When I was in the Legislature, I took a “sister state” trip to the region of Umbria, Italy. While touring the city of Perugia, an Etruscan city, the Mayor of the City pointed out a brass plaque above the Mayor’s chair. It turns out that the plaque was written in 300 or 400 B.C. by the King of Perugia to relieve the peasants of that period of their taxes for 10 years. That King became so popular that his “generous” act was remembered 2400 years later. Upon hearing that story, I said to one of my Democrat colleagues with me “See, people remember politicians like me, that is, those who cut taxes, for ages, they kill politicians like you, that is, the ones who raise their taxes.” He got this blank look on his face, and said, “You’re right, I never thought of it that way.”

I tell this story, because today, I read a blog by Joe Mathews titled “In California, Taxes Are Almost Always Temporary” and Mathews thought this to be a problem (http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2016/10/california-taxes-almost-always-temporary/). His premise is absolutely incorrect. First, the taxes we pay every year have never… Read More

Language Immersion programs are the optimal approach to learn a language. This is never more evident than in the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA, a Department of Defense educational and research institution which provides linguistic and cultural instruction. They use classroom teaching as well as immersion techniques for maximum results.

Immersion is also the best way to assimilate immigrants into any culture.

California Proposition 58, “Non-English… Read More

It appears every city, county and municipality in California has a tax increase measure on the November 8th ballot, and is spending taxpayer dollars promoting these tax increase ballot measures. Illegal government manipulation in elections has ramped up all across the state – and taxpayers are footing the cost.

“From Yreka, near the Oregon border, to El Centro, just north of Mexico, more than 80 local governments are asking voters next month to approve sales-tax increases, the most on record,”… Read More

With all the state and local taxes on the November ballot, one would think that government at all levels in California was starved for revenue. But even a cursory review of the Golden State’s “tax machine” reveals that the tax burden is already too heavy for many to bear. California has the highest income rate in America (likely to be extended for another 12 years) and the highest state sales tax rate. And despite Prop 13, our per capita property tax collections ranks no lower than 14th in the nation.

In the June primary, voters already passed 29 out of 40 local tax increases. But those taxes register as barely a blip compared to the earthquake confronting voters in less than three weeks. According to the California Taxpayers Association, there are 228 local tax measures representing a cumulative tax increase of more than $3 billion per year, along with 193 bonds (more than $30 billion’s worth) that would dramatically increase annual property taxes.

After the June primary, this column observed that the high rate of passage reflected not so much a love for higher taxes as it did the fact that the tax raisers have become expert at gaming the system to pass… Read More

In the three months following the November 2012 presidential general election,I compiled and summarized the published advice from partyleaders, thinkers, and grassroots activists about how to reverse what was perceived at the time as an increasing irrelevant and ineffectiveCalifornia Republican Party.

Now it’s two weeks before the November 2016presidential general election. Let’s review that four-year old advice and see who was on the right track.

ADVICE TO THE CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN PARTY

1.Carl DeMaio: former think tankdirector andSan Diego City Councilmember who narrowly lost the November 2012 race for Mayor of San Diego despite a horrible election night for California Republicans. He ran for Congress in 2014 against Democrat incumbent Scott Peters and again came up just short with 48.4% of the vote. He is now a radio talk show host on KOGO.

The November 16, 2012Orange County Registerpublished DeMaio’s opinion pieceBuilding… Read More

“The state shall not have any liability for the payment of the retirement savings benefit earned by program participants pursuant to this title.” – California State Senator Kevin De Leon,August 7, 2016, Sacramento Bee

This quote from Senator De Leon, one of the main proponents of California’s new “Secure Choice” retirement program for private sector workers, says it all. Because De Leon’s comment reveals the breathtaking hypocrisy and stupefying innumeracy of California’s legislature.

Let’s start with hypocrisy.

De Leon is careful to protect private sector taxpayers from having to bail out their new state administered “secure choice” retirement plan, but no such safeguardhas ever been seriously contemplated for the state administered pension plans for state and local government workers. These plans, using official numbers, are underfunded by about $250 billion. If you don’t assume California’s 92 state and… Read More

The town of Apple Valley, California, deep in the heart of the Victor Valley of San Bernardino County, has a ballot initiative battle grappling with accountability for bond debt. But it’s gotten political with citizens claiming elected members of the Apple Valley Town Council have ceased making decisions in the best interests of their community.

Nearly 4,000 Apple Valley residents signed petitions to bring Measure V to the Nov. 8 ballot to require voter approval of any Town project of $10 million or more, including the Town Council’s attempt to take over the existing Liberty Utilities’ water system.

The citizen-initiated Measure V, called the “Right to Vote on Debt Act,” was also unanimously approved by the Town Councilto be on the Nov. ballot. But then the so-called Republican… Read More

It was Will Rogers who said, “If you ever injected truth into politics you have no politics.” If the renowned satirist were with us today, he would not be shocked by the dishonesty of the Sacramento political class, even if the rest of us find it offensive.

Many of our current class of politicians attempt to present themselves as standing for the interests of average folks. They pay lip service to low and moderate income Californians, while California continues to have the highest sales and gas taxes in the nation. They claim to be supporters of property ownership, then attack Proposition 13 and then proceed to make it easier for government to take private property through eminent domain.

For those trying to sort out who is actually representing average taxpayers and who, instead, is doing the bidding of powerful special interests, the just released Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Legislative Report Card will help. The Report Card holds lawmakers accountable by documenting how lawmakers have voted on issues important to taxpayers.

To read the entire column click here… Read More