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Richard Rider

What’s on your restaurant plate is often a TINY cost factor in your bill

Recently I’ve been fascinated to read the Internet comments of otherwise intelligent people who think that the main cost of a costly California restaurant meal is the food ingredients.

Anyone who RUNS a restaurant will tell you that in most cases, the unprepared contents’ cost of what’s on your plate is just a minor and often tiny part of the restaurant’s overhead. Especially so for breakfast — which was the meal being discussed on the thread that I was reading. Here are just SOME of the many restaurant costs being ignored by those commenting “economists,” claiming that some/most restaurants are ripping us off: * Labor * Rent/lease/mortgage paymentsRead More

Bruce Bialosky

Biden Plan for the Economy

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 economy called Building a Stronger, Fairer Economy.

There are two parts of the plan: a 10-page narrative of what they want to do and then a 14-page description of their policy recommendations. A lot of it overlaps, but there are 24-pages and a lot of material. An important 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 completely redefine a self-employed individual by providing unemployment for them which we can only assume the self-employed will now have to pay into the unemployment system. They also provide sick leave. It is left to wonder if anyone self-employed want this governmental meddling.

2. They use the word ‘invest’ 11 times in 10-page narrative. They used the term “supercharged… Read More

Ron Nehring

The Republican Party Must Define Itself

Political parties must define themselves. Failing to do so creates opportunities for the opposing team to do the defining.

Setting standards is as at the heart of defining a party. While ours is a big, broad-based party that has enjoyed much success since Californian John C. Fremont first carried the Republican banner nationally in 1856, the party cannot stand for everything and anything. Just because some Republican somewhere said something, does not make it true.

When a candidate or other representative takes positions or makes statements fundamentally at odds with the party’s core principles, decisions must be made whether to call it out, risking drawing more attention to it, or letting it slide and hoping no one notices.

Delaware Republican U.S. Senate nominee Lauren Witzke’s recent statements are so absurd and at odds with conservative principles they must be repudiated.

“Most third world migrants cannot assimilate into civil societies. Prove me wrong,” she tweeted on OctoberRead More

Bruce Bialosky

The First Debate

You may be wondering why this is coming now, after all the instant analyses from everyone and the fusillade of takes on what each candidate did. Sometimes looking at major events is best done through the eye of space and time.

First, let’s concede Mr. Biden represented himself well. Some commentators on the Left and Right said he was off, but he certainly appeared to be all there and prepared. Mr. Trump interrupted too frequently at times diffusing the benefit of doing it as a tactic. Then there are material aspects of what was done.

Though Trump’s interruptions were annoying they paled in comparison to Biden’s sin – his constant name-calling. Biden has stated he is running in part to restore some dignity to national politics. If that is his intent, then he shredded that concept last week. Repeatedly calling the President names and telling him to shut-up is not acceptable. His hardcore supporters think calling Trump any name under the sun is acceptable. As I tell them repeatedly – only children call the President of the United States names. Liar, Racist, Stupid and Clown will not sit well with the undecided voters in Minnesota. Biden was trying to show… Read More

Bruce Bialosky

Biden Plan for Climate Crisis

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 the environment entitled Combating the Climate Crisis and Pursuing Environmental Justice

There are two parts of the plan, a 6-page narrative of what they want to do and then a 14-page description of their policy recommendations. This proposal contains very few new proposals not already released in the Green New Deal. That may be because Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez co-chairs this Task Force with former Secretary of State John Kerry. If there is any doubt Joe Biden supports these proposals, his Deputy Director for Policy, Kerry Duggan, is a member of the Task Force. These proposals mirror the Green New Deal which is endorsed on Biden ‘s website. Note: there is no statement of how much any of these proposals would cost nor how they would be funded. In this case the number of $2 trillion has been offered by supporters.

Here are some… Read More

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

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