California

Anti-Americanism - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions

Do You Really Know Who is Teaching Your Child?

June 8, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Hookers plying their trade while government turns a blind eye.

Consequences for sexual perverts? No, the state doesn’t seem to care.

Whistle blower fired for exposing massive corruption.

Rampant nepotism in government jobs.

Private bureaucratic empire using public funds.

The above could probably pass as blurbs for a sequel to the movie Chinatown. But while Chinatown was a fictitious movie sprung from the fertile imagination of Robert Towne, the above statements apply to an agency in the executive branch of California state government called the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC).

This entity whose mission is to “ensure integrity and high quality in the preparation, conduct and professional growth of the educators who serve California’s public schools” is in fact a corrupt, callous and self-serving club that cares nothing at all about your kids.

What is turning into a major scandal first came to light with little fanfare from the press in early April when California State Auditor Elaine Howle released a report that blew the lid off what she referred to as “one of the ‘worst state run’ agencies in CA.’”

Here are the “highlights from the auditor’s report:
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Do You Really Know Who is Teaching Your Child?”

Budget - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - Ethics - Gay Marriage - Gays - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Nanny State - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

CTA, Transgender Clownfish and Our Children

June 1, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

The very creepy sexualization of young children, a part of the teachers unions’ progressive agenda, goes on unabated.

In the past few years, teachers unions in the United States have gotten into the perverse business of sexualizing children. I first wrote about this phenomenon several years ago. In 2004, the National Education Association gave its prestigious Human Rights Award to Kevin Jennings, the founder of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and the man who eventually became President Obama’s school safety czar. GLSEN is the group that presided over the infamous “Fistgate” conference held at Tufts University in Massachusetts in March 2000, where state employees gave explicit instructions about “fisting” and other forms of gay sexual activity to children as young as 12. The conference was secretly recorded and can be heard here. (Warning: The contents are extraordinarily vile.)

Then this past March, I dug up a story about an NEA “trainer of trainers” who at a U.N. conference claimed that oral sex, masturbation, and orgasms should to be “taught in education” to children as young as 11.
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CTA, Transgender Clownfish and Our Children”

Anti-Americanism - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Tea Party - Teachers Unions - Unions

The Tea Party and the Teachers Unions

May 26, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Teachers unions wield great power in determining school board races, but with state legislation and Tea Party activism, their power is being diminished.

As I write this, a school board election held in Los Angeles on May 17th is too close to call. Even with the backing of Mayor Villaraigosa, Luis Sanchez is still lagging union-supported frontrunner Bennett Kayser by a few hundred votes.

Whoever prevails, there is a much bigger story – less than 8% of eligible voters voted in this election. And even worse than that, 8% is nothing out of the ordinary. The size of the district doesn’t seem to matter; people just don’t seem to be interested in voting in school board elections.

To be sure, part of the low voter problem is that these elections are held in the spring when there is nothing else on the ballot. The groups that have to gain the most by a small turnout are the special interests that are the most organized. Terry Moe, in his excellent new book Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America’s Public Schools, leaves no doubt that the teachers unions are by far the most dominant of these groups. The unions, even if they don’t outspend their opponents, have a great advantage because of their organizational mechanism and a large group of ready voters (teachers and other school workers) who reliably turn out to vote for the union-endorsed candidates.
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The Tea Party and the Teachers Unions”

Family - John Kennedy - Marriage - Warner Todd Huston

Maria Shriver Leaves Ahnold… What Kind of Kennedy IS She Anyway?

May 18, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Everyone’s jaws are jamming about the fact that ten years ago Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a child out of wedlock with some hussey or another. The follow up shocker is that his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver — a member of the Kennedy clan — has left him. It all makes me wonder what is wrong with Maria Shriver? What sort of Kennedy IS she, anyway.

I was recently on Political Vindication Radio and we came to several conclusions about this whole Shriver woman business.

Maria Shriver simply can’t be a Kennedy. I am convinced she was adopted or something.
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Maria Shriver Leaves Ahnold… What Kind of Kennedy IS She Anyway?”

