For the second time in as many weeks Californians got the news that Sacramento politicians are proposing yet another big tax hike. The truth is that new taxes would never be required were it not for Sacramento’s mismanagement of existing tax dollars.

Last week, it was the proposal to deal with the very real problem of “revenue volatility” in California’s tax structure with the very unreal “solution” of a $10 billion tax on services.

But the latest proposal comes from new Senate leader Toni Atkins who proposes a brand new tax on drivers to pay for highway and road repairs in California. This new “fee” would take $1.8 billion dollars out of the pockets of hard working California citizens over the next five years.

To read the entire column please click here http://www.hjta.org/california-commentary/knee-jerk-tax-hikes/… Read More

Is it true “Latinos remain hard to find on the councils of city and county governments throughout the state,” as Sacramento Bee columnist Marcus Breton says? Given that the California Legislature is fed by city and county governments, it is notable that the Legislative Latino Caucus has 22 members – all Democrats — out of 140 total California legislators. Even more notable, the Democrats won’t let the only Latino Republican, Assemblyman Rocky Chavez, join the caucus.

Rather than bemoan the numbers of Hispanics in government, Breton should have identified the real source of the problem: California.

Hispanics thrive more in Texas than in California. Why?

California and Texas stand for two completely different faces of the Hispanic experience in America

“Hispanics enjoy much better statistics across the board in the Lone Star State than in the Golden one,” according to Mike Gonzalez with the Heritage Foundation.… Read More

“GIGO.” Garbage in, garbage out.

The city of San Diego lifeguards are probably the highest compensated in the state — but America’s Finest City has a policy of not reporting the full cost of benefits. Or even MOST of the costs. “Too much trouble,” apparently.

Looking at the highest CA lifeguard compensation figures in the article below, it appears to me that the only benefit cost my city includes is health insurance — nothing for pensions, 401k plan, disability insurance, life insurance, retiree health care, etc., etc. And let’s not overlook the unfunded liability cost (seldom reported) for employee pensions, retiree health care, disability, etc.

Look at the life guard “benefits” cost listed for the six top CA lifeguards: 1. Huntington Beach — $61,155 2. LA County — $37,917 3. San Diego — *** $9,845 *** 4. Huntington Beach — $59,800 5. LA County — $35,137 6. LA County — $41,310

While each CA jurisdiction is required to submit this employee compensation data annually, the devil is in… Read More

California has become a reliably blue state, unfortunately. It can now be counted on to produce Democrat elected officials in every office that requires a statewide vote. That having been said, the Golden State is so large that even though conservatives are in a minority here, there are still more of us here than just about anywhere else. California has a lot of influential players advancing conservative candidates and causes, and I thought that I would take the opportunity, through a series of postings, to highlight some of those that I think are making a difference. I can think of no better California conservative to highlight first than James Lacy.

I have known and toiled with… Read More

Unstated in California Assemblywoman Toni Atkins’ proposed new annual $52 DMV driving “fee” for infrastructure is the bogus assumption that Californians pay too little taxes. False.

Consider:

* CA has by FAR the highest state income tax rate.

* The highest state capital gains tax rate (2nd highest combined capital gains rate in the WORLD).

* The highest state sales tax rate.

* The highest gasoline and diesel taxes.

* The 10th highest homeowner property taxes.

* The 6th highest state corporate tax rate.

* The 2nd highest insurance premium sales tax rate (only 7 states even CHARGE such a tax).

* Traffic ticket “fees” that are over TRIPLE what other states charge.

www.TinyURL.com/CA-vs-other-states

CA state and local governments are AWASH in funds, but the Big Spenders willalwaysclaim that they need MORE. Tax dollars are fungible. By raising taxes for roads, that frees up EXISTING tax dollars to spent on… Read More

[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 Scott Blackburn.]

If you are new to the FlashReport, please check out the main site and the acclaimed FlashReport Weblog on California politics.

Sony Pictures was recently the victim of a cyber-attack thought to be the handiwork of the North Koreans. The communist nation was purportedly retaliating for an upcoming movie release in which actors James… Read More

Why would a Los Angeles Unified School District board member ask the board to influence a legal battle between a large Fresno fruit grower and the United Farm Workers labor union?

Rather than offer support to the Gerawan Farming companyworkersin their fight to oust the United Farm Workers labor union from their Fresno area farming employer, Steve Zimmer, a LAUSD 
Board Member
has authored a Resolution calling for… Read More

If you drive by Palm Lane Elementary School in Anaheim, California, nothing seems amiss. With modern buildings, partially surrounded by a park, the school seems like a tranquil refuge. Like so many settings in sunny Southern California, palm trees and sycamores compete for space on the spacious lawns, beckoning skyward, swaying in the warmth of a slight breeze. By appearances, Palm Lane seemsa perfect place to send your children to get an education.

Appearances can be deceiving. Palm Lane does not deliver educational excellence to its students, and it is the latest epicenter of an escalating war for control of California’s failing public schools.

Despite investing to create and maintain an impressive campus, academic achievement at Palm Lane has been sadly deficient. According to a report earlier this month in the Wall Street Journal,“In 2013 a mere 38% of students scored proficient or better on state standardized English tests and 53% in math. About 85% of its students are Latino and 60% aren’t native English speakers.”

… Read More