Jarvis Jesters
It’s late October and that means there are a lot of people out there wearing masks. But this isn’t about Halloween. This is about all the fake taxpayer interests – organizations and candidates – who are trying to gain an advantage in the upcoming election by portraying themselves as defenders of homeowners and Proposition 13. […]
Something Good from the California Legislature
The phone call was from a frightened older woman in the Central Valley. “I can’t afford to pay my property taxes and I may lose my home by the end of the year if nothing is done in Sacramento.” While this call was eerily reminiscent of the years just prior to Prop 13’s enactment in […]
Jarvis Assoc. Asks Supreme Court to Block Sale of High Speed Rail Bonds
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA) has petitioned the California Supreme Court to review the high speed rail bond validation case. After radically changing the bullet train plan promised to voters who approved $10 billion in bonds in 2008, the State asked the court to approve sale of the bonds anyway. HJTA responded on behalf […]
Let Them Drive Teslas
Once again, Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg has thumbed his nose at the working class and other Californians of modest means by blocking legislation that would have slightly delayed implementation of carbon emission fees charged to oil companies. The fees are part of the state’s “cap-and-trade” program, California’s one-of-a-kind effort to reduce wordwide carbon emissions. These […]
AG Blocks Real Initiative Reform
Just last month, this column noted that the professional political class harbors great hostility toward the tools of direct democracy — the powers of initiative, referendum and recall. These are effective tools to control an indolent or corrupt legislature. From the perspective of politicians, direct democracy allows the great unwashed and unsophisticated to deal with […]
Lawmakers Don’t Think Rules Apply to Them
No one would dispute that California’s diversity extends to the wide political gulf between conservative Californians and those who see themselves as liberal. From strong Tea Party interests in the more rural areas to the “Occupiers” in San Francisco, the balkanization of our body politic is well recognized. But there should be, if there isn’t […]
To Be Well-Informed, Ignore Political Ads
Ah, August. For so many, that means vacation when normally hard working Californians will be visiting theme parks, going camping or maybe just relaxing in the back yard. But this is also an election year and the next three quiet weeks are the calm before the storm of political ads that will be unleashed after […]
More Politicians Should Visit the Real World
For a week he walked the streets of Fresno, a homeless man looking for work. At night he slept on park benches, during the day he tried to ward off hunger, sometimes with the bananas a grocer sold him at five for a dollar. At the end of the week, still unemployed, Neel Kashkari, Republican […]
Twin Tunnels Project Threatens Property Owners
You’d think that with all the well deserved bad press heaped on the High Speed Rail debacle that Governor Brown would be a little more circumspect about mega-infrastructure projects which, presumably, he wishes to be the cornerstone of his legacy. Unfortunately, it appears that his legacy may be that of an inflexible politician who has […]
Arrogance of the Political Elite Costs You at the Pump
It’s election season and finally there’s a bit of good news for California politicians seeking reelection. A recent Field poll shows that, for the first time in 7 years, there are more California voters that think they are financially better off than those who believe they are worse off. However, for the political elite, that […]