Liberals excitedly point to the so-called “California miracle” — the relatively healthy rise in the Golden State’s prosperity as measured by recent GDP increases. And yes, the state has done well these last four years. But that’s been primarily a rebound from its deep, painful recession — a recessionworse than almost all other states experienced.

Sadly, this boasting by progressives is cherry-picking at its worst (or best, I suppose) — the selection of a narrow time frame. Instead, we should look at the GDP growth of the Golden State over the FULL recession cycle — from the end of 2007 through 2015 — and compare CA with the progressives’ nemesis state — Texas.

GDP (trillions)***** 2007 ********* 2015 *** % Increase

California ********* $1.999 ****** $2.225 ******* 11.3%

Texas ************* $1.179 ****** $1.630 ******* 38.2%

Not even close. Over that time frame, Texas has grown more than THREE TIMES FASTER than California. Actually 3.4 times… Read More

For fiscal conservatives and free market advocates, the national elections in 2008 and 2012 brought no small measure of disappointment. In its eight-year run, the Obama Administration imposed a host of new taxes – including several as part of the failed “Affordable Care Act” – and, just as egregious, nearly doubling the national debt from $10 trillion to over $20 trillion.

Those who advocate for lower taxes, property rights and less burdensome regulation understood and begrudgingly accepted that “elections have consequences.” (As President Obama was known to brag). So it is now with amusement – if not outright schadenfreude – we are watching progressives across the nation, and especially here in California, melt down in shock and disbelief.

Particularly frustrating for Progressives is their growing realization that many of the policies and actions of the last eight years that they jammed down the throats of conservatives and center right citizens from “fly-over” country are now coming back to haunt them. For example, former Democrat Senator Harry Reid from Nevada changed longstanding Senate rules regarding how many votes it would take to stop… Read More

As my regular readers know, I was NOT a Trump fan during the election. I voted for Gary Johnson, and had nothing but unkind words for The Donald.

But since the election, Trump has been making many smart decisions (“smart” is defined here as agreeing with me). I still have BIG reservations about a couple of his policies — notably his desire to start another trade war. Other than trade, most of his domestic policy positions AND most of his nominees for the cabinet have been first rate.

In contrast to my guardedly supportive conversion to Trump’s election, the left has gone bonkers in what can only be described as an orchestrated campaign of hate and disruption. They’ve raised (or perhaps lowered) the bar for the “sore loser” designation.

School kids’ are used as pawns by the education establishment — encouraging their charges to run free to protest Trump’s election, at considerable taxpayer cost (paying for education that is not being provided). Democrat luminaries and “artists” are encouraging street demonstrations against Trump’s election — when he won fair and… Read More

Ok, I admit. I titled this article in a way to encourage people to look at this post, so they would think what the heck is this guy talking about, and how did this end up on this site?

First, I have to say, too many of my conservative friends are way too negative. They always look at the negative side of things. The Reaganesque optimism that made conservative values so preeminent in the last two decades of the last century didn’t stick. Most conservatives who claim the Reagan mantle are not pleasant people to be around, because all they do is complain. They never see the bright side of life, they never look for the positive. Since I am an optimist, I wanted to find the bright side of having Barack Obama as our President, and I found it. So, I am here to praise him.

What is that bright side, you ask? Very easy, no one since Ronald Reagan has done more for the conservative movement than Barack Obama. Let’s be honest, in 2008, when Obama took over as President, the movement was in crisis. The Republican Party had rejected our principles, the Republican establishment had reasserted their control over the party, and conservatives in general were… Read More

Governor Jerry Brown has just appointed two radical environmental justice activists to the California Public Utilities Commission, replacing two commissioners whose terms expired January 1, 2017.

Awaiting Senate confirmation, are Clifford Rechtschaffen and Martha Guzman Aceves — two Brown insiders with shady records and a history of Environmental Justice. They aren’t unknown; bothGuzman Aceves andRechtschaffen have been exposed prominently in articles on this news site, and several others (links below).

Don’t let the term “Environmental Justice” fool you. This “justice” is not about protecting poor and low income communities from excess pollutants… Read More

Ever since the surprise victory of Donald Trump on November 8th, California’s Democratic leadership have asserted their determination to thwart the Trump agenda. Expect unity and resolve from California’s legislature, where democrats now hold a super-majority in both chambers.

Even before Nov. 8th, California’s legislature was a trend-setting force, enacting laws intended to set an example to the nation. These laws encompass a dizzying array of issues, from mandatinggender-neutral bathroomsin public buildings to officially designating denim as “the state’s official fabric to recognize its role in California history.” But if the economic well-being of working families remains the priority of California lawmakers, California’s legislature isfailing.

This failure only begins with the enactment of… Read More

This Friday, January 6, the election will finally be over as Congress counts the electoral votes and makes it official that Trump will be the President.

The questions of his “legitimacy” as President are over. We should now shift our attention to whether we should change the rules of the game going forward.

One thing is clear in this election, big states lost; small states lost; the conservative heartland lost; but the battleground states won, because they are the only states that count.

The problem — at the national level, to win the presidency, Republicans must win “battleground states.” The problem is not the Electoral College, but state winner-take-all laws that are in effect in 48 states. Since 80 percent of the states are either reliably Republican or reliably Democrat (including California), Presidential candidates never ask the voters in those states for their vote.

Make no mistake about it, Trump did not win this last election by promoting conservative principles. He won Florida because he promised not to touch Social Security and Medicare benefits. He won Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin… Read More

In a recent column, I commented on how joyous the holiday season would be for members of the state legislature and our constitutional officers who are seeing a four percent increase in their pay. California lawmakers were already the highest paid in the nation.

But as the song says, you ain’t seen nothing yet. In a state the U.S. Department of Labor rates as first in pay for state and local government workers, one of the largest public sector unions has negotiated a pay raise of up to 19 percent for many of its members. Union leaders claim that many of the jobs their members perform are in high demand and, without the increases, employees will be lured away to the private sector. Therefore, a 19 percent increase for “financial experts” currently making between $7,300 and $10,000 per month, is warranted. However, everyone has been invited to the party. Even janitors will be getting an extra 3 percent on top of the standard 4 percent that has been negotiated for all the represented workers.

Other unionized employees, now negotiating pay increases with the state, will likely see similar raises. And it is important to mention that most of these “public… Read More