It’s somewhat ironic, really. The California Coastal Commission (Commission) wants to upend the process for penalizing property owners it says are eroding our coastal resources by – wait for it – eroding due process rights for those same property owners.

For several years the Commission has sought to expand its enforcement authority greatly by allowing it to impose penalties and fines for violations of the Coastal Act instead of having to impose them through the independent judicial process. This year, with Friday’s passage of Assembly Bill 976… Read More

Even for those who aren’t in the market, it’s hard to ignore all the news about rising home prices. According to the California Association of Realtors, median home prices are up nearly 30 percent over just the last year. California has not seen this big of a one year increase since 1977 when it jumped 28.1 percent.

But the huge increase in values in 1977 brought as much anger and fear as anything else because that was just before voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 13 to rein in out of control property taxes. Those taxes were going up as fast as home prices and forcing many from their homes.

Under the pre-Proposition 13 system, homeowners shuddered in fear when their tax bill arrived because it would be based on what someone else was willing to pay for a home like theirs, not on what they had paid or could afford. Those whose property values were increased by hyperinflation in the housing market were treated as if they were now “rich guys” who should be taxed on their “paper profits.” But those who were committed to homeownership were seeing no benefit. If they… Read More

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The California Congressional House delegation of 53 representatives includes experienced national security hands like Republican Committee Chairmen “Buck” McKeon (Armed Services) and Ed Royce (Foreign Affairs), as well as former Reagan administration official Dana Rohrbacher and U.S. military veterans Darrell Issa, Duncan Hunter, Jr. and Paul Cook.

On the Democrat side there are some freshman with quite limited foreign policy bona fides, while the two longtime U.S. Senators from California have frequently voted along Democrat party lines and can be expected to continue that path.

As they all consider the resolutions this week on Capitol Hill, the California delegation might reach some rare, broadly bi-partisan consensus in opposing the legislation to authorize an immediate use of force in Syria.

I propose a yellow light on Syria: caution until the U.S. adopts a strategic plan with achievable objectives, some semblance of an allied coalition to share in the mission and to support the U.S. in the Gulf, and more understanding by and support from the American people.

President Obama is playing a losing hand. Instead of acting against Syrian… Read More

Short answer to the question above — probably legal, BUT . . . .

Turns out that the Qualcomm job that Nathan Fletcher landed after his run for mayor in 2012 reportedly pays an absurdly high amount — $400,000 a year. That would provide a comfortable monthly cash flow ($33,333.33 gross/month) while Fletcher was waiting to (formally) run again for mayor of San Diego.

Fletcher’s job at Qualcomm? Reputedly he was paid to hobnob for the company, “sit on boards” and to give a couple “Rah-rah Qualcomm” speeches — and arguably to informally run for mayor.

His experience for this Qualcomm job? Essentially nonexistent. And apparently he seldom showed up at work, though this aspect is contested (see the story below).

One aspect that most are forgetting is the tax angle. If you contribute money to a candidate, it’s not tax deductible (unless you are a labor union member and itemize — it’s technically not legal to deduct union dues used for politics, but most do it). Also, a “donor” is usually severely limited as to the amount they can give to a candidate.

But if you… Read More

Tom Scott is Executive Director of California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse.

Does your company use a scanner to send documents? Does your company allow customers to make purchases through an online shopping cart?

If so, you could very well be the next target of a lawsuit by a patent troll. You may say: I’m too small, I’m just a local business. Or we will fight them, we have a lot of lawyers. It doesn’t matter. Patent trolls are targeting business of all sizes in all industries, and making lots of money doing it. Patent trolling, says the Washington Post, has now gone “mainstream,” and all businesses should be worried.

Here is how this works: Apatent troll, also called apatent assertion entity(PAE), is a person… Read More

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By a margin of 55-45, the people of California voted in 1996 to end preferential treatment in public education,, public employment and public contracting on the basis of race, sex and ethnicity. The action taken was in the form of a Statewide Ballot Initiative identified as “Proposition 209.”

Although Proposition 209 received a clear and decisive vote of the electorate, the measure had its detractors, some of whom were determined to overturn it either at the ballot box, in the Legislature or in the courts.

In the courts, Proposition 209 has prevailed over every challenge brought against it. Now, there is a new one brought by a far left group of radicals with the name of “Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary” (BAMN). Among its several lawsuits, BAMN has filed one against our initiative in Michigan. This measure parallels Proposition 209. BAMN’s cause of action is that the Michigan (and California) initiative is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection Clause. Specifically, they argue that our initiatives discriminate against “minorities”… Read More

The dubious arena deal in Sacramento has strange bedfellows aligning. The lack of public debate, the fishy numbers put out by the city, and the deceit about the growing public subsidy has angered many voters. Now legislation by Sen. President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento would let the stadium developers avoid a real environmental impact review in order to forge ahead without public debate.

But it gets even uglier. I have written extensively about this bad “public-private deal” — a bureaucratic expression which should always generate skepticism.

The Steinberg bill, which will be formally introduced today, would allow the city to bypass addressing real traffic impacts in its Environmental Impact Report on the arena project. According to several analysts I’ve spoken… Read More

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While lawmakers in Sacramento debate over competing plans on how to reduce prison crowding in California, there is a Republican lawmaker who took a stand and presented common sense amendments to the early release of thousands of inmates.

Kudos to Senator Jim Nielsen in the Senate Budget Committee on Wednesday.

The Senator, who served on the California Board of Prison Terms from 1990 to 2007, put forward four amendments to improve Assembly Bill 84 and protect Californians from criminals being released into our neighborhoods.

Nielsen presented all four amendments to improve a flawed prison plan put forth by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. While Steinberg’s bill allows substance abusers out of prison for promising to attend rehab it provides no penalty for failing to attend or accountability to track them.

Nielsen’s first amendment adds teeth by requiring the state to return these non-compliant repeat offenders to incarceration after they miss more than three attempts to go to rehab.

The second amendment allows crime victims’ voices to be heard during sentencing. Victims need to be represented more in court and especially… Read More