Free Republic

Less than a week after Gov. Jerry Brown started using robotic telephone calls and mailers to gather signatures for his ballot initiative to raise taxes, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association plans to launch its anti-tax campaign today on the conservative "John and Ken" talk radio show. The taxpayers group this morning posted a red banner on its website inviting viewers to join a "Don't Sign the Petition" campaign. The banner links to a campaign website opposing Brown's effort to raise the state sales tax and income taxes on California's highest earners.

Key to victory? A car key, perhaps. Michael Arno, whose company is spearheading the drive to qualify Molly Munger's tax measure for the November ballot, plans to give away a car each week in a drawing involving his top signature gatherers. The weekly winner can choose a favorite vehicle in the $15,000 price range, said Arno, whose firm must gather 504,760 valid voter signatures. County elections officials must confirm voter signatures by June 28, so the secretary of state has suggested that campaigns submit their petitions to local government by April 20. Clearly, it's pedal-to-the-metal time for initiative drives.

This is the second of a three-part series on the redistricting process that was dictated by a Proposition voted by the residents of California to take the politics out of the process.Republicans believe that they were hoodwinked by the Democrats in the new redistricting process in California – principally because the Republicans played by the rules specified in the initiative. What they obviously didn’t understand was that the process itself – specifically, how the commission’s members were selected – undermined the Republicans from the outset. The first problem facing the Republicans was finding people willing to sit on the commission,...

Last Tuesday, the Public Policy Institute of California issued a new poll that found, among other things, just 17 percent of the state's voters like the Legislature's performance. Simultaneously, the Legislature's top leaders provided another reason for Californians to harbor such scorn. Assembly Speaker John Pérez and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg announced that they would spend untold amounts of taxpayers' money on high-priced lawyers to sue state Controller John Chiang over his decision to withhold legislators' paychecks last year after they failed to enact a balanced budget. Chiang was merely enforcing a new provision of the state constitution...

Despite a huge state budget deficit, Gov. Jerry Brown said last week that he not only intends to increase spending, he also plans to move ahead with California's questionable high-speed rail project, even though multiple critiques conclude it is a waste of tax money. ... The governor's refusal to delay or kill the implausible train project should make taxpayers wary of a bill introduced last week by Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-West Hollywood, to allow "public rail transit projects" to avoid rigorous environmental review.

If it is built, California’s High-Speed Rail would be the largest public works project in state history. That fact alone appears be intoxicating to state officials, in a perpetual quest to have California be the first state to do anything. Despite the warnings of a nearly $100 billion ballooning price tag, no track laid, no trains running, decreasing legislative support and even opposition from diehard rail advocates, the High-Speed Rail Authority is steaming ahead full throttle with plans to build the most expensive high-speed rail system in history. But there is pushback coming from so many places that it must...

SACRAMENTO, Calif.-Nearly 1 million undocumented immigrants could live and work openly in California with little or no fear of deportation under an initiative unveiled Friday by a state legislator and others. Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, a Democrat, is helping spearhead the measure, called the California Opportunity and Prosperity Act. The proposal was filed Friday with the state Attorney General's Office, marking a first step toward a drive to collect the 504,760 voter signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. Read more: http://azstarnet.com/article_48fae88f-aedc-59ee-b117-d97c19d9fb94.html#ixzz1fUP5gO2m

A Sacramento-based advocacy group has filed referendum papers seeking to let voters decide the fate of a new California law requiring public schools to teach about societal contributions made by gay and lesbian people. Capitol Resource Institute, which describes itself as a "watchdog for family values," filed its documents this month with the state Attorney General's Office, which is a prelude to launching a signature-gathering campaign. The group hopes to kill Senate Bill 48, legislation that Gov. Jerry Brown said "represents an important step forward for our state"

Our editorial today (wide application to other states): It was a corrupt system that allowed back-room politicking to redraw every 10 years California's boundaries for congressional, legislative and other districts. Legislators redrew lines to ensure reelection and protect their political parties. There is word for it: Gerrymandering. . . . Unfortunately, Californians apparently have traded one form of special-interest pandering for another.

A large majority of Californians favor the outline of Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to eliminate the state budget deficit, but they strongly oppose key elements of the proposal that would increase the personal income tax and the state sales tax, according to a new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California.

