A local San Diego veterinarian recently informed me about an issue that veterinarians across the country are having with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) accreditation process. Accreditation by the USDA is required for any veterinarian wishing to issue health certificates for animals traveling between states or out of the country. In the past, once a vet was accredited, they …
DeMaio Releases Plan to Restore Browned Out Fire Stations
Councilmember DeMaio today released a plan to restore browned-out fire stations — using cost savings in the FY11 budget that his office uncovered. DeMaio issued the following statement along with the release of the plan: “Public safety does not and should not be a casualty of the city’s financial problems. My office has identified $4.2 million in immediate cost savings …
November Candidates
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
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
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
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 !
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 …
The perfect candidate for Congress — or whatever
This campaign ad could work for a candidate in either party! It should be shown in our schools. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ5cGYBV2TQ
CalPERS complicit in Bell scandal — they lied
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
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
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?
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
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 …
Jerry Sanders: Complete Failure?
First, a very important tenet for me. I do not use the term “RINO” or take shots at someone’s conservative credentials lightly, I cannot stress that enough. Now that we have that out of the way… Seriously? Jerry Sanders. Seriously, dude? At this point it isn’t “what have you done for us lately”, it is what have you done for …
Step Right Up, See The Stimulus!
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. …
This Isn’t Right
I thought a long while before writing this post. I lived with Mayor Sander’s position on gay marriage. Gave him a pass, for the good of party unity. I was pretty upset with his position on the Arizona law, but largely kept my mouth shut. But this sales tax increase is just too much. The one thing that holds the …
Mexico increases its drug cartel deaths to 28,000
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
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
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, …
SurveyUSA: 66% oppose sales tax increase in San Diego
Thanks to Vince Vasquez for the tip. To quote Vince from his Twitter post, “SurveyUSA polling data shows 66% of San Diegans oppose sales tax hike, even when tied to vague promises of reform.” See the poll results
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