As a fiscal conservative and county supervisor, I’m adamant that public funds should never be used for political purposes. Never once have I voted for either the City of Woodland or County of Yolo to take a position on a state ballot measure. I believe it’s inappropriate for government entities to get involved in the political process.

With that being said, local government organizations don’t need to be muzzled from the political process, especially with the continual increase in power of other public representatives including public employee unions. The opinions of local governments are often critical voices in campaign debates, and they don’t use public dollars to advocate their position. Moreover, it doesn’t mean that gutting and amending bills during the last weeks of legislative session is good policy. But Senator Jerry Hill wants to change the rules of the game and completely silence local government associations in state and local ballot campaigns.

In a stunning act of desertion from his roots in local government, former County Supervisor Hill is pushing an end of session “gut and amend” bill designed to silence local government… Read More

I am deeply concerned about reports that the President is preparing to order acts of war against the government of Syria without congressional authorization.

The Constitution clearly and unmistakably vests Congress with the sole prerogative “to declare war.” The President’s authority as Commander-in-Chief to order a military attack on a foreign government is implicitly limited by the Constitution to repelling an attack and explicitly limited under the War Powers Resolution to: “(1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.” Unless one of these conditions is present, the decision must be made by Congress and not by the President.

Nor does our participation in NATO allow the President to order an unprovoked act of war. The North Atlantic Treaty clearly requires troops under NATO command to be deployed in accordance with their country’s constitutional provisions. The War Powers Resolution clearly states that the President’s power to engage United States Armed Forces in hostilities “shall not be inferred …from… Read More

When legislators reconvened from their summer recess, I penned a column in which I advised Republicans to be unified and vigilant in opposing efforts by Democrats in the final days of session to expand the size and scope of state government. I also said to keep an eye out for those issues that divide Democrats, because it is in that instance where Republicans, unified, can seize the moment and actually get some wins – governing, as it were, from the minority.

I can think of no better example of where Republican legislators have an opportunity to actually see a positive outcome in this legislative session than with the passage of SB 594 (Hill). Without getting into the technical jargon, this legislation would put and end to an egregious process whereby non-profit entities affiliated with government organizations have been able to literally dump millions of dollars into support and opposition to statewide ballot measures through a financial shell-game.

Let me take a few paragraphs to summarize how this is done, followed with some specific examples of how this dubious but effective technique has been used to the detriment of the freedom and liberty of… Read More

“Not surprisingly, within moments of news of Detroit’s bankruptcy, pension scare mongers took to their pedestals to place all the blame on pensions. California, Los Angeles, and other governments would surely follow Detroit’s footsteps in short order, they cried. It’s simply not true, like most of the claims made by the anti-pension soldiers who have been trying for years to take away the retirement security of firefighters, teachers, police officers and other public servants.”

Ralph Miller,President, LA County Probation Officers’ Union, AFSCME,Fox & Hounds, August 20th, 2013

Miller has a point. California is not Detroit. California’s population has not imploded, nor will it. Detroit’s economy was reliant on one industry, California’s huge economy is diverse and relatively healthy. Turning California around, while daunting, is going to be a lot easier than turning around Detroit. And, yes, it was a collapsing industrial base and an imploding population that did as much or more… Read More

Republican Congressman Devin Nunes of Visalia has summed up the obvious problem presented by California’s tax, spending, and regulatory policy: “(o)ur excessive tax and regulatory burden is killing businesses and driving them to other states.” People have two ways to vote: at the ballot box, and with their feet. At the last November ballot, Californians accepted the invitation of liberal Democrats and enacted the largest state income tax in the country. The result today is 1,700,000 unemployed residents, twice as many unemployed as five years ago. And the liberal Democrats and their special interest allies in control of the state have managed to add even more to the average Californian’s tax burden, enacting in the meantime the highest tax on gasoline at the pump. They are moving forward dozens more of tax increase bills in the Legislature. No wonder so many businesses and high-income individuals are fleeing the state. They are voting with their feet between elections.… Read More

Yesterday I wrote about the hypocrisy of liberal Democrats who speak about gender equality and breaking the glass ceiling. Apparently, the supposed party of tolerance, diversity, and equality only applies if you’re a Democratic male.

For the Speaker, if you’re a successful Latino in your field and he disagrees with your point of you, he will not tolerate even sitting on the same panel.

This weekend the National Association of Hispanic Journalists met in Anaheim for their Excellence in Journalism 2013 conference. Their association’s mission states dedication to fostering and promoting a fair treatment of Hispanics by the media. Their conference took an unexpected turn of events when Speaker John Perez demanded that political strategist Hector Barajas’ voice be silent and demanded the National Hispanic Journalist Association remove him from a Latino Vote panel where Hector had been invited to speak and represent the GOP voice. The journalist association shamelessly agreed to the Speaker’s demand.

The… Read More

Although professional polling has clearly shown voters want to vote – especially when politicians want to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on subsidies and economic stimulus.

CLICK HERE to complete the short survey and share your view!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/62VY526… Read More

First I will correct the misrepresentation that support for a public vote and a better accounting of hundreds of millions of public dollars is somehow opposing Sacramento or an Arena. It is not.

To start, we need to understand what taxpayers are being asked to subsidize. The subsidy proponent’s talking points characterize the NBA arena as a job-creating economic engine … a phrase that polls well, but is just not true.

The evidence, the data – the science – overwhelmingly tells us arenas don’t create the jobs promised and don’t create an economic boom.

Humphries & Coats, Baade,… Read More