Frustration: There is no question that a major factor in my decision to not seek re-election this year is my frustration with the conditions in Washington, which increasingly make it exceedingly difficult to accomplish anything of note.

I am not the first person to make this observation. Some have attributed this condition to the fact that few legislators live in Washington any longer since the advent of frequent air travel and, therefore, personal relationships are harder to form. Others have suggested that redistricting in Congress, which makes more “safe” seats in each party, reduces the impetus for compromise. Such structural factors probably have some impact. But, I don’t think they are the primary causes. The primary causes in my estimation are more temporary. That is the good news. However, they are also pretty deep-rooted. That is the not-so-good-news.

I believe there are two primary, though temporary problems. The first will likely not surprise you. It is President Obama. I’m not going to beat this point into the ground because Obama’s approval rating of around 40% indicates that most Americans understand… Read More

“Once people get the facts, they do not support slashing people’s pensions.” – Dave Low, chairman, Californians for Retirement Security (Washington Post, February 25, 2014)

Really?

Making sure “people get the facts” is difficult when most “facts” the public sees are promulgated to the media by pension fund PR departments eager to preserve the torrent of taxpayers money flowing into their favored investment firms, along with PR firms representingtaxpayer-funded public sector unions whose primary reason to exist is to increase the wages and benefits of their members.

According to the most recent data available from the California State Controller – over $600 billion of taxpayer’s money is privately invested by public employee pension funds (Public Retirement Systems Annual Report, FYE 6-30-2011, released 5-22-2013, page xv, Figure 2),… Read More

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Standing in the long line at the post office this morning, I had that feeling I get every April 15 like I’ve been severely had. This time the feeling was particularly strong. Partly to blame was the added humiliation of needing to pay for certified mail because of the IRS’s diminishing ability to keep track of its mail (and its imperious habit of blaming the mailer). And of course it didn’t help that every time I turn on the news I learn about some new way the piggy bank we call the U.S. government is opening its riches to graft and greed of all kinds, with foxes guarding the henhouse.

But most importantly this year I’m upset by the knowledge I gained about the history of American taxes, particularly the federal income tax, from a concise and powerful essay by Harvard historian Jill Lepore , “Tax Time: Why we pay,” in the Nov. 26, 2012 New Yorker Magazine. Lepore makes it clear, in a way you never hear from our prominent anti-tax voices, that the income tax was foisted on America through a con job as deceitful as any on the street.

Lepore is non-partisan, in the real sense (not in the “crossing the aisle” sense). Her skill is in stating facts that… Read More

The general counsel of the Agriculture Labor Relations Board went to court last week to impose a union contract on Gerawan Farming employees, without proper input from the farm workers, and without counting the ballots of a recent United Farm Workers union decertification election, held in November 2013.

The ALRB’s latest state-sponsored union bullying effort comes mere weeks after longtime Gerawan Farming employee, Silvia Lopez, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against ALRB board members and top staff, for their refusal to count the ballots from the November election.

Many in the farming community claim the ALRB and UFW have joined forces to boost the union by targeting one of the biggest non-union farming operations in the state. Should they succeed in unionizing Gerawan Farming employees, adding the 5,000 farmworkers would double union membership, and certainly boost the ALRB’s status.

This latest abusive overreach by the ALRB and its general counsel shows growing desperation in the trending anti-union sentiment in the private sector, and the vast agriculture industry of… Read More

It’s election season and we are hearing a lot of happy talk from the Sacramento politicians. After all, they want to be reelected so they are painting a rosy picture of their stewardship of our state. But happy is not a word that describes the outlook of millions of Californians who continue to be burdened by high taxes, high unemployment and low expectations for the future.

Howard Jarvis, the father of the 1978 tax revolt that passed Proposition 13, used to tell folks, “If there is… Read More

Known as the “California Senate’s Top Gun Control Advocate.” Democratic State Sen. Leland Yee was indicted Friday by a federal Grand Jury on seven federal felonies including bribery, andarms trafficking in illegal firearms and weapons. Yee wasn’t just trafficking in tiny pearl handle pea shooters – he was indicted for being involved in trafficking shoulder-mounted rocket launchers.

Now, in addition to being known as one of California’s leading proponents of gun control, Yee is accused of working with Chinatown gangsters and brokering arms deals with a Muslim rebel group based in the Philippines.

Politics makes strange… Read More

Nearly 8.0% of Californians are currently unemployed compared to the national average of 6.7%. Using an alternative method of looking at poverty, which includes factors such as cost of living and public benefits, the official rate released by the U.S. Census Bureau this past September determined that over a three year period, California has more people living in poverty than any other state in the nation. Nearly one in four California residents is considered to be impoverished.

In addition, the Golden State is one of only two states in the nation where one-fifth of its labor force is underemployed, a situation which occurs when skilled and educated workers are forced to accept employment for which they are overqualified and/or accept fewer hours due to a lack of opportunities within the current job market. California has the second highest rate of underemployment at 17.8%. This state of affairs creates a domino effect that reduces economic opportunity as higher skilled workers edge out those with fewer skills as they compete over entry-level positions.

Understanding the barriers and hurdles that businesses experience while trying to operate within… Read More

Yesterday, California Common Sense (CACS) released the most extensive analysis to date of unfunded retiree healthcare liabilities associated with California’s state and local governments, as well as its public education institutions. The report, “Surveying California’s Unfunded Retiree Healthcare Obligations,” assessed the financials of 690 “Other Post-Employment Benefit” (OPEB) plans statewide. It studied those for the State of California, 53 counties, 352 cities, the state trial court system, 282 school districts, and the University of California system. This survey found that the state of California and its constituents have $157.7… Read More