Quote of the Week: “It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American descent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed……….. The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been record setting, not just in America’s short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more than another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Weimar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe.” – Editorial by Pravda (Russia’s largest newspaper) April 27, 2009

Socialized Medicine: If there was any doubt that the House Democrat Health Care plan would be anything but full-blown, single payer, socialized medicine it has now been cast aside with the release of the 1,017 page bill this week. The bill has already passed two of the three committees to which it has been referred to in the House. Not a single Republican voted for it in either committee, so any pretext of bipartisanship should also be cast aside. The bill will be… Read More

While Speaker Bass may be upbeat about a tentative Big 5 budget deal today, sanity still says that a long-term solution — over the next few years if not part of this budget — must include addressing the inherent inefficiencies in a bureaucracy gone mad. You know, what the Governor once called blowing up boxes.

As an example, FR friend Janelle Riella contacts us with this story…

My family is in the trucking business. When we receive renewal notices from the DMV, they are usually sent back to the DMV in bundles with one check for all of the vehicles. Just today, my mother received a note from the DMV that is was TOO EARLY to be paying the registration (the due date is September 2009), so they will be sending her a check back in the mail. The DMV sent her the renewal notice in the first place!! Now, they are going to reimburse her (which on average is $25 plusto get a check cut in the private sector) and she will have to turn around and pay the bill in August? They can’t just send her the new tags?

What is wrong with this state???? OK, for those thinkingthat… Read More

Everyone who lives in a city or a county who drives or rides in a car (that’s about everyone) should be concerned about this. As I have previously reported, a proposal by certain representatives of the Administration has potentially misled legislators into believing it’s o.k. to vote to take the local share of the Highway Users Tax Account (HUTA) and Prop. 42 gas tax funds from cities and counties. The justification statement goes something like this: "Counties/Cities will be receiving American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA-federal stimulus) funds anyways — which should be more than what we will be taking from Counties". This claim is misleading, to put it mildly. Take the case of San Bernardino County alone, which stands to lose (just for its unincorporated areas), 61% of what it costs to operate and maintain2,775 miles of roads. Thatis $47 million (HUTA take) and $7 million (Prop. 42 six-month deferral). The same unincorporated areas will receive only $5.8 million in ARRA federal stimulus funds. This means they’re planning to take ten times… Read More

The state budget will be voted on this week in Sacramento. There are unlimited options available to figure out how the state can spend the billions of dollars available to provide state services in California.

As a local government official I have strong feelings about the ways that make the most sense. People certainly disagree with me on some of these things and that is fine.

I am not going to argue about how stupid it is to raid Highway User Tax Act (HUTA) funds on the basis of what these funds do. That could be the subject of a whole blog by itself.

What I will argue is that a budget based on this transfer is not wise because it may not be legal.

Voting for this budget suggests confidence that it will be used as a document of proposed spending that will last for the next fiscal year. However, that just isn’t going to happen.

Prop 5 (1974) provided cities and counties greater control over these funds. This is money that can be used to pay off local bonds but not state bonds. See Section 19 of the State Constitution.

Whatever you think about HUTA funds and the… Read More

It goes without saying that if Democrats are engaged in budget negotiations, there is going to be another clandestine effort to sneak a tax increase into the final solution.

Senate Democrats are purportedly attempting to increase the current 5 cent deposit on small containers to 10 cents. What is the big deal with a measly 5 cents?

Since the smaller containers are approximately 88% of the beverage market, this increase would result in a $980 million additional tax on consumers.

A nickel will get you a billion, which is real money in budget discussions!

The reality is that the beverage container recycling fund has become insolvent because of borrowing for the state general fund. This is an absurd consequence caused by fiscal mismanagement, which again was not the fault of taxpayers.

The Senate leadership, along with environmentalists,is proposing the10 cent deposit as a way to avoid reductions associated with the beverage fund deficits and to generate more money for their pet causes.

The voters spoke clearly on May 19th. No more taxes! That includes another nickel a drink tax on nearly every soda, juice, and water that… Read More

This is a great presentation from Dr. Sally Pipes, President of the Pacific Research Institute, which is headquartered right here in California. Anyone concerned about the health care issue should take the time to watch it… … Read More

Is it just me, or is the California Teachers Association just a body of ignorant fools? They are running ads against the Governor for "cutting education spending". I guess the same people who fail to teach our kids to read shouldn’t be faulted for not reading themselves, so let me help. California is out of money. This has been in the news now for a couple of years now, in case they missed it.

The CTA demands to be "repaid" $12 billion that they are "owed" in Prop 98 money even though public school enrollment is plummeting and the increased spending on public education since Prop 98 passed has produced almost no improvement in public education. But hey, we’ve go the highest paid teachers in the nation now!

Republicans have nothing to lose by ridiculing this band of intellectually dishonest union leaders and exposing them for what they are – an interest group that is bleeding the State dry without getting the results we need for all the extra money we’ve already invested in the black hole of public education.… Read More

There apparently is a budget deal. Lots of cuts, lots of borrowing, lots of gimmicks. But from the briefings I have had so far, the cuts are substantial, with mega-billions that are permanent. I am told that the final deal will be in print and available for public perusal for at least 24 hours… Vote Thursday… Check out Capitol Weekly's website for more details.… Read More