THE WATER "FEE" IS A TAX. PERIOD. Jon Coupal, the President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association penned a piece that appeared in the FlashReport, drawing the distinction between a tax and a fee. Given that he is an authorative source on the matter, let’s make no mistake about it. There is a currently a proposal on the table to increase the tax burden on Californians by several billion (yes, with a "B") a year. This proposal would place a mandatory fee of $3/month ($36/year) on every parcel of property in the state, and then these funds would go towards water-related infrastructure investments. But the key is that there is no nexus to an individual’s payment and a project nearby that directly benefits them. Instead, all of these billions of dollars collected locally will be shipped to Sacramento and spent there by politicians. If this isn’t a tax increase, I don’t know what is. … Read More

THE WATER "FEE" IS A TAX. PERIOD. Jon Coupal, the President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association penned a piece that appeared in the FlashReport, drawing the distinction between a tax and a fee. Given that he is an authorative source on the matter, let’s make no mistake about it. There is a currently a proposal on the table to increase the tax burden on Californians by several billion (yes, with a "B") a year. This proposal would place a mandatory fee of $3/month ($36/year) on every parcel of property in the state, and then these funds would go towards water-related infrastructure investments. But the key is that there is no nexus to an individual’s payment and a project nearby that directly benefits them. Instead, all of these billions of dollars collected locally will be shipped to Sacramento and spent there by politicians. If this isn’t a tax increase, I don’t know what is. This tax increase is in the fine print of a… Read More

I don’t think Susan Kennedy is a Communist sympathizer. I don’t think she’s a spy for Gray Davis or Phil Angelides. I don’t know much about her politics, although it sounds like she’s somewhere to the left of most Republicans and somewhere to the right of most Democrats. Which, as most of the participants on this website have decided, is pretty much where her boss is.

But after reading Friday’s Los Angeles Times’ story on the payment Kennedy received from the Schwarzenegger campaign committee, I have an entirely different set of concerns than most of my fellow bloggers. My worry is less about ideology than it is about ethics. Or at least, the appearance of ethical questions in an administration that promised to clean up Sacramento when it came to power.

There’s all sorts of revisionist history about what elected Arnold Schwarzenegger in the first place. There are those who think it was his celebrity that pulled him into office, an opinion that not only drastically underestimates the intellectual capabilities of California voters but ignores the fact that Arnold’s campaign didn’t really catch fire until… Read More

65th Assembly ( San Bernardino & Riverside Counties) candidate Brenda Salas has announced a few new endorsements, primarily a hand full of local city council folks, who I am sure are very important in their communities, but when you are running for the Assembly it would be nice to see some members of the Assembly endorse you.

Brenda is a very gracious and hard working young woman. She is a city Councilmember in Banning , I have had the pleasure of speaking with her on many an occasion and find her bright and articulate. The problem with her candidacy comes from the fact that she used to be a staff member for Congressman Joe “Open Borders” Baca, a Democrat in San Bernardino County. Given the political environment theses days, her association is going to be a tough issue to get around in a closed Republican Primary.

Salas has a very talented campaign consultant, Joe Giardiello, out of Los Angeles working for her. I have known Joe for years and respect his talents. If were to offer my free unsolicited advice- (free and unsolicited is getting exactly what you paid for it) it would be this- Before you tell the Republican primary voters… Read More

On January 14th I posted on this leading California / National Political BLOG that Rep. Roy Blunt had the votes to be the Republican Leader in the House of Representatives. As we all know, I was wrong. I do believe that on January 14th Blunt did have the 117 votes to be the Leader, the problem for him came on Feb 2nd when the voting took place and he only had 109 in the end.

I have a good friend who works in a senior position for Blunt. Before I posted Blunt’s press release that day, I point blank asked him if what they were saying was true, as I did not want to use the FlashReport as a flack vehicle for whoever puts out what spin. My source confirmed the information was correct and as I said, on January 14th I believed it was true.

As many of us have learned in politics, the only poll that matters is the one taken on Election Day. Rep. Roy Blunt (as did my boss Rep. Darrell Issa) was reminded of that this week. For those of you out there who send me nasty e-mails or posted on their BLOGS a.k.a Power Blue Report chastising me for lying about Blunt’s votes. I admit I was wrong about the out… Read More

The contest for the 34th Senate District is the most contentious election contest in Orange County (with arguable exception the Diane Harkey-Tom Harman race for John Campbell’s old Senate seat).

I think our readers know how it is lining up: Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher versus Assemblyman Van Tran on the GOP side, and Assemblyman Tom Umberg and OC Supervisor Lou Correa on the Democratic side.

Since the 34th SD is at parity in terms of partisan registration, Daucher’s candidacy is being sold as giving the GOP a better shot at picking it up — the argument being that her moderate makes her a stronger general election candidate in a toss-up district like the 35th.

Although I strongly disagree with her on several issues, I like Lynn. I got to spend some time with her and her husband Don at the Republican National Convention in 2004. She’s a very gracious person.

However, part of the problem with moderate politicians is they tend to… Read More

A new tentative agreement between the Deputy Sheriffs Association and SLO County is going to cost county taxpayers over $8.7 million! According to the article:

A tentative agreement between the county and the Deputy Sheriffs Association would cost county taxpayers $8.7 million in the next four years and would let union members retire at age 50 with up to 90 percent of their pay.

That means a deputy with 30 years experience can retire with an income of up to $66,000 a year.

That guarantee is more than three times the county’s average retirement income of $21,314, according to the latest U.S. Census data, from 2004.

Under the new plan, the county would fund half the cost of the accelerated retirement package and workers would fund the other half.

Employee unions across the state have negotiated

I know. My first reaction was of course some of the Governor’s consultants ripped him off. They gave horrible advice and got paid very well for it. We can all name names.

This is different. LA Weekly is carrying a story that the Governor’s consultants defrauded his campaign using kickbacks and commissions. Apparently it was looked into and nothing was found.

Really?

Read the article here.I do wan’t to point out to all those that send emails to me correcting spelling errors. I’m not responsible for linked articles.… Read More