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FlashReport Weblog on California Politics

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John Phillips

Congressman Harley Rouda kicks sand in the face of law enforcement

I’m not a big “L” Libertarian, but like many Californians, I agree with the libertarian belief that less government interference in daily life is better, especially when it comes to the role of law enforcement in society.

If you want less friction between the public and the police, you should let the cops focus on real crime. Turning them into the enforcers of heavy-handed nanny state edicts will do nothing but maximize negative interactions at a time when the temperature in the room is already high enough.

Which is why Congressman Harley Rouda (D-Laguna Beach) has all the wrong ideas about law enforcement.

In May, California Governor Gavin Newsom decided to shut down state beaches, including those in Rouda’s coastal Orange County district, despite scant evidence that the sun, the breeze and the “social distancing” inherent in beach-going would lead to a spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations or death.

You could consider it a ‘#DefundTheLifeguards’ campaign, if you will.

The response to Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 lockdown wasn’t exactly a day at the beach.

City leaders in Dana Point and Huntington… Read More

Bruce Bialosky

Newsom’s Giant Head Fake

Anybody who has been involved in the political arena for a period of time knows that when things are going badly for a politician one of the tried and true strategies is change the conversation. That is exactly what happened when Governor Gavin Newsom’s announced that Californians will all be driving electric cars by 2035.

The state of California has recently had massive fires that have been nothing but bad news for the Governor. If you combine that with the fact California has nationally high unemployment due to his COVID policies, a homeless problem that has not been mitigated, electricity blackouts and brownouts, a malfunctioning unemployment system and people streaming out of the state, the Governor is facing major problems.

Start with the fires. First, this problem was handed to him by his predecessor who spent government funds on illusional projects while not doing the basics necessary to maintain the forests. As large as the fires have been, they are smaller than many historically going back to the 1800’s. Regardless, they certainly look bad.

Instead of him saying he is in charge and will fix this, he has pointed fingers at others. Last year it… Read More

Bruce Bialosky

Biden Plan for the Criminal Justice System

The Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force provides recommendations in six areas of domestic policy which are a roadmap for what Biden and his team want to accomplish if he is elected president. Despite little discussion about public policy at their convention, this is a detailed plan for domestic policy. Today we will look at their plans for criminal justice called Protecting Communities by Reforming Our Criminal Justice System.

There are two parts of the plan, a 4-page narrative of what they want to do and then a 7-page description of their policy recommendations. The co-chair of the committee that wrote this, Chiraag Bains, is funded by the Soros family which has contributed significantly to elect District Attorneys across the nation.

A note of interest. Not once during any of the statements by the committee did they say anything positive about either the current justice system or the police in our country. In their opinion it is a racist system that unnecessarily incarcerates individuals unfairly.

Here are some points of what they describe:

1. They want to completely eliminate the cash bail… Read More

Richard Rider

Rise of single parent homes the prime factor in modest household income growth

Here’s four basic facts that almost no one knows about America:

1. Contrary to what our progressive pundits tell us, since 1967, real (inflation adjusted) household incomes HAVE risen — 43.3%.

2. During that time frame, PER PERSON real household income has risenmuchfaster — 86.5%.

3. Probably the biggest single factor keeping household income from being higher has been the rise of single parent households. The median household numbers have dropped from 3.28 people to 2.52 over this period. It dropped especially fast from 1967 to 1993 when our welfare state exploded, slowing only when tepid welfare reforms were initiated by the GOP and President Clinton. In essence, our benevolent government has paid people not to get married. It worked!

4. Since 1967 — like all groups — the black middle class has shrunk. But not the way people think. It’s a GOOD thing! That’s because there’s been a tremendous increase in the percent of blacks who now are in the “high-income” group — from 9.1% to 29.4%. And even though there has been a major drop in the percent of… Read More

Congressman Tom McClintock

McClintock on the Ballot Propositions

Proposition 14 – Brewster’s Billions: NO. “Brewster’s Millions” tells the story of a fictional character in 1902, who, in order to inherit $7 million, must first spend $1 million in a year and have nothing to show for it. In 2004, California voters were convinced to spend $3 billion on Stem Cell research – or about $260 (plus interest) for every family in California. A recent report found that $2.1 billion went to beneficiaries with links to the board that doles out the money. That money is now all but spent, with nothing to show for it. So, they’re back with another bond, this one for $5.5 billion (about $478 per family). This is amusing only as fiction. Read More

Bruce Bialosky

The Lie of the Failure of Black Students

Anyone who has reached the age of 90 just wants to get to the age of 90. We do not envision writing our 56th book, not to mention writing on a subject you have been studying for almost 50 years – education of the Black community. Thomas Sowell’s Charter Schools and Their Enemies defines the fact that Black students are not the problem. It is the grown-ups who make up the educational establishment that fails children.

This is not some jaunt in the park by Dr. Sowell while he pontificates about his thoughts on the value of charter schools. This is a scientific analysis done by Dr. Sowell, who is a world-respected economist. He starts the book by outlining the rules he followed to do comparative analysis. The procedures were as strict as can be within the circumstances.

The difference of performance between public school students and those of the charter school students is based on annual testing among schools within New York City. Many of these schools occupy the exact same buildings and have similar ethnic compositions which are 95% Black and Hispanics. One must wonder what the other 5% of the students are and you… Read More

Bruce Bialosky

Why Only Public Employees Should Vote for Proposition 15

There are many important propositions on the November ballot. In fact, all twelve props are significant and deserve your full attention. Nothing on the ballot is more important than votes on these issues. Of them all, the single most important is Proposition 15. It attempts to once again overturn the hallmark Proposition 13 that shook the world in 1978. This one is particularly devious, yet the only people who would not be harmed by its passing are public employees and their unions. Let me explain.

Proposition 15 would amend the California State Constitution to require commercial and industrial properties (except those zoned as commercial agriculture) to be taxed based on their market value. In California, the proposal would assess taxes on commercial and industrial properties at market value, while continuing to assess taxes on residential properties based on the purchase price. This has been referred to as “split roll.”

The ballot initiative would make an exception for properties whose business owners have $3 million or less in California holdings. These properties would continue to be taxed based on their purchase price. The ballot… Read More

Bruce Bialosky

Biden Plan for Education

The Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force provides recommendations in six areas of domestic policy which are a roadmap for what Biden and his team want to accomplish if he is elected president. Despite little discussion about public policy at their convention, this is a detailed plan for domestic policy. Today we will take a look at their plans for the education called Providing a World-Class Education in Every Zip Code.

There are two parts of the plan a 5-page narrative of what they want to do and then a 10-page description of their policy recommendations. This proposal contains very few new proposals. The task force that drafted this plan has the heads of the largest national teachers’ unions on it. A note: there is no statement of how much any of these proposals would cost or how they would be funded.

Here are some points of what they describe:

1. They want to ban both for-profit charter schools and for-profit colleges from receiving federal funding. The people who drafted this obviously need to understand that we operate in a capitalist system where profits are looked at as a positive. They don’t mention any… Read More

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