Taxpayer's League Recommendations

The Humboldt Taxpayer's League recently released their recommendations for the statewide and local ballot initiatives:

Prop 19: Marijuana- No Position
Prop 20: Elections- No Position
Prop 21: Park Taxes- No
Prop 22: State Spending- No
Prop 23: AB32 Suspension- Yes
Prop 24: Tax Breaks- No
Prop 25: 2/3 Vote & Budget- No
Prop 26: Taxes- 2/3 Vote for increased fees- Yes
Prop 27: Elections- No Position

Local Ballot Measures:

Measure N: Balloon Tract Rezone- Yes
Measure O: Eureka Sales Tax Increase- No
Measure Q: School Bond Measure- No

No real surprises there for me except maybe Eureka's Measure O. For some reason I figured they might support O since local gadfly and past League President, Leo Sears, came out in favor of it.

It's also good to see the League once again not take positions on issues they either can't come to an agreement on, or feel don't have anything to do with the League's mission.

I'll post my positions on issues and candidates sometime this week. I know you're all sitting there with your absentee ballots waiting for your marching orders from me. Please be patient. I've been lazier than usual as of late.

Cops And Firefighters Live Longest

Interesting snippet from a Cal Watchdog piece on the pending public pension tsunami. Interesting to me, anyway. Looks like police and firefighters tend to be the longest living public sector employees:

"Public safety and firefighter unions argue that they deserve their “3 percent at 50” (3 percent of their final year’s pay times the number of years worked, available at age 50) pensions because they die shortly after retirement — some claim that the typical cop or firefighter only lives five to eight years after retiring. CalPERS has debunked this myth (as has the Oregon retirement system) and finds that the longest living categories of public sector employees are police, followed by firefighters. They live on average into the low- to mid-80s. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, neither police nor firefighting are in the top-10 most-dangerous jobs....

AB 1998 Advertisement

Failing California

Here's a rather lengthy but interesting commentary that looks at California's past and current economy with suggestions on what the writer thinks might be done to improve things.

Bill Introduction Limits Needed

Cal Watchdog reports a bill has been introduced in the state legislature to ban the sale of "electrolyte replacement" beverages in public schools. The sponsor feels this necessary because the last bill that banned soft drinks hasn't achieved the desired results- those results being less obesity in school age kids.

Leaving the issue of obesity in kids aside, I have to agree with one of the comments to the story:

Here we have yet another example of legislators with way too much time on their hands. We need to establish a limit on the number of bills that each legislator can introduce each session. Not sure what criteria should be used to establish those limits or how low the limit should be, but something along the line of being able to count each legislator's introduced bills on one hand might be a place to start.

Hmmm...maybe a campaign issue for Karen Brooks, Wes Chesbro's Republican opponent in the state assembly race?

Election Day

Today is Election Day and some of you get to go to the polls. I won't be going since I voted by absentee ballot two or three weeks ago.
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Eric Kirk has his voting recommendations up on his blog. A clear Authoritarian slate he's picking, as would be expected, if only because he's voting in the Democratic primary. What other choices does he have?

But seriously, Gavin Newsom is a clear Authoritarian and Eric has long been a fan of his so the label fits if for that reason alone.

I see Eric also, as expected, is voting no on Prop 16 & 17- the PG&E and car insurance initiatives.

I mentioned here earlier I stood aside and didn't vote on those issues but, since Eric is voting against them, I'll go ahead and mark the YES box on the wife's sample ballot to nullify Eric's vote. Connie doesn't always follow my recommendations but she doesn't usually follow the issues that closely so often takes my advice.
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Kudos to Rose Welsh for posting Kevin Hoover's rather convoluted explanation of his endorsement in the District Attorney's race. Reading it, I got the impression he would be voting for Allison Jackson, only to come to the end and see he chose Paul Hagan. Strange line of reasoning, from the way I read it.
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So, the campaign signs in my yard come down at 8pm tonight when the polls close. I hope the rest of you do the same. If nothing else, just pull them up and lay them flat on the ground so we're not all being yelled at anymore.