Budget - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

Teachers Unions Keep Fiddling While Public Education Burns

May 18, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

There are too many tenured incompetents and criminals who are teaching our children. The unions’ “reforms” will do little, if anything, to get these undesirables out of our nation’s classrooms.

As we all know, Navy SEALs recently killed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Unfortunately, it seems that it was easier to flesh out and kill American Public Enemy #1 in a hostile foreign country than to get rid of an incompetent or criminal teacher in the U.S. Too bad for OBL that he wasn’t a member of the National Education Association. He’d still be a working terrorist going through what unionistas laughably refer to “due process.” Actually, as teacher and blogger Darren Miller has pointed out, what was once “due” has become “undue process.”

James Smith, Executive Director of School Security for Paterson, NJ, and Michigan’s Education Action Group have prepared a flow chart, which shows that it takes two to five years to get rid of a criminal or poorly performing tenured teacher in New Jersey. This is not peculiar to the Garden State. Most states have to go through a similar circuitous and arcane maze get rid of teachers who should not be allowed near children, let alone responsible for them.
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Teachers Unions Keep Fiddling While Public Education Burns”

Budget - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Los Angeles - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

CTA Desperation Days in Progress

May 15, 2011 by 1 Comment

-By Larry Sand

Cindy Sheehan, Code Pink and a band of fringe groups have joined the California Teachers Association protest in Sacramento

We are now in the midst of California Teachers Association’s desperation week or as they are calling it “state of emergency.” At the crux of the issue is that Governor Jerry Brown will unveil his revised budget on May 16, and deep cuts to the K-12 education budget could mean widespread teacher layoffs as early as next month. Californians are getting heavy doses of union demagoguery this week, as Brown works to forge a deal with Republicans who oppose any tax hikes.

As I wrote recently, there are many other ways to solve educational budgetary problems without raising taxes. However, none of my proposed solutions are acceptable to CTA because the union insists on maintaining the status quo lest its power be threatened in any way.

As CTA was making final plans for their week long protest, someone crashed their party — none other than Cindy I-am-sorry-but-if-you-believe-the-newest-death-of-OBL-you’re-stupid Sheehan decided to cash in on CTA’s event, figuring she could tag on to a group of sympathetic fellow travelers. (Ms. Sheehan, lest you forget, is a peace activist best known for her for obsessive hatred of George Bush, who set up camp near the former president’s Texas home to protest our involvement in the Iraq War.) Then, the radical Code Pink group and a few other fringe groups joined Ms. Sheehan.
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CTA Desperation Days in Progress”

California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions

Teachers Unions Continue Their Assault on School Choice

May 8, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

CTA and CFT sponsor legislation that imperils charter schools in California.

On April 27, Rasmussen Reports released the results of a poll which addresses American voters’ sentiments about our public schools. Some of the more interesting findings are:

  • 72% say taxpayers are not getting their money’s worth from our schools, while only 11% think we are.
  • By a margin of 41-34 (25% were unsure), those polled said that spending more money on education will not improve student performance.
  • 61% said that public education had become worse over the last ten years.

Given the citizenry’s increasing disaffection with our traditional public schools, charter schools would appear to be a good alternative. Charter schools are public schools which are allowed to operate outside the boundaries of costly multilayered district bureaucracies and piles of restrictive union mandated rules and regulations.
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Teachers Unions Continue Their Assault on School Choice”

Budget - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

The Intersection of U Street and Main Street Does Not Exist

May 5, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

The teachers unions’ radical agenda alienates them from the American mainstream

As I mentioned in last week’s post, during the week of May 9th, the California Teachers Association and many local unions, like the United Teachers of Los Angeles, will be taking to the streets in an attempt to convince legislators and citizens that cuts to education will not be tolerated by the unions. In other times this would be a winning strategy, but as shown by recent polls, the teachers unions are not the darlings of the public that they used to be.

