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Congressman Baron Hill: THis is MY Townhall Meeting

The summer of 2009 has beautifully demonstrated that our electeds are living in an elite bubble, well-insulated from the commoners. But the bubble has burst and they don't like it. 

The Summer of Our Discontent:  Sacramento Citizen  

The American Spectator has video of Congressman Baron Hill acting like Dean Wormer on Animal House, talking down to the little people, when asked by a student why she couldn't video the Townhall meeting. The take on this clip by Ryan Cole at the American Spectator:

http://www.sacramentocitizen.com



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Trial Lawyers, Chuck, Water, Obama, & Holder

This week's news stories from The SACRAMENTO CITIZEN Weekly
 

All of the talk about tort reform should include Washington Times Editorial: Why Democrats Won't Cross Trial Lawyers
90 percent of the American trial lawyers' $30.7 million in contributions since 1989 went to Democrats. Trial lawyers have effectively bought themselves veto power.

California Conference Committee on Water Charged with Solving States Water Woes
With only a matter of days left in the 2009 legislative year, lawmakers have formed a Legislative Conference Committee on Water. The conference committee is charged with creating a series of reforms that help reform and shape California’s antiquated water system and lead to a reliable supply of water for the state's water users.

Andrew McCarthy of National Review Online clearly explains why Eric Holder and Obama are pursuing prosecution of George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and CIA employees for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Hold on to your hats: this administration is showing it's radical roots more every day.

 
The government knows that, with any version of a public option in health care, it is impossible for them to assist the baby boomer generation the way they assist their parents' generation right now.
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Steve Poizner: Flip – Flops or Real Change?

California Insurance Commissioner and Gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner is making the media circuit right now. He’s getting peppered with questions about his evolving positions and political ideology.

 Is it ideological change or political expediency?

 Poizner is not making the political shift from Democrat to Republican; he is merely changing hard-core moderate positions to political positions more palatable to Conservatives:

 

  • Pro tax on rich
  • Moderate social, centrist Republican
  • Anti-oil drilling
  • Centrist married to a Democrat
  • Large Donations to democrat candidates and the DNC

 He’s always played down the large donations to Al Gore and the Gore/Lieberman campaign and perhaps it’s merely because he can. Most people do not have the financial resources Poizner has; consequently we cannot play both sides of the aisle – the way nearly all of the very rich do.

 Poizner has explained that his wife wanted to attend a $10,000 Gore fundraiser; the reason for the largest donation. Most men will not only bow to their wife’s wishes, but will escort their wives in public. Is this so unusual?

 Has Poizner been over handled? As evidenced by the McCain/Palin campaign, handlers often do not have the stomach for strong positions and always steer the candidate right into wishy washy, moderation.

 We see this behavior in nearly all political newbies.

 Poizner has become increasingly staunch on conservative positions as he becomes experienced, yet still is reticent to take firm positions on offshore oil drilling, abortion, and taxing.

 His record with Proposition 39 and “Taxpayers for Accountability and Better Schools” and the subsequent hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, raised taxes on millions of Californians – an attempt to solve an educational problem, but a naïve mistake.

Poizner has changed his “No offshore drilling” position to the answer to the state’s energy, economic end employment needs. What are we to make of this huge shift? And if he is so supportive of offshore drilling, what about other energy resources such as nuclear power? He claims to support nuclear power, but what will he do about it?

 With candidate Steve Poizner, there are more questions than answers at this juncture.

***********

http://www.sacramentocitizen.com/index.cfm

 

 

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Obama Supporters' "PROJECT MAYHEM"

Almost too bizarre to be taken seriously, "Project Mayhem: Destroy the G.O.P." is a forum for Obama Supporters that states their purpose as "Destroying the GOP by infiltrating & promoting republicans who support socialism."
 
 
a few choice comments from the website:
 
"We need as many falsified voting documents to win this next election and get in a huge majority of dems. ACORN should be sponsoring this important forum and training loyal Obama fans to be criminals for the master!"
 
"The GOP is officially dead. They now have no hope of EVER stopping the progressive movement now that we can pass any legislation we want!"
 
"Nothing stands in his way! He can and will do as he pleases with this
country."
 
 
 
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Education "Reform:" What's Really Needed?

