This morning, my boss, Senator John J. Benoit, weighed in on the implementation of the higher State sales tax rate. Just a note, here in Riverside County, we don’t have too many local add-ons, so our rate is 8.75 percent. As the Board of Equalization notes (follow the link to see your own local sales tax rate), some jurisdictions have already topped a 10 percent sales tax!

Today, April 1, the State sales tax increase approved as part of the recent budget deal in February will go into effect, raising the sales tax in Riverside County from 7.75 percent to 8.75 percent. This one-cent tax increase represents a 12.9 percent increase in the sales tax, and is, at present, set to expire in two years.

Today’s tax hike

Today, thousands of gas station owners around California will hit a hard deadline passed by the California Air Resources Board to "upgrade" their pumps to make an extremely minor reduction in fumes released. Yes, this is yet another manifestation of that happens when the liberals in the legislature, teaming up with Governor "Green" — set board direction to regulatory boards to reduce carbon emissions. Editorial Boards across the state have and continue to praise and support the idea of using government regulation to reduce man-made greenhouse gas emissions — this despite the opinion of a great many leading scientists that global warming is not caused by people.

I wrote about this extensively here, and we also have carried a column from Assemblyman Jeff Miller on this subject… Read More

Today, thousands of gas station owners around California will hit a hard deadline passed by the California Air Resources Board to "upgrade" their pumps to make an extremely minor reduction in fumes released. Yes, this is yet another manifestation of that happens when the liberals in the legislature, teaming up with Governor "Green" — set board direction to regulatory boards to reduce carbon emissions. Editorial Boards across the state have and continue to praise and support the idea of using government regulation to reduce man-made greenhouse gas emissions — this despite the opinion of a great many leading scientists that global warming is not caused by people.

I wrote about this extensively here, and we also have carried a column from Assemblyman Jeff Miller on this subject… Read More

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of representing the Flash Report in a bloggers conference call with Republican congressional leadership. Hosting the call were California Congressmen Kevin McCarthy and John Campbell (a fellow FR blogger), who were joined by Congressmen Patrick McHenry and Paul Ryan. The purpose of the biweekly teleconference is to engage the new media and ensure they are well informed of what’s taking place on Capitol Hill. New media have obviously become the major source of information for conservatives who are locked out of the MSM and it’s crucial for Republicans to provide them access.

In this particular call the topic was the President’s budget that will be voted on this week. Instead of simply criticizing the behemoth spending spree, Republicans are proposing their own budget which promises to cut spending and spur economic recovery. Obviously Congressman Campbell can explain the details of the budget much better than I, but I will say that based upon the information shared during the teleconference, this is an “all hands on deck” moment for freedom-loving Americans. Each congressman warned that if this budget passes, America as we… Read More

Happy Cesar Chavez Day! Today, as the revered union leader is honored by state decree, it’s only appropriate to reflect upon how unions have “benefited” our state and then carefully consider the latest union push for increased power.

I think it’s fair to say that organized labor is one of the greatest hindrances to the free market today. The auto industry probably wouldn’t count Barack Obama as one of its CEOs right now if not for the United Auto Workers’ (UAW) crippling contracts. A competitive education system might actually produce well-educated, over-achieving students if not for the California Teachers Association’s (CTA) deep pockets (filled with mandatory dues) stifling any attempt at reform.

Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner’s campaign has issued a response to the bizarre public letter sent to him by tax-hiking State Senator Abel Maldonado.

There are few people as infamous as State Senator Abel Maldonado (? – Santa Maria). FR readers will recall that when Republicans had stopped the Big Budget/Big Taxes deal in the State Senate, it was Maldonado who rather flamboyantly cast the deciding vote to hit California taxpayers with the largest tax increase in the history of this (or any other) state. This from a Republican legislator who voluntarily signed a pledge during his election campaign to oppose any new tax increases.

Maldonado is apparently upset with California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner for criticizing him and the other five legislative Republicans, and the Governor, for their support of taxes that will hit the average family at over $1,100 per year.

These days, you know you are doing something right if Maldonado is criticizing you. I don’t know about you, but when I read this letter below, I just roll my eyes.

I reached out to Steve Poizner who informs me that he is penning a response, which you can be sure we’ll post up here on FR. (Note: This letter, a .pdf of which is attached,… Read More

Courtesy of facesoflawsuitabuse.org, you need to watch the video below.

In the restroom of a family-owned restaurant in Southern California, employees replaced a mirror that had been destroyed by vandals. Since the new mirror was two inches shorter than the old one, it was hanging two inches too high to satisfy disabilities regulations and standards. Once he was notified of the mistake, restaurant owner Ron Piazza immediately lowered the mirror. But it was already too late. Piazza’s restaurant was sued.

"It would have been very easy for them to let us know that the mirror was a couple of inches too high, and we could have taken care of that right away," Piazza explained.… Read More