While unionistas all over the country lament this loss of favor, they only need to look in their collective mirrors to understand why. They have managed to alienate too many Americans who previously had held them in a better light. The unions’ insistence on things like tenure and seniority privileges, which serve to protect only the bad apples, has begun to grate on the public. Additionally, the fact that they are tolerant of, and give outright support to extremist political causes is another reason the public is turning against them.

An example of the unions turn toward extremist politics took place last year in Los Angeles. Santee High School teacher and UTLA union rep Jose Lara took his students to Arizona on a “field trip” to protest Arizona’s new immigration law. In a YouTube video, Lara is seen standing in front of a wall-to-wall mural featuring a who’s who of murderous revolutionaries, including Ho Chi Minh, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, while proudly displaying the motto Patria o Muerte, Venceremos!!! (Fatherland or Death, We Shall Overcome!!!). UTLA, while not a sponsor of the Memorial Day weekend trip, had no comment on Mr. Lara’s attempt to turn his students into an army of radical activists.
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The Intersection of U Street and Main Street Does Not Exist”

Budget - California - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

CTA Days of Desperation Coming to Your Town

April 26, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Fearful of taking a financial hit, California Teachers Association will be taking to the streets and declaring a “state of emergency.” But I have some questions for them when the demagoguery begins.

With California in a world of fiscal trouble and many people sick and tired of the unrealistic perks and benefits gained by collective bargaining, the California Teachers Association figured they had to take action. Their first idea was to go on a rampage the week of May 9.
The original plan included such disruptive strategies as…
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CTA Days of Desperation Coming to Your Town”

Budget - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

When the Anti-Bulliers Become the Bullies

April 18, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

California Teachers Association backs SB 48 – radical legislation that will reinterpret history, hurt children and cost the taxpayers money

As one who tries to keep up with the latest teacher union doings, a trip to the California Teachers Association legislative page is always illuminating. Recently, I found that the powerful teachers union testified in favor of SB 48, a bill introduced by California State Senator Mark Leno. If passed, this bill would alter the way history is taught, could psychologically damage young children while delivering a blow to the taxpayers of California.

The California Education Code as it is now written says, “Existing law requires instruction in social sciences to include a study of the role and contributions of both men and women to the development of California and the United States.” However, according to the legislative counsel, SB 48 would “require instruction (emphasis mine) in social sciences to also include a study of the role and contributions of Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans, persons with disabilities, and other ethnic and cultural groups, to the development of California and the United States.”
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When the Anti-Bulliers Become the Bullies”

Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - Illinois - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Calif. Teachers Show Support For Cop Murderer

April 12, 2011 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

What the hell the un-American, murder-loving “teachers” in California should care about a cop-killing scumbag in Philadelphia is anyone’s guess.

Convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal is finding some support in an unusual place – at the California Federation of Teachers Convention.

Last month, delegates there passed a resolution to reaffirm their support for Mumia.

Of course, the former member of the Black Panthers who was found guilty of murdering Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner around 13th and Locust streets back in 1981.

He has been sentenced to death. His supporters argue that his trial was unfair and that he is actually a Civil Rights hero.

This murderous piece of garbage put a gun to a policeman’s head and pulled the trigger coldly and with calculation and in front of multiple witnesses.

Mumia should not be drawing breath. He should be executed and with extreme malice at that.

Yet we have these so-called teachers all the way in California coming to his support decades after his guilt has been established. And they are calling Mumia a “journalist,” worse yet.

Unions are inherently un-American.
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Calif. Teachers Show Support For Cop Murderer”

Budget - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - NEA - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

NEA: We Are One. We Are Everywhere. We are at War!

April 5, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

National Education Association declares war, but finding allies could be difficult

It’s hardly a secret that the National Education Association is an organization that has had its political way for the past 35 or so years. However, voters are fed up with the union’s attempts to keep a failing public education system from being reformed and having massive debt foisted on them in the form of public employee pensions. In November, the populace voted flinty governors and no-nonsense legislators into state houses all over the country.

