EXPLANATORY NOTE: I published this column on FlashReport about four years ago, but I’m seeing the same fallacies coming up again and again, compliments of the public employee labor union bosses. Remediation is in order. Here’s my updated version.

What is an “implicit fallacy?” Well, I made up the term, because I can’t find an exact definition that fits. It’s sometimes more formally referred to as an “Unwarranted Presumption.”

As I see it, it’s an assertion based on a flawed premise — but a premise that is NOT stated. It is just assumed — implied, if you will. In the field of government pensions, I have noticed that many a labor unions assertion is based on such an implicit fallacy. Often when the assumption is actually stated (as I do below), it becomes ludicrous on its face.

Not all ten of the union assertions below fit this definition perfectly, but they all have one thing in common — they are inaccurate statements — if not outright lies. And… Read More

How would parents react if they knew their kids were attending community college with convicted violent criminals and gang members?

This is today’s reality and a result of Assembly Bill 109, passed in 2011, and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown.

There are 55 known street gangs in Sacramento, CA. Two of these gangs clashed at Sacramento City College Sept. 3, leaving one man dead, two others seriously injured, and a college campus in fear.

But the recent… Read More

Last month an article entitled “Pensions as Economic Stimulus” was posted toFox & Hounds Daily. The author,Charles Beckwith, is a former CalPERS senior financial manager. Beckwith’s article, while thoughtful, invites a response. Because California’s pension systems may stimulate the economy in some ways, but equally significant ways, they are killing the economy.

Beckwith’s primary argument is this: California’s pension systems pay out over $3.0 billion per month to retired state and local government workers, who go out and spend this money, “at auto repair shops, home improvement centers, tuition for grandchildren, hair salons, rent, and at a thousand other small and large businesses.”

The problem with this reasoning rests on a fundamental assumption Beckwith makes, which is that all the money taken from taxpayers to fund these pension investments would not have created a similar economic stimulus if they had been free to spend it themselves. Mr. Beckwithgoes on to extol the virtues of professional financial managers placing pension fund… Read More

The United States is widely considered the most desirable country in the world. In many respects that is true — some objective, and some subjective.

But one area that we definitely are in decline is freedom. The Frazier Institute has been grading the countries of the world for many years, and have documented our decline since the turn of the century. In 1980 we ranked #2. In 2000 we were ranked #2. In the new 2015 report (using 2013 data), we rank 16th,3 slots lower than the year before.

Sure, we’re still ranked much better than most countries. But the direction we are heading is disturbing, to put it gently. Even worse, the RATE of our decent seems to be accelerating. http://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/economic-freedom-of-the-world-2015.pdf— the detailed U.S. history is on page 188 of the PDF file… Read More

When it comes to carrying out the death penalty for convicted murders, the California Legislature finds the lethal drug cocktails “cruel and unusual punishment,” which they say is a violation of the Eighth Amendment. Yet lawmakers were more than willing to approve a lethal drug cocktail to allow sick people to kill themselves.

After months of contentious and difficult wrangling, the California Legislature has finally passed the controversial physician assisted suicide bill, which now awaits Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature or veto. But many argue that passage of legalized physician-assisted suicide would provide perverse incentives for insurance carriers to choose the… Read More

In 2003, an Agricultural Labor Relations Board administrative judge identified Jessica Arciniega as “UFW staff member” at its Oxnard office. ALRB administrative law judge Nancy Smith even called her a “union agent.”

Today, Arciniega is one of the ALRB’s top staff attorneys. And with the recent shakeups in the ALRB general counsel’s office that resulted in the sackings and sudden resignations of top lawyers, people are wondering why Arciniega remains on the job.

The lawyer has come a long way since getting her law degree as an “apprentice” of longtime UFW lawyer Barbara Macri-Ortiz, who in fact calls Arciniega “my apprentice.”

State law requires all ALRB personnel to be worker advocates with no partiality for or against either employers or unions. Arciniega is anything but objective. Her title at the UFW was “lead organizer.” The Militant, published by the Socialist Workers Party, reports Arciniega being a UFW boycott leader as far back as 2000.

In Oxnard more than a decade ago, the Los Angeles Times profiled Arciniega under the headline, “… Read More

It’s been a long year in the Capitol for those of us who advocate against higher taxes, crushing regulations and wasteful government spending. The good news is that California taxpayers have prevailed in virtually all the major tax fights this year. The bad news is that, because the legislature convenes for two year sessions, this is only halftime. On January 4, 2016 – less than 4 months from now – the same cast of characters will reconvene and we will have to fight many of the same battles yet again. Still, it is helpful to assess how homeowners and working Californians fared in the legislative process this year.

For Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, there is no higher priority than defending Proposition 13 against attacks. As a constitutional amendment, Prop 13 cannot be amended by the Legislature directly. But that doesn’t mean the politicians can’t inflict harm. Indeed, with a two-thirds vote of each house, the California Legislature can place proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot. And if an anti-Prop 13 measure is sufficiently enticing or deceptive, voters might unwittingly take away some of their own rights as taxpayers.

This past… Read More

Early Saturdaymorning, after midnight, the California legislature ended its regular session, and two special sessions. Despite an immense amount of pressure on them from the Governor, their Democrat colleagues, and powerful special interests – Republicans held the line and successfully stopped billions of dollars in proposed tax increases from being enacted.

I spoke with California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte, who was very pleased with this outcome, saying, “All of our Republican legislators, unified, stopped tens of billions of dollars in tax increases introduced by the other party dead in their tracks. I’m proud of our legislators, and their commitment to protecting the people of California from excessive taxation.”

As well he should be. Last year, arguably on the verge of political irrelevance, California Republicans rallied – belied expectations – and clawed their way out of “super minority” status. The practical effect of this was that there are now enough GOP legislators, just barely, to block a tax increase, which takes a two-thirds vote of both the State Senate and State Assembly. In a remarkable show of teamwork and… Read More