Frequent FR readers are well aware of my views about SEIU, but I am in the mood for venting today, so here goes. It drives me nuts when I read quotes by state workers saying they are being used as "pawns," or that the Governor is "balancing the budget on the backs of state workers."

These are absolutely ludicrous statements.

It is as if the people who make these statements are in denial of the fact that they are members of one of the biggest and most powerful unions in the country—SEIU. The same SEIU that was a top political contributor to California Democrats last year, and that regularly strong-arms Democrat legislators on everything from appointments to bills to the budget. And more importantly, the same SEIU whose leadership has made drastic measures like furloughs and minimum wage necessary because of their refusal to make any compromises.

Compare SEIU to the National Federation of Independent Business. The NFIB is comprised of small business owners who run businesses, meet overhead, comply with labor laws, and pay taxes. Their bottom is line is the private sector. In addition to this they spend some time (too little)… Read More

The “Incredible Shrinking San Diego Union-Tribune” has been the topic of a blog or two of mine in the past, although not recently. The reasons for the newspaper’s reduction in size have become pretty well known, so no new news is not news…or something like that.

Yet, while relaxing over the holiday weekend, it did occur to me to take a look at the size of the Sunday edition of the U-T, just as a reference point, since the new management has now settled in, with another round of staff cuts following a few weeks ago. Picking it up, sans advertising inserts, it felt about the same weight as when I had noted several months ago the paper had dwindled to 66 pages or so from about twice that size, if one doesn’t count the classifieds.

But, there on the front page, under the index was the reference: 15 sections; 136 pages. Really?

I decided to count the pages myself, so proceeded to place the sections in orderand commenced…

Section A: World, National, State, Region News / Business – 16 pages

Section B: Our Region (Local) / Dialog (Opinion) – 8 pages

Section C: Uhhh, hmmm…there is no Section… Read More

I am opposed to legalizing marijuana because encouraging the public, particularly young people, touse drugsin order to increase state revenue is reprehensible.

After listening to testimony today from RAND researchers, my resolve is strengthened: Legalizing pot is a bad idea.

The researchers put forth plenty of questions (how much money will California generate from marijuana sales? Will tax invasion on marijuana sales become a problem? Will the usage of marijuana increase dramatically?), but they were only able to offer theories instead of concrete answers.

That’s because nobody really knows the outcome of legalizing pot since it’s not been done anywhere in the world. California would be swimming in uncharted waters if Proposition 19 were to pass in November. In other words, once again California would be the great experiment for the rest of the world at the expense of public safety, community health and common sense.

One thing the RAND researchers were certain about: California would not save that much money in law enforcement costs – maybe $300 million, some of that General Fund money, some local dollars. Why the nominal savings?… Read More

Over the Fourth of July one could not help think of the brave few men who took on the greatest empire on the Earth in order to be free. It is no coincidence that after gaining independence the Founders went about guaranteeing God given rights from a potentially tyrannical new government. The Second Amendment and the right to bear arms guaranteed the First amendment and all others. Recently over the last couple years and just last month the United State Supreme Court has struck down laws that infringed on that right.Unfortunately, the California State Legislature hasn’t gotten the message about protecting our freedoms. Below are three bills that passed the State Assembly (over my objections in committee and on the floor). These bills are now awaiting action in the State Senate. While the Senate is on a break,… Read More

It seems like every year I write this commentary, or something like it, which is a statement for both ongoing dysfunction in state government, and/or the ongoing ineffectiveness of my columns to impact human behavior.

Once again the legislature has let the Constitutional deadline for adopting a state budget pass by, with July 1st being a blip in the rear-view mirror. Once again, instead of staying in Sacramento, the Democrat leadership of both the State Senate and the State Assembly have sent home their respective members on "summer recess" subject to being able to return to the Capitol within 24 hours should some sort of ‘break through’ take place on the budget.

Let me first say that newly minted Assembly Speaker John Perez was apparently full of hot air when he publicly committed (see the video here) to an open and transparent budget process. I have been waiting for extensive, open budget hearings that are bipartisan in nature, and reflect the fact that if the legislature is going to actually produce a budget, there needs to be an understanding that the budget committee needs to… Read More

The legislature, in its infinite and collective bi-partisan wisdom, pushed through onto the ballot a fat, bloated so-called "water" bond. With literally billions of dollars of wasteful spending inside of it, we have dubbed this $11 billion package the "Water Porkulus" — and feel strongly that it should be rejected by voters.

Apparently the proponents of the Porkulus are very concerned about how voters will receive this big Christmas Tree of legislative spending, because now they are advocating that it be moved off of the November ballot, and kicked to 2012. We say that the package should be pulled all together, as a menace to both taxpayers, and to real cost-effective solutions to our state’s water woes.

FR’s cartoonist, Eric Eishenhammer, has drawn up a great cartoon on the water porkulus, we hope you enjoy it…

… Read More

Flying through Vegas this weekendI noticed this hand dryer. It is a little blurry (people don’t like cameras in restrooms).A rebel in the spirit of 1776 placed a sticker on it that says.

"Please push button and listen to a short message from the President"

Made my day.… Read More

Rule 5 of the Republican National Committee establishes the office of Chairman of the Republican Party, states he or she shall be a full-time, paid employee, and shall serve as the "chief executive officer" of the Republican National Committee. The rule states that the Chairman can be removed by a 2/3rds vote of the entire Republican National Committee (made up generally by two representatives per state), and, most interestingly, that the Chairman "need not be a member of the Republican National Committee."

Michael Steele, the former Lt. Governor of Maryland, has been a disaster as Chairman of the RNC. Early in his term, reports surfaced that he was using his position, for which he is already paid handsomely from the funds people like you and I give to the party, to obtain paid speaking gigs for tens of thousands of dollars on the side and pocketing the money. He even signed a contract with a professional talent agency to book such speeches. Illegal? Probably not. Immoral? Possibly, depending on your morals. Bad judgment? Absolutely.

More recent evidence of bad judgment in RNC management found its way to… Read More