Clearly NEA, to maintain its hegemony, must now combat the reform fires that are spreading wildly from sea to shining sea. But according to teacher union watchdog Mike Antonucci, the megaunion is indeed going to war with not as much money as they once had. “… after some 27 years of increases, NEA membership is down in 43 states. The union faces a $14 million budget shortfall, and the demand for funds from its Ballot Measure/Legislative Crises Fund is certain to exceed its supply. Even the national UniServ grants, which help pay for NEA state affiliate employees, will be reduced this year.”

So, what will the war look like?
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NEA: We Are One. We Are Everywhere. We are at War!”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Government - NEA - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Teacher Union Leaders Go Public and Confirm Their Fecklessness

March 30, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Weingarten is schooled by WSJ’s Jason Riley; Van Roekel is clueless as usual.

The National Education Association and the American Federation of teachers represent over 4.5 million teachers and educational support workers across the United States. These two unions have been under attack for the past few years by reformers who point to their slavish clinging to the status quo as a major barrier to badly needed education reform.

Since the election in November when American citizens voted forward thinking legislators and governors into office, education reform has made great strides across the country. The elected officials have been attacking the union’s sacred cows with a ferocity that hasn’t been seen before – eliminating seniority and tenure, introducing merit pay, defining teacher accountability, more school choice programs, etc. are all on the agenda.
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Teacher Union Leaders Go Public and Confirm Their Fecklessness”

Budget - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

Teachers Unions and Truth: Rarely Does the Twain Meet

March 26, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Misinformation is at the heart of unionspeak.

Public school teachers have been told for years that they are only respected by the general public because Big Union fights for them and gets them that respect.

However, the opposite would appear to be true. America still loves its teachers…the good ones, that is. They don’t like the bad ones, the self-pitiers and the bullying unions that keep incompetent teachers on the job, ruining the lives of thousands of children every year. Nothing makes this point better than the recent situation in Wisconsin where certain members of the teaching community showed their true colors.

The unions also tell teachers that if not for them they’d be toiling away for minimum wage. But again, that’s wrong. And it’s not only teachers who buy this line – much of the general public does too.
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Teachers Unions and Truth: Rarely Does the Twain Meet”

California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - NEA - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions

An Orgasm for the Children

March 18, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

NEA’s reprehensible sexual agenda goes on unabated and the MSM is MIA.

At a time when teachers’ unions are battling for their collective bargaining lives, courtesy of Governors Scott Walker, Chris Christie, John Kasich et al., it’s hard to go a day without reading a newspaper account of the latest union news. However, there is a story involving the National Education Association that has flown under the mainstream media radar.

I could not find a single MSM account of a talk given at a UN conference on March 3rd where Diane Schneider, representing the NEA at the “Commission on the Status of Women” said:
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An Orgasm for the Children”

Anti-Americanism - Budget - California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

No Citizen Left Untaxed

March 15, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

NEA boss has it backwards when he claims that America cannot have a middle class without unions.

Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, America’s largest union, claims, “In actions more fitting for comic book arch-villains, a new crop of state leaders have launched blistering attacks on working families disguised as budget and education reforms, and many have sought to strip workers’ rights to have a voice through their union.”

If he is correct and the middle class is being threatened, it is the public employee unions (PEUs) that are doing the threatening. Fewer than one in eight Americans are in unions but more than 50% of them are in PEUs. It’s hardly a secret that PEU pensions are in the process of sending various states and cities around the country into insolvency.
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No Citizen Left Untaxed”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

Deasy and Duffy: The Dinosaurs Amongst Us

March 7, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

School district and teacher union leaders need to embrace serious education reform or go the way of the Stegosaurus.

My post last week concerned itself with the fact that some or even many teachers might lose their jobs come June due to the dire financial straits in which many school districts find themselves. The Los Angeles Unified School District alone sent Reduction in Force (RIF) notices to over 4,000 teachers, advising them that they may be laid off at the end of this school year. I made the point that many of the cutbacks would not have been necessary had the districts not over-hired in the first place.