Three great columns today about the state of education, at The Sacramento Citizen:
 
and the great Thomas Sowell in today's Real Clear PoliticsThomas Sowell On American Education
 
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Healthcare "Reform" Is Not About Health

Obama's "Healthcare Reform" is not about health - it's merely the vessel that holds all of the pay offs to Democrats and liberal groups that got him in office.
 
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Popping The Elites' Bubble

Political elites are an interesting breed of animal. They claim to be in the know, cerebral, think-tankers, but are proved wrong time and time again.

 

Most political elites relish their insider status. They love the perks that come with knowing the right people, attending the right events, rubbing shoulders with the right big wigs, and of course, living in the right cities. What they rarely admit is how much they like not having to rub shoulders with common people – also known as voters.
 
read the rest at The Sacramento Citizen  http://www.sacramentocitizen.com/index.cfm
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Should Sacramento Residents Have The Right To Vote on Strong Mayor?

Mayor Kevin Johnson is fighting the Sacramento City Council on when Sacramento residents will be able to vote for the Strong Mayor Proposal.

The County Registrar has confirmed that the Strong Mayor and Budget Analyst initiatives submitted to the City of Sacramento in June both have more than enough valid signatures to be placed on the ballot.
 
http://www.sacramentocitizen.com/index.cfm
 
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Letter To Obama From a Democrat

Reset Your Presidency Mr. Obama

By TED VAN DYK

Wall Street Journal

July 17, 2009

 

Time out, Mr. President.

As we approach the August congressional recess, it's clear that our economic distress is deeper than we thought, and thus your health-care and energy initiatives are in danger of stalling out. You could use a reset button for domestic policy.

Let's take it from the top.

Your presidential campaign was superb. You restored hope to millions -- including me -- who had been demoralized by the political polarization that characterized the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. You talked about reaching across party and ideological lines to get the public's business done. Your biography was appealing, and for those of us who entered politics motivated by the civil-rights struggle, your candidacy represented an important culmination.

You displayed an intellect and sense of cool that made us think you would weigh decisions carefully and view advisers' proposals with skepticism.

The first warning signals for me came with your acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. In it, you stressed domestic initiatives that clearly were nonstarters in the already shrinking economy.

I had greater concern when you staffed your administration and White House with a large number of Clinton administration retreads who had learned their trade in the never-ending-campaign culture of the Clinton years. Some appeared to represent what you had pledged to eradicate in the capital.

Many of the missteps that have followed flowed, in part, from your reliance on these Clinton holdovers. Your chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, defined your early strategy by stating that the financial and economic crises presented an "opportunity" to jam through unrelated legislation. To many of us, the remark was cynical and wrong-headed. The crises did not represent an opportunity. They presented an obligation to do one thing: Return our financial system and our economy to good health.

Since January, your advisers have compared your situation to those of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson after their landslide victories in 1932 and 1964. In fact, your situation is quite different. Most centrally, FDR's and LBJ's victories and congressional majorities were far larger than yours. Thus their mandates were stronger.

FDR's first months in office were devoted entirely to financial and economic recovery. His big domestic initiative, Social Security, was not enacted until 1935. LBJ pushed an ambitious Great Society agenda into law in 1965. But the U.S. economy was growing robustly in 1965. Johnson referred to it as "an endless cornucopia" which would generate tax revenues to pay for the Great Society. When he learned in mid-1967 that the projected federal budget deficit was $28 billion -- almost twice the amount projected six months earlier -- he went to Congress to push for tax increases in order to prevent Vietnam War and Great Society spending from creating unacceptable deficits.

Your staff recently has compared your strategy in pushing health-care and energy initiatives to the way Johnson pushed his Great Society legislation. That's not a fair comparison. Johnson's initiatives were framed in the White House by his administration. But at every stage, congressional leaders of both political parties and financial, business, labor and other private-sector leaders were consulted. Johnson wanted to assure that his legislation was substantively sound and could get consensus support in the Congress and the country.

Your strategy, by contrast, has been to advocate forcefully for health-care and energy reform but to leave the details to Democratic congressional committee chairs. You did the same thing with your initial $787 billion stimulus package. Now, you're stuck with a plan that provides little stimulus until 2010. A president should never cede control of his main agenda to others.

This tactic has already had negative consequences. Frightened by the prospective costs of your health-care and energy plans -- not to mention the bailouts of the financial and auto industries -- independent voters who supported you in 2008 are falling away. FDR and LBJ, only two years after their 1932 and 1964 victories, saw their parties lose congressional seats even though their personal popularity remained stable. The party out of power traditionally gains seats in off-year elections, and 2010 is unlikely to be an exception.