In the event of a major earthquake or flood and many levees failing simultaneously in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, as many as 515,000 residents and 520,000 acres of land would be in immediate danger; the long term effects could be even more widespread, as nearly 28 million residents depend on the Delta for water and irrigation; California lawmakers have increasingly turned their attention to securing the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta's levees, but experts say that only little progress has been made After witnessing the destructive potential of broken levees during Hurricane Katrina, California lawmakers have increasingly turned their attention...

(Reuters) - Support for California Governor Jerry Brown's plan to shut a $27 billion budget gap has eroded since he introduced it in January, a new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California showed on Wednesday. Democrat Brown wants to close the budget hole with a mix of spending cuts and tax hikes, and he wants voters to get the chance to approve the package in a special election. So far Republicans have opposed the special election and tax hikes.

Just for grins, let's assume that Jerry Brown beats the long political odds and persuades the Legislature and voters to enact his tough-love plan to close the state budget gap. What's next for the septuagenarian retread? Walking on water? Yes, in a manner of speaking. If Brown can put the budget crisis behind him, at least for a few years, California's other long- festering political sore will almost certainly move to the top of his agenda. Predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger supposedly settled California's water wars before leaving office. In fact, he didn't. He merely put in place a complex mechanism to...

"Hi, I’m California, And I’m Addicted to Spending…"What a magnificent confession this would be, if only we could hear it collectively from our 31st state. Imagine -California emerges from its’ state of denial, and admits that it is addicted to government spending. And then, after acknowledging its’ addiction, envision the government of California coming to believe that a power greater than itself (the private sector) could restore its’ sanity, and then turning itself over to the care of that greater power, and, in so doing, checking itself into “rehab.” Psychobabble and twelve-step metaphors can only go so far. But in...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A majority of Californians back Governor Jerry Brown's plan to ask them to extend tax increases to help close a $25.4 billion state budget gap, poll results released on Wednesday showed. Brown, a Democrat sworn in to a third term earlier this month as leader of America's most populous state, wants lawmakers to help him put a measure to voters in June that would propose extending tax increases that expire this year to raise money for California's cash-strapped government. Revenue from tax extensions, $12.5 billion in spending cuts and other moves would balance the state's books...

Are Californians overtaxed, undertaxed or, to crib from the fable about Goldilocks and the three bears, taxed just right? We're already being inundated with claims and counterclaims about tax burdens as Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature weigh whether to place about $9 billion a year in tax extensions on a June ballot to cover budget deficits. Sorting through the tax rhetoric is not easy. Reliable, up-to-date numbers are hard to find, and there's no universal agreement on how data should be interpreted. But here's a shot. The most comprehensive data on state and local tax burdens – you have...

If he can get his proposed tax extensions on the ballot, Gov. Jerry Brown just might have a shot at persuading voters to pass them and balance the state's budget. A month before Brown introduced his budget plan, a statewide voter survey by pollster Jim Moore, commissioned by Democratic legislators, found that 58 percent of the 1,000 respondents were inclined to extend the 2009 increases for four years if doing so would minimize cuts to K-12 education, public safety and health care. However, Brown and his allies will have to do some educating. That 58 percent support was registered only...

When he unveiled his budget, the California governor boasted that he was delivering a spending plan without "gimmicks, tricks and unrealistic expectations." On the one hand, Brown presented some bold changes in his spending plan by proposing a realignment of state and local government. Also, Brown has ordered some small but symbolically important cuts, such as slashing his own office's budget and halving the number of state employee cell phones. On the other hand, it's hard to understand how Brown expects to pull off the linchpin of his spending plan -- an extension of tax increases enacted in 2009. Brown...

When the founders considered the form of government to replace the English monarchy, two examples of government led the lists: democracy and republicanism. Reasoning a representative republic led by informed citizens would be more stable than a direct democracy subject to volatile emotions of a public fired up over issues du jour, they opted for the republican form of government. California, in its state constitution, allows for changes to its constitution via the ballot process, allowing propositions to be placed before the public for approval in a general election. California flirts with direct democracy, and, as the founders feared, finds...

Here, for reasons that I shall provide in a memorandum to be filed in due course, I am certain that “a reasonable person with knowledge of all the facts would [not] conclude that [my] impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” United States v. Nelson, 718 F.2d 315, 321 (9th Cir. 1983); see also Sao Paulo State of the Federated Republic of Brazil v. Am. Tobacco Co., 535 U.S. 229, 233 (2002) (per curiam). I will be able to rule impartially on this appeal, and I will do so. The motion is therefore DENIED.

