I have to admit I have stopped watching political commercials. The commercial opposing Proposition 36 is only the latest reason why. It claims passing Proposition 36 will lead us back to “old failed” policy of the imprisonment of criminals and take spending away from “proven crime fighting strategies” like spending on mental health programs. These claims have been the stock in trade of the left in California, politicians like Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Rob Bonta, and others in charge of our justice system since 2010. And our crime rate has skyrocketed.

Here’s what been proven to work over the years. From 1960 to 1982, as prison sentences decreased, crime rates increased 500%. In 1982, Governor Deukmejian started pushing for prison construction and increased sentences for criminal behavior, and the crime rate increases disappeared (although the crime rate itself didn’t decrease). In 1994, the state passed Three Strikes, and by 1996, the crime rate dropped by 50%, basically back to 1960 levels.

This drove the Democrats in charge of Sacramento nuts. From 1995 to 2014, the Democrats did everything in their power to… Read More

A guy made one caustic comment three years ago before he was even running for elected office. It became fodder for the politicos to distort rather than focusing on the essence of the public policy issue. More people are choosing not to have children and there are serious societal concerns. This is not a new “thing.” People have made this decision many times in the past. Or perhaps they were unable to because of a biological issue. There can certainly be issues for childless couples when being in a group of friends who do have children. That might make one feel ostracized. A friend who married in his fifties told me of how he felt uncomfortable surrounded by married couples. “Bob, why aren’t you married?” Fortunately, I steered clear of that lane as I do with friends who do not have children. Some people decide children are not for them and I often think “thank God.” They were never cut out to be parents. On the other hand, there are couples who have kids and candidly you might think, “maybe they should have skipped that part of life.” To paraphrase an oft cited saying, “the problem with kids is they don’t come with a… Read More

The surge in illegal border crossings is what the American people have determined is the single most critical issue in this election because of the often-devastating effects across our country. Here is a different view of this issue. Most Americans do not know that the number of naturalized citizens in 2022 was 969,380 and was 878,500 in 2023. That is a lot of people to embrace as new citizens each year. Some politicians talk in platitudes about how so many people want to come to America and how there are many refugees in their native countries due to poor circumstances. As someone who has been to nearly 90 countries worldwide, I can tell you from our discussions that America is a popular place, and a lot of people want to come here. The question is whether we should admit them. More importantly, are we prepared to do that? In my column on the Harris housing proposal, you learned we already have a shortage of 4.5 million homes for citizens. That is without considering the burgeoning homeless problem, particularly in Democrat-run cities like Los Angeles and Seattle. Think of this other aspect. If we want to greet more future Americans, we need… Read More

While different people have certain things in their minds they view as paramount, I have made my own decision as to the most important. It is clearly the biggest challenge we face because it goes to the underlying character of the people in our country. Those are our principles regarding stealing, and what we formerly thought of as right and wrong. Proposition 47, which California passed in 2014, was the first of many laws passed enabling this trend. The ballot issue (which garnered almost 60% of the public’s support) decreased the penalty to a misdemeanor for shoplifting, forgery, grand theft, fraud, and writing a bad check if the amount involved was less than $950. This gradually caused an explosion in low-level crime for which the police did not have the personnel to enforce. During a number of recent lunches with various people, I asked them a question about which they were kind of taken aback. I asked them if they had recently been to a CVS or Walgreen’s. Nearly everyone had. I then asked them if they had paid for their purchases before leaving. They looked at me quizzically and said various forms of YES. I then asked them why. No… Read More

The Harris campaign put forward an 82-page plan, A New Way Forward For the Middle Class, following numerous charges that she had no proposals. Let’s take a look. In the introduction, she states, “It’s time to finally turn the page on Trump and chart a new way forward.” If you just came from Mars, you would think Donald Trump is the current president and that the Harris/Biden Administration has not been in charge the last four years. It is a nice try, but as the saying goes, no cigar. Any economic conditions where you seek to turn the page are in the hands of you and your prior running mate.

The next four pages talk about the folks who support her plan and prefer it to Mr. Trump’s. We are beginning to get a sense that the report will state: “I am wonderful, and Trump is stinky.” The beginning of the actual financial plan finally begins on page 11, where Harris again besmirches herself in the first paragraph by attacking Trump. She says his “Project 2025 agenda would raise taxes on the middle class.” Let us repeat another time. Donald Trump and his people had nothing to do with Project 2025 and he has publicly… Read More

Yesterday, I read Bruce Bialosky’s article on Professor Jonathan Turley’s book on the state of free speech in America. This is such an important topic, I thought I would add a line or two about my experience in politics on the importance of free speech and free markets.

This topic has increased importance over the last week, in light of the recent decision by the California Coastal Commission to deny a permit to Elon Musk to allow him to launch rockets from Vandenburg Air Force Base. The Air Force has been launching from their location there for years, so there’s not a lot of issues about the effects of those launches on the coast or the environment. That leads to the question as to why the Coastal Commission would deny that permit. Interestingly enough, they denied it because Musk supports Donald Trump. On what planet where the protection of freedom of speech and association is an important value can such a decision be appropriate?

I will relate one short story about my political activities before I held office (an experience that drove me to seek office). I lived in a town I lived where I opposed the local mayor on a regular basis.… Read More

Some of my neighbors have put up yard signs for Harris/Walz. I find it quite humorous, but I highly encourage it. It provides a good chuckle that the campaign is spending money on yard signs in California. One of the neighbors added an alteration stating not voting for Trump would shut down the liar. Lying certainly is in the eye of the beholder, but suppression of free speech is largely coming from one side, and it isn’t Trump. I decided to read Jonathan Turley’s new book The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage. Turley is one of the real voices of reasons in our culture today. A long-time law professor at George Washington University, he has a significant distaste for Mr. Trump, and he is a lifelong Democrat. Yet he often comments in Mr. Trump’s favor because of the appalling actions of his opposition. He is what used to be called a “straight shooter.” His book is a fascinating history on the issue of free speech which he thinks is at the center of the freedom established by our Constitution. He ably shifts from law professor to historian to educate his readers on the fascinating development of free speech… Read More

There were two reasons I became a CPA. First, I wanted to be able to support myself and a future family. Second, I was always involved in politics and our public policy is run through the tax code. At this point, I think I am fairly qualified to analyze any proposals by the candidates. For overview purposes, Mr. Trump wants to allow people to keep their own money and spend it how they judge fit. This is very much in line with what he did in his first term. Ms. Harris wants to direct her public policy interests through collecting more taxes and then providing targeted tax credits for government to accomplish what she believes are the “desired” goals of the government. Let’s look at some of the proposals. Most have been outlined in broad strokes by the candidates. First, the proposal for no tax on tips. This was proposed by Trump and promptly joined by Harris. In fact, there was even a proposal to pass something through the current Congress which quickly died. Here is how I see it. Tips were initially taxed in the first Reagan Tax Act in 1982. There is some clear logic in that tips are an established means of compensation. Over the… Read More