The plastic bag tax keeps rolling along in the legislature. Meredith Turney first noted it for us in March. In April Jon Fleischman offered a commentaryon the subject, hi-liting the little matter of “greenwashing,” in which both consumers and policy-makers are hoodwinked into supposedly eco-friendly goals to the benefit and profit of the growing green industry.

Since then, Lloyd Levine’s AB 2058 has passed the Assembly, 44-33, and found its way to Senate Appropriations for a slated hearing this week. In essence, the bill would require proof that a grocery store is recycling a whopping 70 percent of all its plastic carry out bags, or require a charge to the customer of at least 25 cents per bag. The plastic bag police will be the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

A website has been set up in opposition to the bill, with radio ads running in various parts of the… Read More

Right now we have SB 1322, allowing Communist Party members to use school properties, be employed by schools, etc. [See article XX, Section 3 of the state Constitition.] 2 amendments were offered by Republican colleagues DeVoreand Garrick, to replace the current law with one disallowing known donors and members ofterrorist organizations to be disallowed from access to campus employment and assembly. These amendments werelaidon the table. Which means the amendments were not directly debated nor voted upon. So, if you want to know how the votes went, look for the "aye" votes on tabling the amends,what is basically ignoring the amends, to allow terrorist organizations to continue access. [41 Dem votes Aye on tabling amendment 1, 32 No votes. 35 Dem votes Aye on tabling amendment 2,30 No votes]

The bill exists because of the belief that Communism is no longer a threat or problem to our way of life. That this is protecting people’s constitutional rightsby not having totake an oath of not being a Communist party member to work for the… Read More

Imagine just for a second that the chief financial officer of one of the largest companies in the state advised his CEO to deal with an extreme shortage of cash on hand by essentially doing nothing, and then by asking for a high-risk, high-interest loan that would end up costing the company hundreds of millions of dollars.

That CFO would be fired.

But that’s exactly what John Chiang has done. As Controller, he is the state’s chief financial officer. And his advice: keep paying hundreds of thousands of state workers despite having no cash to do so and no state budget in place authorizing him to cut checks.

The state constitution is clear: if there’s no budget in place, the Controller can’t cut checks.

But Chiang refuses. It’s not clear whether he is saying he can’t or if he won’t. But what is clear here is that there is a huge opportunity here — to make the argument in support of taxpayers’ rights and in support of fiscal responsibility in Sacramento.

It’s great that the Governor has set up this fight because it provides the opportunity to once-and-for-all clarify the responsibilities of state government and… Read More

In the Governor Schwarzenegger’s signing of Asssemblyman Tony Mendoza’s paternalism-on-steroids bill too ban transfats, I hereby surrender my free will and declare my dependence on state government.

After all, if the state government is going to plan my diet and decide what I can and cannot eat, then what aspect of my life is truly beyond their scope?

So the Governor wants the government to be my personal trainer. Fine. Let’s go all the way and turn the running of my life over to government. I want the state to do my grocery shopping, so that my cupboard is only stocked with healthy foods. And I’ll need a government driver, to prevent my from losing control and rolling through McDonald’s.

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

In the Governor Schwarzenegger’s signing of Asssemblyman Tony Mendoza’s paternalism-on-steroids bill too ban transfats, I hereby surrender my free will and declare my dependence on state government.

After all, if the state government is going to plan my diet and decide what I can and cannot eat, then what aspect of my life is truly beyond their scope?

So the Governor wants the government to be my personal trainer. Fine. Let’s go all the way and turn the running of my life over to government. I want the state to do my grocery shopping, so that my cupboard is only stocked with healthy foods. And I’ll need a government driver, to prevent my from losing control and rolling through McDonald’s.

I’ll need a wake-up call from the state to make sure I don’t oversleep, and a go-to-bed call so that I don’t stay up too late watching TV. The New England Journal of Medicine says a good night’s sleep is vital to my health, you know — and a healthier me means a healthier California.

In between, I’ll need a government minder to schedule my… Read More

Yesterday Congress adjourned without taking any action on energy policy. While not surprising, it’s really a shame for a lot of reasons. Some reasons we hear a lot about. Some we don’t.

For example, when the price of gasoline was only $1.25 a gallon, federal and state governments had no problems raising gas taxes. But now that fuel prices are up, revenue shortfalls caused by decreased gasoline demand, combined with poor energy policy, is contributing to a severe shortfall in highway funds. An L.A. Times report from July 21 gives an overview of the problem.

The President’s and Congress’ budget offices agree that the Federal Highway Account is projected to have a negative balance as early as 2009 or as late as 2011, respectively.

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

Yesterday Congress adjourned without taking any action on energy policy. While not surprising, it’s really a shame for a lot of reasons. Some reasons we hear a lot about. Some we don’t.

For example, when the price of gasoline was only $1.25 a gallon, federal and state governments had no problems raising gas taxes. But now that fuel prices are up, revenue shortfalls caused by decreased gasoline demand, combined with poor energy policy, is contributing to a severe shortfall in highway funds. An L.A. Times report from July 21 gives an overview of the problem.

The President’s and Congress’ budget offices agree that the Federal Highway Account is projected to have a negative balance as early as 2009 or as late as 2011, respectively.

This particular government-related problem, among many we’re seeing in a downturned economy, will impact our ability to build transportation infrastructure in California in the next several years and perhaps beyond. That means building fewer roads, highways and interchanges.

About half of the road and… Read More

I had a chance to run over to Las Vegas and see Elton John’s fantastic "Red Piano" show night before last at Caesar’s Palace. I recommend it to all, and he is closing it down in just a couple months, so time is short for tickets….!

Sir Elton isn’t exactly a conservative, but I appreciate just about any true art, regardless of my politics, and Elton is loaded with talent. Say what you want about him, he is a true artist. Stunningly talented. And to his credit he didn’t make one political crack during his one hour, 50 minute show. His biggest joke was to say that Celine Dion (for whom the theater he was performing in was built) looked like a Q-Tip.

I happen to believe that true art is a higher calling than politics, but that is the subject of some future post…..

Though the "Rocket Man" gave a terrific show, there was a little political element to my visit that resonated for discussion here. And that was the proverbial discussion with the taxi driver on the trip to the airport about the election.

I have found that taxi drivers usually get… Read More