November Candidates

Barry JantzBarry Jantz 3 Comments

The candidate list is “up” at the Registrar of Voters.  Remember that if a name is listed, that doesn’t necessarily mean the person filed for the office by the Friday deadline.  See if the name is listed as “qualified,” meaning they actually finalized the qualification steps to run.  If an incumbent has not filed in a race, potential challengers have …

Labor and Latino leaders begin voter registration drive

Kimberly DvorakKimberly Dvorak Leave a Comment

With less than 90 days until the November midterm elections, California labor unions and Latino community leaders are ratcheting up their voter registration teams in an effort to minimize Democratic losses. “For Latinos, the 2010 election is more than merely electing one candidate or another, it is about taking an active role, now more than ever, in the decisions that …

Evidence the SD sales tax is doomed

Richard Rider, Chairman, San Diego Tax FightersRichard Rider, Chairman, San Diego Tax Fighters Leave a Comment

When the San Diego city sales tax was first agreed to this week by the city council, there was a short “Breaking News” piece on the U-T website. The next day there were over 200 comments. But what struck me was the OVERWHELMING rejection of the tax by commenters. Normally there is a hyperactive cadre of government employees commenting away …

San Diego doctors rally against Obamacare

Kimberly DvorakKimberly Dvorak Leave a Comment

A sea of white coats filled Spanish Landing in downtown San Diego to present a united front against government-controlled health care. A group of physicians formed the National Doctors Tea Party and have begun their cross country trek; however these doctors are on a mission to educate Americans about the perils of Obamacare. A bevy of speakers addressed the crowd …

Did Lorie Zapf’s Big victory surprise local Liberals? — Some were Flabbergasted !

Jim SillsJim Sills 12 Comments

Last week I wrote a column about SD Rostra’s success in correctly predicting Upset victories in June by Juan Vargas and Lorie Zapf. Not very controversial, right? But a writer for a SD liberal publication attacked, saying (A) Zapf’s victory was no surprise, and (B) no one said she would miss the runoff and (C) we Rostrafarians were “Morons”. As …

CalPERS complicit in Bell scandal — they lied

Richard Rider, Chairman, San Diego Tax FightersRichard Rider, Chairman, San Diego Tax Fighters Leave a Comment

Recently CalPERS expressed shock and surprise at the huge public administrator salaries in the small, poor city of Bell. But they lied. Turns out that FOUR YEARS AGO internal memos at CalPERS expressed concerns about this rip-off — but no action was taken. Even more outrageous, CalPERS stated that while it was a problem to give huge pay increases (and …

Ruth Sterling “Opts Out” Against Art Madrid

Greg LarkinGreg Larkin 10 Comments

After causing a bit of a buzz last week when she pulled papers to “consider” running against La Mesa Mayor Art Madrid, Councilmember Ruth Sterling got what many knew she would from the beginning: Cold feet. Sterling did not file her candidacy paperwork by Friday’s 5 p.m. deadline, leaving only realtor Laura Lothian in the race against Madrid.  Lothian has …

City of Bell scandal continues to grow

Richard Rider, Chairman, San Diego Tax FightersRichard Rider, Chairman, San Diego Tax Fighters Leave a Comment

The scandal in the city of Bell continues to grow — and to toll the death knell for runaway government pay and benefits. It’s hard to imagine that this raped city will not declare bankruptcy shortly. Breaking News: More Bell City Employees Were Receiving Big-Time Salaries Written by James Spencer August 6, 2010 The phone still rings in the city …

Why aren’t government agencies forced to show the long term obligations of pension deals to the public?

Poway RogerPoway Roger 1 Comment

http://open.salon.com/blog/richard_rider/2010/08/06/city_of_bell_scandal_continues_to_grow Why should a city be allowed to pass their obligations to others? It’s obvious that the City of Bell greatly overpaid some of their employees and the pool of cities to which they belong will be forced to pick up the retirement tab. Now let’s look at the proposed San Diego Sales Tax increase. As Council member DeMaio has …

Our Own Microcosm of Freedom vs. Tyranny: The City Hall Machine vs. The Rest of Us

Buck TurgidsonBuck Turgidson Leave a Comment

Kudos to Rostra blogger Bradley J. Fikes for this post calling out the thinly-veiled message in the U-T that actually precluded the sales tax proponents’ simple message: “Agree to a sales tax increase or you will die.” May I suggest we haven’t even begun to be spoon-fed this message. The coming months will be filled with it. This is the …

Step Right Up, See The Stimulus!

Bob SiegelBob Siegel Leave a Comment

So, you think those stimulus bills were a waste of time? Well, that just means you can’t handle a black president and his compassionate, fiscally wise congress. Listed below, is a sampling of these economy booster shots, courtesy of the Washington Examiner: Aug. 3, 2010.  My own commentary follows each description. -$2 million earmarked for swine odor research in Iowa. …

Mexico increases its drug cartel deaths to 28,000

Kimberly DvorakKimberly Dvorak Leave a Comment

In the past four years Mexico has lost more than 28,000 lives in Felipe Calderon’s war on drug. The new number adds approximately 3,000 murders to the drug cartel violence tally, according to the Mexican Center of Investigation and National Security (Cisen). While the murder rate is closing in on the 30,000 mark, National Intelligence Chief Guillermo Valdes says the …

Tolerance, Thy Name Is Dictator

Bob SiegelBob Siegel 9 Comments

At first the people of California passed a law stating that marriage would be defined as a union between a man and a woman.  Then, a court overturned the law, claiming it was unconstitutional. So, later on, in 2008, after seven million people passed Proposition 8, the California constitution was actually changed. I went on the radio at this point …

Top 10 Flaws in the San Diego Sales Tax Hike

Carl DeMaioCarl DeMaio 1 Comment

Not surprisingly, the City Council today advanced the dubious Sales Tax Ballot Measure. Put simply, San Diego taxpayers deserve better than a tax increase masquerading as “reform.”  That’s why we are putting together a broad-based campaign to defeat this deceptive measure – and to articulate a bold and effective reform agenda. If you are willing to help with the campaign, …

Mary England’s take on her NO vote in Lemon Grove; GOP makes needed comparison to San Diego

Vito AndoliniVito Andolini Leave a Comment

Following up on last night’s post noting that a sales tax increase will not be on the November ballot in Lemon Grove, the lone — but in this case all powerful — holdout provides her thoughts to SD Rostra.  From Councilmember Mary England: “It is time that the people see that we are serious about structured reform at city hall.  …

Astro Turf provided by SEIU hijacks Arizona SB1070 rally

Kimberly DvorakKimberly Dvorak Leave a Comment

Not so long ago the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) played schoolyard games and called the Tea Party movement Astro Turf. It’s been more than a year and the grassroots Tea Party movement is still going strong. In fact many political candidates backed by the movement are poised to win Congressional seats and it appears the opposition SEIU …