The Nation Shrugs As Though Nothing Happened [Publisher’s Note: As part of an ongoing effort to bring original, thoughtful commentary to you here at the FlashReport, we are pleased to present this column from Hector Barajas.]

The tragic shootings at a predominately black Charleston AME Church in South Carolina sparked a national debate over race relations, the Confederate flag and its symbolism as a potential motivation behind the crime. The response to the tragedy in Charleston stands in stark contrast to violence that took place in Chicago over the Independence… Read More

Californians know them well. They are the Proposition 13 “blamers.” They blame Proposition 13 for everything they see or even imagine as negative in the state of California.

Some years ago, a newspaper editorial asked if Proposition 13 was responsible for a measles epidemic saying it may have limited the availability of vaccine. A national publication suggested that O.J. Simpson’s acquittal of murder charges was due to the tax limiting measure because prosecuting attorneys may not have been paid enough.

Most recently, a column by a West Coast writer published in the New York Times claimed that one of the reasons that Los Angeles is becoming a “third world” city is reduced funding for education caused by the tax revolt that passed Proposition 13. As is typical, the writer ignores the fact that California now spends 30 percent more per pupil, in inflation adjusted dollars, than the amount spent just prior to the passage of Proposition 13 – a time when both liberals and conservatives agree that California schools were among the best in the nation.

Most Californians know they are overtaxed and that’s bad news for the blamers. And the latest news… Read More

The California Agricultural Labor Relations Board may have just celebrated its 40th anniversary, but this board also has a long history of abusive behavior – toward California farm workers, and farmers and ranchers.

Many are aware of the fight that thousands of workers at Gerawan Farming have been waging since 2012 to oust the United Farm Workers union from Gerawan. The ALRB has clearly been “in cahoots” with the UFW, according to a Superior Court Judge, to force the workers into the union.

But there are many more cases of farm and ranch owners abused by the ALRB, which raise serious doubts about the fairness and objectivity of this California state agency created to defend the rights of farmworkers. And top ALRB attorneys are involved up to their eyeballs, misleading farm workers, as well as the courts.

Some of the obscure cases resurfaced after the surprise gubernatorial appointment last week of Sylvia Torres-Guillen, the controversial general counsel of the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board, to Gov. Jerry Brown’s office as special counsel. Many say Brown did this to avoid any more public scrutiny over his appointment of… Read More

One of the many liberal talking points against Prop 13 is that it “gutted” public education. Supposedly Prop 13, which passed in 1978, is the main reason our CA schools are so underfunded today — ruining whatprogressivesnowclaim was once the best K-12 public school system in the nation. But were the CA public schools really that great before they were “gutted”? Indeed, was school funding gutted at ALL?

Short answer to the second question:“Au contraire.”

Below is a chart showing the history of CA public school spending since 1968. It’s PER STUDENT, and it’s adjusted for inflation. As the chart demonstrates, since 1968 the resulting spending has essentially DOUBLED. And I say again, this growth in spending is adjusted for both the number of students and inflation.

I should add that this chart is outdated (pre Prop 30). In the last two years CA public education spending hassoared. Yet the Democrats want to raise several taxes to further increase funding “for the children,” — not to mention “reform” Prop 13. Well, actually these tax increase are… Read More

A Sacramento Superior Court judge has put a halt to the City of Sacramento’s plan for a mass-deletion of millions of e-mails deemed “non-public record,” following two California Public Records Act requests — one of which was mine.

The California Public Records Actrequires judges to balance the publics’ right to access records with the public interests in not accessing records.City officials said that the email being deleted does not qualify as public record and is mostly “transitory in nature.”

I filed my PRA request June 25, 2015 specifically in response to the recent public statements by City Officials, including City Attorney James Sanchez, that the City will be destroying all emails in its possession, two years or older on July 1, 2015. My requests are, among other things, to obtain copies of those electronic messages prior to their deletion by the City.

Richard Stevenson, a grass roots community… Read More

Here’s a fact that may surprise you: In the past four years, Democratic US Senate candidate and Attorney General Kamala Harris has accepted $6,000 from Donald Trump.

Don’t be fooled by the Donald’s latest branding gimmick. He’s not a conservative, rather he’s exploiting the Republican Party in his latest PR gambit. In reality, Donald Trump is a big government authoritarian who backs liberal Democrats like Kamala Harris.

In the past four years, Harris’s campaign has accepted a total of $6,000 in… Read More

Below is a valuable chart, comparing how much a $100 buys in each state. It’s no surprise that California is one of the worst. Only NY, NJ and HI offer less bang for the buck. Through a remarkable coincidence, all four states are controlled by Democrats. Odd, isn’t it? CAUTION: It’s worse than the graphic indicates. Most viewers of this data will misinterpret this graph — it’s worse in these four states than the charts indicate. The hypothetical $100 is AFTER TAX dollars — a fact that is mentioned only in passing. In other words, not included is the state income tax. These four worst states all have high state income taxes. Indeed, HI, NJ and NY income tax rates rise faster than CA, though in the top brackets, CA is considerably higher. Well, except for nut-ball NYC, that tacks on its own local income tax. So when you compare the value of $100 in, say, CA and TX, remember which state “lets” you pay a state income tax, and which state does not.

… Read More

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but something is rotten with road funding in California.

Sacramento is flush with billions in unanticipated revenue. Yet a record $115 billion budget spending plan signed by Gov. Jerry Brown shortchanges the state’s transportation and infrastructure needs. The only real funding boost goes to high-speed rail.

Budgets reflect priorities, and this shows that fixing roads is not a priority to Democratic legislators. Instead of fixing deteriorating freeways, some liberal lawmakers still hope Californians will give up their cars and ride mass transit.

But tax-and-spend politicians sense an opportunity. By starving road maintenance budgets, they hope to create public pressure for tax increases. Rather than curb wasteful spending, they want to have their cake and eat it, too.

Call it the “pothole strategy.” It’s similar to when the federal government closes the Washington Monument or school districts force teachers to buy their supplies. These highly visible actions appeal to people’s emotions and can generate public support for higher taxes.

I hope Californians will not fall for this trick.

The… Read More