Eight names will be drawn at random Thursday from a pool of 36 finalists for positions on the state's new redistricting commission, and a Santa Monica College political science professor has calculated that there are 3.2 million possible combinations. What's more, Dr. Brain Lawson has figured the chances of names being drawn by gender, county of residence, income, ethnicity and what he calls being "incumbent friendly," basing his calculations on the detailed profiles of each finalist available on the Internet. He sees 11 of the 36 being "incumbent friendly" due to experience with redistricting and government, and names them in...

You and I know it was never about facts, it was about hyping the green dream. Just look at the numbers. First from the opposition:Of course they don’t dare mention the amount of money their side has put into it, because, well, that would look imbalanced. Now have a look at the other side of the issue from the legislator who spearheaded the effort:Logue: Big money beat Proposition 23 By LARRY MITCHELL – Staff Writer CHICO — Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Linda, said big money defeated Proposition 23, which would have put the brakes on Assembly Bill 32, the state’s...

Much has been written about the oil and gas billionaire Koch brothers and their multimillion-dollar donations to right-wing causes. Charles and David Koch’s combined $43 billion wealth has made them virtually unstoppable this election cycle; even prolific left-wing philanthropist George Soros recently said he was powerless against the “avalanche” of donations from conservative billionaires like the Kochs. However, in recent days a handful of liberal billionaires have decided to take on the Kochs in one of the most hotly contested battles this election season: Proposition 23, the California ballot that may well prove a bellwether for the future of energy...

Now that California’s Prop 23 to suspend the AB32 global warming law has failed, you get some real clarity from the players. If you ever doubted that our current crop of “save the planet” bureaucrats think they are above answering to the very citizens that pay their salary, this quote should put any doubt you may have had to rest.From public TV station KQED’s “climate watch” blog: “They didn’t know who they were messing with,” said Mary Nichols, when the first numbers came in from the polls. Wow. Just wow. Hubris maximus. Lady, you need a reality check.Read the holier...

VIDEO: Arnold Schwarzenegger shares energy policy ideas with Diane Sawyer. The following is a partial transcript of the exchange (see video) • World News asked California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger about the clean energy policies that he says are his legacy • Does he think the nation will join in his conviction? SCHWARZENEGGER: "What would help is if we now are successful in beating back the Texas oil companies, the same players that have been there for decades, ruining everything -- you know -- trying to burn and get rid of our light rail in 45 cities. "And so now the...

California’s progressive-era experiment in direct democracy was supposed to elevate the voters above the special interests, allowing voters make law themselves through the statewide initiative process. That this process is now virtually owned by the special interests is yet another example of the immutable Law of Unintended Consequences in government. A brief perusal of the California Secretary of State’s initiative campaign finance disclosure website shows that some $120 million dollars has been raised by 53 groups supporting or opposing California’s nine November ballot initiatives. By comparison, California’s two major candidates for governor have raised or given to their campaigns $176...

In the latest news from my home state, aka La-La Land of the Loony Left, last week's polls showed that the initially high support for Prop 19, which would legalize recreational marijuana, have dropped below 50% .

California’s business tax climate is second worst in the nation, better only than New York’s, according to a new report from the Tax Foundation. New Jersey managed to move up two spots on the list after four straight years as the nation’s worst business tax climate... The index is based on the premise that taxes matter to business and states don’t raise or lower taxes in a vacuum. “The modern market is characterized by mobile capital and labor. Therefore, companies will locate where they have the greatest competitive advantage...

Prop 19: When Worlds Collide.  NO.   If this simply allowed people to cultivate and smoke marijuana themselves and left the rest of us alone, it would be worth considering.   But it goes much further and provides that “no person shall be … discriminated against or denied any right or privilege” for pot use, inviting a lawsuit every time an employer tries to require a drug test, for example.  If you want to smoke pot in your own world, I don’t care.  But don’t bring it into mine.     Prop 20: Congressional Redistricting. YES.  This finishes the work we began in...

MEXICO CITY — Sounds like former President Vicente Fox wishes he could vote in California. Twice on Wednesday, Fox took to the airwaves to encourage Californians Nov. 2 to approve Proposition 19, the ballot initiative to legalize the commercial cultivation and sale of marijuana. “How great it would be for California to set this example. May God let it pass,” Fox told the W radio network in Mexico. “The other U.S. states will have to follow step.” If California legalizes marijuana, it may help Mexican peasant farmers, and boost Mexico's exports, he added.

