The Bee’s latest rant against Amazon.com was heavy on rhetoric but light on substance. It accused the online retailer of being a dishonest “scofflaw” with “questionable ethics” for allegedly refusing to abide by the same rules as “honest retailers.”

Why only Amazon is singled out as a scofflaw isn’t clear. Like Amazon, thousands of out-of-state companies make sales into California each year without collecting and remitting sales tax. Californians are supposed to pay use tax on these purchases, but according to The Bee’s logic, these retailers are the real scofflaws for failing to do “good deeds” by collecting taxes they aren’t legally required to collect.

Does The Bee really think California’s retailers should collect sales taxes for 44 other states plus the District of Columbia even though the law doesn’t require them to do so?

And does The Bee’s parent company McClatchy out of the goodness of its heart pay sales tax for subscribers who live in other states? For instance, does… Read More

Some random thoughts on the passing California political scene…

There are a great many politicians waiting to see what the new political boundaries will be for our federal and state legislative seats. The two Congressional delegation members who are clearly the most prepared, financially, to fend off any potential interlopers (read: neighboring Members of Congress who may want to run in the same district as them) are Orange County Republican Ed Royce, whose war chest is sitting at over $2.5 million, andDemocrat Brad Sherman of the San Fernando Valley who has stockpiled over $3 million bucks in his re-election kitty. Royce is likely to see a North and East Orange County seat that will be very well suited for his him, though neighboring Reps. David Dreier and Gary Miller may be a tad jealous — and in need of seats. Sherman’s challenge is that his currently-quite-gerrymandered seat is likely to become populating with many more Latino voters, which may invite a “healthy discussion” over whether Sherman is still the “right fit” for the district. No matter what, Royce and Sherman are well armed in the currency of politics –… Read More

I happened to be in Tucson for a series of business meetings this last weekend, however, I noted with interest that California GOP activists Celeste Greig, Placer County’s Tom Hudson and Orange County trial lawyer Craig Alexander were all re-elected to their positions in that volunteer organization at its Sacramento convention, by about 40 votes each, after about 125 delegates were disqualified from voting by the credentials committee controlled by the trio. I believe there are some legal issues hanging out there about disenfranchising all those delegates, almost 40% of the total submitted, but unfortunately none of it is good for the future credibility of a CRA endorsement. Candidates beware!… Read More

An interesting political drama has been unfolding in the troubled city of San Diego for several months. The debate centers around pension reform, and mayoral politics.

On one side, City Councilman Carl DeMaio, a candidate for mayor, was beating the drums of “comprehensive” reform. He released a detailed proposal in November that outlined a series of policies that would flatline the city’s skyrocketing pension obligations.

On the other side, Mayor Jerry Sanders and Councilman Kevin Faulconer attempted to tackle the issue with a more moderate approach that excluded all public safety employees (who make up half of the pension debt) and allowed pension “spiking” to continue.

At the peak of the drama, Sanders and Faulconer declared much of DeMaio’s proposal to be illegal, banned him from participating in discussions, and then publically released their own proposal. The media, business community and DeMaio harshly criticized their plan and forced them back to the negotiating table.

Earlier this month, all three parties released a “unity” ballot initiative, brokered by the Lincoln Club and San Diego Taxpayers… Read More

“…there’s never a wish better than this, when you’ve only got 100 years to live.” – from the lyrics of the song “100 years” by John Ondrasik (Five for Fighting)

Maurine McNee Campbell: Regular readers of this Laptop Report know that I sometimes get a little more personal with you than perhaps is customary for the writings of a member of Congress engaged in the nation’s political discourse. This is one of those times.

My mother, Maurine McNee Campbell, passed away a couple of weeks ago in Los Angeles. She was 96. As an English friend wrote me with a reference to the game of cricket, “96 is good innings.” Yes, good innings, indeed.

She was born in the small Midwestern town of Cottonwood Falls, Kansas just 4 months after the “guns of August” started firing in Europe to begin World War I. She moved to Los Angeles as a little girl. Her parents had honeymooned there and decided they would move there someday. She lived 60 of her 96 years in the L.A. house her… Read More

125 dues paid Delegates are now locked out of the CRA convention in Sacramento as directed by the current leadership regime. Even Assemblyman Jeff Miller, Senator Joel Anderson, and lil ol me are not recognized by the CRA! Update: I hear now I’m OK for now, but not Joel and Jeff. It may be moot as they are going to exclude certain clubs.Police officers are now on sight, visiting with some of thoselocked out of the convention floor.

This really underscores the need for new leadership under Karen England and her slate of candidate for officer positionsto havethe CRA have any crediblility in the future as a Republican organization. With a judge placing a temporary restraining order this week on the actions of the current regime, you can bet it will be in court in a few weeks again with some individuals in serious trouble with the judge.[Maybe the Park brother who uttered "BS!" in the judges chamber will be one in the judges disfavor]

With the chaos in that conventionroom, a likely stalemate could happen this weekend with no result. It could spell the end of the CRA… Read More

Here are a couple of California items from today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary E-mail…

When Unions Get Desperate

There haven’t been any major earthquakes or wildfires in California recently, but teachers apparently think that the potential budget cuts to education merit a “State of Emergency Week.”

The California Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union, is planning a week of activities in May. The goal is to pressure Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and the state legislature to raise taxes rather than cut education spending.

Earlier this week the union posted a 10-page list of potential activities on its website, CAstateofemergency.com. Ideas included stalking legislators for a day; boycotting corporations like Microsoft that advocate for education reform; attempting to close down major roads; dying their hair red; holding night-time vigils with coffins and black arm-bands; picketing companies; and withdrawing funds from banks that “are not paying… Read More

It’s no surprise that California’s constant budget crisis and the Legislature’s inability to control its spending have renewed interest by some to weaken Prop. 13 and raise property taxes to help solve our massive budget deficit.

Proponents of increasing property taxes claim they will help solve our budget problems, but the reality is that property tax increases will cost Californians billions, hurt our small businesses and slow job creation when we need it most.

Californians Against Higher Property Taxes is educating Californians about the negative consequences of a “split roll tax” and potential parcel tax increases. I encourage you to visit www.stophigherpropertytaxes.com and join the coalition to stay informed.

Thank you for working with me to oppose new taxes on the people of California.… Read More