What adjustments should be made?

- Cut back both your proposals and expectations. You made promises about jobs that would be "created and saved" by the stimulus package. Those promises have not held up. You continue to engage in hyperbole by claiming that your health-care and energy plans will save tax dollars. Congressional Budget Office analysis indicates otherwise.

It's time to re-examine these initiatives. Could your health plan be scaled back to catastrophic coverage for all -- badly needed by most families, but quite affordable if deductibles are set at the right levels? Should the Rube Goldbergian cap-and-trade proposals be replaced with a simple carbon tax, with proceeds to be allocated to alternative-fuels development?

The evolving health and cap-and-trade bills are loaded with costly provisions designed to gain support from congressional leaders and special-interest constituencies. In short, they have become an expensive mess. This legislation will not clear Congress by the August recess, as you have requested, and could be stalled for the remainder of 2009. Settle for incremental change: Do not press Democratic legislators to vote for something they fear will destroy them in 2010.

- Talk less and pick your spots. You are outdoing even Johnson and Mr. Clinton with your daily speeches in the capital and around the country.

Applause and adulation are gratifying. But the more you talk, the less weight your words will hold. Let voters see you at your desk, conferring with serious people about serious matters. When you do choose to talk, people will understand that it's important and they should listen.

-Conform your 2009 politics to your 2008 statements. During your campaign, you called for bipartisanship and bridge-building. You promised to reduce the influence of single-issue and single-interest groups in the policy process. Yet, in your public statements, you keep using President Bush as a scapegoat.

You have ceded content of your principal proposals to Democratic congressional leaders who in large part have yielded to special-interest constituencies and excluded Republican leaders from policy formulation. This certainly was the case with the stimulus plan. It has been the case with health and energy legislation, with the notable exception of Sen. Max Baucus's attempt in the Senate Finance Committee to develop genuinely bipartisan legislation.

You have an enormous reservoir of goodwill among Americans of all persuasions. They want you to succeed. Level with them and trim your proposals to what is practical in the current environment.

You had things right in 2008. Take a timeout. Get back to yourself. Make a fresh start.

 

Mr. Van Dyk was Vice President Hubert Humphrey's assistant in the Johnson White House and active in national Democratic politics over 40 years. He is the author of "Heroes, Hacks and Fools," (University of Washington Press, 2008)

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The Skinny on Obama's Surgeon General Nominee

President Obama’s Surgeon General nominee Regina Benjamin, is fat. I may sound insensitive or unnecessarily harsh however, Dr. Benjamin has just been nominated as America’s top doctor. As such, she is not only a role model, the specific job of the surgeon general is to make health care policy decisions for the entire country. With obesity being called "epidemic" in America, wouldn’t it make sense to select for the highly visible top-doc job somebody who has bested this problem, rather than failed at diet and exercise?

Calling her “plus-sized,” or “big boned,” or “full-figured” is mere deflection of the fact that overweight individuals – even brilliant doctors – are fat, and probably unhealthy , or at least not as healthy as leaner individuals who work at being leaner. Even if, as some claim, that she might be "metabolically healthy", her heart is overly taxed, her joints are overburdened, and she is at risk for type 2 Diabetes, Coronary disease, and even cancer.

Many people have overcome overweight issues, and almost always, through hard work and personal discipline. Daily cardio exercise and a very healthy diet are the only way to take the weight off and keep it off. Anyone who tells you otherwise, is full of beans (and chips, sodas and fries)  and is not being sincere.

Fat, and diet and exercise are directly related. The diets of most overweight individuals, is too high in fat and protein, and too low in vegetables, fruit and grains. One cannot live on Whoppers and large fries alone.  In fact, one should not even eat one Whopper and fries in a week. A Rule of Thumb: Eating anything at a drive-through is probably not healthy.

Some people may have a physical propensity and structure for being overweight, just as others are naturally too thin. But being at your healthy weight, is what I am addressing – not Hollywood’s idea of fit, or the seemingly acceptable standard of overweight.

Dr. Regina Benjamin appears to be a qualified and compassionate physician. But in a country where obesity now stands at 30% of the population, it would appear that Dr. Benjamin condones it by also being overweight.

