Diane Harkey has sued me for defamation and emotional distress. The comments upon which she has based the suit were spoken in response to a question at a political gathering. She claims that she suffered emotional distress over the following response: “Unfortunately, there has been a lawsuit brought by a lot of investors of modest means against her and her husband for defrauding them…there was a decision that those investors were defrauded and there is a judgment…”

In her recent newsletter, Harkey referred to her husband as “..a successful Orange County businessman” who has had to “…contend with predatory lawsuits…” She further has claimed that the… Read More

On Sept. 23rd the New York Times published an in-depth report on how the cost of public employee pensions is causing budget challenges in San Jose, California. Entitled “Struggling, San Jose Tests a Way to Cut Benefits,” this article ran over 1,500 words and was filled with examples of city workers who are struggling financially.

Referring to city employees who face having more pay withheld from their paychecks to fund their pension benefits, the authors provide quotes:

“They’re kind of encouraging us to leave.”

“I’m leaving as soon as I get my 25 years in.”

”What they’re doing is destroying what had been a great police department.”

”I have to sell my house.”

While replete with quotes, however, the NYT only chose to share one statistic with its readers:

“San Jose now spends one-fifth of its $1.1 billion general fund on pensions and retiree health care, and the amount keeps rising.”

Since the New York Times is unwilling to… Read More

“Is this America?” the father of school-aged children asked as he was forcefully removed from a was forcefully removed from a Baltimore County School District meeting during the question-and-answer portion of the forum.

The parent, Robert Small, concerned about the school district’s plan to use Common Core standards in its curriculum, dared to verbally question school board officials after being told they would only take written questions from the parents, the Baltimore Sun reported this week

“However, Small began speaking out against the district’s use of Common Core, prompting a security guard, who was also a police officer, to approach him and order him to leave,” the Sun reported. “’Let’s go!’ he said sternly.”

“When Small didn’t immediately comply, the officer began pulling his arm and pushing him towards the exit. Some audience members gasped at the cop’s use of force.

“’Don’t stand for this,’ the father said as he was dragged out. ‘You are sitting here like cattle! Is this America?’” Elected officials everywhere do this

Elected officials are increasingly closing off the public, all across… Read More

Introduction from FR Publisher Jon Fleischman

When we go through hundreds and hundreds of bills to find the ones that we consider to be the most egregious, harmful or inappropriate, it is our hope that a responsible Governor would veto all of them. Remember, we’re talking about the worst bills. If the Governor signs any of the bills listed below, it is bad news for the people of California. This is our eighth year in a row featuring this column. Each year we partner with two conservative members of the State Legislature — this year is no different. Our thanks go out to both State Senator Joel Anderson and Assemblymember Marie Waldron, and to their staff members, for their hard work in selecting the terrible bills below out of hundreds and hundreds on the Governor’s desk.

On a final note — targeted to our friends in the mainstream media. Some stories have been written asserting that somehow this last legislative session was more “moderate” than some others. I’m sure once you peruse this list you will agree that any such assertion is lacking a basis… Read More

The article below concerning the pathetic Venezuela de facto nationalization of the country’s toilet paper industry (to solve a government created TP shortage) is classic socialist folly — a tragicomedy version of ATLAS SHRUGGED. But it reminds me of my days in the military, dealing with the same problem — “the great toilet paper shortage.”

MANY years ago I served as a junior Navy Supply Officer aboard a ship deployed in the Pacific.” The deck officer (an old salt with not the slightest grasp of economics or human nature) unilaterally decided that the ship was using too much toilet paper. Utilizing the wisdom of central planning, he established a toilet paper QUOTA system — toilet paper rolls would be distributed to each department on a per-person basis in the amount HE deemed to be sufficient..

The inevitable result? Sailors — officers and enlisted — immediately began hoarding toilet paper. No longer… Read More

It’s been said that after Al Capone was sentenced to prison for tax evasion in 1931, his chief financial and legal advisor, Jake “Greasy Thumb” Guzik, told other mobsters how to avoid Big Al’s fate. They must keep two sets of books. One set, that could be made public, would show “honest income” from a legitimate business and would be maintained to satisfy the IRS and other government types. The other? Well, that would show the real income.

This story comes to mind now that new, strict Government Accounting Standards Board requirements have forced the revelation that the unfunded liability being carried by the California State Teachers Retirement Fund is more than double what was previously disclosed. The GASB rules compel state and local governments to stop hiding their pension costs in their financials and to report more realistic rates of return on investments.

What had been presented to the public as a $71 billion liability has been newly calculated to show that the teachers retirement fund’s net pension liability is $166.9 billion. No one is suggesting CALSTRS is involved in criminal activity, but like numerous other agencies, it has engaged in… Read More

The California Fair Political Practices Commission just ruled this week to require campaign committees to report to the State who they pay to post “favorable or unfavorable” content on blogs, social media or online videos, on their campaign finance statements.

The committees will also have to report the name of the website where the content appears.

The long arm of the government has found a chilling new way to intimidate new-media.

Political bloggers writing online will be subjected to new disclosure rules under state regulations the Fair Political Practices Commission approved Thursday.

Here’s how the State, under California Code Section 82013, defines a “committee”:

“Committee” means any person or combination of persons who directly or indirectly does any, of the following: (a) Receives contributions totaling one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more in a calendar year. (b) Makes independent expenditures totaling one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more in a calendar year; or (c) Makes contributions totaling ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more in a calendar year to or at the behest of candidates or committees. A person or… Read More

The new San Diego central library is opening downtown with great fanfare. It’s a monument to learning and knowledge.

Well, that’s SUPPOSED to be what it represents. But in reality, this expensive new already-obsolete building is a monument to an era that is ending — a structure that in a few years will have little more utility value than a Pharaoh’s pyramid in Egypt. The only difference is that the library will have high operating costs — the pyramids need no such annual funding.

Almost NO ONE goes to the library to “do research” any more — except perhaps to use library computers. See my article below on how to better provide such computer access at a tiny fraction of the cost.

In a city of 1.3+ million people, maybe 5,000 people will sit down inside and use it in a month — and that figure may be high. Oh, there will be a much higher headcount, but many of these daily patrons are “library club” folks — repeat visitors who LOVE to hang around the library, read magazines and sit in plush chairs. Many others will drop by to check out books, videos, music, etc. — something… Read More