscal year. SDCTA reviewed these new agreements to determine how they stack up against their pension reform recommendations. Better them than …
DOJ working fast and furious to cover its gun walking program
A July 4 meeting between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) front man Kenneth Melson and Congressional investigators revealed the Department of Justice has actively engaged in a “cover-up” and “remain silent” campaign concerning the controversial firearm program that allowed U.S. weapons to cross into Mexico in the hands of criminals. The hush, hush meeting revealed a couple …
Attention, Class: This WILL Be On The Test Monday
Rostra columnist Jim Sills posted a question on my recent post “Calling San Diego Taxpayers: Oppose the “Jobs Tax” asking San Diegans to oppose a proposal by the San Diego City Council to double linkage fees. Sills had the courage (and the smarts) to ask an obvious question. What the heck is a “linkage fee”? I called on Chris Cate, …
San Diego’s District 5 council seat — Republican Mark Kersey announces $75,000 cash-on-hand
Businessman Mark Kersey reports today he has $75,000 cash-on-hand for his bid to succeed Carl DeMaio as SD City Councilman, 5th district. Kersey already claims endorsements by Councilmembers Lorie Zapf and Kevin Faulconer, and senators Joel Anderson & Mark Wyland. Respected campaign consultant Stephen Puetz is also on board with Kersey. If other S.D. City candidates wish to release preliminary fundraising results before …
Breaking: Goldsmith to Run for Re-election
Four years after surviving a crowded primary, then trouncing incumbent Mike Aguirre in the run-off, San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith will seek re-election in 2012. The Goldsmith announcement is not quite the story it was four years ago, admittedly, but newsworthy nonetheless, considering that until now he has made no definitive comment he would run again. Since taking office, …
Fletcher: $300,000 — Reactions
From San Diego mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher… A little over a month ago, I launched my campaign to be the next Mayor of San Diego. Surrounded by hundreds of friends and supporters, I pledged to bring a new approach and new generation of leadership to San Diego. The energy of the announcement continued throughout the first month of the campaign. …
My Recent Trip to San Diego: What happened to the Magic Carpet?
Guest Commentary by Robert E. Bennett I grew up in Burbank, California and in the late 1950s, global warming was always present in the summer. That’s why my mother and father would get us in our 1957 Ford Country Sedan station wagon and head on down to La Jolla. I had four aunts and a grandmother living there. We would …
Socialists and Fascists, Gathered Merrily
Union thugs and greedy corporate oppressors are people too. And pretty nice ones, judging from the crowd last night at the third meetup between what Erica Holloway aptly referred to as “Rostrafarians, our liberal darling blogger friends at Two Cathedrals, and those hipster CityBeat cats.” While the national media bemoans excessive partisanship and political polarization, it’s nice to see some …
TODAY! Son of a… Howard Dean
Oh my, the shenanigans continues. It’s a darn good thing that it does for those of us who like to share airspace with other poliwonks, politicos and press-pass junkies. In a bi-partisan, put down your swords, have a beer for goodness sake and sign a peace treaty effort, our little gatherings between Rostrafarians, our liberal darling blogger friends at Two …
Calling San Diego Taxpayers: Oppose the “Jobs Tax”
The San Diego County Taxpayers calls upon San Diegans to voice their opposition to a proposal by the San Diego City Council to double the so called “linkage fee” charged to construction projects in the City of San Diego. This fee is yet another short-sighted job killer and SDCTA is strongly opposed to this increase. The Council will also consider …
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