Each legislative session there are bills that go through the California legislature that are of great concern to me for one reason or another. There are bills that raise taxes (even though our taxes in California are amongst the highest in the nation), that heap on more regulations (even though no one is regulated as much as we are), and that simply grow the size of government in our state (as if it isn’t big enough). There is nothing that makes me more sick to my stomach than when legislators seek to use the power of state government to pick winners and losers — and sometimes… Read More

In Medieval times, medical professionals thought the way to cure diseases was to attach leeches to the patient, drain his or her blood. That was the “cure” for eliminating disease.

Before Jerry Brown became Governor in 1974 (when Californians were sane enough to elect Ronald Reagan Governor), California had the best education system in the country and a transportation system without peer. Housing was affordable, energy and water were plentiful, and California’s total general fund budget was around $9 billion. Today, with a general fund budget around $122 billion, which by the way is a per capita dollar average more than double what it was in 1974, after calculating inflation AND population, housing is unaffordable, electricity and water are subject to massive shortages, our schools are horrible, and our freeways are so overcrowded that, particularly in the Los Angeles and Bay areas, no one can find a time when they can avoid traffic jams. What Jerry Brown did in the 1970’s was to expand welfare and government assistance programs to “aid the poor.” Much like the medieval doctors, Brown attached leeches to state budget, bleeding out… Read More

There is a sad parallel between the Orlando massacre and San Diego’s “McDonald’s massacre” of 1984. Lessons were learned from the McDonald’s massacre, and then ignored by police brass in Orlando. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Ysidro_McDonald%27s_massacre

To review, a white racist who hated Mexicans entered the McDonald’s in San Ysidro (very close to the Mexican border) and started shooting. And shooting. And shooting.

The first cops on the scene did nothing, even as the shooting continued. They contacted HQ which in turn contacted the SWAT commander, who was at a social function at Mission Bay.

Until that time, SWAT was primarily geared up for hostage situations. Nationwide they’d never faced a maniacal shooter who just wanted to kill as many people as possible before they in turn were gunned down. So the San Diego SWAT commander ordered officers on the scene (including a sniper with a clear shot at the guy) to wait until he arrived in San Ysidro to properly assess the situation. That’s about a 40-50 minute drive.… Read More

This week, after reaching agreement with Governor Brown, the California Legislature will pass the state budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year. In so doing, it will meet its Constitutional deadline of June 15th.

A few weeks ago, this column attempted to provide some clarity to ordinary citizen taxpayers on basic state budget issues. This included an explanation of the difference between “general fund” expenditures and “special fund” expenditures. The column also reviewed California’s higher than average level of taxation and its legendary wasteful practices.

Those budget issues are confusing enough but there is something else going on that confounds even those of us who have at least some familiarity with government finance. Specifically, California has manipulated accounting rules that are, at best, confusing and, at worse, intended to conceal the true condition of state finances.

For most folks, figuring out the family finances isn’t all that difficult. Most people have a relatively stable and predictable amount of income they can spend and, on the flip side, they have a pretty good grasp of their expenses. Of course, even the best laid plans can… Read More

Shopping carts full of merchandise are being pushed nonchalantly out the doors of big box stores. Clerks working at convenience stores watch customers casually stroll into their store and run out with an arm full of goods. As long as each cart full is less than $950, this crime is virtually un-punishable and the criminals know it.

Since Proposition 47 was approved by voters in 2014, major retailers say shoplifting has gone up 15 to 50 percent. Unfortunately, the will to fix this problem doesn’t exist in Sacramento. In fact, instead of focusing their efforts on closing several dangerous loopholes created by Prop 47, the Democrat-controlled Assembly actually approved a bill last week that gives prisoners who are already serving time for certain crimes five more years to request to be let out early.

The left-leaning politicians in control of California have more sympathy for criminals than they have for the store clerk who is threatened with a box cutter when she tries to stop a thief.… Read More

Nearly every objection that supporters of presidential candidates Trump and Sanders raise to the establishment are intimately associated with government unions. But neither the people’s voice, or that voice as it is reflected back to them by their populist heroes, articulates this fact.

(1) Do you want to reform Wall Street?

You’ll have to go through the government unions. Their union controlled pension funds are the biggest players on Wall Street. The union controlled cities that issue hundreds of billions in municipal bonds every year are a close second. Government unions benefit from the financialization of the American economy, even as it has wiped out the middle class. Low interest loans elevate prices for homes, which stimulates borrowing and consumer spending, which enriches corporations and the pension funds who invest in their stocks. High home prices raise property tax revenues. Low interest loans mean families can borrow more for college tuition – so unionized professors can continue to make six figure salaries for teaching a few hours a week, a few months a year.

(2) Do you want to restore reasonableness to… Read More

Many of those under 50 do not remember tax revolt leader Howard Jarvis, who passed away 30 years ago, and yet, perhaps unknowingly, they are benefiting from his legacy. Proposition 13, which limits property taxes and allows local voters to have the final say on new taxes, was Howard’s gift to all Californians.

By limiting annual increases, Proposition 13 makes property taxes predictable from year to year. This doesn’t just benefit senior citizen homeowners on fixed incomes who worry about losing their homes to the tax collector. It benefits all homeowners. For example, a family who bought their home just five years ago in 2011, at the typical price that year of $286,000, has already seen significant tax savings. Today, the median sales price is close to $509,000 according to the California Association of Realtors. That’s a 79 percent increase. Under the property tax system that preceded Proposition 13, which was based on current value, the family who bought their home in 2011, would see their property taxes nearly double in in a few short years.

Without Proposition 13, that family who struggled to buy a home in the first place, would find themselves… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: The Honorable Gloria Romero served in the California State Senate from 2001 through 2010. A Democrat, Romero has been a champion for education reform. Her columns have appeared regularly in the Orange County Register. Apparently they were not responsive to Romero’s request that this piece run on the Register’s editorial page before the election. We agreed to run it here – Flash]

The Orange County Register made the wrong choice when it endorsed the Rebecca Gomez instead of current Board member Robert Hammond for the Orange County Board of Education.

What is most troubling is the rationale provided for its failure to endorse Hammond: rather than reviewing him on his exemplary record of supporting parental choice and expanding quality school choice options for all Orange County families, they excoriated him for the use of a derogatory term offensive to gays and lesbians.

I support the Register’s chastising Hammond over the use of the insulting word written in an email to a colleague following the Supreme Court’s historic ruling… Read More