Larry McCarthy is the President of the California Taxpayers Association, and he has penned some thoughts that are pertinent with the Governor announcing his 2007-08 state budget today…

What is a state budget cut?… Read More

As my fellow bloggerAdam Alemanjust reported, former FR Blogger and Bill Postmus Chief of Staff Brad Mitzelfelt has officially taken a seat in the big chair, becoming the newest Supervisor in San Bernardino County.

That Brad was chosen over the other applicants is both a good thing for the constituents of the 1st Supe District and for conservatives at-large.

With the appointment now out of the way now though, all eyes turn towards the actual campaign for the seat next year.

The appointment process hasn’t historically lent itself kindly to re-election in SB. From what I can gather, the last successful appointee-turned-elected Supervisor was decades ago.

Even more pressingin the immediate thoughis whether Brad even has any intention of seeking election to stay on the Board past next November.

Whether or not he does – and not to put words in his mouth, but I have heard from many informed folks who say he isn’t going to – there will almost certainly be a crowded field for this race in ’08 (at least partially comprised of the other applicants).

In any event, anearly front-runner has to be Mark Kirk,… Read More

I commend the Governor for suggesting a solution to a tough problem. I just don’t think any economic theory supports the outcomes he desires. And I definitely don’t believe his is a "centrist" approach. A centrist approach would be devoid of tax increases, employer mandates and mandated spending by providers, and be full of market based incentives to lower the cost of private health plans.

My firm handles over $40 million in health and health related business, so I follow health insurance and health care trends as closely as possible. Diagnosing the reasons for 6.5 million uninsured workers isn’t that tough. Employer paid health plans are expensive. Treating doctors and facilities are grossly underpaid by government funders such as Medicare, Medicaid and MediCal. Those unreimbursed costs are mostly transferred to the private health plans when they contract for services with the health care providers. Thus, the "hidden tax" on us is primarily caused by the government because the cost of health plans is inflated, and out of reach to many employers, due to government rationing of health care dollars.… Read More

California’s new Secretary of State, liberal Democrat Debra Bowen, has appointed Lowell Finley the Assitant Secretary of State for Voting Systems and Technology. Finley has wasted thousands of taxpayer dollars by teaming up with conspiracy paranoid groups like Black Box (a.k.a. "Cynthia McKinney’s race loss was rigged" whackos) voting to sue those who have purchased touch screen voting machines which help county governments and the state complywith the federal Help America Vote Act.

Not only do these machines allow state and local governments to comply with HAVA but they allow voters who are disabled the opportunity to cast their votes privately and independently– something that was previously impossible.

This move by Bowen (pictured to the right) could signal that she plans to decertify electronic voting machines certified by her predecessor, Bruce… Read More

Founded in 2002, the Consumer Alliance for a Strong Economy is a grassroots organization that is made up of over 9000 members that include entrepreneurs, small business owners, farmers and consumers.

CASE is starting to run commercials alerting consumers to the dangers of the Governor’s newly proposal government incursion into healthcare. Here is what their spokesman, Chris Wysocki, has to say. Below, you can run the add, and then — make a call! “We applaud the Governor for his desire to address the need for healthcare reform, but the true problem of his proposal is a billion dollar tax increase on small businesses that provide the majority of jobs in the state,” Wysocki continued, “The state can utilize many of the components of the governor’s plan to encourage more people to purchase healthcare – including… Read More

Bill Leonard represents taxpayers on the BOE from LA County to the far north of California. In his Leonard Letter he has a couple paragraphs on the new buzz word "Hidden taxes." Here it is. ***Hidden Taxes***

The new buzz words in political debate are “hidden taxes.” In almost every case, this does not refer to secret payments to the government. The more accurate definition of the phrase would be “cost shifting.” Because lots of people use health care services without paying for those services, hospitals and doctors are forced to charge the rest of us more to cover their expenses. But cost shifting goes on everywhere. We all pay more for products to cover the extra costs businesses have due to shoplifting or other expenses.

So, if it is true that this hidden tax is a bad thing, then what is the solution? Apparently the solution is a not-so-hidden-tax. Instead of paying extra to health care to providers, I will pay more in taxes and then the government will give some subsidy to these providers to pay for the people who do not pay.… Read More

I was not a Steve Poizer’s swearing in yesterday, but I am hearing from folks who were there that it felt almost akin to a Schwarzenegger event—Poizer seemed to be dismissive of the GOP and immediately called to make his office non-partisan (after accepting loads of help from the GOP to get elected). Jon Fleishman writes today that he feels like a chump for believing Schwarzenegger’s promise not to raise taxes. The entire GOP, including GOP chair Duf Sundheim, should feel like chumps for pouring our time and money into Schwarzenegger’s and Poizer’s campaigns, only to have them reject our party immediately after gaining office.… Read More

I feel like a chump. This entire past year, Arnold Schwarzenegger had as a central theme to his campaign for re-election the fact that he would oppose any increase in taxes. I think it would be fair to say that this was a central theme to his campaign. As a matter of fact, in a candidacy that often times stressed issues that were not very appealing to core Republican voters, it was his focused contrasting of Phil Angelides’ "The Tax Man" against his own rhetoric of opposing new taxes that helped to mollify, and excite the GOP base to support his candidacy. Yet, the very first business day following his inauguration to a second term, the Governor rolls out a new massive government incursion that is straight from the playbooks of the Democrat Party, with a centerpiece being tax increases. I don’t get it. This Governor understands that what makes this country great is the idea of individual liberty and individual responsibility. Yet, he has thrown out the notion of individual responsibility, trading it in for this new "shared responsibility" rhetoric which is no more than a justification for a massive… Read More