Free Republic

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.