Upon hearing the news of the RIF notices, John Deasy, the man who very shortly will take over as LAUSD Superintendent, whined, “The state of California does not support children. Period.” This ridiculous statement was a response to the fact that out of necessity, the legislators in Sacramento – hardly a flinty bunch – will be making cuts in education spending.
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Deasy and Duffy: The Dinosaurs Amongst Us”

Budget - Business - California - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Government - Larry Sand - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions

RIFs, Grifters and Reality

March 2, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

Excessive teacher hiring invariably leads to layoffs; teachers need to understand this trap and protect themselves.

We are now in the midst of RIF season. In California and elsewhere, when the economy is unstable, Reduction in Force (RIF) notices must go out to teachers by March 15th. These notices apprise teachers that they may be out of a job come June. School districts don’t know in March what their budget will be for the next school year, so they typically plan for a worst case scenario. It’s almost unheard of that all teachers who get the notices actually get laid off, but some will, and teachers must be notified if there is any chance they will lose their jobs.

When the school districts send out the notices, the teachers unions angrily point fingers at the district, insisting that they cut the bureaucracy instead and suggest that taxes should be raised rather than cutting back teachers. What the districts and the unions don’t say is that they are the problem; they are complicit in the process whereby teachers lose their jobs.
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RIFs, Grifters and Reality”

Larry Sand

Closing the Door on Ed Reform: Ho-hum – Just a Typical Day in California

February 27, 2011 by

-By Larry Sand

No one should be surprised at the actions of teachers unions and their acolytes who laid their cards on the table a long time ago.

In an op-ed published in the San Jose Mercury News last Wednesday, I made the point that while the rest of the country had made some positive movement toward badly needed education reform, we in California hadn’t. In fact, with Jerry Brown’s re-election as governor, we took several steps back.

True to form as a teacher union sycophant, the new (and former) state leader fired the entire school board which included prominent education reformers like Ben Austin, executive director of Parent Revolution — the organization behind the new Parent Trigger law that enables parents at poorly performing schools to sign a petition that could ultimately force a change in school governance. Brown replaced the board with a group that has no history of reform including Patricia Ann Rucker, a former California Teachers Association lobbyist.
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Closing the Door on Ed Reform: Ho-hum – Just a Typical Day in California”

California - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - Liberals - Republicans - Warner Todd Huston

Union Outed Whitman’s Maid Story in CA Gubernatorial Election

November 27, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Meg Whitman’s race for Governor of California seemed to take a nose dive right after it was discovered late in the campaign that she had employed a maid that was an illegal alien. The San Francisco Chronicle reports on the “tantalizing mystery” of just who it was that launched this torpedo at the Whitman campaign. Unsurprisingly, the SFChron has discovered that it was a union that did the dirty work.

The illegal alien, Nicandra Diaz, worked for about 8 years for the Whitman’s but was fired in 2009 once Whitman found out she was an illegal. So how did this illegal alien get so much press?
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Union Outed Whitman’s Maid Story in CA Gubernatorial Election”

Anti-Americanism - Barbara Boxer - California - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Entertainment - Government - Hollywood - Humor - Liberals - Military - Senate - Video - Warner Todd Huston

‘Call Me Madam’: Let This Video Be My Apology for Once Supporting Sen. Boxer

October 22, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

David Zucker has made a great video slamming Barbara “Senator Ma’am” Boxer. It is very funny.

Call Me Madam Joe from RightChange on Vimeo.

Zucker says on BigHollywood.com, “I was motivated to do something on this after I saw the video of Barbara Boxer interrogating the General.”

I remember immediately feeling embarrassed that a member of Congress would treat an officer of the U.S. military like that. And doubly embarrassed that back in the early 90’s I had contributed to Barbara Boxer’s campaign. I was so outraged at the pure arrogance of that moment, that I sat down to write the spot, highlighting the pure absurdity of our California Senator dressing down a General for calling her “Ma’am.” No Naked Gun or Scary Movie ever had an opportunity as good as that one for pure ridicule. Never mind that the military are instructed to call their superiors including members of congress ‘Sir’ or ‘Ma’am’, including specifically, Members of Congress!

