Once again it is time for taxpayers to get a good grip on their wallets because Sacramento politicians are looking to extend the “temporary” taxes imposed by Proposition 30, approved by voters less than two years ago.

There is nothing more permanent than a temporary tax. They are as immortal as a vampire and as nearly hard to kill. Take the “temporary” tax imposed in 1898 to pay for the Spanish American War. It remained on the books until 2006 when Congress discovered that the… Read More

As someone who stuck his political neck out to write op-eds warning California Republicans about Tim Donnelly six months ago, I am not surprised that events have caught up with me. The GOP heavies are weighing in now that Donnelly has—predictably—embarrassed the party.

But if powerful congressmen and former CRP chairs are cringing about Donnelly’s attacks on Kashkari for “supporting sharia”, they should be equally embarrassed by Kashkari. Kashkari had no business running. The base knows this if the brass doesn’t.

Kashkari’s political resume is thin to none. He is a semi-rich dilettante who represents nobody but himself, the political equivalent of a Hollywood Squares celebrity, famous because he was once famous, well known for being well known, only most of us had forgotten what it was he did because it wasn’t important enough to remember.

Kashkari ran TARP.… Read More

I have represented physicians, medical groups and Ambulatory Surgical Centers in matters of corporate, general business and regulatory compliance for the past ten years of my 17-year legal career. I understand medicine, and I know that California’s excessive regulation diverts resources from patient care.

This 2014 election is a war between physicians on one hand, and the double-headed Orthrus of the plaintiffs’ Bar… Read More

Ethics, even in politics, is based on adherence to moral principles. Honesty, integrity, loyalty, fairness, respect for others, lawfulness, pursuit of excellence and accountability, are principles.

G. K. Chesterton explained why: “Morality is always terribly complicated – to a man who has lost all his principles.”

The fundamental purpose of the American project was and still is individual freedom.

While many American freedoms have been eroded, we still hold the sanctity of the individual sacred in America. Americans believe that man is inherently free, whether a gift from God, or a fact of nature.

However, with freedoms and individual liberties increasingly plundered, many ask what the proper role of government is, as well as the proper role of the politician.

Especially in California, suffering under the cloud of recent scandals in the… Read More

Taken at surface value, there ought to be minimal identity of interests between these three special interests. But if you follow the money and power instead of the rhetoric and stereotypes, you will find this unhealthy alliance is alive and thriving. For example, unions use “greenmail,” the threat of a lawsuit on environmentalist grounds, to block developments until the businesses involved concede to union demands. Once they back down, the environmental problem magically disappears.

California’s much vaunted high-speed rail and delta tunnel proposals are also examples of the unhealthy rapprochement between unions (public and private) and environmentalists. Because the construction unions, God bless ‘em, want thousands of good new construction jobs, and the only big projects that are environmentally correct are these monstrosities. The unions have a choice – fight the environmentalists in order to lobby for public works that actually yield economic benefits to society, or enjoy their considerable support for a couple of misguided mega-projects.

Beyond obvious examples, how unions, environmentalists, and America’s overbuilt financial sector collude –… Read More

Recently, Democrat leadership in the California legislature have rallied around ethics. They’ve even held mandatory ethics training, banning legislators from bringing their cell phones into the room, lest their attention be diverted for even an instant.

With this new laser-focus, one would think they would surely be ready to genuinely address the ethics violations right under their noses. Yet, as new criminal behavior comes to light, we see that Democrats are focused on passing ethics laws, not on following them.

The Majority party is in hot water from the felony charges brought against three of their own. Senator Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) was found guilty of eight felonies and was expected to be sentenced in court next Friday — a judge has now pushed his sentencing into July. Senator Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) was indicted on federal corruption charges after an FBI sting, and Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) was charged in federal court with accepting bribes and gun trafficking.

When faced with this patently unethical behavior within its ranks, the Democratic Senate Leadership refused to let a vote for expulsion be addressed on the Senate… Read More

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is pleased to welcome Ryan Cogdill to our expanding legal department. Cogdill, who graduated from McGeorge School of Law in 2011, will assist the Association with its legal efforts on behalf of California taxpayers, including the defense of Propositions 13 and 218, the integrity of the initiative process and government accountability. He joins HJTA’s litigation team headed by Director of Legal Affairs, Timothy Bittle.

We are excited to include Ryan’s knowledge and experience in our team. The addition of Ryan to our staff will enable the Association to remain California taxpayers’ leading resource to turn to when their government acts unjustly.

Cogdill, who is relocating to Sacramento from Modesto, has extensive litigation experience, most recently with the Curtis Legal Group, PLC.In addition, he served as a Fellow for the California Senate and as a Judicial Extern for the California Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District.He also has experience in the California Department of Justice as well as serving as a law clerk for the Fair Political Practices Commission. Cogdill also serves as a… Read More

Vote-by-mail ballots go out today (at least in Orange County, and voters will begin marking their choices in a number of competitive races in Orange County. One of those is the race to succeed Supervisor Pat Bates in the 5th Supervisor District.

There are five candidates running, but the contest to make the November run-off is widely viewed as being between Mission Viejo Councilman Frank Ury, Laguna Niguel Councilman Robert Ming and Dana Point Councilwoman Lisa Bartlett. [Let me disclose up front that I am strongly supporting Ury.]

While Ury has been picking up steam since the new year, Ming’s campaign – after a burst of momentum during the last few months of 2013 — has begun to slow and lately has been dogged by a series of embarrassing revelations.

Pay Yourself First Ming sprinted to an early fundraising lead, in large part by personally loaning his campaign $50,000. However, his campaign disclosure report for January 1 – March 17 of this year showed he had already paid himself back $10,000. – meaning nearly all of the $12,449 he raised during that period went to retire his campaign debt to… Read More