Who really cares thatSen. Toni Atkins became the first woman and first LGBT person to lead the California Senate on Wednesday? Shouldn’t we be more interested in her character and ability to lead?

California newspaper headlines screamed Thursday “Sen. Toni Atkins became the first woman and first LGBT person to lead the California Senate.”

A rainbow flag representing gay pride hung next to the California and U.S. flags in the Capitol rotunda.

Wait? Where was the “I AM WOMAN” flag?

Who cares about any of this virtue signaling and identity politics other than the leftists running California’s State Capitol? Our “rulers” live in another country.

James Bartholomew identifiedand coined the phrase “virtue signaling” in a 2015 Spectator article: “Saying the right things violently on Twitter is much easier than real kindness.” But what is Virtue Signaling? It is when people take a conspicuous but… Read More

California politicians at all levels of government are helping fund a sort-of shadow government of dubious non-profit organizations, which are often tied to said politicians or family members.

An example of this isSen. Hannah Beth Jackson’s“Senate Bill 947. Rather than teaching California’s students critical thinking skills, California Senator Hannah Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) wants California’s schools to teach kids how to spot “fake news.” What could go… Read More

I began this series with the story of the tour of California by Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Kasich to “change” how the California Republican Party approaches voters. As I have said over and over again, the purpose of the political process is to persuade voters to entrust you with power. One thing I know, if the “choice” the voters have is a Kasich/Schwarzenegger Republican Party and a Brown/DeLeon/Newsom/Villaraigosa Democrat Party, voters will choose the Democrats, as they proved when given the choice between Brown and Meg Whitman, who ran as a Schwarzenegger clone. When Governor Brown pointed out that Whitman was saying the exact same things that Schwarzenegger had said in the recall, she lost her lead, and ultimately, the election to Brown. Voters want, in the words of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, a “choice” not an “echo.”

When I wrote my second installment of this piece, I set out what that choice should be. The Brown, etc. Democrat party is the party of welfare for illegals, out of control government unions, big pension and bonded indebtedness, taxes and hatred of the entrepreneurial and working… Read More

Most public employee labor union dues are used to elect politicians or to pass (or oppose) propositions. The actual percentage of these dues spent on politics is unknown, as the unions report whatever they want, and there’s no independent audit. There is no oversight of this reporting process by the IRS, FTB, or any other government agency.

The unions generally claim that about 25%-30% of union dues are spent on politics and politicians. In the rare instance where a court looks in detail at labor union political spending, the figure the court comes up with is usually a more realistic (but in my estimation still understated) 60% to 70%.

Up until the Trump tax reform, one ridiculous subsidy for the labor unions was to allow such dues to be deducted by individual union members on their federal and state income tax filings. It was allowed as a “miscellaneous deduction,” which combined with other miscellaneous write-offs had to exceed 2% of adjusted gross income (AGI). to be used as a deduction.

In essence, this allowed many union members to deduct certain insurance payments buried in the… Read More

A rule of politics: The purpose of the political process is to persuade people to entrust you with power. In a republic such as ours, that means if the Republicans are actually going to obtain a majority, the voters need to be persuaded that the things Republicans want for the electorate will actually improve the lives of the individuals in the electorate. There are always two ways to win elections. Either (1) persuade people that what your opponents want to do is so bad for them that they dare not let them get control of the levers of government; or (2) what you want to do for them will make their lives better than they are now. The first method of obtaining power is effective in the short term, but once the party obtains power, they actually have to govern. As Republicans in Washington have found out, when people are dissatisfied with the governing party, they want an agenda of change, which means first, Republican must first have an agenda.

It is obvious to anyone who pays attention that Democrats are screwing up this state. The first piece of evidence of this is the fact that people are leaving the state in droves. Secondly, to anyone who is paying attention… Read More

Sacramento – United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions made a visit to Sacramento Wednesday to announce a lawsuit against California for its sanctuary state and cities policies of interference and lack of cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.“American Citizens Have Dreams Too,” Sessions said, paraphrasing President Donald Trump’s recent statement.

… Read More

Sacramento Developer Petrovich Spent $50 Million Cleaning Up Toxic Rail Yard, While Sacramento City Council Spent $800,000 in Legal Fees To Stop His Development

Part lll ofCalifornia Sh*thole: Leftist Politicians Playing Politics With CA Businesses. Part ll is here.

Long-time California developer Paul Petrovich has been working since 2003, and invested upwards of$100 millionin his Crocker Village development project— an infill development on an old abandoned Union Pacific rail yard. The plans include the already built handsome three-story Brownstone homes, affordable housing, senior housing, and upcoming… Read More

What is “fake news“? Definitions abound, of course.

But IMHO, the most common examples of fake news in the MSM are “lies of omission.” Our state newspapers have been covering a major story — while diligently FAILING to report a critical aspect of this huge scandal.

Over 150 women (I haven’t heard the figure recently) have come forward to report sexual harassment in our Sacramento state capitol. A number of state legislators have been investigated, with some resignations. All this has been diligently reported.

But what has NOT been reported is the number of sexual harassment claims against politicians and senior staffers in EACH political party. This omission persists — in spite of the fact that these accusations have been known for several months.

Looking over the newspaper stories, it appears that almost EVERY miscreant that is being investigated or sanctioned is a Democrat. To date I’ve found… Read More