I love this quote from clean-tech exec Eric Dresselhuys to the San Francisco Chronicle's David R. Baker: "If California isn't leading the charge on implementing these technologies, why be here? Do you want to be here for the high taxes, the high cost of living? Right now, you want to be here because California is where the action is." In a nutshell, that is the argument against Proposition 23 -- which would stall the impending implementation of AB32, California's landmark 2006 global-warming bill, until unemployment dips to 5.5 percent. If voters delay AB32, they will staunch the creation of clean-tech...

California Dreamin’ By Eric Fry 10/25/10 Laguna Beach, California – California’s Napa Valley gets the headlines, the wine-tasting awards and the black-tie charity dinners…California’s “Emerald Triangle” gets the cash. That’s right, the Golden State’s marijuana crop generates about $14 billion in revenue each year, and most of that revenue flows into the three main cannabis-growing counties of Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity — aka, the Emerald Triangle. $14 billion may not seem like much, as it is roughly the same sum as the bonus pool at Goldman Sachs. On the other hand, $14 billion is larger than the GDP of Iceland,...

Economists are famous for avoiding definitive statements by saying “on the one hand” followed immediately by “on the other hand.” In the case of California’s Proposition 23, however, the sound one would hear from economists is both hands clapping. Voters will take up Prop. 23 in less than four weeks, but the ramifications will last decades. The bill would suspend AB 32, the Global Warming Act of 2006 by freezing all its provisions until California's unemployment rate drops below 5.5 perecent for four consecutive quarters. The state’s economic situation is difficult, to say the least. The latest unemployment numbers published...

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said Friday his deputies’ marijuana enforcement would not change even if Proposition 19, which would legalize the drug in California, passes Nov. 2. “Proposition 19 is not going to pass, even if it passes,” Baca said in a news conference Friday at sheriff's headquarters in Monterey Park. Baca, whose department polices three-fourths of the county, was bolstered Friday by an announcement from the Obama administration that federal officials would continue to “vigorously enforce” marijuana laws in California, even if state voters pass the measure. Baca said the proposition was superseded by federal law and...

Next month on election day, Californians will have the chance to legalize marijuana for the specific purpose of raising revenues via taxes. Think about that for a moment: legalizing a dangerous product for the specific purpose of collecting more taxes. I guarantee you that the politicians will begin demonizing marijuana the moment the Secretary of State reports the initiative passed. By Christmas they will be telling the public how much revenue they will collect from taxing marijuana, and by next June they will be raising taxes on it to pay for the treatment of those who want to quit...

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder says the federal government will enforce its marijuana laws in California even if the state's voters approve a ballot measure to legalize the drug. Holder says the Justice Department strongly opposes California's Proposition 19 and remains firmly committed to enforcing the federal Controlled Substances Act in all states. "We will vigorously enforce the CSA against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted under state law," Holder wrote.

Attorney General Eric Holder says the federal government will enforce its marijuana laws in California even if voters next month make the state the first in the nation to legalize the drug. The Justice Department strongly opposes California's Proposition 19 and remains firmly committed to enforcing the federal Controlled Substances Act in all states, Holder wrote in a letter to former chiefs of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter, dated Wednesday. "We will vigorously enforce the CSA against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even...

This is a list of the propositions on the 2010 California ballot with my personal choices below...

Industrialists who own private company with annual revenues of £62bn have channelled millions of dollars to rightwing causes It likes to present itself as a grassroots insurgency made up of hundreds of local groups intent on toppling the Washington elite. But the Tea Party movement, which is threatening to cause an upset in next month's midterm elections, would not be where it is today without the backing of that most traditional of US political supporters – Big Oil.

SAN FRANCISCO -- In defending his refusal to appeal a judge's order overturning California's ban on same-sex marriage, Attorney General Jerry Brown said the sponsors of the ballot measure can appeal it themselves - a statement that might aid their efforts to preserve the ban in court. Brown, the Democratic candidate for governor, made the comment in Tuesday's debate after Republican Meg Whitman criticized his non-defense of Proposition 8, the November 2008 initiative defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman."You can't have a governor or attorney general who makes a decision on what part of the...

We hear a lot about “vested interests” in America these days. Here in California – it is the cry of Global Warming alarmists who are opposed to proposition 23 that is to be voted on in the November election. Prop 23 will suspend a “Global Warming solutions” act that will push up energy prices and drive even more jobs out of the state during one the biggest recessions in living memory. Understandably there is a lot of opposition to the Global Warming Act and Prop 23 is proving surprisingly popular in a state that practically invented the Green movement. Two...