And that is the biggest problem: with the dramatic increase of obesity and overweight in America, these same people are excusing it away and treating their fat as normal. The lack of personal discipline is staggering. Only one decade ago, fat was not accepted the way it is today. Perhaps it's the increased number of overweight people that appears to make it acceptable, but it seems more than that. Grossly overweight women wear the same fashions that lean women wear. There seems to be no shame in being grossly overweight. And I am talking about grossly overweight - not someone sporting a few extra pounds or people who have larger frames.

At restaurants, it is shocking to see what people consume. Many people claim to have a fear of being hungry. Stand in line at any retail store, and watch shoppers grab bags of chips and sodas, for their wait to check out. Unless someone has truly been starved, the "fear of being hungry" is more of a case of a fear of having to deny oneself whatever they want to eat.

Yet, it is perfectly healthy to be hungry. Hunger tells us when we are supposed to eat. Eating all day is standard for most overweight people - and they are not eating celery and carrots all day.

With the new Surgeon General as large as Oprah at an estimated size 18, this will not help solve the obesity problem in America – it will hurt it. How can an overweight doctor deal with obesity with credibility? It would be as incredible as your doctor telling you to quit smoking as he lights up a cigarette in the exam room. 

Perhaps if Dr. Benjamin loses weight, she can set an example for the millions of grossly overweight and unhealthy people in this country. But until that happens, Dr. Benjamin will only serve as another poster child for the acceptance of being fat and unhealthy in America.

**********

Katy Grimes, has had four back surgeries, and worked her tushie off after each one to lose the surgery weight, through a healthy diet and exercise.

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California's Miserable Climate

Most California residents know that we are fortunate to have nearly perfect atmospheric conditions in our beautiful state… but our weather is the only good climate to speak of.

The business climate is miserable and nearly unworkable. 

 

According to the latest Federal data, there are 3,320,977 small businesses in California. It’s not enough any more to have a unique idea or recognize an unmet need to start a small business. Coming up with enough capital is always a challenge, but possible for the determined. However, in Sacramento the challenges just keep getting lobbed.

 

If I want to start my own small manufacturing company in Sacramento, I must first deal with a staggering the twenty-one agencies for permits, licenses and regulatory controls:

 

  • City of Sacramento City Finance, Revenue Department
  • City of Sacramento Fire Department: Fire Prevention Inspection
  • City of Sacramento Planning Department Land Use Permit/Zoning Clearance
  • City and County Police Department Police Regulations/Public Safety Issues
  • County Assessor Business Property Statement office
  • County of Sacramento Treasurer Tax Collector's Office
  • County of Sacramento Environmental Health Department Hazardous Materials/Waste
  • Sacramento Metropolitian Air Quality Management District
  • California Department of Industrial Relations Air Tanks Permit
  • California Secretary of State Corporation, Company or Partnership Filings
  • California Department of Fair Employment and Housing
  • California Department of Toxic Substances Control Hazardous Waste Facility (two different permits)
  • Cal Environmental Protection Agency Industrial Activities Storm Water General Permit
  • California Department of Industrial Relations: (OSHA)
  • California Employment Development Department (EDD)
  • Franchise Tax Board
  • US Department of Treasury Internal Revenue Services
  • Department of Industrial Relations (Workers' Compensation)
  • US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)

 

It is not enough that a small business owner must apply to and work with each of these agencies before starting a business; surprise inspections and unannounced visits regularly occur. Any business owner can enumerate from memory, the audits and inspections they are subjected to: Annual inspections by the Fire Department and/or Fire Marshall, OSHA, safety and liability inspections by Insurance carriers, EPA and Cal-EPA toxic substances inspections, and Sacramento Air Quality Management District for emissions tests, to name just a few. There are surprise spot checks for permits and licenses by the city, county and state, even if there are current permits and licenses in place, as well as highly disruptive unannounced inspections.

 

One manufacturing owner shared that recently he has been subjected to increased permitting, licensing mandates, pop inspections, and required to obtain additional insurance coverage (terrorism insurance?). The Fire Marshall recently decided that the annual inspections by the Fire Department are not enough, and has conducted several surprise inspections, consequently announcing that he needs to purchase additional permits for paper storage and propane tank usage, replace existing EXIT signs with larger EXIT signs, change the open/close direction of interior doors, stop using extension cords, and the like. The redundancy of their request with Sacramento County and State licensing and permitting is of no concern as long as fees are associated; it is as if orders are coming from the top down in all city agencies to step-up permitting, fines and fees collection. This is mafia-style extortion for hapless business owners to operate in certain areas of certain counties and cities – such as Sacramento.

