We are pleased to present this commentary from Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association:

"Scary"

Lots of things bother me about horror movies, but one of the big things is the inability to warn the victims that a grisly fate awaits them just around the corner. There are times when, at one time or another, we have all wanted to stand up in the theatre and yell "don’t go in that creepy mansion, you fool!"

**There is more – click the link**

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War profiteer and filmmakerMichael Moore (Fahrenheit 911 $260M worlwide gross) visited the State Capitol with a message of health care socialism yesterday. Here is one of his more ridiculous (of many) quotes: "’There is no room for the concept of profits when taking care of people when they are sick," Moore told a crowd of nearly a thousand nurses who swarmed the west steps of the Capitol.

I wonder if there could be anyone dumber than this guy. The profit motive in health care drives all innovation, all advancement, all efficiency and all progress in the industry. Socialist countries with single payer health care produce no advanced medical technology of their own, no new pharmaceutical drugs, and massive rationing and wait times. Nobody from the United States goes to Canada for advanced treatments.

The single largest cost drivers in our private health system are illegal immigration and government run health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Hospitals and practitioners lose… Read More

I know this sounds like a joke with a punch line that goes like this; "Sure, with all the thieves why not?"

But, I did receive several emails after a post on the GOP race in the 37th Congressional District asking me just that. See post here. OneGOP candidate "Bishop" Guillory is a convicted Kidnapper. How can he run, you ask??

I know this answer, becasue Iregistered a convicted felon to vote at a local Republican booth just before the 2004 elections. He was hardcore is so many ways. That’s right convicted felons can vote and hold office in California IF they are not in prison or on parole. You can see it for yourself on the Secretary of State website here.

Hey ,it’s better than all the uncovicted felons in office.… Read More

[I am writing this commentary from Santa Barbara, where today I will be on hand for a special ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Ranch Center here, to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" speech. I’ll be bringing you footage of the event, as well as coverage of a trip I took to "Rancho Del Cielo" — the Reagan Ranch — tomorrow morning! – Flash]

It’s been a little while since I have penned anything on the goings on in the City of Anaheim. FR readers may recall that I took the folks at Disney to task for pushing a city-wide ballot measure that would create ‘ballot box’ zoning in close proximity to Disneyland — but not IN Disneyland. In otherwords, other property owners would have onerous regulations placed on them, while the Disney Corporation would not. Anyways, you can read more about what they call the "SOAR" plan in my previous column.

… Read More

[I am writing this commentary from Santa Barbara, where today I will be on hand for a special ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Ranch Center here, to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" speech. I’ll be bringing you footage of the event, as well as coverage of a trip I took to "Rancho Del Cielo" — the Reagan Ranch — tomorrow morning! – Flash]

It’s been a little while since I have penned anything on the goings on in the City of Anaheim. FR readers may recall that I took the folks at Disney to task for pushing a city-wide ballot measure that would create ‘ballot box’ zoning in close proximity to Disneyland — but not IN Disneyland. In otherwords, other property owners would have onerous regulations placed on them, while the Disney Corporation would not. Anyways, you can read more about what they call the "SOAR" plan in my previous column.

… Read More

I guess this blog post is aimed squarely at GOP State Senators Sam Aanastad, Tom Harman, and Abel Maldonado. You see, these are the only Republicans who voted for a piece of legislation that, in essence, bans the use of cell phones and PDAs of 16 an 17 year old drivers while they are operating a car. My question is this… Would they also vote for legislation that would ban ANY driver, regardless of age, from doing this? My guess is probably not. (Well, Aanastad did vote last year to… Read More

Over the weekend, the FR main page included some links to stories about the Saturday passing of longtime GOP consultant Jack Orr. Duane Dichiara also posted a tribute to Jack yesterday.

Today on Red County/San Diego, Ernie Cowan of the North SD County Association of Realtors posts an open letter in tribute to his friend:

To God. Letter of Reference for Mr. Jack Orr As a founding member of the Albondigas Political Society and a person who considered Jack Orr a deep personal friend, I don’t think we can go without assisting him as much as possible. His loss saddens us greatly, but knowing him brightened our lives and filled many of our days with fun and excitement.

Jack, old friend, you will be missed terribly, but thank you for contributing so much to so many.

To: God Subject: Letter of Reference for Mr. Jack Orr

Dear God:

It is with sadness that I provide this letter of… Read More

Republican political consultant Jack Orr died Saturday morning of a heart attack.

Inhis saladdays, Jack had been a member of the Reagan, Nixon, and Ford campaigns or administrations in Sacramento and Washington D.C.. Often when I meet one of the bigwigs from the 1970’s or 1980’s and they find out I’m from San Diego, they ask about Jack, and relay stories about his bulldog like campaigning for the tops of the ticket in years past.

Later,Jack made his home in San Diego’s North County and built a stable of medium sized city clients while he lobbied county government. He founded a unique North County institution, the Albondigas Club, a social order of local politicians and other interested folks in politics. With any luck, Encinitas Councilman Jerome Stocks will pick up the reigns of this organization.

Jack was a true rough and tumble campaigner. No mercy given or asked. He didn’t always win, and he didn’t always lose, but he always got his knuckles bloody. And at the ripe age of (I believe) 68 or 69 he was still working daily on new innovations, including ‘auto-dial polling’.

Jack Orr spent a… Read More