Will low voter turnout give Republican Neel Kashkari a chance?

The Libertarian Lass, Gayle FalkenthalThe Libertarian Lass, Gayle Falkenthal 9 Comments

In the wake of low voter turnout in the June 2014 California primary which favored conservative / Republican candidates, is there any chance of a repeat on a bigger scale in November 2014? John Nienstedt, president of Competitive Edge Research & Communication, says November 2014 could be a real downer for California when it comes to voter turnout. As John …

June 3 Voter Turnout: One Prediction Getting Plenty of Attention

The Libertarian Lass, Gayle FalkenthalThe Libertarian Lass, Gayle Falkenthal Leave a Comment

Voter turnout for the June 2014 California primary will be low. Not a “Stop The Presses” kind of statement. How about this: “San Diego is on the cusp of experiencing record low voter turnout. I’m talking about turnout potentially so weak it could damage the city’s psyche.”  Competitive Edge Research & Communication President and CEO John Nienstedt made this assertion …

Is Kashkari’s Approach a Winner for Cal GOP? UPDATE

B-DaddyB-Daddy 3 Comments

UPDATE Neel Kashkari is officially running: It will take a lot of work to turn CA around, but we can do this. And we must. Join us at http://t.co/rXUUjDZQsl pic.twitter.com/9ETneEaXmD — Neel Kashkari (@neelkashkari) January 22, 2014 END UPDATE I was hoping that my 100th post on San Diego Rostra would be more auspicious, but as the old saying goes …

Understanding Employers and Why Republicans Matter

Diane HarkeyBoard of Equalization Member Diane Harkey Leave a Comment

This op-ed originally appeared in Steve Frank’s California Political News & Views Common sense dictates that people as well as employers will act in their own best interest.  This is the premise underlying market economies and why they provide more goods, services and improve the lives of all of us, much more so than a command or government manipulated market can.  …

Brown Planning Pay Raises for State Workers

B-DaddyB-Daddy 1 Comment

At least that’s my take on these comments, as quoted in the U-T article headlined “NOT ALL PROP. 30 TAX HIKE MONEY GOING TO SCHOOLS.” Brown’s proposed $97.7 billion general fund budget assumes no state employee raises beyond those already required in union contracts. But contracts for all but two of the state’s 21 bargaining units are set to expire …

Top Twenty Worst Bills Worthy of the Governor’s Veto

Diane HarkeyBoard of Equalization Member Diane Harkey Leave a Comment

This op-ed, co-authored with Senator Bob Dutton, originally appeared in the Flashreport As of today, the Governor has yet to act on any of these bills. When he is done, we will grade Governor Brown on his performance. The Governor’s “letter grade” will be computed using the following scale… If he vetoes 90% or more, the Governor got an “A”, 80% – …

California Tobacco Tax Defeated

B-DaddyB-Daddy 5 Comments

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 …

Gov. Jerry Brown: State budget deficit now $16 billion — up slightly from his $9.2B deficit revision in January

Richard Rider, Chairman, San Diego Tax FightersUndesignated 15 Comments

Gov. Jerry Brown: State budget deficit now $16 billion Gov. Jerry Brown said in a video release today that California’s budget deficit has mushroomed to $16 billion, nearly twice as high as the $9.2 billion he estimated in January. Gosh, what a stunning revelation! Who’d a thunk it? http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/05/gov-jerry-brown-state-budget-deficit-now-16-billion.html#disqus_thread#storylink=cpy But the good news is that it’s not Assemblyman’s Nathan Fletcher’s …

Not only does the Legislature need to “Man up,” so does Governor Brown

Poway RogerPoway Roger Leave a Comment

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-jerry-brown-20120414,0,7914862.story Is Governor Brown for real? He signed a budget that was based on overly optimistic revenue projections that everyone knew would not be met. If he was a leader, he would NOT have signed the current budget last summer. If he really cared for California, he would have said “NO” and forced the legislature to work out a realistic …

Political Priorities for 2012 – One SD tea party perspective

B-DaddyB-Daddy 1 Comment

  My day job has become very challenging lately, and may continue to cause light blogging. When I have little time, it concentrates my mind on what is both important and within my sphere of influence. For example, I love following Presidential politics, but as a Californian I am going to have little influence on neither the Republican nominating process …

Promises, Promises

B-DaddyB-Daddy 4 Comments

Governor Jerry Brown’s budget promises to cut public education by $4.8 billion if his tax increases aren’t passed next November. Promises, promises. That we could get some cuts in the bloated state educracy would be welcome indeed. The California school system is not performing that well, despite spending about $8,452 per pupil per year, although I think that number is …

Surprising Veto by Jerry Brown – SB 469

B-DaddyB-Daddy 6 Comments

I was alerted by a tweet from my councilmember Lorie Zapf that Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed the anti-Walmart legislation sponsored by Juan Vargas, SB-469. Despite any rhetoric to the contrary, this bill was designed to make it harder for cities to approve Walmart supercenters that sell groceries, in direct competition with the largely unionized grocers like Ralphs, Vons and …

Leftist cesspool California is model for Obama’s America

Gabriella HoffmanGabriella Hoffman Leave a Comment

Cross-posted from the Washington Times Communities Welcome to the People’s Republic of California. Famous for “California Gurls,” the Orange County and Beverly Hills Housewives, labor unions, and corrupt politicians, the Golden State welcomes you to chaos, superficiality, and exorbitant spending! Hate the Tea Party? Party it up in Maxine Waters’ hellish district! Hate wealthy people and believe in high taxes? …

An Accomplished Fraud

Erica HollowayErica Holloway Leave a Comment

Today kicks off the hugely popular BlogHer ’11 conference in San Diego, a woman blogger-centric arena where the stronger sex gathers to share tips of the trade, network and even discuss some heavy topics. In Southern California, fewer hot buttons exists above immigration. This border town’s seen it’s share of debate on the subject that if polled would yield varying …

Gov. Brown Vetoes SB 168 – a bill to cripple petitioning in CA

Richard Rider, Chairman, San Diego Tax FightersUndesignated 4 Comments

In a welcome but widely unexpected move, Governor Brown has vetoed SB 168 — the state Democrat legislators’ slimy bill to all but outlaw the petition process for putting props and initiatives on the state and local ballots. Gov. Brown Ignores the Weak Fraud Argument, Vetoes SB 168 By Joel Fox Editor of Fox & Hounds and President of the …

The State Budget: Why doesn’t Sacramento get it, or, why do we continue to elect these people???

Poway RogerPoway Roger Leave a Comment

Wouldn’t it be nice if for once, no matter how hard it might be for them, that a real budget would be approved by Sacramento politicians without any gimmicks and not based on optimistic revenue projections? How about learning to live within your means? I scream whenever I hear the term “optimistic revenue projections” used anytime regarding the budget, because …

Wow! A state budget passed on time! Wow! But what kind of “wow” is it?

Poway RogerPoway Roger 1 Comment

Once again we’re left with a “smoke and mirrors” budget that doesn’t solve the problem and just passes the deficit to the next year. SO far Governor Brown has stood behind his campaign pledge and vetoed this budget because of the usual “Smoke and Mirrors,” but how long will he do so? What we need are politicians that instead of …