Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and A Happy New Year! I usually end my final missive of the year with these wishes. But, since the rest of this e-mail is loaded with lumps of coal, I thought I would start out with the happier note! Now, on to details that could just as easily have been provided by Ebenezer Scrooge.

Post-Thanksgiving, there were basically two issues remaining for Congress this year. I will address each separately:

Funding the Government: A bill to fund the government for the balance of this fiscal year passed both Houses on a bipartisan vote and is expected to be signed by the President very soon. The total spending in this bill was determined by the “debt limit agreement” in August. So, all that had to be worked out were the specifics within that number ($1.043 trillion). So, that means no government shutdowns before September 30, 2012. Additionally, it is standard practice in election years to fund the government from October 1st through at least the end of November on a Continuing Resolution (CR) rather than try to get enormous spending bills done weeks before an election. So, I expect that next year… Read More

North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 3.5%. Ten counties in ND have less than 2% unemployment. They have an oil and gas extraction boom going on, though their low unemployment rate predates that growth in oil and gas jobs.

Critics like to claim that ND is having a temporary boom that will shortly be followed by a bust. But while ND certainly is benefiting from an oil and gas boom, the depletion rate is slow, and the expansion of wells is dramatic — they’ve barely started their boom. This boom ain’t busting for many, many years to come. The petroleum extraction in ND is essentially now illegal in anti-business, “pro-environment” CA.

But perhaps more interesting is SOUTH Dakota (SD), which has no oil and gas boom. Their unemployment rate hasn’t been over 5% in over a decade — and currently is 4.5%. The state is very business friendly with low taxes (including no corporate or personal income tax). They “steal” businesses from neighboring high-tax Minnesota with monotonous regularity.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has tracked the state unemployment rates since 1976. In South Dakota, unemployment peaked in… Read More

Recently a liberal online debater jousting with me presented two factoids that he smugly assumed proved conclusively that CA should have high taxes — that my concerns over CA taxes were thus “the height of sophistry.” Both his FACTS were true — but they did nothing for making his case. Indeed, they UNDERMINED his case — a delicious example of boomerang sophistry.

Since this nonsense periodically pops up out of the liberal playbook, I thought I’d deal with each factor in some detail here.

1. “California has the biggest GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of any state in the nation.”

True, but — so? If anything — this factoid should make the case for LOWER tax rates, not higher.

First, let me point out that, while California has the states’ highest GDP, we also are by FAR the most populous state in the nation. California has over 37 million people, while second place Texas has a bit over 25 million. New York state is third with over 19 million. In other words, our large GDP is no big deal. … Read More

Incumbency is a factor not to be ignored in politics. In some election cycles it’s an advantage. However, in our current environment it’s clearly a political liability that anyone serving in office seeking re-election has to deal with.

In this election cycle we also have to make the determination of incumbency status following a historical redistricting that saw radical changes in legislative and Congressional seats.

Consider Assembly District 74. This is a seat entirely within Orange County that includes all or parts of the cities of Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Irvine, and Laguna Beach.

So who is the incumbent here?

According to the Election Code, the incumbent in AD 74 would be Assemblyman Don Wagner if he wanted to run for this seat.

Election Code 13108 gives the first right of incumbency to the elected representative from that exact district, then to someone with the same district number if they are from the same county as the district was previously, then the law allows in new districts the label to fall to the person that represents the most territory.

Wagner’s current Assembly District (AD 70) makes up… Read More

With the passing of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, the country occupying the northern portion of the Korean Peninsula is back in the news. As if to make sure the rest of the world noticed the country as its “dear” leader departed, the People’s Army fired a short range missile into the ocean within hours his death.

Does the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (as the North Koreans leaders like to call their country) have much in common with today’s other major news item, the “Occupy” movement?

CAPITALISM. Today’s Occupy movement rails against capitalism in general and “greedy corporations” in particular. Not a lot of capitalism in North Korea, and the only corporations are owned by the government (“the people”).

FREE TRADE. Ports have been a target of the Occupiers, particularly in Oakland where the protesters “succeeded” in disrupting port operations and with it the jobs of the unionized port workers,… Read More

Last I checked Republicans control the U.S. House of Representatives. Right? You need to read this floor speech from Congressman Tom McClintock. He and his California colleague John Campbell were the only two House Republicans from the Golden State to oppose a proposal to fund the extension of a payroll tax cut by passing the costs onto holders of Freddie and Fannie mortgages. There’s a WSJ story here. Take the two minutes to read this speech… Fixing the Payroll Tax House Chamber Remarks by Congressman Tom McClintock Washington, D.C. December 15, 2011

Mr. Speaker:

One of the items of unfinished business remaining before this session is extending the payroll tax cut of last year that funds Social Security.

It’s an infra-marginal tax cut, meaning that it doesn’t change economic incentives and therefore it doesn’t produce lasting economic growth. But it does provide great relief to working families, allowing them to keep more of their earnings at a time of declining incomes, shriveling assets and rising… Read More

GOP presidential candidate (and two term Governor of New Mexico) Gary Johnson is leaving the GOP to run for President as a Libertarian. His frustration and being omitted from the debates and the polls finally drove him out of the Republican Party.

Frankly I doubt it will have an effect on the outcome in November 2012, as few vote for most third party candidates. Still, the LP now has a former governor running as its premier candidate. Way to go, GOP!

The LP nomination for Johnson is far from guaranteed — the governor is a “weak” Libertarian compared to the more ideological folks running within the LP. But his elected status should give him the frontrunner position at the LP national convention. http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/johnson-libertarian-gop-president/2011/12/14/id/421034?s=al&promo_code=DB78-1… Read More

The following is a speech from the floor that I delivered December 14, 2011, and wanted to share it with FlashReport readers…

Mr. Speaker:

I rise in opposition to Section 1021 of the underlying Conference Report (H.R. 1540, the National Defense Authorization Act).

This section specifically affirms that the President has the authority to deny due process to any American it charges with “substantially supporting al Qaeda, the Taliban or any ‘associated forces'” – whatever that means.

Would “substantial support” of an “associated force,” mean linking a web-site to a web-site that links to a web-site affiliated with al-Qaeda? We don’t know. The question is, “do we really want to find out?”

We’re told not to worry – that the bill explicitly states that nothing in it shall alter existing law.

But wait. There isno existing law that gives the President the power to ignore the Bill of Rights and detain Americans without due process. There is only an assertion by the last two presidents that this power is inherent… Read More