Back in 2012 we published an article entitled “The Forgotten 33%,” which included a graphic entitled “American Voter Breakdown 2012.” It depicted the U.S. electorate as comprised of 46% who pay zero nettaxes, 20% who work for the government and are net tax consumers, the 1% “super rich,” and the “forgotten 33%,” who work in the private sector and earn enough to be positive net taxpayers.

The point of the article, then and now, was that people with an intrinsic preference for big government comprise a super-majority of voters in America. But something has changed since 2012…

AMERICAN VOTER BREAKDOWN 2016

The emergence of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders as serious contenders to become president of the U.S. reflects a growing awareness among voters in all of the above categories that things can and should be better. The… Read More

On the afternoon of June 22nd, a large number of Democrats brought the deliberations of the House of Representatives to a standstill in one of the most disgraceful and childish breaches of decorum in the history of this institution. In complete contempt of this House and the rule of law, they shouted down all with whom they disagreed, they blocked access to the microphones as members sought to address the chair, and they illegally occupied the Hall of the House – forcing an early adjournment and costing this House three full days of legislative deliberations.

Abraham Lincoln said it best, “There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.” What we saw was the mob law of… Read More

By putting a deceptive ballot measure in front of voters, Supervisor Shawn Nelson, who will be forced from office due to term limits in two years, is hoping to be able to stay in office another 14 years!

With four days notice, mostly over a weekend, termed-out Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson has decided try and pull two of his colleagues into a last-minute power play to considerably extend his time (and their time) in office by putting a measure on the November ballot ostensibly to “reform” Supervisorial term limits – but let’s be very clear –… Read More

To most Americans the car, perhaps more than any other item, has long represented freedom and opportunity. But at a time where freedom, opportunities and liberties are being rapidly taken away by government, symbols of individual freedom become more important.

“Californians are driving more, which is bad for climate change,” reads theheadlinein the San Francisco Chronicle Thursday. The article is not an op ed, but was written by a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer, Kate… Read More

It’s common for the remaining California boosters (almost ALL of whom are far to the left of center) to smugly assert that “If California were a country, it would have the world’s 6thlargest economy.” Referencing this ranking, “Comedian” Bill Mayer recently delivered this smug progressive punchline to Republicans — “Scoreboard, bitches!!“

To entertain his carefully screened liberal audiences, Mayer relies on “talking points” rather than economic analysis. Indeed, how else could he be a progressive? By not digging deeper into such matters, he periodically demonstrates his profound economic illiteracy. Certainly in this case!

Granted, using just GDP (Gross Domestic Product) as a benchmark, this GDP boast is technically a true assertion.… Read More

Last week the California Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that could determine whether the right to vote on local taxes, which is constitutionally guaranteed by both Propositions 13 and 218, will cease to exist.

The case, California Cannabis Coalition v. City of Upland, at first glance seems limited to a narrow technical question: When a local initiative seeks to impose a new tax, does the issue need to be put to the voters at the next general election or can the proponents, relying on other laws, force a special election? But in answering that question, the lower court ruled that taxes proposed by initiative are exempt from the taxpayer protections contained in the state constitution, such as the provision dictating the timing of the election.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA), which filed the petition seeking Supreme Court review, was alarmed because the constitution’s taxpayer protections include the right to vote on taxes. If local initiatives are exempt from those protections, then public agencies could easily deny taxpayers their right to vote on taxes by colluding with outside interests to propose taxes in the form of an initiative,… Read More

Something smells fishy inside the California Department of Public Health’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program… something that reeks of nepotism, kickbacks, or even a quid pro quo type of corruption, rather than just plain old government incompetence.

After contracting with the same Oakland-based and minority-owned company for the last 19 years for health services to California AIDS/HIV patients, the California Department of Public Health’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program just awarded the contract to out-of-state companies.

The company currently providing the specialty health services to California AIDS/HIV patients is Ramsell Corporation, a minority-owned business located in Oakland, CA. They’ve won multiple California ADAP contracts over nearly 20 years. Now their business is being yanked away by a bid process that appears to have been rigged. After submitting proposals, as they have done many times,… Read More

It should be an article of faith by now that in California, whatever the teachers union wants, the teachers union gets. It is nonetheless surprising that their reach might extend all the way to a recent decision by the San Francisco Unified School District board to rejectfifteen talented teachers who were part of “Teach for America.”

TheTeach for Americaprogram, similar to the Peace Corps, attracts some of the top college graduates in the United States to spend two years teaching students in underprivileged communities. Not only are these highly motivated and underpaid teachers committing themselves to work in schools with chronic teacher shortages, but they typically teach the subjects for which the profession has the hardest time finding teachers – in science, math, special education, and bilingual classrooms.

Never mind all that. Go away. Never mind that San Francisco Unified needs to fill 500 teaching jobs by August in the midst of a statewide teachers shortage. The union can’t accept “cheap labor” that might undermine their lock on the teaching profession.

If you review the candidate… Read More