Republicans have a great opportunity this year to show California voters exactly who we are and what we’re fighting for. With Jerry Brown fighting poor and minority kids in court over failing schools, Democrats have been exposed as defenders of the powerful status quo – and opponents of civil rights.

Democrats say Republicans don’t care about the poor, that we don’t care about minorities, that we don’t care about women. They’re dead wrong. We are the party that cares about giving everyone an opportunity to succeed and we must lead the fight to open hearts and minds as to who we are and what we believe.

Our party was literally… Read More

Proposition 1, the $7 billion water bond, has broad support from both Democrats and Republicans. Unlike the previous version of the bond – which had an $11 billion cost – the updated version has less pork and a few more promises for actual water storage. While HJTA opposed the previous version (and indeed we signed the ballot argument against it) we have taken no position on Proposition 1. Our neutrality is compelled, at least in part, by the recognition that California does indeed have… Read More

Didn’t we just do one of these? Or two? It’s that time again!

A reminder of the so-called “rules”…

Read the questions closely. No tricks, just read the questions. Send your guesses to info@sdrostra.com ONLY.The Sab Diego Rostra TAs, interns and miscellaneous other rabble are assisting, so don’t send to my email. Do NOT post your answers here. Deadline to submit guesses: Election Day — Tuesday, November 4, 2014 — 7 p.m., PST. No exceptions. If you’re reading this on FlashReport and don’t follow San Diego politics, don’t complain.Just DON’T ANSWER. I have been asked in the past to note the candidates’ party affiliation, … Read More

[NOTE: I wrote this item in the fall of 2013, but the lesson concerning passenger commuter rail is universal. The problems I found with the bogus projections for this rail line are CONSISTENTLY found in just about EVERY commuter rail line built in CA — and indeed the WORLD. The only difference is the degree of “inaccuracy” — a.k.a. outright fraud.]

I came across the 2002 estimated cost of the [San Diego] “Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project” — the so-called light rail line from Old Town to points north. It was $30 million per mile.

http://www.lightrail.com/projects.htm#San_Diego

Doubtless because of “galloping inflation” (geezers will recall that term — used by President Richard Nixon to describe the 4.7% inflation in the early 70’s that caused him to impose Draconian wage and price controls), naturally this project’s cost today is estimated to be higher. How much higher? Somewhere north of $160 million per mile. Now THAT’s inflation!!

Well, actually, it’s S.O.P.… Read More

In some California parallel universe, the new Senate President Kevin de Leόn, announced last week during his flagrant swearing-in ceremony, “Reliance is the ‘American Way.’”

“Isn’t it time we shatter the great American myth about pulling oneself up by the bootstraps?” De Leonasked the crowd.The audience broke into rousing applause. De Leon continued, “It’s a fantasy. It’s simply not true.”

De Leon’s “extravagant bash” was held at the Disney Concert Hall… Read More

On June 15, 2013, liberal Democrat Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi cast the deciding vote to pass ACA 8 out of the State Assembly — legislation so bad that Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis taxpayers Association called it at the time, “the most egregious attack on Prop. 13 ever to come out of the legislature. Muratsuchi’s vote was to gut the two-thirds vote requirement to raise taxes.

Is it any surprise that nearly a year and a half later, when running for re-election in the competitive 66th Assembly District in the South Bay Area of Los Angeles County, that Muratsuchi would not only be hoping that voters would forget about his anti-Prop. 13 vote, but he’s actually been serially lying to voters? Muratsuchi has had the audacity in his re-election bid to characterize himself as a “protector of Proposition 13” — which is opposite of the truth.

Yesterday Coupal held a joint public appearance with Muratsuchi’s general election challenger, Republican David Hadley, to set the record straight for voters. Coupal referred to Maratuschi as a “poser” — claiming to be a defender of Prop. 13 when he actually voted to weaken it. Coupal called… Read More

It’s always puzzled me how these financial figures (see KPBS story below) are arrived at — inferring that we’d SAVE that amount if only people didn’t smoke. If these people had not died from smoking-related illnesses, would they have lived forever? Or perhaps simply one night died in their sleep without prior illness or treatment?

Yes, they likely would have lived longer if they didn’t smoke, but from a COST standpoint, where’s the savings? Indeed, assuming they were covered by pensions and/or social security, would not they have cost society quite a lot more if they lived 5-10 years longer? Perhaps many of these folks would have ended up with Alzheimer’s disease, with the care (and pain) such a disease causes?

And then there’s the correlation between smoking and diseases. For instance, clearly smoking increases one’s chances of heart disease, but do we count VERY smoker’s death from heart disease as death from smoking? Is that logical? Or do we count only the EXTRA deaths from smoking-related heart disease (as good science would dictate — something that can be calculated using actuarial… Read More

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With its moderate climate, rich natural resources, and expansive coastline, the Golden State has its clear advantages. Yet elected state government leaders seem eager to see just how much Californians are willing to pay for these amenities.

Whether it be higher taxes and fees, or increased nanny-state policies, many Californians are too willing to write these off as simply the price you pay to live in such a beautiful locale, giving little to no thought to why everything from housing and transportation to food and services cost more than in most other states.

Thanks to policies pushed by the overwhelming Democrat majorities in both houses of the legislature, Californians will soon experience even more burdensome costs and rules in their everyday lives.

For example, Californians should prepare for an immediate 15 cent per gallon increase in the price of gasoline, with that number likely to rise much higher. Beginning January 1, gasoline and diesel fuel are scheduled to be regulated under our (and still the nation’s only) ‘cap-and-trade’ system. This scheme is part of the so-called ‘Global Warming Solutions Act,’ a law passed eight years ago to… Read More