When the dramatic drop in oil prices occurred starting in mid 2014, liberals were conflicted. They hated the fact that low oil and gas prices increased the attractiveness and use of fossil fuels. But they took solace in the fact that at least the irritating Texas economic boom was finally reversed — that a hick state’s economy built on their lucky abundance of natural resources would now be the Lone Star State’s undoing. The progressives were actually gloating about the resulting economic bust the hated Texans would experience.

Only one problem for liberals. It didn’t happen. Texas is still chugging along, with hardly a hiccup from the plunge in petroleum prices.

This ain’t our grandparents’ Texas. No-sir-re-bob!

Today’s Texas is a highly diversified economy. Yes, the oil industry is certainly important — but it’s only one component of the state’s economy — and a shrinking one at that.

Consider this recent history of the Texas unemployment rate — remembering the precipitous decline in petroleum prices starting in mid-2014:

Mar 31, 2015 4.20%

Feb. 28,… Read More

California’s kids receive more than 50 childhood vaccinations. However, not all parents agree with the aggressivevaccination scheduleand opt out. Well, they used to be able to opt out.

Parental choice over vaccines was removed thanks to a state law passed in 2012. AB 2109 by then-Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, orders that children will not be allowed to attend public school without proof that parents have been counseled, and children vaccinated. The only exception to the law is a religious exemption.

The State of California has injected itself into the doctor-parent relationship, and lawmakers can’t see how… Read More

Back in the early 2000’s, in the aftermath of the internet bubble’s collapse, California’s state and local governments endured a period of austerity that resulted in “furloughs,” where, typically, employees would take Friday’soff in exchange for a 20% cut in their pay. That is, they worked 20% less, and made 20% less in pay – but theirrateof pay was not cut.

This display of “sacrifice” was an eye opener for private sector workers, especially salaried employees of small businesses, who endured cuts to their rates of pay at the same time as their hours of work increased. Most people in the private sector back in the early 2000’s felt lucky to have a job, even if it meant working harder and making less.

There’s a lesson to be learned from the period of state and local government “furloughs” in California: California’s government functioned just fine with 20% fewer hours spent at the job, overall, and California’s government workers got by, overall, making 20% less money. So since we know these cuts arefeasible, it isinteresting to estimate just how much money Californians would save, if there were a 20% reduction to… Read More

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In the 1970s a taxpayer revolt ensued. Homeowners, just wanting their American dream to own a home with a bar-b-que and patio in the backyard, were facing extreme inflation and skyrocketing property tax bills, forcing some out of their homes. Then, in 1978, Proposition 13 appeared on the ballot which passed with more than 64 percent of the vote and put an end to continually increasing property taxes.

Proposition 13 set a uniform 1 percent property tax rate, limited yearly increases in assessed value to no more than 2 percent, and established property valuation at its acquisition price (usually the purchase price). It provided certainty and predictability to our government, and to home and business owners, in a time when uncertainty was all too common.

Unfortunately, some misguided groups are launching an effort to change Proposition 13. Just last week, a campaign called Make It Fair announced it would be pushing a “split roll” property tax in the legislature and engaging in a public education campaign. These groups want to dismantle Proposition 13, eliminating the protections for business owners by regularly reassessing non-homeowner properties. They often… Read More

Hillary “Scandal” Clinton’s latest dust up with the law, no matter how egregious or illegal, will not cause her mind-numbingly stupid followers to disavow her. If she were a Republican, she’d be tossed to the curb like a snotty Kleenex.

We normal folks, the real people who work for a living and pay our own bills, keep asking ourselves “what’s it going to take?” Which scandal will take Hillary and Bill down? When will Barack Obama and his Executive Pen have gone too far? And what America-loathing racist statement will finally earn Michelle Obama the middle finger from Democrats?

These political freeloaders, and the many more like them, hide behind a façade of “public service.” However, they really are elitist Marxists, enjoying a lifestyle paid for by the public.

Badly Behaving Politicians

This sick fascination with badly behaving politicians is not limited to the Clintons and Obamas. Remember William Jefferson, the Louisiana congressman under investigation for bribery when the FBI found $90,000 in cash stashed in his freezer? He was reelected.

How about former New York Attorney General and Governor Eliot… Read More

At the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA), we have seen Proposition 13 blamed for just about everything. A national publication blamed the tax limiting measure for the not guilty verdict in the O.J. Simpson murder trial, while a high school physical education coach wrote in a community paper that the loss of shots by his track and field team was due to the lack of money to cut the grass, and this, of course, was due to Proposition 13.

Now we’re seeing attacks on HJTA sponsored Proposition 218, the Right to Vote on Taxes Act, which makes the taxing process more democratic by allowing voters to decide on local tax increases and to assure property owners that they would have a meaningful say on new assessments, fees and charges. One such attack was a recent opinion piece, calling for the repeal of Proposition 218, because it robs voters of their “democratic power.”

This critic argued that, because Proposition 218 guarantees the voters’ right to approve or reject new taxes, it prevents politicians from matching revenue to their spending, “…local officials can give big pensions to cops, but don’t have the power to raise taxes to pay for those… Read More

They’ve done it again — Democrats in the California Legislature killed another good bill. While this may not seem newsworthy, the way they did the killing is.

For the third time since she has been in the Legislature, Assembly Minority Leader Kristen Olsen, R-Modesto, authored a bill to require all legislation to be in print and available to the public for at least 72 hours before a vote.

Rather than debating Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1, and then voting on it, Assembly Democrats in the Assembly Budget Committee sent the bill to the “suspense file,” following a brief speech from one lawmaker about the importance of transparency. This is underhanded and the epitome of hypocrisy; the bill was effectively killed without an up-or-down vote of the committee members.

“Apparently they are embarrassed to take a stand,” Olsen said. “They’d rather have the bill disappear.”

“‘Transparency’ is probably the most overused word in political speech, while at the same time, the most underutilized… Read More

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Six years after his much-ballyhooed Cairo speech, it’s now clear what President Obama meant by “a new beginning” in American foreign policy.

We’ve abandoned our closest ally in Israel, embraced a nuclear agreement with Iran, ignored the ongoing human rights abuses in Cuba, and disregarded the territorial expansion of a Russian despot. And that’s only a recap of the last six months.

“Our allies struggle to understand why the Iranian regime – the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism – can extract so many concessions from the world’s superpower,” Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, wrote after a recent trip to the Middle East. “This is part of a strange… Read More