‘Pension Tsunami’ Spreads the Word
As I stated last week, the pension issue is gaining traction.
One major reason is that the mainstream media has taken notice. The media has had help. The website, Pension Tsunami, gathers articles and facts about public pension news from around the country. Collected and assembled by Jack Dean, one time Libertarian candidate for U. S. Senate in California and president of the Fullerton Association of Concerned Taxpayers, the articles are distributed to more than 1,400 subscribers nationally, with the heaviest concentration in California.
While others have raised concerns about the pension issue, such as the Calpensions web site, I mentioned last week and talk radio hosts, Dean has been feeding material to radio hosts and news reporters and bloggers for five years.
He’s had a major impact.
Time to Make Initiative Signatures Public Records
California’s government code says that, in general, initiative petitions aren’t public records. That should change – if the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t get in the way.
The court recently – and unwisely – stepped in and blocked the release of the names of those citizens who signed a Washington state referendum petition to reverse a law granting more rights to registered domestic partners there. The court’s 8-1 decision was temporary, but the court won’t fully revisit the issue until after this November’s election is over.
Gay rights groups, seeking to put public pressure on those who signed a petition to limit domestic partner rights, have sought the public release of the petitions. Gay rights opponents (who are Referendum 71’s supporters) have fought the release, saying that it would subject the signers to harassment and worse.
A few thoughts:
Pedro Nava’s Oil Tax Remedy Is Bad Medicine
Assemblyman Pedro Nava has essentially the same remedy for every problem facing California. Indeed, regardless of the question, Pedro’s answer is the same, create a new tax, hike an existing tax, or make a temporary tax wider, deeper and permanent. Nava’s advice for every fiscal ill that we face is to ask all of us to pay more taxes and call him in the morning…at which point he will probably be well on his way to his next political office.
In his latest attempt to right what he thinks is wrong about oil development in California, Nava is calling for…you got it, a new tax. A so-called "severance tax" on all of the oil produced here in California. This is Pedro’s latest political tonic to help grow his chances at becoming California’s next Attorney General. A severance tax is "fair", according to Nava, because oil companies are getting a "free ride" and that is, well, unfair. But are oil companies in California really getting a free ride as Nava suggests? Hardly. In fact, not only is this suggestion laughable, but the next thing we know Nava will suggest the Balloon Boy’s dad deserves the Nobel Prize for Science.
Bay Area Conservatives Rally
Over the last week and a half, four packed events have taken place with economic free market conservatives in the Bay Area. One can only guess if this is a "new beginning" for those who care about affordable health care, economy and jobs – or a blip on the screen.
In San Francisco, Steve Forbes, recognized that Californians helped to create this high tech age and that people have now used those tools to organize politically when they feel something is wrong.
The President & CEO of Forbes, Inc. and one-time presidential candidate, told 350 paying attendees at the Pacific Research Institute Annual Gala how normal, everyday Americans used this new media to organize tea parties and town halls. They are using the Internet to find their voice and organize themselves – not just as individuals – but as community activists who are working to preserve economic freedom.