 

Another business owner told me that during a recent unannounced insurance inspection to his business, the Insurance company Risk Assessment Manager “recommended” the company move large rolls of paper away from the printing presses, and to take sales reps off the road if they have any moving violations or spotty driving records. City of Sacramento Parking Enforcement department keeps ticketing his trucks… parked on his property.

 

This is all in addition to all of the annual audits conducted by the IRS, the Franchise Tax Board, the bank, State sales tax audits, Worker’s Compensation insurance audits, payroll audits, and EDD audits, all totaling hundreds of hours of employee time.

 

The business climate in California is treacherous and unfriendly. The City of Sacramento is no better and is bullying more and more business owners with no concern whatsoever for the cumulative impact of their demands. Existing businesses are struggling to keep their heads above water in an ever-increasing regulatory nightmare, not to mention a particularly hostile economy. Given this miserable climate, who would want to start a business in California, and equally important, who wants to continue doing business in this city and state?

 

Katy Grimes is a long-time political activist, writer and columnist.

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USNA I-Day Swearing In

Two years ago, we delivered our son to the Naval Academy. It was "I-Day," or "Induction Day." He left him at the door a 17-year old, confident high school graduate, and saw him 8 hours later, in uniform, after he endured his first day of the Naval Academy. Eyes twitching, teeth grinding, he was determined to make it without letting anyone see him sweat.
 
Eight weeks later, we traveled back to see him after a grueling "Plebe Summer," the USNA bootcamp. He stood taller than I remembered, humbled yet proud, leaner, tougher and ready to tackle his Plebe year. Today he has completed two years of the academy.
 
Now, you can watch the swearing in of the Plebes of class 2013.
 

NAVAL ACADEMY ANNOUNCES LIVE STREAMING VIDEO COVERAGE OF THE CLASS OF 2013 OATH OF OFFICE CEREMONY

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Naval Academy website will host live, online streaming video of the Class of 2013 Oath of Office Ceremony Wednesday, July 1 beginning at 6 p.m. from Tecumseh Court on the Academy’s campus. The video broadcast can be viewed from www.usna.edu.

Approximately 1,230 young men and women will take the Oath of Office as the culmination of the Academy’s Induction day when they begin their new lives as “plebes” or midshipmen fourth class (freshmen).

“I-Day” marks the first day of Plebe Summer, which prepares these carefully selected civilians and prior enlisted military service members for the challenges of midshipman life at the Academy. “I-Day” begins when the incoming plebes are issued uniforms, given medical examinations, complete registration, have their hair cut and learn to salute. After taking the Oath of Office that evening, the plebes will say goodbye to their family and friends, and commence the six weeks of Plebe Summer training.

For more information about I-Day, visit http://www.usna.edu/PAO/Idayvpk09/. For more information about the Naval Academy, visit www.usna.edu.

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ADA: Legal Shakedown

The Americans With Disabilities Act was created for the purpose of protecting disabled employees and job seekers from unscrupulous employers who might otherwise discriminate against them because of their disability. Bottom line - protecting people from being discriminated against based on disability.
 
But this is another of the American lasw that unscrupulous lawyers and larcenous citizens have gotten a hold of, and is not about protecting people from being discriminated against in an employment environment; it is now being used as a legal shakedown tool against small businesses.
 
In today's Sacramento Bee, it is reported that a "disabled" woman is suing the Squeeze Inn, a tiny burger joint on Fruitridge Road. The Bee reports: "In the lawsuit, Kimberly Block is described as a person with disability with severely limited in the use of her legs. The suit alleges that Block, who could not be reached for comment, is being discriminated against because of her disability in violation of California law and the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990."
 
The Squeeze Inn is a tiny business - as well as a tiny building; only 450 square feet, with 12 bar stools. No one just happens to stop by The Squeeze Inn; only those who have heard about the best burgers and fries from friends who have been there, chance a visit on sketchy Fruitridge Road.
 
The days of accepting one's limitations are long gone. However, that's only for those "protected categories."
 
