Some random thoughts on the passing California political scene…
IDIOT OF THE WEEK AWARD: Its unclear who the specific winner here is — it may be the entire Workers’ Compensation system in California. But specifically it is the person, persons or rules that would allow former U.C. Davis Police Lieutenant John Pike to be awarded $38,000 in benefits after he suffered stress as a result of the notoriety and attention he received, back in 2011, when he unloaded a stream of pepper spray on students who were peacefully protesting tuition increases. All you have to do is take a moment to watch the video and, well, you will understand how idiotic this cash bonus was for someone who may have been 2011’s Idiot of the Year. By the way, I know for a fact that the compilation of videos of police response to that protest is now routinely used in officer training to show how NOT to handle an incident such as this.
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I find it somewhat amusing and ironic that most of the people who loudly complain about the role of money in politics are active participants in the root cause. This is not rocket science, so follow along. The bigger government gets, and the more it has the power to redistribute money, and impost regulation, the more money that people will spend to control those outcomes. If you want to reduce the influence of money in politics, reduce the influence of government in our lives. It’s really that simple.
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My friend Anthony Manolatos has appropriately entitled this clip Nathan Fletcher attacking Nathan Fletcher.
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In yet another stunning abuse of the power of her office, Attorney General Kamela has taken a ballot measure that trial lawyers are putting forward to bust MICRA caps and has somehow made it a measure about “Drug and Alcohol Testing of Doctors” — seriously. You have to get seriously far into the summary to even find out the measure would increase caps on pain and suffering in medical negligence lawsuits. Check it out here. This is worse than when she helped pass the weakening of legislative term limits last year by giving it a title and summary that made voters think it did the opposite.
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I recently had a chance to meet and chat briefly with David Koch. David, along with his brother, Charles, run their family-owned business, Koch Enterprises. What a great guy. They are everything that the progressive left hates. They are creators, having built their company to a vast size. Yes, they became very wealthy in the process. But guess what? They are also one of the largest employers in the United States. Yes, through their business success, many have prospered. But merely being wealthy and successful isn’t enough to completely raise the ire of the left. They are also libertarians who believe in free markets, capitalism, and that a government which governs least, governs best. They engage in political action, to promote their political views. The same lefties who sit around and make folksy hate songs about the evil Kochs while sitting around campfire and dream about getting grants from George Soros-related “dark money” groups so that they can live large as community organizers. Who knows, someday President of the United States?
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Hats off to Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Vista). Issa has introduced H.R. 3319, the Equal Healthcare Access Act. Simply put, this bill would allow every American have access to the same health care plans that a Member of Congress does (that’s 230 different plans, if you were wondering). While the real solutions for the health care issues need to be centered around empowering the individual as the consumer and decision maker in the process, we applaud Issa’s bill that continues to drive home that while Congress is passing a law to send vast numbers of Americans in substandard “exchanges” for government-sponsored healthcare (if they can actually get onto the appropriate website), Members of Congress still enjoy gold-plated coverage. In this case, what’s good for the Golden Goose is not good enough for the gander.
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I know that was not the only Californian that was actually pulling for a BART strike. My logic was pretty straightforward, and sound. For decades voters in the San Francisco Bay Area (ok, most voters) have been electing liberal politicians who have continued to promulgate more and more laws growing and empowering public employee unions in California. It seemed to me an appropriate “reward” for these voters would be to be inconvenienced by one of the monsters they helped to create. Maybe the whole situation will help the public to understand that public employees should not have the legal authority to strike, or collectively bargain. Then again, now that the trains are once again running on time, Bay Area liberals will keep checking the same boxes as usual when they vote.
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Finally, if checking out “Gay Superman” was your Halloween ambition — I’m afraid you’re out of luck…