And no, I don't stay up to watch the election results. Too many bad things happen on elections, especially in this state. I'll read the results in the paper tomorrow morning.

Hey, I don't mind watching car crashes, earthquakes, shootings or other disasters on YouTube after they've already happened. I don't like watching them in real life so I'm not going to stay up and see what will likely be more disasters taking place as election returns come in.

California Bond Debt

John Seiler, over at California Watchdog, recently took a look at how much money the state could save by suspending all the voter approved spending initiatives. I suggested he should also consider looking at how much we could save by recalling voter approved bond initiatives. He did, and here's his report.

His findings were not what I expected. I'd expected to see possibly tens of billions of dollars in savings if we could pull unsold bonds- the High Speed Rail bonds being a big one- off the market. What I hadn't considered was that the bonds are paid off over periods of 20 to 30 years, so it doesn't appear pulling the bonds would have as much impact as I'd thought.

Yet we're still talking about spending over 47 billion dollars in bonds not yet sold and with bonds certain to be approved by Californians in the future, you can bet we'll be looking at tens of billions of dollars more in debt.

Seiler points out in his report that, just on current bonds the payments will rise from over $11 billion in 2014 to over $19 billion in 2027-28. The percentage debt payment will take from California's general fund will rise from 6.71% in 2009 to to over 9% in 2027-28.

That actually doesn't look so bad, when compared to the hundreds of billions of dollars the state is on the hook for in unfunded public pension debt.

Greenhut On Public Pensions

Steve Greenhut makes his case for why liberals should be concerned about the growing public pension crisis. I think he does a good job, but I'm not a liberal.

Brooks For Assembly Kick- Off Thursday

Republican Candidate Karen Brooks Kicks Off Campaign For State Assembly District One

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES
Contact: brooksforassembly@gmail.com
Phone: (707) 822-7736
WHEN: Thursday, April 15th, 3-6 pm
WHERE: Wharfinger Building
One Marina Way (at Waterfront)
Eureka, CA 95501

Karen Brooks, citizen candidate, is challenging a career politician to win the people’s seat and bring common sense leadership back to Sacramento.

A 30-year resident of Humboldt County and small business owner, Karen and her family reside in Bayside, California.

Following the Tax Day Rally at the Courthouse, Karen Brooks will introduce herself to voters and kick-off her campaign. A brief press Q&A will follow Brooks’ comments around 3:45pm.

Karen Brooks For Assembly?

She sounds good to me, so far, from her letter that was published in the Times- Standard today. Does anybody know if she has a campaign web page up yet? I haven't been able to find it if she does.

Addendum: Karen Brooks had another letter published in the Santa Rosa Press- Democrat this morning:

New ideas

EDITOR: With the state facing a $24 billion deficit, it seems like the only news coming out of Sacramento is the dismal approval rating of 13 percent or legislative proposals levying fines against ski resorts and parents for failing to provide their kids with helmets.

Meanwhile, California is still facing 12 percent unemployment with no means of increasing opportunities for Californians to attain work. Small businesses are the lifeblood of this economy and offer the opportunities for millions of Californians to work and provide for their families.

It’s time for the people to establish priorities for their state, because as it stands now the only priorities out of Sacramento seem to be re-election and nanny government.

We need new ideas and a new voice to advocate common sense ideas for California.

KAREN BROOKS

Candidate, 1st Assembly District

Bayside

The State's Economy: Not over yet

I really don't want to dwell on pessimism, especially at this time in my life, but this editorial in the San Diego Union- Tribune is right in line with the way I see the recession in California: It isn't over yet. In fact, I don't see it ever getting back on the plus side, at least in my lifetime.

It seems to me California has painted itself into a corner and there's no way out. I hope I'm wrong.

It's All Our Faults...

except mine, of course!

