The Orange County Board of Supervisors is solidly in the hands of a conservative majority and there is a vacancy that will be filled by Special Election on Feb. 6. But regardless of that outcome the next two years should be filled with votes that broadly shrink the size of county government and put the county’s future financial health back on track by reforming pension and health care benefits for county employees.

Each of the present supervisors has conservative credentials:

Chairman Chris Norby is a nationally known leader on the issue of redevelopment reform; vice chairman Moorlach not only predicted the county’s bankruptcy but more importantly lead the county’s investments as Treasurer and conservative Tax Collector for over a decade; Pat Bates had a solid voting record in the State Assembly and never wavered on her principles in face of a massive assault by her campaign opponent who seemingly sold out to every special interest there is; and Bill Campbell built a remarkably successful business before serving in the State Assembly and now on the Board and knows the meaning of paying wages and how harmful the actions of government can be on… Read More

Friday Night is Date Night in the Spence household. My wife and I try to go out every Friday– with out the kids of course. This Friday found us at the Edwards Cinema in West Covina. We bought tickets for Pursuit of Happiness (BTW: Viewing it should be part of welfare reform.)

As we were waiting for the movie to start,my wife for some reason though that the newly advertised five dollar taquitos were a "must have".

As I’m waiting in line, I overhear this conservation between two employees.

One of the employees tells the other that the medium (for some item I couldn’t hear) went up 50 cents. The other employee says something like "Why did they do that?" The first employee Says and I quote. "Because you got a raise on the first, stupid."

See the price went up because the minimum wage increase needed to paid for by somebody. The first employee understood that, the second will probably be a legislator or worse a Governor.

And worse still they were out of taquitos.… Read More

Larry McCarthy is the President of the California Taxpayers Association, and he has penned some thoughts that are pertinent with the Governor announcing his 2007-08 state budget today…

What is a state budget cut?… Read More

I thought it representative of some hard work that the Assembly Republicans put out individual statements from 27 of their members in reaction to the Governor’s State of the State Address. I thought you might want to see what everyone had to say…. At least with what I am sure were some tight length restrictions…

Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines, Clovis “With a strong vision for California’s future, Governor Schwarzenegger tonight proposed bold solutions to the serious problems facing our state. Assembly Republicans are especially pleased by the governor’s renewed commitment to paying down our state’s long-term debt and fixing our broken redistricting system once and for all. Those are the centrist views of California’s hardworking families.

“True bipartisanship is not when one party compromises their principles to another for the sake of public relations, it’s when we put the people of California first. Californians want us to work together, and we must do it responsibly as adults. We look forward to… Read More

Well, a year ago, FR San Diego Blogger Barry Jantz and I came up to Sacramento with a red-carpet invitation from the Governor’s office to the State of the State Address, and we even got a special ‘pre-brief’ with some senior staff members. Of course, last year the Governor rolled out his Strategic Growth Plan, and we were pretty critical of it. So, go figure, no red carpet this year! Nevertheless, thanks to live-streaming video, I was able to take in the entire address from my own laptop computer! Of course, my immediate reaction was — this speech seems an aweful lot like last year’s speech, in that everything that I heard was all about spending, spending and more spending. But, since it seems to be the most accepted rhetorical style these days, let me start by taking a moment to praise the Governor for some of what I heard in his speech…

I applaud the Governor for his strong stand in support of redistricting reform, and the Governor declared that his proposed budget would actually close the existing deficit by a… Read More

Well, a year ago, FR San Diego Blogger Barry Jantz and I came up to Sacramento with a red-carpet invitation from the Governor’s office to the State of the State Address, and we even got a special ‘pre-brief’ with some senior staff members. Of course, last year the Governor rolled out his Strategic Growth Plan, and we were pretty critical of it. So, go figure, no red carpet this year! Nevertheless, thanks to live-streaming video, I was able to take in the entire address from my own laptop computer! Of course, my immediate reaction was — this speech seems an aweful lot like last year’s speech, in that everything that I heard was all about spending, spending and more spending. But, since it seems to be the most accepted rhetorical style these days, let me start by taking a moment to praise the Governor for some of what I heard in his speech…

I applaud the Governor for his strong stand in support of redistricting reform, and the Governor declared that his proposed budget would actually close the existing deficit by a… Read More

According to United States Department of Veterans Affairs, there are roughly 3,000 homeless Veterans in the City and County of San Francisco. Many suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a variety of other afflictions and disabilities as a result of service to our country, and have extreme difficulty assimilating into civilian life. Many within the homeless Veteran population were as capable as you or I before they volunteered to serve in the armed forces, yet there is inadequate support for them upon return from service.

I sit on the Veterans Affairs Commission for San Francisco, and serve on the subcommittee to aid homeless and disenfranchised Veterans. The Commission recently sent the Mayor and Board of Supervisors a plan to assist homeless Vets. The plan projects increases in the number of homeless Veterans, based on trends observed at the County Veteran Service Office. The needs of homeless Veterans are similar to other homeless populations, except that there are a higher percentage of men,… Read More

I commend the Governor for suggesting a solution to a tough problem. I just don’t think any economic theory supports the outcomes he desires. And I definitely don’t believe his is a "centrist" approach. A centrist approach would be devoid of tax increases, employer mandates and mandated spending by providers, and be full of market based incentives to lower the cost of private health plans.

My firm handles over $40 million in health and health related business, so I follow health insurance and health care trends as closely as possible. Diagnosing the reasons for 6.5 million uninsured workers isn’t that tough. Employer paid health plans are expensive. Treating doctors and facilities are grossly underpaid by government funders such as Medicare, Medicaid and MediCal. Those unreimbursed costs are mostly transferred to the private health plans when they contract for services with the health care providers. Thus, the "hidden tax" on us is primarily caused by the government because the cost of health plans is inflated, and out of reach to many employers, due to government rationing of health care dollars.… Read More