The Humane Society’s seemingly undue influence on the legislative process last year made for an interesting story. This national, non-profit, media darling, animal rescue group was able to push through the California lead ammunition ban, as well as successfully getting all of their other sponsored bills signed into law by California Gov. Jerry Brown.

Then again, Jennifer Fearing, the Humane Society California senior state director, apparently lobbied Gov. Brown at the dog park; Fearing admitted to dog-sitting for Sutter Brown, Gov. Jerry Brown’s Pembroke Welsh Corgi — while lobbying the Legislature during the 2013 legislative session. (Note: it is unclear if Fearing is still working for the California HSUS. There were job postings for her state director position recently; her Twitter page says she is with the HSUS, but the … Read More

News outletsare giddy with the announcement of atour by theCalifornia Latino Legislative Caucus, of the illegal immigrant detention facilities at theVentura County Naval Base “to inspect the care immigrants are receiving.”

These same California lawmakers have ignored the plight and pleasfor help of thousands of Latino farm workers who are fighting to decertify the United Farm Workers labor union, and the state Agricultural labor Relations Board.

Ironically, this same group of people – Hispanic farm laborers – are the very demographic the Democratic Party is so eager to register to vote in local, state and national political elections. But when it comes to the farm workers not wanting to work under an oppressive union contract, state… Read More

“I now declare you legal partners,” will be whatCalifornia judges say at weddings in California. “You may now kiss your gender-neutral partner.”

California’s historic decline is not just limited to bad economic policy; California politicians have been meddling in people’s bedrooms, churches, women’s wombs, classrooms, kitchens, autos, bank accounts, and the courtroom.

In the spirit of this creepy meddling, Gov. Jerry Brownsigned a bill on Monday to do away withCalifornia’s legal references to traditional marriage between a husband and wife.SB 1306by state Sen.Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, replaces references to “husband and wife” with “gender-neutral” language in… Read More

By Tom Tanton and Jean Pagnone

When California makes the news, it is typically an example of what not to do. It is a state with high unemployment, out of control spending, and high taxes. Therefore it should be no surprise that California is in the news again thanks to California Air Resources Board and AB32, the Global Warming Solutions Act.

Additional revelations about ‘scientists’ fudging underlying data have surfaced and advocates for the poor are awakening to the economic devastation wrought by CARB’s implementation. Now CARB has issued a legislatively required update to its ‘scoping plan.’ Discussions have reignited about the need, the mechanism and the overall benefits of this bureaucratic attempt to do something about the weather. Most significant perhaps is the application of cap and trade rules to transportation fuels which are scheduled to go into effect January 2015. This new, permanent hidden gas tax created by CARB and implemented without legislative approval will likely cost Californians 15 cents to over a dollar more per gallon of gas, with that amount continuing to increase. That adds up to $3 to $9 billion dollars taken out of… Read More

California has one of the highest costs of living in the United States. California also is one of the most inhospitable places to run a business in the United States. And despite being blessed with abundant energy and an innovative tradition that ought to render the supply of all basic resources abundant and cheap, California has artificially created shortages of energy, land and water, and a crumbling, inadequate transportation and public utility infrastructure.

The reason for these policy failures is because the people who run California are the public sector unions who control the machinery of government, the career aspirations of government bureaucrats, the electoral fate of politicians, and the regulatory environment of the business community. To make it work, these unions have exempted government workers, along with compliant corporations and those who are wealthy enough to be indifferent, from the hardships their policies have created for everyone else.

Here’s just a taste of what California’s middle class, too rich to qualify for government handouts and too poor to be indifferent, has to endure compared to the rest of the United States:… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: We are pleased to offer this original commentary from Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone. Stone is also candidate for State Senate. — Flash]

As the immigration crisis at our border continues to grow, the President and Congress need to consider the short and long-term impact on local communities of their inability to enforce our laws and control our borders.

As the County Supervisor who represents Murrieta, California, I am deeply concerned about the lack of enforcement of the U.S. border. Mexican Cartels are now involved in human trafficking and… Read More

Last week the Secretary of State’s office gave a name and number to the trial lawyers’ “sue anyone in a white coat” ballot measure — Proposition 46. This measure, of course, is a measure that I strongly oppose because while more lawsuits and bigger payouts may be good for the lawyers, it will be bad and costly for everyone else. As if Obamacare and California’s rush to insert the government into the healthcare field wasn’t driving up costs… Read More

In a dubious deal between the Service Employees International Union and the Los Angeles Unified School District, minimum-wage workers will receive pay increases to $15 an hour, nearly doubling some workers’ salaries.

The contract agreement will significantly boost the wages of 33,000 bus drivers, janitors, school security, cafeteria workers, and teacher’s aids,… Read More