Steve Greenhut, formerly from the Orange County Register, has a fun read in California Watchdog where he points out how nearly everyone in the state is an obstacle to reforming state government.

I'm declaring my conscience clear, though. As I've written here before, I've voted against most, if not all, of the state's bond measures, and the candidates I've voted for rarely win. It's not my fault.

I believe this is the first I've seen of the California Watchdog. I've subscribed to their e- mail list.

Campbell Switches To Senate Race

Republican gubernatorial hopeful, Tom Campbell, is supposed to announce today he's leaving the governor's race and entering the race for U.S. Senate. Campbell was my favorite in the race for a while. He still probably would be but I became disillusioned with him on at least a couple issues.

Who to support in the governor's race now is the question. We have two declared Republicans, Poizner and Whitman, and one undeclared Democrat, Jerry Brown, as the major party candidates. Thankfully, with Gavin Newsom leaving the race some time ago, we don't have any real flakes among the current front runners anymore.

So, who should a libertarian support as it stands now? Not sure I have any problem with any of the front runners, but one thing came to mind:

I've read that government grows faster and spends more money when its legislative and executive branches are held by one party. That alone should encourage those concerned with liberty and efficient government to chose the Republican over Jerry Brown since the state's legislative branch is controlled by the Democrats and likely will be for the foreseeable future.

Either that, or vote for whoever the Libertarian Party candidate, which is what I might do.

Addendum: Tom Campbell explains his reason for switching races.

Too Much Is Not Enough?

This commentary from MediaNews was published as a guest editorial in the Times- Standard yesterday. It basically explains that, while California spends much more on its freeways and roads than the vast majority of states, our roads still are among the worst in the nation. At least some of them are.

They go on to say we should be putting even more money into our roads, despite the fact we're already spending more per mile than most other states. One sentence is used to say we should spend the money more efficiently, but it seems almost like an afterthought the way I read it.

Anybody else read it that way? Kind of a goofy line of thinking to me.

Larger Spending Initiatives Politico's Fault?

The Oakland Tribune reminds us that the vast majority of spending measures placed on the ballot over the years were put on the ballot by the state legislature, not individuals or "special interests". While I get the feeling the gist of story might have been to shed more dirt on the legislature, I don't feel that case can really be made. I'm not saying the legislature shouldn't be blamed but the voters passed those measures so they share at least equal blame.

Besides, might it make sense if you're proposing spending a bunch of money to pass it by the people who will be spending the money, never mind it being a good way to spread the blame around if the measure gets passed?

The story also includes changes to the initiative system some in the legislature are recommending. I don't have a problem taking a look at all of them, even that one where the citizen generated initiative gets run through the legislature before it can make it on the ballot. Of course, that almost seems a case of having the fox being put in charge of guarding the hen house, doesn't it?

One reform I'd like to make, both to the initiative system and the legislature in general, would be to make it so any initiative- or law- proposed, be able to fit on to a single 8 1/2 x 14" legal size piece of paper and still have room for signatures ( in the case of ballot initiatives). Seems to me if the text of an initiative takes up more space than that, it probably shouldn't be made into law in the first place. I doubt any of the powers- that- be would be interested in pursuing a reform like that, would they?

Jerry Brown: Libertarian?

I read a news article- or was it a commentary?- a few days ago where the writer described past California Governor and current gubernatorial hopeful, Jerry Brown, as being libertarian oriented. The reason being that Brown has been saying he's not in favor of a bunch of new rules and regulations and that California might well already be over- regulated.

That, of course, piqued my curiosity so I looked a little further into the guy's history. After all, it was over 30 years ago when he was elected governor and I couldn't remember much about him. Seems to me I should of hated him, but why?

Found this article published earlier this month that sheds some light on Brown's past. I'll have to say that after reading it I can't help but kind of like the guy if for no other reason than he seems to bounce around a bit politically and doesn't seem to fit into either the Right or Left Wing mold.

