Two big things happened yesterday. First, the Supreme Court failed to intervene, and require the government to actually prove that an emergency surrounding the corona virus “pandemic” actually exists. Second, our Lazy Arrogant Authoritarian in Charge (ALAIC) Gavin Newsom lost it during a press conference.

Let’s talk about the Supreme Court first. Someone needs to do something about the emergency statutes. There is no doubt that statutes defining an emergency, and allowing the government to move forward are necessary. Wars, fires, earthquakes, and similar cataclysmic events occur, and often, swift, decisive action is necessary, for a limited period of time, to address the immediate challenges presented by these events. Oftentimes, the very nature of the legislative process prevents the Legislature from intervening in the short term. Laws need to be suspended, sometimes, things need to happen quickly, sometimes, direct, unrestricted government action is necessary for a short period of time, sometimes. However, Legislatures can act over the long term (meaning anything that lasts longer than two months), and, to protect people from an out of control… Read More

I’ve been thinking of the major voter issues that the GOP should be publicizing to unseat Gavin Newsom. I’ve pared it down to this “Top Ten” list:

1.Crime From massive shoplifting to murder, CA crime rates are zooming up. The most dramatic increases in crime are ALL occurring in the big, Democrat-controlled cities. Democrats OWN the crime spree. I think that ‘crime’ might be the top issue in this recall.​

2.Homeles​sness Especially since Newsom publicly INVITED the nation’s homeless to come to California where we will take care of them. NO CA voter wants more homeless here. Even our state’s HOMELESS don’t want more homeless here!

3.​ CA g… Read More

With the advent of the Covid-19 Delta Variant, there has been an explosion of demands for people getting vaccinations. Private companies are imposing rules for their employees which are perfectly legal. But the government solutions to this problem are typical of government solutions – insipid and nuts and punish the wrong people.

I am forced to put in a qualifier here because of the great lie that Republicans are the true problem regarding obtaining vaccinations. I have had Covid and both my Pfizer shots. I have never met a vaccination I have not taken. When my physician tells me to get a shot, I get a shot. Two years ago, my Doc told me to get a pneumonia vaccination because I was 65+ years of age. The Beautiful Wife and I went Walgreens and did that the same day.

I tried to understand why people don’t want to get a Covid shot. The argument that it is still experimental is nonsense. Hundreds of millions of people have gotten the shots and Covid deaths plummeted. There are cases where it has not worked for people or caused problems, but the vaccines have worked and work against the Delta Variant.

We now have a new term – breakthrough cases. That is… Read More

Many people (including myself in times past) have often complained that “economics is not taught in the schools.” But that’s a false assertion. Economics IS taught in today’s schools — taught in a very selective, all pervasive manner in just about EVERY class — not just in some economics class.

What is “taught” today throughout the education process by economically illiterate teachers is that: 1. Businesses make huge profits. Excessive profits. Downrightevilprofits. 2. Businesses can “afford” to pay more — more taxes, more mandated labor costs, more whatever. 3. CONCLUSION: Businesses need to pay their “fair share” — whichalwaysmeans MORE.

Of course, the MSM AND the movie/TV shows preach the same gospel. Facts be damned. So we really should not be surprised it how little most people know about business, costs and profits.

A 2015 survey found thatpeople think that businesses make about 36% profit on every dollar of sales.The real profit margin is 6.5% to 7.5%. Roughly 7 cents of every sales dollar… Read More

I have talked about the problems with the recently adopted budget (assuming the Legislature is done with it, a large assumption given their previous cavalier attitude toward the budget deadlines). Just to repeat my previous criticisms:

(1) The budget for the current and predictions for future year budgets are based on unstable revenue; (2) The spending increases in the current budget fix in spending patterns that are unsustainable in the future; (3) The Legislature completely failed to comply with the budget deadlines, and in their tardiness, they didn’t fix the real problems in the budget; (4) In addition to the unsustainable spending patterns, the programs upon which the money is spent are themselves questionable and little value to Californians. The fact is the Legislature doesn’t care about most Californians, they waste the tax dollars they collect, pay off their political donors, endanger public safety with their spending priorities, and they have built in entitlement and spending to such an extent that within the next two to five years, the entire system will collapse, and the Democrats in the Legislature will again demand tax increases… Read More

Regular readers of this column know by now that I think Thomas Sowell is possibly the greatest American of the last century. It is hard to imagine an American with whom I have been more impressed over my lifetime. The fact that he wrote a fabulously enlightening book published at age 90 (he is now 91) is enough of a statement. Jason Riley (WSJ contributor) has released a biography of Sowell entitled Maverick. Riley’s book in its way is as great as any of Sowell’s 40+ books. Allow me to explain.

First, Riley writes the book in a readable fashion much like Sowell, even though both tackle complex subjects. Riley understands like Sowell (except for his pure economic treatises) that the reader needs to comprehend what he is writing; otherwise, the book is just an act of egotism. Additionally, despite writing about a person who has had a long, full life, Riley brings the book in at 248 pages. So many of those pages illicit a “wow” that there is extraordinarily little not totally fulfilling in this book.

You do learn of Sowell’s meager beginnings which he did not allow to color or taint his outlook. You also learn that while gathering his post high-school… Read More

I have not been a big fan of the recall election. I am friends with the people who are behind it, so I do not think they are doing a bad job. I think to win the first vote, the actual recall to move on to the second vote and determine Newsom’s replacement is a much higher hurdle than in 2003.

The main part of ousting Newsom successfully is the necessity of an attractive alternative to replace him. You cannot defeat someone without an attractive alternative. We now have that candidate once Larry Elder was cleared to be on the ballot. I now believe the recall can win.

When I heard Larry was running (we have been friends for 25 years and I am very fond of him), my initial reaction was what in God’s name is he thinking? He has become a nationally syndicated radio host, earns speaking fees, appears on national news shows, writes books and made a movie (the excellent Uncle Tom if you are not familiar). Many people would characterize Larry as a superstar.

That is why Dennis Prager has a standard offer regarding Larry. Prager will personally make a $10,000 donation to the charity of a person’s choice for any… Read More

In my previous discussions on the budget, I pointed out that the budget has numerous problems, and we haven’t even gotten to the details:

(1) The budget for the current and predictions for future year budgets are based on unstable revenue; (2) The spending increases in the current budget fix in spending patterns that are unsustainable in the future; and (3) The Legislature completely failed to comply with the budget deadlines, and in their tardiness, they didn’t fix the real problems in the budget.

We are now faced with a fake budget, enacted at a fake time, with fake revenue estimates. The time bomb is ticking. All of this might be excusable if the budget actually solved the state’s problems, but it doesn’t. It continues legislative priorities that don’t solve the real problems of the state of California. One of my observations during my time, as I saw the budgets take shape, was that Democrats always wanted to spend more on health, welfare, and education, and Republicans wanted to spend more on public safety and transportation. The compromise, when Republicans mattered, was to raise spending on… Read More