While the Legislature dithers on real cuts and Congress blows through cash like it was carbon credits, local leaders are taking action to reduce budgets without putting a tax-boot on the throats of struggling businesses and taxpayers.

Sacramento County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan, after ceremoniously crumpling and hurling yet another incomplete staff budget memo into the trash, assembled a citizen’s panel to review and make recommendations on budget cuts, efficiency and vital programs.

And unlike the photo-op commissions created by the state, this group – Kitchen Conversations Citizen Budget Committee – will meet for only a few weeks, make specific recommendations, then go back to living regular lives.

Unlike California’s Citizen Performance Review, which came up with a pretty good series of recommendations to save California taxpayers money but then was mostly shelved – a waste of time, money and paper; MacGlashan has a reputation of being tenacious in protecting taxpayers.

While budgets were still flush several years ago, MacGlashan took an unpopular stand to cut a $2.5 million program giving free healthcare to… Read More

One of my big frustrations in the State Assembly is that the connection is not made between overzealous regulators and draconian rules and that Californiahas an over 11% unemployment rate.

Today, Gregg Industries, which operates a foundry and machine shop in El Monte, announced it is closing early. Can you say AQMD?

After the downturn Gregg Industries announced they would close the foundry part of the operation. In 2008 Gregg Industries had an agreement with the AQMD on controlling pollution. It required independent verification of its efforts. After the closure announcement they actually gave incentives to the last employees to comply with the agreement.

AQMD’s response was to send inspector after inspector for the last month it was open.

Gregg’s staff outlined abuses that included a threat from an AQMD employee that at least one security guard interpreted as a threat to use force to enter and inspectors entering he facility without protective measures and without proper escort. I still haven’t got a response to my inquiry about the harassment.

The result is Gregg is closing… Read More

Tax dollars being used to create "fun experiences" for students in the form of "amusement parks." That certainly means taking someone for a ride. Somehow, I’m not thinking most San Diegans would be amused if they knew.

Where is the oversight of public funds? Let’s look at yesterday’s hard-hitting letter from the San Diego County Taxpayers Association to one of the largest school districts in the state…

April 21, 2009 The Honorable Shelia Jackson President, Board of Trustees San Diego Unified School… Read More

In the immortal words of Roseanne Roseannadanna…. "Never mind." From Cap Weekly… Assembly speaker Karen Bass said today she was cancelling 5 percent pay increases for more than 130 Assembly staffers, because they were becoming "a distraction" from the May 19 ballot initiatives.

In the equally immortal words of Homer Simpson….

"DOH!" 3:42 Update: Credit where credit is due. I have been informed that the U-T’s … Read More

This morning, here in San Jose, I participated on a panel discussion looking at the ballot propositions that appear on the April 19 – May 19 Special Election ballot measures (we post a month-long range because I believe that a majority of votes cast will be by absentee ballot voters, many of who already have their ballots and are voting). The event was co-sponsored by two groups that aren’t as conservative as I am (most aren’t, eh?) – the New America Foundation (famous for the “hidden tax” argument used to support the ill-fated Schwarzenegger/Nunez socialized health care plan, and the Joint Venture Silicon Valley Venture (who rotate out a photo of global warming alarmist Al Gore on their home page).

On the panel with me were my usually-but-not-this-time- ally Loren Kaye (a great guy). Loren represented the CalChamber and its policy foundation as an articulate advocate for 1A-1F.

Representing the ideological left was Jean Ross of… Read More

After last week’s Obama Administration’s internal report that returning members of the United States military could be poised to form some sort of right wing domestic terrorist core (Freikorps, anyone?), it was interesting to note that the FBI added, instead, a well-known left wing terrorist to the Most Wanted terrorist list: Daniel Andreas San Diego.

Daniel, 31, is an animal rights terrorist. What did Daniel do? Well, he hasn’t been convicted of anything but he is wanted for two bombings. Daniel has one tattoo that reads ‘it only takes a spark’ and illustrations of burning buildings. Daniel was a computer specialist. I’d suggest the Administration review their earlier report and focus on computer specialists instead of returning veterans.… Read More

I am trying to think whether California voters will feel more or less inclined to vote themselves an increase in sales, income and car taxes when they hear that over a hundred legislative employees just got raises. Well, I guess if the taxes DO pass, the raise will help the lucky staffers to pay for it. If the taxes fail, well, what's a few hundred thousand more bucks in debt?… Read More

I think that if we as a people are going to discuss the various memorandum about interrogation tactics, we have an obligation to review the memorandum as to what these tactics did or did not accomplish. From what I understand, these tactics prevented the planned attack on Los Angeles. Maybe they did more, maybe they did less. Open the files.

(Thanks to Drudge Report for the following)

CHENEY:

“One of the things that I find a little bit disturbing about this recent disclosure is they put out the legal memos, the memos that the CIA got from the Office of Legal Counsel, but they didn't put out the memos that showed the success of the effort. And there are reports that show specifically what we gained as a result of this activity. They have not been declassified.”

“I formally asked that they be declassified now. I haven't announced this up until now, I haven't talked about it, but I know specifically of reports that I read, that I saw that lay out what we learned through the interrogation process and what the consequences were for the country.”

“And I've now formally asked the CIA to take steps to declassify those memos so… Read More