The history of government in this world tilts almost totally towards authoritarianism. A free society is the exception, authoritarianism is the rule.

People, driven by fear, are often willing to give up their freedom for protection from some amorphous, imagined, unseen or even perceived evil, and there is usually someone in government willing to capitalize on that fear to consolidate their power. In a constitutional Republic, those in position of government authority need more than just the bald assertion of power to institute an authoritarian government. Throughout history, authoritarians have used many excuses to displace the legislative process and consolidate power, and many have used an emergency as a reason to displace constitutional processes, because those processes “are just too slow” to deal with the effects of the emergency. If a political officeholder has authoritarian tendencies, any excuse will do. That is why the exercise of emergency powers in a free society must be strictly limited in scope and in time. The potential for abuse of freedom is just too great.

Which leads to the discussion of the corona virus responses by our… Read More

I can’t find a definitive study or conclusion about the effect of the coronavirus on the lost life expectancy of the people who die. It’s something that is NOT being mentioned or considered by the press or pundits. One early study claiming that the coronavirus cut 10 years off the average infected dead person’s life has been totally debunked. But my searching finds nothing else so far.

I would think that this factor should be an important consideration. We know that the OVERWHELMING majority of COVID-19 deaths are very senior people who usually had other major health problems and a limited life span to begin with. But beyond that general observation, nobody seems to be studying the longevity factor.

As is my wont, I’ve been digging around on the CDC website. I found some bizarre figures on the TOTAL national weekly “excess deaths.” In their data on the coronavirus, CDC defines the aggregate “excess deaths” as the percent of weekly TOTAL deaths compared with the previous three years’ average deaths.

Clearly COVID-19 has increased the total deaths this year. I’ve included the weekly… Read More

He is vulgar, self-centered, and autocratic. He goes against everything we stand for and America represents. If we can just replace him, we can return to a sense of normalcy. This is what some Republicans say about President Trump. The problem with this statement is that it is far from the truth. If they were true it is because Democrats have caused the disruption and then pointed fingers at Trump.

The fact that there are Republicans who from day one disliked Mr. Trump for his manner is understandable. But these people call themselves “Republicans” or “Conservatives.” On or before January 19, 2017, that characterization of Trump would have floated. Nearly four years later they cannot justify their lack of support of Trump based solely on this premise. The policies Mr. Trump has affected have been more conservative than their hero Ronald Reagan.

The only policy of Republican orthodoxy President Trump has countered is enacting tariffs. The argument can be made they don’t work against Canada, but they are mainly aimed at China. The anti-Trumpers argue against the tariffs, but have had no answers for dealing… Read More

In 1989, I was sitting next to friend of mine, watching the news as the Berlin Wall was coming down. My friend was crying. He had been in the Army for 25 years, fought in Korea and Viet Nam, and every other skirmish in between. As he watched the wall come down, he said he felt like his fight for freedom, and the risks he had taken, had all been worth it. He was watching his life’s work achieve its goals.

In 1983, I began a political journey fighting for conservative causes that ended with me in the California Legislature fighting as best as I could for life, individual freedom, free enterprise and federalism. I never risked my life, but I did use all my knowledge, skills and energy to make the case for the things I believed in. Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost, but today 35 years of fighting for those causes on the local, state, and national levels reached a major milestone.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett became Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and the importance of that event cannot be overstated. There are now 6 solid conservative Justices on the Supreme Court, 6 originalists, 6 believers in that the words of the Constitution are immutable, 6 of 9. There… Read More

The Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force provides recommendations in six areas of domestic policy which are a roadmap for what Biden and his team want to accomplish if he is elected president. Despite little discussion about public policy at their convention, this is a detailed plan for domestic policy. Today we will look at their plans for immigration called Creating A 21st Century Immigration System.

There are two parts of the plan, a 4-page narrative of what they want to do and then a 9-page description of their policy recommendations.

A note of interest: Much like the criminal justice system the problems are not at all from the immigrants or potential immigrants. Our system is the problem. The last two Republican presidents have wanted to reform the system and there was very little effort from the Democrats and it certainly was not a priority of the Obama-Biden Administration.

Here are some points of what they describe:

1. Trump put children in cages. Cages that were built and paid for and used by the Obama -Biden Administration. They never… Read More

This week, the Tax Foundation reported once again, California is one of the worst states in the country when it comes to its business climate. The state’s high taxes and enormous regulatory burden is disproportionately carried by the entrepreneurs, small businesses and independent contractors who lack the massive compliance departments of big companies like those which dominate Silicon Valley.

California needs to be rebalanced, and Republicans must summon the strength to do it. There is no alternative. There’s no magical taxpayer-friendly wing of the Democratic Party. No mystical non-partisan hero waiting in the wings. Ending one party rule in California can only come about with a Republican victory.

The nomination of a governor candidate in 2022 is central to the party’s success. Having served as the Republican nominee for Lt. Governor in 2014, I have seen first-hand the impact the top of the ticket has on our down-ballot prospects. Republicans swept almost all California statewide offices in 1994 on the strength of Gov. Pete Wilson’s re-election combined with… Read More

One party rule is dangerous, and we in California are living in that danger. Political and religious freedom are gone, and economic freedom and property rights are dying. Each day there is a new story about those in charge of our government using their power to oppress their political opponents, and press them into political servitude, and every day, Californians walk around tolerating their oppression like the mask they wear will protect them from the unseen evil that government is using to oppress them.

The latest act of our arrogant lazy authoritarians is the actions by the so-called Attorney General Xavier Becerra demanding, through the use of “investigative interrogatories,” that Republicans give the “name, address, and birth date” of every person who used the drop boxes set up by Republicans to take advantage of state laws loosening the requirements for collection of ballots passed by Democrats four years ago.

I had the same happen to me some years ago when the FPPC (California’s version of the KGB) demanded I turn over the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of every person who volunteered on my campaigns. The obvious… Read More

If you live in the United States, there is only one sure fire way to learn about the failings of Socialism. That is to sit down with a person who actually lived through it. I know a Bulgarian who will go off on a rant about Socialism’s evils at a drop of a hat. You could also get someone from, Cuba, Hungary, the Czech Republic, or a Ukrainian. They will give you clarity of the bestiality of Socialism. I found another man to enlighten you and your family.

If you have been a reader of this column you have known I have gone off on how the evils of Socialism in its many forms has been hidden from us. Go to a bookstore (yes, there are some left) and you will find a major section on Hitler and the Nazis. Book after book. Try and find more than one book on Stalin or Mao who were far more successful mass murderers. I get a movie every month about Nazi Germany shipped to me from Netflix. There are oodles of these movies. Try to find a movie on the evils of Mao or Stalin – nearly impossible until now.

I received a movie (Yes; Netflix still ships DVDs to your mailbox) entitled Mr. Jones. I had no clue what it was about.… Read More