I thought an apology would have been appropriate, but to my knowledge, none has ever been made by Senator Boxer. This I find distressing, since apologies from public figures nowadays are the norm. I mean, it’s not as if she texted her junk to Brett Favre. This was just arrogantly insulting an army officer. But I guess that’s okay with her.

This odious woman deserves to be fired from the Senate. Come on California. Are you going to allow this arrogant cuss to be returned?

California - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Government - Liberals - Lobbyists - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Anti-American George Soros and Unions Attempting to Put Power of CA Redistricting in Their Own Hands

October 18, 2010 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Bloomberg News is reporting that Charles Munger, Jr., son of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Charles Munger, has thrown his fortune behind an effort to defeat a campaign funded by unions and the anti-American billionaire George Soros to put redistricting powers back into the hands of politicians bought and paid for by union money.

Munger and his wife have spent some $10.5 million on a plan to continue the creation of a commission composed of five Democrats, five Republicans, and four non-partisan members who are to have the power to affect the redistricting required by Congress as a result of Census statistics.
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Anti-American George Soros and Unions Attempting to Put Power of CA Redistricting in Their Own Hands”

Budget - California - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Energy - Environment - Government - Liberals - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Calif. AB32 Set to Make Bad Economy Worse

September 20, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Four years ago those Californians, ever the starry-eyed dreamers, came up with the “Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006,” also called AB32. But like most of these global warming laws, the results will be to oppress the economy and throw people out of work while doing little about global warming.

The law mandates that by 2020 the state’s greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to 1990 levels. Supporters say it is the premiere global warming reducer in the nation and makes California a leader in new green technologies. Critics say it is killing jobs right during the worst economy since The Great Depression, a time when jobs are needed most to bring California out of the black hole that the budget has fallen into.

To counter the deleterious effects of AB32 opponents have introduced Proposition 23, a ballot initiative that would put a hold on AB32 until unemployment drops below 5.5% and stays at that rate for at least a year.
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Calif. AB32 Set to Make Bad Economy Worse”

Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - Journalism - Liberals - Media - Media Bias - Republicans - Warner Todd Huston

When Did Calbuzz Become Jerry Brown’s Personal Communications Shop?

September 11, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The widely read California website Calbuzz bills itself as a site offering political news, analysis, commentary, “and more about California and beyond.” During this election cycle, though, the “and more” seems to indicate that Calbuzz is operating as the publicity shop for Democrat Jerry Brown’s campaign for Governor because so far they’ve spent little time offering straight news about the race. Instead the site is constantly offering flattering Brown stories while just as constantly savaging Meg Whitman’s Republican campaign for that office.

Calbuzz gets a lot of respect from California’s Old Media and political establishment and that should come as no surprise. It isn’t necessarily because it is such a hard-nosed news service but because the website’s chief cook and bottle washers are members of that Old Media establishment.

Jerry Roberts is a journalist and former managing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and Phil Trounstine is the former political editor of the San Jose Mercury News as well as a Democrat operative from former Gov. Gray Davis’s office. These two fellows have the inside track with both the Old Media establishment as well as the Democrat Party. This should make clear why they can’t write a positive story about Meg Whitman, too. It’s no wonder they can’t write a positive story about Whitman. It just isn’t in their DNA.

I guess the big question here is where does Jerry Brown send his check for all the hard publicity work that Calbuzz does for him?
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When Did Calbuzz Become Jerry Brown’s Personal Communications Shop?”

California - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Unions Prevent Kids from Learning in L.A.

September 4, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The L.A. Times has been publishing a great series about how the city’s schools have been dropping the ball on education. Specifically, the Times points out that the L.A. schools district has had at its disposal stats that could have helped it to engineer a better education policy for its students but has ignored these stats. Why have they ignored these stats? Fear of unions.

The Times has a database of the effectiveness of nearly 6,000 L.A. area teachers. These findings, the Times informs us, were based on a method called “value-added analysis. It is a method that is beginning to be used to rank teachers and help administrators design a more effective education for kids all across the country.

