When I was elected to the office of Inyo County Clerk-Recorder, my first official act was to take an Oath of Office. Not only have I taken the Oath, but one of my responsibilities as a County Clerk is to administer Oaths of Office to other public employees and elected officials.

All public servants, from the President of the United States, to the part-time file clerk, take the Oath in one form or another before assuming office. In California, the Oath includes the affirmation that we will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California, against all enemies, foreign and domestic. By swearing to defend the Constitutions against domestic enemies, we are promising to administer the laws as decided by the body politic and not to undermine our system of governance by acting under our own sovereignty.

Lately we have seen a number of… Read More

For most voters, making your voice heard by candidates and politicians feels like a lost cause. You fax, write, phone and email your elected officials, and at most, receive a form letter reply.

Those days look to be over… finally, a way to get your political voice heard. Derek Garnier has written a new political social App called “Filibuster” to make your political voice count.

Filibuster: an effort to prevent action in a… Read More

According to press reports, Fresno Assemblyman Henry T. Perea is off to Spain to study high-speed rail while accompanied by business and labor representatives. He is being joined by his father, Fresno County Supervisor Henry R. Perea.

Out-of-state travel by California politicians is common. Lawmakers say such trips are valuable in learning about programs and policies in other states and countries. Other times travel is justified as an opportunity to attend conferences with those facing similar issues. That the destinations of these trips are so often 5 star hotels in desirable vacation spots is dismissed as coincidence by the journeying elected officials. Still, it seems strange that so many “important” conferences take place in locations like Hawaii and not in Narvik, in northern Norway, during the fall and winter. A few years ago, a number of Los Angeles City Council members jetted off to Paris in the springtime, explaining that the trip was necessary to study public toilets. (You can’t make this stuff up.)

In fairness to Assemblyman Perea, who is termed out next year, there is no suggestion that taxpayers are footing the bill for his weeklong trip… Read More

In 2011, the leadership of the California State Senate and Assembly crafted one of the most damaging pieces of legislation in recent memory for public safety throughout our state.

AB109, the so-called “realignment” act, relieves the State of all responsibility for imprisoning and supervising criminals convicted of most felony crimes, and imposes those responsibilities on California’s counties. Instead of serving in state prisons and facing parole boards, felons convicted of most felony crimes serve their “prison” sentences in the local county jail and are supervised by the local county probation department. This legislation is a transparent scheme of… Read More

In the early 1970’s, the Environmental Protection Agency forced automakers to cut emissions. And the cars were awful. I remember a 1972 Chevy Caprice station wagon, 140 horsepower, 4300 lbs. Chevy claimed the horsepower was 160 – even at that, it was still grossly underpowered.

Prior to the EPA, that particular engine was rated at 250 horsepower. The EPA took 40 percent of the engine capacity away. When you’re pushing a 4300 lb car with only 140 horsepower, the gas mileage is terrible. Cars didn’t run well. They were unreliable. The only thing that saved the car industry was fuel injection – something Porsche, Mercedes and BMW were already moving to.

Car manufacturers were lying then, and they’ve been forced to lie again.

Chapman University’s Center for Demographics and Policy just published a new study, which verified California’s 2011 Greenhouse Gas Emissions were just one percent of emissions worldwide. According to the study, even if California’s emissions dropped to zero from now until 2050, which is the year Brown there would be no significant effect on the environment because of greenhouse gases generated by developing nations… Read More

by Richard Rider

Jaded cynic that I am, still I was stunned by the biased “news” story today in the nominally centrist SAN DIEGO U-T. It’s anawesomedemonstration of how liberal bias in media is so strong that the reporters and editors don’t even think of it as bias.

The “news” story below is an ode to Pop Francis — especially for his calls for social justice and drastic environmental restrictions because of global warming. But the story interviews only the usual cabal of left wing activists who back the progressive agenda. The number of people at the staged Pope’s cheerleader gatherings (watching him on TV or holding press conferences) number in the dozens at best — not the hundreds, let alone thousands.

Read the headline and the sub-headline below. You’d think all of San Diego was enthralled by the Pope and his economic message. Of course, that’s not the case — not even close. I find such dishonesty breathtaking.

Not a single dissenting opinion was presented, in spite of using two reporters to assemble this propaganda piece. The story touts… Read More

Here’s one of the ways our media fails to accurately report a story. Indeed, in this government “charity” category, this misrepresentation is more the rule than the exception.

Granted, it’s not a big story. It’s a feel-good episode that might have raised some interesting points, but didn’t.

HEADLINE: [Chula Vista] Police Dept. outfits kids with new shoes, socks

$12,000 was spent on providing shoes, socks and school supplies for 284 needy students — a commendable activity. Nothing wrong with the charitable effort. Indeed, it’s good that such efforts are recognized by the media. But this story gives credit where it’s NOT due.

The Chula Vista Police Department did NOT “outfit” the kids with shoes. They didn’t spend a dime doing that.

But surely at least the police OFFICERS took up a collection for the kids. Nope. Apparently none of the money was donated by the cops.

Well, then surely the police labor union provided the funding, using union dues. Again, nope. Not a… Read More

Not one presidential candidate, apart from Gov. Walker’s last-ditch rhetoric prior to dropping out, has discussed the problems with unionized government as a major issue. That’s too bad, because these problems are bigger than even most critics acknowledge.

When people discuss the need to reform, if not eliminate, public sector unions, the only reason typically cited is that their demands are bankrupting our cities and states. And reformers also usually fail to communicate the fundamental differences between government unions and private sector unions, or emphasize the bipartisan urgency of public sector union reform. Government unions don’t merely drive our cities and counties into service insolvency if not bankruptcy, they are distorting policy decisions of fundamental importance to the future of America.

With a focus on California, and in no particular order, here is an attempt to summarize how this is occurring:

(1) The Economy

California has the highesttaxes and fees in the U.S., and is consistently ranked as the worst state in America to do business. California also has the highest paid public employees in the… Read More