Discrimination may include, among other things, limiting or classifying a job applicant or employee in an adverse way, denying employment opportunities to people who truly qualify, or not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of disabled employees, not advancing employees with disabilities in the business, and/or not providing needed accommodations in training.

The ADA defines a covered disability as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity." The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was charged with interpreting the 1990 law with regard to discrimination in employment. Its regulations narrowed "substantially limits" to "significantly or severely restricts".

In 2008, effective January 1, 2009, the ADAAA broadened the interpretations and added to the ADA examples of "major life activities" including, but not limited to, "caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working" as well as the operation of several specified "major bodily functions".
 
Just about anyone who has been offended at any place of business, can trump up discrimination charges, either by using the ADA of some other definition of discrimination.
 
What is most disturbing about this is that the Squeeze Inn will bring your food out to your car if you call in advance and place your order. Obviously, this leaves one to assume that the woman filing the lawsuit is a professional ADA scammer who is either in it for the money, or is just a miserable, victim of a human being bent on making everyone else suffer for her "disability."
 
Most of us know someone who has a disability. However, the people I know and have known who could be called "disabled," did not want any special treatment, and had more of a zest for life than their non-disabled friends.  
 
When my neighborhood Veterinarian was sued in a similar shakedown ADA lawsuit by a stranger (not a client), I knew that  it would only get worse as a money-making enterprise.
 
Scumbag attorneys and scumbag clients will always find a way to make tainted money, but they are dragging down small businesses with them.
 
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Firefighters Are Behaving Like Hoodlums, Not Heroes

Police Officers, Fire Fighters and members of the Military are often called brave and valiant Heroes. And they should be; much of what they do is dangerous and requires a degree of courage, selflessness and valor.

They are also, public (government) employees.

Police are at-risk every moment of every day they are on-the-job; from the cop on the beat to the patrol officer, every person they speak to, every car they pull over is a potential risk to their life. They serve voluntarily and selflessly, putting themselves in harms way every day.

Military personnel who serve in war-torn countries serve voluntarily and selflessly, and often give their lives in the course of defending democracy.  Stateside military personnel tirelessly train in preparation for the day they will be sent into battle.

Fire fighters are faced with treacherous work conditions when fighting fire. Of particular note are the California Department of Forestry (CDF) - fire fighters, who work tirelessly trying to prevent wild fires in our summertime parched state.

Missing from the discussion of selfless, tireless public safety workers, is the union representing the City of Sacramento Fire Department who of late, have been behaving more like hoodlums, than heroes.

Months ago when the City first started talking about the need for sizeable budget cuts due to a record budget deficit, the Sacramento Police Officers Association union (SPOA) almost immediately stepped up and agreed to make their $6.4 million budget work – cuts, salary freezes and all. The Fire Fighters union, Local 522 (an AFL-CIO union), instead turned on the machismo, did a few chest bumps, and began a months-long public tantrum played out dramatically in the media, by refusing to live with and manage their $5 million budget.

Remember the City of Vallejo’s recent Bankruptcy? It was their Fire Department that forced the city into the financial dire straights that led to insolvency, due to record and unsustainable salaries, benefits and pensions. This is a common theme in the state of California, and a severe lesson the City of Sacramento seems unwilling to experience.

The Sacramento Police Department and the SPOA actively educated members in order to get input and involvement on the inevitable budget problems the city was facing. Already down by 104 sworn staff officers since 2007, the Sacramento Police Department decided they could not afford any more police officer cuts. SPOA agreed across the board to accept the City’s budget, freeze salaries as of the last budget, and take cuts where deemed necessary in order to save jobs.

Contrast this with Local 522, the Fire Department union, and even city employee union Local 39: both unions propose sacrificing only lower paid workers, while insisting on raises for the older, more highly-paid workers. Many Sacramento residents are critical of firefighters for being hypocritical for claiming union “solidarity” with their firefighting “brothers” while rejecting a deal that will lead to the City laying off 50 of their “brothers.” Fire Fighters are behaving like thuggish teamsters, forgetting that they are city employees, and serve voluntarily.

Additionally, Fire Fighters have come under intense scrutiny for excessively high overtime abuse and ongoing abuse with sick-leave usage. With city fire fighters largely on-call while on duty, their antics are becoming intolerable.

