California’s gas prices are the third highest in the nation, hovering around the $3.00 per gallon mark at the end of October. The average price of gas over the past three weeks for all 50 states was closer to $2.60 per gallon. So why are gas prices so much higher in California? To begin with, California charges the highest gasoline taxes in the nation. California even collects a tax on a tax by charging sales taxes on the state and federal excise tax!

In California, taxes on fuel account for roughly 65 cents per gallon, which includes the state sales tax rate of 8.25%, plus 1.2 cents per gallon for Underground Storage Tank (UST) fees, plus additional local sales taxes where applicable. In Sacramento County, sales taxes are 8.75%.

We also pay more in California because of stringent environmental laws dictating that we use reformulated gasoline, which can only be supplied by a limited number of refineries. So when one of them shuts down, as the Tesoro refinery in Los Angeles did earlier this year due to a fire, the supply is reduced enough that prices inevitably rise.

With our… Read More

Editorial of the week – Union-Trib: Our incoherent City Council… Jon my have it posted on today’s main page, but it’s worth plugging in more than one place. From this morning’s U-T:

"City Council members Ben Hueso, Donna Frye, Tony Young, Marti Emerald, Todd Gloria and Sherri Lightner know … that because of the recession-induced plunge in revenue, San Diego is in an even bigger short-term budget crisis than it was three years ago.

"But they don’t care. Last week, in an insulting betrayal of voters, the six members voted to side with public employees and stall Mayor Jerry Sanders’ framework for implementing Proposition C. The argument they used to justify this betrayal is best described as incoherent. It holds that private bidders have an unfair advantage over city agencies because their benefits don’t cost as much … Do you follow? They are saying a key reason privatization is so attractive an option – it allows governments to pay less for services – should disqualify it from being… Read More

The Governor recently called term limits "crazy." Now, I don’t agree that they are crazy, there were good reasons for term limits, and the voters were not crazy in enacting them. But I have come to the conclusion they are not a good idea.

I ran for office in 1990 supporting term limits. I believed at the time that doing whatever it took to remove Willie Brown as the Speaker of the Assembly was justified. Dem Legislators weren’t going to do it, it appeared voters weren’t going to do it. Maybe term limits would.

Well, the voters did, in 1994, when they elected the first Republican majority in the Assembly since Reagan’s first term as Governor. I was elected to the Assembly in 1992, then in 1994, two terms in the Senate, and when my term there was done, I went back to the Assembly. I supported term limits through my first term in the Assembly and my two terms in the Senate. I changed my mind when I went back to the Assembly.

My first term in the Assembly was an interesting one. We were the first class elected knowing we were subject to term limits, but we were mixed in with some of the war horses of the… Read More

The Contra Costa Times recently hailed Democrats, the Legislature’s majority party, as allies in making sure “job killer” bills did not get through the legislative chambers they control. However, the paper failed to mention that of all the 2009 “job killer” bills were introduced by Democrats.

As noted in the story, the “job killer” campaign identifies regulatory, labor, and tax legislation that would have a negative impact on the economy–a majority of these bills have either died in committee, on the floor, or had provisions removed to satisfy the concerns of business owners.

Of the 33 identified “job killer” bills, not a single bill was introduced by a Republican. What’s more, Democrats have only begun to defeat the worst of these Democrat “job-killer” bills as a response to an almost guaranteed veto from one of the state’s last three Republican governors.

Only in California can the villains become media heroes for voting against something they introduced. The real heroes are the small business owners and the Republican legislators who work with them… Read More

Attorney General Jerry Brown has done it again: He has misused and abused the authority of his office as California’s top cop.

Is anyone surprised?

It’s clear since day one that Brown views the AG office as a bully pulpit for promoting his political views, not serving the people.

His misdeeds aren’t limited to clandestinely taping phone calls with reporters; Brown has also abused his powers by issuing inaccurate and misleading Title and Summaries for statewide ballot measures, including one that I authored for the 2010 election cycle.

And as most people know, Brown has raised the ire of Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog.org and author of Proposition 103, the landmark measure protecting insurance consumers that voters approved in 1988.

Rosenfield says Brown caved to pressure from a powerful insurance company – and campaign donor – when he reworked the summary of a ballot measure to omit mention that it could boost premiums for thousands of drivers.

Brown… Read More

Gavin Newsom has just announced that he is dropping out of the race for Governor. According to the Sacramento Bee, Newsom said "’young family and responsibilities at city hall’ made it ‘impossible’ to commit time needed to complete effort the way it should be done.’" Newsom had trouble with fundraising and wasn’t making much headway in the polls so it looks like he decided to get out before wasting too much donor money. This iscertainly big newsand clears the way for Jerry Brown as the Democrat nominee. Read Newsom’s full statement here.… Read More

Longtime La Mesa City Councilmember Dave Allan, a one-time San Diego areaRepublicanlocal elected official of the year and more recently a registered Democrat, confirmed tonight that he will run for the 2nd district seat on the County board of supervisors in 2012.It is anticipated that incumbent Supervisor Dianne Jacob will seek a sixth term that year.

Jim Sills broke the story on San Diego Rostra tonight that a David M. Allan of La Mesa had filed the candidate intention paperwork (Form 501) necessary to begin fundraising for the seat.Councilman Allan confirmed with me a short time later that he is indeed running.

"It shouldn’t be news to anyone that the number one priority to me is fire protection in San Diego County," said Allan, a retired San Miguel firefighter."I don’t think the county supervisors have prioritized that issue the way they should."

Referring to the budget impacts being faced by local government and the potential of firefighting jobs being lost, he further said that "the supervisors’ lack of focus on fire protection is now catching up to… Read More

A "water deal" that results in a massive bond package of nearly $10 billion would not go before voters until at the earliest June of next year. Which means that the drive to achieve a two-thirds majority vote for a water package NOW is on an "artificial" deadline. Given that there are so many open issues out there, it is pretty clear that we need to put on the political brakes, step back, and decide if the way that this particular water deal is coming together represents good public policy for California.

As a conservative, I have grave concerns on the bond part of this deal. The package, as described to me, contains literally BILLIONS in spending that is not in there due to "need" (to solve the water crisis) but is in their either to appease special interests or to try and broaden coalition of votes necessary on the Democrat side of the aisle.

Never mind that the Democrats are taking advantage of the water crisis by pushing for all kinds of regulations on conservation issues that have no bearing on the storage and movement of water.

Look, I don’t expect that I will be pleased with the ultimate water package —… Read More