FR friend John Ziegler interviewed Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. The video runs nearly ten minutes long, but it’s worth watching… … Read More

The Governor gave his rather short State of the Union speech today, where he cleverly said that we are in a "state of emergency" — no kidding!

That said, I was annoyed that once again those of us who feel that a crisis created by overspending should be solely resolved by reductions in spending are classified as "ideological" (not that I have trouble being called an ideologue) — but the way he says it portrays ideologues as a negative influence on the public policy process.

What is a ideologue? In my opinion, it is someone who has strong convictions and beliefs, and stands by them, especially when all of the special interests are bearing down upon you.

The Governor had no problem being an anti-tax "ideologue" when he was campaigning for election and re-election. But now that he has drank the public employee union Kool-Aid, about the need to respond to respond to overspending with overtaxing, he feels the need to paint loyal Republicans snidely as ideologues

Some things lend themselves to compromise, and some things do not. Belittling those who feel that compromising on taxes is a tragic mistake is no way… Read More

A couple of days ago, I wrote a post on the hypocrisy of the Democrats. Democrats demand Republicans sacrifice what Republicans believe in, but Democrats will not budge an inch on their beliefs. This refusal of Democrats to budge has had two effects. First, when the state was swimming in money (two budget cycles ago the budget had a $9 billion surplus), the Democrats spent money like drunken sailors (I am not intending to insult drunken sailors here, since they are generally more responsible with their money than Democrat legislators are with taxpayer dollars). Second, in bad years, the spending splurges of the good years and the refusal of the Democrats to mend their spendthrift ways has led to the bankruptcy of the state.

Shane Goldmacher of the Sacramento Bee blogged on my post saying: "Haynes makes no mention in his post of how to close the roughly $40 billion budget gap, or the impending Feb. 1 deadline, when California is expected to begin issuing IOUs. But he does lay out the political case for Republicans to lay off new taxes."

Oh my goodness. I have spent three years writing about, and telling anyone who will listen, that this budget… Read More

A couple of days ago, I wrote a post on the hypocrisy of the Democrats. Democrats demand Republicans sacrifice what Republicans believe in, but Democrats will not budge an inch on their beliefs. This refusal of Democrats to budge has had two effects. First, when the state was swimming in money (two budget cycles ago the budget had a $9 billion surplus), the Democrats spent money like drunken sailors (I am not intending to insult drunken sailors here, since they are generally more responsible with their money than Democrat legislators are with taxpayer dollars). Second, in bad years, the spending splurges of the good years and the refusal of the Democrats to mend their spendthrift ways has led to the bankruptcy of the state.

Shane Goldmacher of the Sacramento Bee blogged on my post saying: "Haynes makes no mention in his post of how to close the roughly $40 billion budget gap, or the impending Feb. 1 deadline, when California is expected to begin issuing IOUs. But he does lay out the political case for Republicans to lay off new taxes."

Oh my goodness. I have spent three years writing about, and telling anyone who will listen, that this budget… Read More

I am sure that Timothy F. Geithner is qualified to be Secretary of the Treasury, and therefore leader of the Internal Revenue Service, notwithstanding his failure to pay his self-employment taxes while working at the International Monetary Fund in the early 2000s. The Obama Team and Geithner call his failure to timely file them a "common mistake," stating he was technically "self-employed." That’s a bunch of baloney, of course. Geithner has an Ivy League education; and his excuse is essentially that because he never worked for himself before the IMF, he didn’t know the tax rules.Just the typeof guy we need at the TreasuryDepartment to head off a depression……

But self-employment taxes are also commonly known as abig feature on any tax return where the taxpayer is filing a "Schedule C" with IRS Form 1040. In fact, self-employment taxes can often end up being the biggest single tax paid by a self-employed individual, since they are calculated on the side of the return that are not affected or reduced by common tax deductions. It is not uncommon for a self-employed individual to owe… Read More

My Wednesday morning began earlier than usual with a sunrise call from Los Angeles radio station KFI requesting to discuss a report released by California’s Sex Offender Management Board, a state commission that monitors and analyzes sex offender laws in California.

Apparently SOMB’s latest report suggests that California should overturn a provision of Prop 83: Jessica’s Law that restricts paroled sex offenders from living 2,000 feet from schools, parks and other places where children gather.

I had already discussed the report with members of the SOMB and the Los Angeles Times the day previous so I was not caught off guard by the KFI reporter. Matter of fact, I prepared myself for one of those days where I would receive emails and calls from Californians understandably upset by yet another news story condemning Jessica’s Law.

I told the KFI reporter what I told everyone else: I am disappointed by the report’s recommendations, which has suggested in a vague manner that the Legislature and Governor toss the will of the voters aside in favor of the rights of sex offenders – some of whom may have been inconvenienced by the 2,000-foot living… Read More

Democrats want Republicans to further ruin their “brand name” because of their overspending, and that is ridiculous. Democrats have, year after year, authored spending plans that California government could not afford. Now the proverbial chickens have come home to roost, and all of the overspending has led to a crisis.

Virtually every legislative Republican has taken a “no new taxes” pledge. Contrary to the rhetoric of the left, I have yet to find a single legislative Republican who took the pledge because of a cynical “you have to sign it to win a Republican primary” strategy. On the contrary – every GOPer in the Capitol to whom I have spoken feels very honestly that state government is too big. Many have expressed a sentiment that Californians are punitively overtaxed. Certainly when you compare tax rates in California verses those in the other states, you have no choice but to draw the conclusion that “the pursuit of happiness” is a lot more costly, in terms of tax burden, here in the “Golden” state.

So now Republican are supposed to dump their brand name as the party of limited government, lower taxes and individual… Read More

Today is National Amber Alert Day — a day to reflect on the successes of this vital program, and a reminder to renew our dedication to providing safety for our children.

In California, law enforcement officials and citizens are responsible for the recovery of 176 abducted children since Amber Alert was activated in the state in 2002.

This is something all Californians can take pride in.

Amber Alert systems have been established in all 50 states. On a national level, Amber Alert has been responsible for hundreds of successful recoveries of abducted children. The Amber Alert Program originated in Texas in 1996 after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman was abducted and murdered.

Amber Alerts are now available to cell phone users via the www.Wirelessamberalerts.org website. Sign up for the service to receive Amber Alert notifications on your hand held devices. You just might save a child’s life.… Read More