* Poll shows most Democrats support legalization * Republicans strongly against, independents divided * Prop. 19 would let local governments regulate sales By Peter Henderson SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Hopes that California will become the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana appear to be turning into a pipe dream. Voters plan to oppose a measure on the Nov. 2 ballot to legalize marijuana use by 53 percent to 43 percent, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday that showed a big change of sentiment from June. [ID:nN05207672]

The old All Star Dodge dealership in Banning looked to be just another ghost of business past in a town hit hard by a sour economy. But that didn't keep the city's redevelopment agency from paying top dollar for it — and then some. Without an independent appraisal, agency board members, who double as the City Council, shelled out $1.2 million for the vacant property in July 2009. It still sits empty. "Everything about that deal stinks," said Philipp Goebels, editor of The Banning Informer website, which devotes much of its attention to the city's "redevelopment disasters." A Riverside County...

SANTA CLARA, CA (KGO) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is blasting the backers of an effort to suspend the state's landmark global warming legislation that signed it into law four years ago. California's global warming law AB32 is a big part of Schwarzenegger's legacy. He is campaigning to stop Proposition 23, the November ballot measure that would suspend AB32. The governor told the Commonwealth Club audience that oil companies Valero and Tesoro are spending millions to promote Prop 23 with a bogus jobs argument. "Does anyone really believe that these companies out of the goodness of their black oil hearts are...

WATSONVILLE - Like many California cities, Watsonville has trimmed its police force, cut hours at the library and scaled back maintenance at parks. City Manager Carlos Palacios says that's expected during tough times, when tax revenues from business and property owners are down. What's not expected, he says, is having state lawmakers snatch local funds to help balance their budget. "We're getting hit twice. Not only are own revenues down, but we have the state taking our money," Palacio protests. "Some governments that serve more wealthy communities might have a cushion to offset this. But when you cut our funds,...

California voters believe global warming is a significant issue and are inclined to trust scientific views on the subject, but they remain closely divided on a November ballot measure that would suspend the state's global warming statute, according to a new Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California poll. California’s global warming law, passed in 2006, is aimed at slashing greenhouse gas emissions by power plants, factories and vehicles. The ballot initiative, Proposition 23, would delay implementation of the law until California unemployment drops to 5.5% and stays at that level for a year. Unemployment is now over 12%, and a...

LOS ANGELES -- Democrat Jerry Brown has moved into a narrow lead over Republican Meg Whitman in their fractious contest for California governor, while his party colleague Barbara Boxer has opened a wider margin over GOP nominee Carly Fiorina in the race for U.S. Senate, a new Los Angeles Times/USC poll has found. The Democratic candidates were benefiting from their party's dominance in California and the continued popularity here of President Barack Obama, who has retained most of his strength in the state even as he has weakened in other parts of the country. Support for Obama may play a...

Poll shows voters split on global warming measureAssociated Press - September 24, 2010 8:24 PM ET SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A new poll shows Californians are divided over an initiative to suspend the state's landmark global warming law, although most consider global warming an important issue. A Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California poll released Friday shows 40% of likely voters favor Proposition 23, compared to 38% who oppose it. That's within the poll's sampling error margin of 3.3%age points. The measure on the November ballot would delay climate regulations until California's unemployment rate, now at 12.4%, falls to 5.5%...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman on Thursday came out against a ballot initiative that would indefinitely delay California's landmark global warming law, saying she supports a more limited suspension. Whitman has long advocated suspending the 2006 law for a year if she is elected governor, but she has deflected questions about her stance on Proposition 23. Her rival Jerry Brown, the Democratic state attorney general, earlier this week challenged her to take a position. In a statement, the former chief executive of eBay said the ballot initiative fails to offer a sensible balance for protecting jobs and...

"In almost every respect imaginable, Prohibition was a failure," former New York Times public editor Daniel Okrent concluded at the close of his new book, "Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition." "It encouraged criminality and institutionalized hypocrisy. It deprived the government of revenue, stripped the gears of the political system, and proposed profound limitations on individual rights." America's laws against marijuana have had similar effect. About 40 percent of Americans have tried the weed. In March, the Partnership for a Drug- Free America reported that 38 percent of ninth- through 12th-graders studied in 2009 reported consuming marijuana in...