Brown Stumps At Irvine

With Gavin Newsom having dropped out of the race for governor, all eyes turn to the only known undeclared candidate in the race: Jerry Brown. The Orange County Register has a write up on a speech Brown recently made in Irvine. Looks like he did well, at least from the way the reporter writes it, although lacking in some of the specifics at least a couple of other candidates have put forth.

I know I hated Brown as Governor but, for the life of me, I can't remember exactly why. Still, I can't help but kind of like the guy after reading the account of his speech. With Newsom out of the race, it looks like we've got 4 half- way decent candidates running for governor next year. Actually, we had four half- way decent candidates earlier on, and one bad one with Newsom.

Speaking of cell phones...

...the Times- Standard had a story today about people still chatting on cell phones while driving. Well, maybe some of us who get annoyed by the danger imposed by these folks might get a laugh back at them...or maybe not?

It seems the State Air Resources Board has come up with a new regulation that requires all cars sold in California to have special glazed glass. This glass supposedly reflects heat from the sun and thus requires less air conditioning in the car which supposedly leads to better gas mileage.

Aside from the dubious claim this move will save gas, the clincher is the glazed windows supposedly degrade radio signals like those that come from cell phones and GPS systems. So, it might be fun for some of us when the cell phone chatters are screaming over not being able to talk as easily from their cell phones in their cars. Maybe some won't be able to talk at all?

That will only be a short laugh, though, as it won't be long before all the chatters that don't already have external cellphone antennas buy one.

Nope, we won't be laughing long. This will certainly be costing us all money in the long run with the Detroit News reporting it will take 5 to 12 years to recoup the increased car costs by supposed reduced gasoline use. They don't seem to consider that it's likely a lot of people might start buying cars out of state to save money after this takes effect. None of us will be laughing then. Not even the people who don't own cars.

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As an aside, in regards the claim that reducing air conditioner use will result in better gas mileage, I'm not so sure that's true. Can't say that for sure but my understanding is that a car without air conditioning gets better mileage that one with. The reason being the air conditioner itself puts a drag on the engine because the air conditioner is run by a belt, just like the belt that runs a water pump. My understanding is the air conditioner reduces gas mileage because it's run by the engine. It doesn't matter whether it's on, or off.

Some mechanic told me that years ago and suggested that, for better mileage, I could just cut the belt that ran my air conditioner (so long as that belt only runs the air conditioner). Don't know how true that is but the truck ran fine without that belt, although it still had to drag the weight of the rather large air conditioner.

Addendum: I've been trying to find out more in regards air conditioners and gas mileage. Did a Yahoo search and got these results. Not sure what to make of them. They seem to say yes, no, maybe, kinda, depending on a number of things. None specifically refers to my understanding that the air conditioner itself drains energy from the engine although they suggest that turning it on drains more in some cars.

State/ Local Money Grab Database

The Sacramento Bee has a database set up that tells how much the state is taking from various cities and counties to help with the budget fiasco. Doesn't look that bad for us up here, depending on how you look at it. The money they're taking from Eureka and Humboldt County equals around $36.00 per resident.

If asked for a login for the SacBee web site you can always use humboldtlib as a username and blogspot for a password.

Repeal Prop 98? YES!

I've suggested here and elsewhere that we need to repeal Prop 98 and all the other automatic spending increase formulas that have tied the state legislator's hands during budget negotiations. Bruce Maiman wrote a pretty nice piece in the Sacramento Bee proposing the repeal of Prop 98. I wish I could of made the point that well.

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Speaking of the state budget, most of you have probablyl heard by now that some sort of budget deal has been made. I'm already hearing different numbers thrown around, but the Los Angeles Times lists some of the supposed cuts and revenue shuffles. I'm curious if the cut numbers are actual cuts, or just not increasing spending as much as some might have wanted?

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The Sacramento Bee's, Dan Walters, sees this budget agreement as pretty much the same old fiscal smoke and mirrors that they've done before. We're not over his budget fiasco yet.