In the second “episode” of our saga on fixing our problems and bringing America a new period of growth and optimism, I will address an issue that none of you will be surprised to see me tackle – the debt and deficit. Since I was first elected to the California State Assembly in 2000, trying to get government to tax, spend and waste less has been a major priority for me. As such, you have heard a lot from me on this issue. So, I will not repeat much of what I have said incessantly for years so that I don’t become electronic Ambien for you.

Instead, let me put this problem/opportunity in the context of the larger issue we are talking about. Implementing a plan to gradually fix our deficits and reduce our debt is a necessary but not sufficient condition for growth. Fixing the deficit will not in and of itself free the economy for sustained prosperity. There are other things we have to do that I will write about in future episodes. Suffice it to say, fixing the deficit is not a sufficient condition. But, it is a necessary one. If we don’t do it, we will certainly bring on a crisis which will plunge us into a long and… Read More

It might not make the experience any less painful, but next time you fill up your gas tank, try figuring out how much you just paid in taxes. Do the math, and you’ll soon discover that rising fuel prices are a whole lot better for the government than they are for you.

California consumers pay the highest prices for fuel anywhere in the continental United States. These prices include hidden taxes that help drive up fuel prices. Each and every time fuel prices rise, our taxes go up too.

According to the American Petroleum Institute, California’s gasoline taxes and fees, averaging 67 cents per gallon, are tied with Connecticut’s as the second highest in the nation. California’s diesel taxes are the highest in the nation, averaging 75.9 cents per gallon.

Included in the price you pay for gasoline are a (1) federal excise tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, (2) state excise tax of 35.7 cents per gallon and (3) sales tax of 2.25% plus applicable local taxes. Notably, the sales tax is calculated on the total price of the fuel sale including excise taxes, resulting in double taxation—California consumers pay a tax on a tax.

According… Read More

The Bureau of Sanitation for the City of Los Angeles falls under the authority of Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa. Clearly he knows that the “Bureau” is pushing a draconian city-wide ban on all paper and plastic bags at grocery and convenience stores. As he should, of course — he should know everything of significance that takes place under his watch of the city. Pushing outrageous public policy items like this without his consent would be very significant and disturbing. The extremist agenda at the Bureau of Sanitation apparently is to heap more regulation on thousands of retail stores trying to turn a profit and employ people in an already over-regulated city inside of an insanely over-regulated state. The Bureau’s proposal is to ban paper and plastic shipping bags at grocery and convenience stores, and force every Los Angeles resident to buy reusable bags at the store every time they shop (or I guess keep them in their cars to whip out when they happen to go to the store). But the Bureau does not have the unilateral authority to enact such a ban. That can only be done by the City Council.

I am not making this up — the tail is, in… Read More

I’m sure that our FlashReport readers in the State Capitol, who are all over-worked and under-paid, have lots to be doing at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow. That having been said, I have been asked by Californians for Term Limits to speak on behalf of the “No on 28” campaign before a “Joint Information Hearing of the Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments and the Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting.” The hearing is tomorrow, Tuesday, at 1:30pm in Room 3191 of the State Capitol. (… Read More

Interesting article in Roll Call today on U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, spotlighting his role as Majority Whip… Cracking the Whip a Big Job for Rep. Kevin McCarthy

By John Stanton Roll Call Staff March 19, 2012, Midnight

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) recently found himself in an unusual position for the man tasked with herding Members behind his leader’s top policy proposal: He had to tell Speaker John Boehner “no.”

Boehner wanted to rework government funding of highway construction in a way that appealed to conservatives. But with no earmarks to dangle as enticements and a prohibition on hardball tactics, it was clear to McCarthy that the votes weren’t there and that Boehner would have to change direction.

The Ohio Republican initially seemed intent on his plan, which linked energy development to highway funding. But after a Conference meeting in mid-February, it became clear that McCarthy was right. Boehner broke up the bill.

“Lots of times I have to tell him [no] … and many times… Read More

I supported the 1990 term limits law until I returned to the Assembly in 2003. I served when the law had not yet taken full effect, and I saw the impacts of that law after it was fully implemented. The Assembly in 2003 was at least two term limit generations away from the Assembly of 1992-94. I was shocked at what I saw.

If you are a student of the Federalist Papers, specifically Federalist No. 10, you know that Madison commented that natural tendency of special interests (factions as he named them) is to take over the levers of government and use those levers to their advantage. Those in government generally rely on those special interests to keep their power, so a symbiotic relationship is formed. The special interests press those in power to cede the power of government to the agenda of the special interest, and to stay in power, the government officials (whether they are politicians or bureaucrats) agree to do so, in order to keep their job and stay in power. It is rare for a politician (particularly) to say no to a special interest, because of that symbiotic relationship.

I put this principle in more common terms. The hardest thing for a politician to… Read More

I enjoy watching Dick Morris on the Fox News Channel. He’s a very clever, interesting analyst who always finds a way to keep the audience engaged on the topic of the day.

Unfortunately, in his most recent assessment on the state of the Republican nominating contest, Morris continued perpetuating a factual error about California’s June 5 presidential primary.

For some reason, in recent days I’ve seen an unusual number of factually incorrect press reports erroneously stating that California’s Republican presidential primary is “winner take all.” This is not correct.

When California allocates its 172 delegates following the June 5th primary, it will do so by Congressional District. Each district will send three delegates and three alternates to the national convention. The candidate who wins the plurality of the vote in a Congressional District will win the three delegates and three alternates from that district.

Only the state’s 10 at-large delegates are awarded “winner take all” to the candidate who wins the plurality of the statewide vote… Read More

Many people think that California is still a “winner take all” state for the Republican Presidential primary. We are not. But we are also do not award our delegates proportionately, as many states do…

By the time California Republicans for their pick for President in 2008, Senator John McCain had pretty much sewn up the nomination. McCain won the statewide vote in the California primary. But he did not get all of California’s delegates. A group of them actually went to Mitt Romney that year because in California, almost all of the delegates are awarded based on the winner in each of our 53 Congressional Districts. To be precise — California will send 172 delegates to the Tampa Convention this August. 159 of them will be awarded, three apiece, to the candidate that gets the plurality of the vote in each U.S. House district. 10 delegates will go to the candidate that wins the plurality of Republican votes statewide. The remaining 3 delegates will be our RNC members, who are not bound to any particular candidate. In California, each candidate will submit a list of 169 potential delegates (a big project since delegates must be… Read More