It’s Time To Level The Playing Field & Support California’s Small Businesses
With our state struggling with one of the highest unemployment rates in
the nation, we need our elected officials to support our small
businesses. They are the backbone of our economy.
Unfortunately, right now, small businesses in our state are fighting an
unfair set of rules that give a huge advantage to out-of-state,
online-only retailers.
Here is the problem: small businesses in our state are required to
collect state sales taxes at the point of purchase. But an
out-of-state, online-only retailer that sells the same product does not
have to collect this tax – essentially giving them a competitive
advantage over California businesses that provide jobs and revenue for
important services.
Is the Referendum in California Two Centuries Old?
Next year, 2011, brings the 100th anniversary of statewide initiative, referendum and recall. And the city of Los Angeles adopted direct democracy a decade before it was adopted statewide.
But referendum may be even older than that in California -a century older.
Michael Warnken, a reader who has been engaged in the question of whether California’s legislature is of sufficient size, unearthed a passage from a 1912 history of Solano and Napa Counties that shows the referendum being used in California in the first half of the 19th century-before statehood. Here’s the passage, with one note (an ayuntamiento is a term used to refer to the council of a municipality, or sometimes the municipality itself).
Dear Legislature: Your jobs rhetoric is not creating jobs
For
the past year, we’ve heard you say again and again that your top
priority is jobs for California workers. Unfortunately, you are not
walking the talk.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, from August, 2009 to
August 2010, thirty one states created new jobs while nineteen states
lost jobs. Texas was the big winner with 134,600 new jobs.
California was the big loser with a loss of 103,900 jobs. Utah, with
a population 1/14 the size of California created 13,800 new jobs by
targeting California’s high technology employers. The long term jobs
picture for California is even gloomier.
Pre-Labor Day Snapshots Offer a Glimpse of California’s Future
Summer in California is usually quiet with no real interest in politics. This year is different – and it’s not just the summer heat that’s making people delirious. They want change – and it’s not in the form of Barak Obama.
I was part of an incredible team that helped Sam Blakeslee prevail in not just one election, but two in two months. When I started, few were aware of the Special Primary Election on June 22nd where Blakeslee nearly won the race outright in an 8 point Democrat district. Sam had help from Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina, and Governor Schwarzenegger.
In fact, nearly every notable Republican offered some form of assistance. They backed him wholeheartedly not just because he’s a Republican. Sam represents a new California – he’s an innovator and researcher with a deep understanding of budgets and how to rally people towards a common cause. His impressive record of bi-partisan legislative accomplishments gave voters confidence.