What happened to the days when fire fighters called to a medical emergency showed up as a first-responder, in a two-person team driving a light-duty truck? The fire fighters’ demand for 4-man teams on every truck for every call, is unrealistic and absurd, and demonstrative of their refusal to prioritize staffing levels based on the nature of the emergency calls. Current staffing levels and call response tactics are purely to justify their pay, pensions and big budget.

This from the same local fire fighters union who recently threatened that they were considering sponsoring a ballot initiative that would seek to ban the City Council from ever reducing firefighters’ pension benefits without a vote of the public. 

This is all behavior inherent to Chicago-style unions, not most individual fire fighters. However, the fire fighters who consider themselves union members first and only secondarily fire fighters, made their voices clear at recent city council meetings.

When was the last time police or military personnel threatened using thuggish teamster tactics because they weren’t getting guaranteed pay and pension increases? Military and police personnel respect integrity and distinguished public service.

 Fire Fighters, police and military personnel choose their career paths voluntarily. Society honors those who choose careers that require courage and valor in the face of danger. But when Sacramento City Fire Fighters threaten tyranny while already receiving abundant wages, rich benefits and inordinately large pensions, while most of the rest of the city’s employers are laying off employees and cutting wages and salaries, we know that the union running the show has reached beyond usefulness and is moving into foolishness. Thus is the inherent problem with labor unions representing public employees.

Public employees work for the citizenry, but appear to work for the supremacy of the city, county or state. The law and the government are intended to serve American freedom and self-determinism — not the other way around. 

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California Republican Headlines

Highlights of Senate Republican Policies in the news June 20 - 26, 2009
 
http://cssrc.us/

Senator Sam Aanestad 
State Budget Surgery Fails California Chronicle
 
Senator Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley) and other Senate Republicans stood up for California taxpayers, by rejecting a budget proposal loaded with more than $2 billion in tax hikes. Senator Aanestad says he will not support any budget plan that places yet another burden on state taxpayers, and demanded that the Majority Party listen to the message that was delivered last month during the special election.
 
"Every single county in California rejected, by a near 2-1 margin, the proposed tax hikes that were spelled out in Proposition 1A," said Senator Aanestad. "Voters delivered a very strong and clear message on that day: no new taxes. I’m flabbergasted that some people in this building still don’t understand that message."
 
North state TANC opposition swells Redding Searchlight
 
Rapidly swelling opposition to a proposed 600-mile high-voltage transmission line through Northern California has grabbed the attention of top north state legislators.
 
Both state Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, and Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, say they have serious concerns about the $1.5 billion power line. The planned transmission towers, wires and substations could severely disrupt lives in the north state for the sake of delivering power to distant urban dwellers, they said.
 
Election officials say it's payback time Appeal Democrat
 
More than a month after voters statewide cast ballots in a special election that generated little enthusiasm, local elections officers are still waiting on the state to pay the bill.
 
The May 19 special election, in which voters rejected five of six measures touted as reform for the state's budget, was paid for by local governments with the understanding they'd be paid back.
 
 
Senator Roy Ashburn
Oil Production Tax Would Cost Us In The End - Bakersfield Californian
The latest tax craze at the state Capitol, pushed by Democrats, is an oil severance tax. This is a tax that would be imposed on every barrel of oil that comes out of the ground. This increase in the cost to produce a barrel of oil will be passed on to the consumers with higher prices at the pump. With that comes a new blow to the economy as consumers and companies are forced to spend more on energy and less on buying or developing goods and services. This is hardly the time for a new tax on gasoline.
 
Senator John Benoit
 Proposed legislation authorizes the DMV to suspend drivers' licenses for conviction of boating-under-the-influence Temecula Valley News
 
A Riverside County lawmaker's proposed legislation to authorize the Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend a person's driver's license for a conviction of boating-under-the-influence appears headed for passage.
 
On Wednesday, the Assembly's Public Safety Committee approved SB 154 in a 7-0 vote.
 
The bill, authored by Sen. John J. Benoit, R-Bermuda Dunes, is now under consideration by the Assembly's Appropriations Committee, one of the last hurdles before the full Assembly votes on the measure, which was approved by the state Senate in May.
 
The bill would reinstate the DMV's authority to revoke a person's driving privileges when the individual has been convicted of operating a boat while intoxicated and had a similar conviction, or a DUI conviction, in the last seven years. From the mid-1990s to mid-2008, the DMV used a vehicle code provision to suspend motorists' licenses when they were convicted of boating under the influence, according to Benoit's office.
 
