Thanks to the rapacious desire of the members of the California Redistricting Commission to play around with Assembly District lines in Los Angeles County, the newly minted 66th Assembly District in the South Bay Area [see map] is now a prime opportunity for a Republican pickup. The largest cities in this new coastal district are Redondo Beach, Torrance and Rancho Palos Verdes. Unlike some districts which, thanks to the passage of Proposition 14, have two candidates from the same party battling it out this November, the 66th features a more traditional Rep on Dem matchup, with the Republican being businessman Craig Huey, and the Democrat being Al Marasuchi.

While the Marasuchi ran unopposed as the only Democrat on the ballot, Huey was victorious in a robust primary against Nathan Mintz. Actually, the GOP dustup ended up not being very close Huey got 38% of the vote while Mintz got 21%. It is very significant to note their combined percentage of the vote was a strong 59% to the Democrat’s 41%. This augers well for the GOP in the Fall. A fun factoid is that in Torrance,… Read More

In the article below on city bankruptcies, the LA TIMES gives the impression that San Bernardino’s BK is largely due to Prop 13. Not so.

I don’t have the city historical property tax figures, but doubtless they closely refect San Bernardino COUNTY property tax. Consider:

http://www.sbcounty.gov/assessor/Archives/annualreport2008web.pdf

http://www.sbcounty.gov/assessor/Documents/20120629AssessmentRoll.pdf

Yes, from 2008 through 2012 the tax revenue dropped about 2.7% a year. This last year it actually ROSE a modest 0.8%.

But consider the longer term. From 2005 to 2012 the property tax rose an average 3.7% a year compounded. That hardly constitutes a paucity of revenue.

The problem for San Bernardino is the… Read More

Yet another reputable study — this one reported in the LOS ANGELES TIMES –guts an underlying assumption of HSR believers. See the article below. Japan’s experience with HSR over 30 years demonstrates that “. . .as an engine of economic growth, [HSR] ‘will have only a marginal impact at best.’ ”

Moreover, HSR would likely PROMOTE suburban sprawl, the bain of liberal land use planning theology. And yet the Democrats soldier on into the Central Valley with HSR, reality notwithstanding.

It reminds me of the fatal British army foray into the desert in the historical move Khartoum — staring Charlton Heston. Oblivious to reality, the British generals marched their ill-equiped troops into a sandy death trap, arrogantly assuming that they were right BECAUSE they were British.

Such is the mentality of HSR believers. And I do mean BELIEVERS. It parallels a religious mindset (ironic, given that liberals generally hate religion)– a blind belief in HSR unrelated and undeterred by overwhelming evidence that it is a very, VERY bad idea. Indeed, another parallel would be the gullible believers in Ponzi schemes and MLM… Read More

So I guess the uniforms for the United States Olympics Team were made in China. I am thinking (and this is just a hunch) that this decision was made based on a few key factors — which would probably include at the top of the list the quality of the uniforms, and the cost to produce them. If you agree with me on this, then you have to ask yourself this question — why is it is cheaper, or are there better quality goods available from China, than here in the United States?

I would not be surprised to find that the delta between buying uniforms domestically verses abroad was the added costs of production here in the United States to to multiple types of taxation, as was as regulations that drive up the cost. In the end, I think I have to weigh in to defend the decision of the U.S. team — because every dollar they save in purchasing uniforms means more money for training athletes, and covering costs for them and their families.

If we want to have the 2016 U.S. Olympics Team wearing… Read More

A very quick note of apologies to FR readers. I have been super sick all week, and it continues. I’m sure I will recover soon. But it’s made it virtually impossible to write this week. I wish I could tell you my absence was due to a cool vacation somewhere, but it’s not. I’ve been pretty active over on Twitter, so you check that out here.… Read More

In a victory for the integrity of the ballot process, the Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District issued an order to the Secretary of State, Deborah Bowen, to reverse her action giving Governor Brown’s tax hike initiative preference in the ballot materials or to submit a brief justifying her actions by July 30th. Pursuant to AB 1499, Bowen gave Brown’s initiative the highest available number (Prop 30) on the November ballot.

Assembly Bill 1499 seeks to repeal long-standing statutory law regarding how ballot measures appear on the ballot.

I am very pleased with this action by the Appellate Court. First, Petitions for Writs are rarely granted by the Courts. The fact that… Read More

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association today filed a legal action directly in the Court of Appeal seeking to invalidate a so-called “trailer bill” which would give Governor Brown’s massive tax hike initiative priority in the official ballot pamphlet.

At issue is Assembly Bill 1499 which would repeal long-standing statutory law regarding how ballot measures appear on the ballot. Governor Brown and his tax-and-spend allies in the Legislature have, once again, perverted the integrity of California’s election system law by giving his tax increase ballot preference. Under the scheme, Brown’s tax measure would appear first even though under current law it would appear later in the ballot. It is thought by many election experts that a higher priority gives ballot measures an edge over other items appearing on the ballot.

Given the unpopular reception of tax hikes by California voters in recent years – the last eight have been rejected – it really doesn’t matter where his ballot measure appears. We think it fails. But the real issue is the abuse of the ‘trailer bill’ process where the majority party bypasses Constitutional requirements related… Read More

From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary E-mail…

California’s Railroad Job by Allysia Finley

Republicans once speculated that California Rep. Jim Costa traded his ObamaCare vote—he was one of the last Blue Dog holdouts—for increased federal water allocations to his Central Valley district, which spans from Fresno to Bakersfield. But he may have driven a much harder bargain, which will end up costing state taxpayers billions.

California’s state legislature on Friday green-lighted funding for its $68 billion (or more) bullet train, which in 30 years may connect San Francisco and Anaheim. Since the state has only enough cash in hand to build about 100 miles of track, the train will more likely dead end in Bakersfield, about 130 miles south of Fresno, where the first segment is supposed to begin. Coincidence?

Two weeks before the 2010 midterm elections, the White House announced that it would award California $700 million in high-speed rail funds (in addition to the $2.6 billion of stimulus money Congress had already… Read More