by Jon Coupal | Sacramento

Several years ago, the last time California was “going off a cliff,” I wrote a column entitled “Taxpayer Ants and Government Grasshoppers.” It was based on the wonderful old Disney cartoon about industrious ants working hard and putting away provisions for the future and a lazy grasshopper which refused to do the same.

Those familiar with the story will recall that when winter came, and the grasshopper faced death from starvation and exposure, the ants took pity and bailed him out with hot food and a warm place to sleep. The grasshopper then repented his ways and changed his tune to: “I owe the world a living. I’ve been a fool the whole year long. Now I’m singing a different song. You were right and I was wrong.” Read the rest of this entry »

by Tom McClintock | Sacramento and D.C

Rep. McClintock gave the following floor speech in opposition to the Cap and Trade legislation on June 26, 2009.

I had a strange sense of Deja Vu as I watched the self-congratulatory rhetoric on the house floor tonight, and I feel compelled to offer this warning from the Left Coast.

Three years ago, I stood on the floor of the California Senate and watched a similar celebration over a similar bill, AB 32.  And I have spend the last three years watching as that law has dangerously deepened California’s recession.  It uses a different mechanism than Cap and Trade, but the objective is the same: to force a dramatic reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Read the rest of this entry »

by J. F. Kelly, Jr. | Coronado

Am I the only one on the planet who wasn’t totally shocked and utterly devastated by the tragic death of pop star Michael Jackson? I mean no disrespect to the talented singer-dancer or to his countless fans, but he did, after all, lead a somewhat self-destructive lifestyle which apparently included an addiction to dangerous prescription pain-killers. And according to his ex-wife, Lisa Marie Presley, he feared dying prematurely under tragic circumstances like her father, Elvis.

Mr. Jackson’s health had deteriorated in recent years and he may have pushed his heart too far, according to persons close to the entertainer. Family friend and former attorney to Jackson, Brian Oxman, reportedly warned against the consequences of having prescription drugs at his disposal. “I warned everyone,” he was quoted as saying. “I feared this day and here we are.” Read the rest of this entry »

by Burt Prelutsky | Los Angeles

I have always found it odd that whenever the producers of TV, movies and records, are accused of setting a bad example for the kids, they always insist that their product is simply entertainment and that entertainment in no way influences youthful behavior.  If they really believed it, they’d have to be even stupider than they are.

It’s not just that they’re every bit as aware as the rest of us that advertisers spend billions of dollars a year advertising their merchandise in the media, but additional fortunes are spent on product placement in motion pictures targeted to young people.  They also know that advertisers get into bidding wars for the services of a LeBron James. Read the rest of this entry »

by J. F. Kelly, Jr. | Coronado

There is no question that President Barack Obama was dealt a difficult hand to play but play it he must. He is not the first president to inherit grave problems and he, after all, asked for the job. There are many crises, foreign and domestic, competing for presidential attention. The pressures must be enormous, not only on the president, on whose desk the buck stops, but also on his still understaffed administration.

When problems and crises overwhelm, prioritization becomes critical. In the current environment, prioritization must be governed, not by political agendas, interest group demands and campaign promises, but by the imminence and gravity of the threats using risk assessment methodology. There is too much at stake in terms of clear and present danger to use these crises as opportunities for political gain or domestic agendas. Read the rest of this entry »

by Jon Coupal | Sacramento

In order to “solve” California’s massive budget crisis, the tax-and-spend lobby and left-leaning academics are again suggesting that we revise Proposition 13, which changed the state’s tax structure in 1978 by lowering property tax rates and limiting annual increases.

Ironically, these new efforts to change the highly popular initiative are based, not on the argument that Proposition 13 has failed California, but on the grounds that Proposition 13 is working precisely as intended. Read the rest of this entry »

by Burt Prelutsky | Los Angeles

The question that’s been preying on my mind is who is best suited to study those strange beings known as liberals.  It strikes me that they’d be fit subjects for psychiatrists, who might be in a position to figure out why they revere the people they do — people such as Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Al Gore and Ted Kennedy — men who haven’t a single notable accomplishment to their name, aside from either winning elections or eliminating them altogether.  Or perhaps it would be more appropriate for biologists to delve into the left-wing organism, and determine how it is possible that creatures without brains could have survived so long in an often hostile environment. Read the rest of this entry »

by Amy Kaleita | San Francisco

Earlier this month the House approved a measure that would give consumers up to $4500 to dump their gas guzzlers and buy a newer and more fuel efficient vehicle. Despite widespread support, this “cash for clunkers” program has its problems, and so do other environmental regulations coming out of Washington.

The “clunkers” program would direct dealers to scrap or shred traded-in vehicles with fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon or less. The buyer, in turn, would get an incentive towards the price of a new vehicle with fuel economy of 22 miles per gallon or better. Environmental groups, the auto industry and unions support the plan, which also has its critics. Read the rest of this entry »

by J. F. Kelly, Jr. | Coronado

President Barack Obama, in office less than half a year, finds himself facing mounting challenges overseas. There are, of course the actual wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the former winding down at last but the latter heating up, compounded now by the instability in Pakistan. Aside from these actual conflicts, are the threats posed by a nuclear-armed and bellicose North Korea and a soon-to-be nuclear armed and equally hostile Iran. Of these, Iran is the greater threat. The North Korean ruling lunatics may be crazy but they are not suicidal. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the other hand, religious passions and anti-western hysteria could overcome reason and restraint. Read the rest of this entry »

by Jon Coupal | Sacramento

A great line from Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain is “you probably think this song is about you.” Well, if you are reading this, Anthony Adams, rest assured that this column is not about you. It is about reasonable taxpayer expectations.

Some brief history: Anthony Adams is the Assemblyman who represents parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties who, along with two others in the Assembly, broke ranks with GOP colleagues to provide the votes needed to approve a $12 billion tax increase in February. That increase was part of a package that included putting Proposition 1A on the ballot which would have dealt taxpayers another $16 billion blow. Read the rest of this entry »