There has been a “fiery” debate about whether it is a righteous position having certain conditions attached to providing the substantial sums needed by California to make whole the areas destroyed by the recent fires. Those considering the limitations need to understand how pernicious the problem is before deciding to release any funding. A recent story I came across displays the depth of the problem. A friend had their home flooded due to a problem with the drainage system maintained by the local community. The flood definitely was caused by the city pipes. The city later blamed the problem on roots grown into their pipes causing the backup but took no responsibility for the damage done to the home. The homeowner was left with no recourse but to pursue legal action against the city because of being stopped from having any recourse by other means. Their insurance did not cover such an event, nor would it normally. They pursued a tax benefit through a section of the tax code called “casualty losses,” but that can only be claimed if you are in a federally declared disaster area. The state of California conforms to the federal law. The homeowner… Read More

Just when you thought the parade of terrible ideas had reached its limit, CalExit is back with a new initiative to put California’s secession on the 2026 ballot. Yes, the most delusional, impractical, and Kremlin-cheered pipe dream of our time has returned, despite its repeated failures and universal ridicule. This isn’t just a bad idea—it’s a spectacularly bad idea. Of course, the aim isn’t to actually make it happen, but to normalize the concept, cause division, and give Americans a reason to attack one another. But America is bigger than that, stronger than that, and frankly, too great to be undone by a few disillusioned cranks and their Kremlin cheerleaders. We can’t talk about CalExit without mentioning its interesting history. While its proponents insist the movement is homegrown, the idea has been gleefully boosted by Russian government-backed media and trolls looking to destabilize our country. Since they can’t get Alaska back, Moscow apparently settled on the next best thing: convincing a few California loons to indulge their fever dreams. Russia’s state-run media outlets and troll farms eagerly talk up CalExit… Read More

The analysis of this past election and the current status of the political parties was all wrong. The focus has been on the fact that the highly educated are centered in the Democrat party and the less educated are voting Republicans. This analysis misses the mark because the reality is there is a division between the Talkers and the Doers. You can probably figure out which group is in which political party. This became crystallized to me when I engaged in helping some people dealing with an elderly parent who was no longer able to live independently. Though all three are highly educated and functioning members of society, they have no experience in this arena as almost no one does until it happens. I have a relationship with someone who has developed senior housing for over forty years. He is unusual because he not only develops and builds communities but is also the operator. He knows these issues thoroughly and would do anything to help me because of our relationship. I asked him to help, and he said where and when. He is what we call a Doer. As the aforementioned three siblings were attempting to feel their way… Read More

Rarely have I been so delighted to see an era pass as the finality of the Biden Administration. It was borne from an international pandemic and a perverse hatred for the incumbent president. An ill-equipped person was drafted as a candidate to assure victory, if he could be called a “candidate.” He barely campaigned as his handlers thought he was better hidden from the public to disguise his severe weaknesses. For his V-P, he drafted a highly unpopular and incapable person who had two principal attributes – being female and black. From these facts how could anything but disastrous results have occurred? It was pre-ordained. Biden started his destruction quickly. He enacted 17 executive orders his first day and 42 more in the first one hundred days — the most by a president since Harry Truman. Largely they were to overturn anything Trump had done because everything he did was perceived as evil by nature. Except for the tariffs. Biden and his economic team badmouthed the tariffs but could not quit the estimated $80 billion in revenue they brought in every year. After all, Biden had big — very big — spending plans. They began… Read More

I begin this post by asking you to google and read the article on the web site of the Foundation for Economic Education called “Not Yours to Give.” It tells the story of Davy Crockett’s speech in Congress against aid for fire victims in the 1830s. Some have said it’s a made up story and not applicable in today’s world, but it was written in the 1880s, so it definitely was not influenced by today’s events. I read it when I joined the Legislature, and it helped me look at government spending in a new way. Based on the view, I came up with one of my rules of politics, that is, there is always a good excuse for bigger government.

But let’s get back to the point of this post, what should happen with federal aid to California for the fire disaster in Los Angeles? Who should pay for the damage? I will note that Governor Newsom has proposed that California allocate $2.5 billion to pay for the damage done by the fire, but that is not enough. Who should pay for the rest?

President Trump has proposed that the aid from the Federal Government be tied to new land management policies that minimize the damage that fires can… Read More

In May of 2003, I had a town hall meeting in the San Diego part of my district. At the end of the meeting, a park ranger from Anza Borrego came up to me and said “we have a problem, the fuel load in our state parks has reached dangerous levels.” After a discussion about what he meant, he said that the then Gray Davis administration appointees to the Department of State Parks would not allow the rangers (and others) clean up the parks to remove dead trees, vegetation and other flammables. He said “we are going to have a fire of epic proportions. People will be hurt and property will be damaged by the resulting fires.”

In September of 2003, a fire, bigger than the one in Los Angeles, hit Southern California, closing down Interstate 5 and 15 in San Diego, Interstate 15 in San Bernardino County, the Ontario Airport, and burning hundreds of homes in the more rural parts of San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. The only difference between the fire then, and the fire in Los Angeles now, is that the 2003 fire did not burn celebrities homes, so it wasn’t national news.

So why the title of this article, what does that… Read More

We elect leadersto keep our taxpayer-funded public utilities, roads, and related essential services running smoothly—and certainly not take action to prevent these functions.Yet, this once-proud state cannot even maintain its basic infrastructure. Fire hydrants mysteriously have no water during wildfires. Fire department budgets were slashed and funding reallocated. The electric grid cannot handle year-round demand. And now, thanks to burdensome, short-sighted regulations brought upon residents and businesses by its leadership, actual garbage is piling up with no practical disposal plan.

Perhaps public frustration regarding the crumbling amenities we expect to function well in a civilized society is partially responsible for people and businesses fleeing California for more stable states.

Inyetanotherinstanceof incomprehensibly poorpublic policy decisions, California and Los Angeles’governments have forced one of the biggest landfills in L.A.,Chiquita Canyon,to cease operations.Now, in the wake of devastating fires, the City will unexpectedly need to clear and… Read More

Cruising to Antarctica When we told people we were going to Antarctica they had some basic questions. Why is a guy who drives around with his top down all year and prefers 75 degrees and sunny going to a frozen zone? Better yet why are two people who have traveled all over the world but “don’t do” cruises going on a cruise? Well, there is really no other way to get there. This was the Beautiful Wife’s choice, so off we went. Antarctica was our final continent of the seven. It is one of the most remote parts of the planet. The Arctic is considered an ocean rather than a land mass; thus, it is not a continent. Surprisingly, Antarctica is the continent with the highest average altitude at 2,500 meters. You don’t think of it that way because the only real way to get there is by ship. Some cruises have recently started offering flights to Antarctica then boarding a ship. When you get onto land you think you are at sea level, but you are typically at about 8,000 feet. Considering the stories one hears about travel today, we were very blessed getting to our destination. We took two flights to Santiago, Chile, though we had a nonstop home. We… Read More