The Times also says that the L.A. school administrators had this info all along and never used it. Why would that be? (my bold below)
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Unions Prevent Kids from Learning in L.A.”

Budget - Business - California - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Politicians - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Ebay, Adobe, EA Games, Many Others Leaving California For Utah Over Confiscatory Tax Rate

August 25, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Computer software giant Adobe, computer game monster EA Games, and Internet auction king ebay are abandoning California to set up shop in Utah. Why? California’s horrid business climate and high taxes.

Adobe Systems, maker of a suite of graphics programs such as Adobe PDF, Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign, have announced that they are building a $100 million facility in either Salt Lake City or in nearby Utah County, Utah. The facility will bring thousands of jobs to Utah over the next few decades.

In May the Internet auction company ebay also announced a major new facility to be built in Salt Lake City. The $287 million data center will also bring hundreds of new jobs to the Bee Hive State.

Not to be forgotten, games maker Electronic Arts opened its new facility in July in Salt Lake City where around 100 employees are already at work.
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Ebay, Adobe, EA Games, Many Others Leaving California For Utah Over Confiscatory Tax Rate”

Budget - California - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Lobbyists - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Unions Destroy Calif. Pension Reform Bill

August 21, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Like most bills, the legislation meant to reform California’s failing public pension system started out stronger than it ended up. But unlike most bills the final bill has been so gutted, so defanged, that it leaves the pension system in a worse mess than it was when the bill was introduced. Not surprisingly unions are the culprits.

One of the things that the bill was supposed to stop was the practice of “pension spiking.” This is the practice of government workers getting a sudden raise in position, salary and benefits just as they are about to retire. This sudden raise, often instituted only weeks or months before retirement, allows the employee to retire at a higher pension rate than they would have with their last, normal salary.
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Unions Destroy Calif. Pension Reform Bill”

California - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Health - Law - Liberals - Regulation - Warner Todd Huston

Irregularities in Skilled Healthcare Trial

August 7, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last month I wrote about the California healthcare case involving Skilled Healthcare LLC. The Nursing Home company was accused by trial lawyers of violating California’s regulations governing how many staff members per resident that is required to operate a healthcare facility and lost its case.

What struck me is that this case seemed to have been brought to court by trial lawyers and without actual victims or injury and, worse, the $671 million award could bankrupt the company putting thousands of elderly patients out on the street and eliminating hundreds of jobs.

Now there is an update on this case that takes it to a whole new level of craziness. Aside from the absurdity of the case in the first place, now it seems that there were all sorts of irregularities with the jury and the judge during the case.
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Irregularities in Skilled Healthcare Trial”

Budget - California - Economy/Finances - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Schwarzenegger Again Orders Furloughs for State Workers

July 31, 2010 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

California has been ground zero in the war between over paid state employees unions and government budgetary concerns and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has leveled yet another salvo in that battle by again ordering more furloughs for state workers.

After ending the previous program to furlough 200,000 state workers the Governor has introduced a scaled back plan after the state controller reported that state accounts would be in the red by October.

Unlike the last time, Schwarzenegger’s newest attempt is open ended and will end “when lawmakers pass a 2010-11 budget.” There are other differences in this scaled back plan including thousands of new employee exemptions.
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Schwarzenegger Again Orders Furloughs for State Workers”

Budget - California - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - SEIU - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

SEIU Attacking Fellow Union for Concessions

July 30, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Engineers and Architects Association, a 48,000 member public employees union in L.A., has come under attack from the politically active Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for having the civic sense to realize that the high times of ever rising pay at the taxpayer’s expense is coming to an end.

In a deal about to be voted on, the Engineers and Architects Association agreed to present to its members a new contract that would require them to pay a whopping extra $10 per visit to the doctor (that will put it up to $20 per visit). Also gone would be the $15 a month to “enhance their life insurance and disability insurance” paid by the city. Finally, union members would have to pay five percent of their monthly healthcare premiums.
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SEIU Attacking Fellow Union for Concessions”