Jail payments boost welcome San Bernardino Sun
 
San Bernardino County spends more than $20 million annually to jail illegal immigrants arrested for committing crimes in the county. The county received just $2.3 million last year to help cover the costs, and less than $1 million the year before that, as Supervisor Paul Biane noted on this page last month.
 
Back in March, we endorsed state Sen. John Benoit's bill that would require the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to bill the feds annually for the full cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants. If the feds don't pay - and they wouldn't - the state's attorney general would have to pursue every legal recourse to get the feds to either provide compensation based on the state's average incarceration cost to take custody of the inmates.
 
 
Senator Dave Cogdill
 
Cogdill requests pay cut - Fresno Business Journal
 
Senator Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto) has sent a letter to the state controller requesting a 5-percent decrease in his salary effective July 1.
 
In his June 22 letter to John Chiang, California controller, Cogdill wrote:
 
“I share your concern for immediate action from the Legislature to enact a comprehensive budget solution.  Please know that I am committed to achieving a responsible budget that will help our state move forward. I know this will be a challenge, but the consequences of inaction will only cause the difficult decisions before us to become even more painful.”
  
It's time to take inventory - Long-Beach Press Telegram
 
As the state scrambles for dollars, the governor and other politicians are tossing out some attention-grabbing ideas, such as selling San Quentin prison or the Los Angeles Coliseum. Those are interesting possibilities, but since these facilities are currently in use, selling them isn't a quick - or necessarily practical - solution.
 
A more thoughtful, long-term approach is being promoted by Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto. He got the blessing from Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg to lead a committee that will inventory surplus state property and propose streamlined ways to sell it.
 
 
Senator Jeff Denham
 Loose Lips: Airing air board grievances Merced SunStar
 
The air-board paratroopers trying to drive Supervisor Mike Nelson from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District board should've consulted Lips before launching their blitzkrieg.
 
Rather than this public-relations campaign that's only going to have Nelson bunkering down to hold his position, the group should've found a replacement and offered Nelson a six-pack to quietly give up his seat.
 
California lawmakers fail on first try to close deficit Salinas Californian
 
A Democratic plan to begin closing California's $24 billion budget deficit failed Wednesday, as legislative leaders said they will have lawmakers work through the weekend in an attempt to avoid a cash crisis by next week, the start of the new fiscal year.
 
Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, complained that he had received budget documents just an hour before Wednesday's vote.
 
"Parts of this I can support; parts of it I can't," Denham said.
 
"There are a number of cuts that I've never voted for in my career up here, but right now we are in the toughest situation. Hopefully today sets the stage for Republicans and Democrats working together.''
 
 
Senator Bob Dutton
 Senator Dutton Calls Partial Budget Fix No Fix at All - Inland Empire News
 
“I met with the Governor this morning and he made it clear that he will not accept a piecemeal approach to solving the $24 billion deficit,” Senator Dutton said. “He also made it clear today and has been clear for some time that the Legislature must solve the entire deficit without tax increases.
 
No more tax increases. Period. Highland Community News
 
I thought that surely the Democrat controlled 10-member committee would have heard the message voters sent during the special election on May 19 and resolve to close the current gap through spending reductions.
 
Unfortunately, my hope faded quickly as it became apparent that the Democrats aren’t willing to stop spending money this state doesn’t have.
 
Governor Schwarzenegger outlined a plan in May that would close the state’s $24 billion spending gap. While the choices were difficult, I support the necessary spending reductions that solve the problem.
 
Senator Dennis Hollingsworth 
Republicans reject Democrats' central plan to close state deficit - Southern CA Public Radio
 
The Democrats’ plan to cut $11 billion from state programs was only a partial solution to California’s 19-and-a-half-billion dollar deficit. Senate minority leader Dennis Hollingsworth said that’s why his party opposed it.
 
Democratic plan to fix budget headed for defeat - San Francisco Chronicle
 
State lawmakers failed Wednesday in their first attempt to solve the state's $24.3 billion deficit when a key budget bill proposed by Democrats failed to win the two-thirds majority needed to pass.
 
Moments before the Legislature voted, state Controller John Chiang warned that, without quick action by lawmakers to close the budget gap, he would begin issuing IOUs next week to local governments, private contractors, state vendors and to taxpayers awaiting tax refunds.
 
for all of these stories, visit the California State Republican Caucas  http://cssrc.us/
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