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California Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher does an outstanding job of taking on leftist Congressman Jim Moran over the issue of global warming on the Chris Matthews’ Hardball show on MSNBC. But he does and even better job of taking on Matthews! it’s worth watching… (h/t to Andy at CfG)
Visit msnbc.com for … Read More
Welcome to the second part of our two-part feature on the FlashReport “Winners & Losers of the May 19 Special Election.” Yesterday we presented the winners. Today we introduce to you the losers – those people or groups who, from our perspective, suffered in their stature, standing and reputation as a result of the outcome of Tuesday’s vote. It’s always more challenging to call out losers than winners, and occasionally (but not usually) someone takes it personally. We understand if you do — but to you we’d say, suck it up. This whole stupid special election didn’t need to happen, but it did, and you tried to raise my taxes, and… Read More
Welcome to the second part of our two-part feature on the FlashReport “Winners & Losers of the May 19 Special Election.” Yesterday we presented the winners. Today we introduce to you the losers – those people or groups who, from our perspective, suffered in their stature, standing and reputation as a result of the outcome of Tuesday’s vote.
It’s always more challenging to call out losers than winners, and occasionally (but not usually) someone takes it personally. We understand if you do — but to you we’d say, suck it up. This whole stupid special election didn’t need to happen, but it did, and you tried to raise my taxes, and failed. So, losers, in no particular order, take your shame…… Read More
Welcome to the second part of our two-part feature on the FlashReport “Winners & Losers of the May 19 Special Election.” Yesterday we presented the winners. Today we introduce to you the losers – those people or groups who, from our perspective, suffered in their stature, standing and reputation as a result of the outcome of Tuesday’s vote. It’s always more challenging to call out losers than winners, and occasionally (but not usually) someone takes it personally. We understand if you do — but to you we’d say, suck it up. This whole stupid special election didn’t need to happen, but it did, and you tried to raise my taxes, and… Read More
I wrote this column for The Fox Forum on why Props. 1A through 1E went down to ignominious defeat:
California voters have overwhelmingly rejected the 5 “budget reform” propositions cobbled together by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democratic legislature, rejecting them by 30-point margins. Even in leftist bastion of San Francisco, these tax-and-borrow initiatives are going down.
The focus of voter ire was Proposition 1A, a soft-spending cap that also extended a massive, two-year tax hike for an additional two years. The tax extension was a partly successful bid to buy public employee union support.
The “Yes” and 1A-1E campaign possessed all the conventional advantages of winning a statewide initiative campaign: favorable ballot descriptions written by the legislature rather than, as is customary, by the Secretary of State; the support of nearly the entire ruling class from the governor… Read More
In a move that will be wildly popular on the heels of the Prop 1F passage, the California Citizens CompensationCommittee will reduce salaries by 18%, reducing the legislators grosssalary from $116,208 to $95,291. Under Prop112 passed by voters in 1990, the Committee sets salaries of legislators and higher offices. [Prop 140 later eliminated retirement benefits for legislators as well as installing term limits] Under the rules the cuts cannot take effect until Dec 2010. Prop 6, passed in 1972, prohibits reduction of pay during a legislators currentterm. Incoming and re-elected Senators and Assembly representatives will see that cut then.
The new lower salary will actually be less than the salary was back in 2004, when it was $99,000. The Committee then saw fit to hike it 3 times in 2 years as I recall to about $111,000, then $113,000 and finally the current $116,208 figure [leadership gets a higher salary] Taxpayers Ihappened to talk to aboutthis today laughed when I told ’em of this news. "Pay for performance" one told me. As a whole, yep!… Read More