One Citizen Speaking

WHEN THERE IS NO CRIME, PROGRESSIVE SOCIALIST DEMOCRATS TURN TO "PROCESS"

It appears that the so-called whistleblower was a hyper-partisan spy with no first-hand knowledge of anything. Everything they put forth was based on hearsay and published media sources.

The fact that they lied to the Intelligence Community Inspector General about their previous contacts with Adam Schiff's House Intelligence Committee and the private democrat-connected hyper-partisan attorneys who prepared the complaint all speak to improper procedures and actual crimes involving the handling of classified information.

Because the call information was placed on a "secure server," it was impossible for partisan individuals to gain access to the transcript so they simply made up lies predicated on the likelihood that Trump would never declassify the transcript. 

So they keep telling lies until they become the perception of truth.

We are so screwed.

-- steve

October 11, 2019 -- Just another crazy day

As I was scanning today’s inbox, I was struck by the absurdity of many of the stories I encountered and asked myself, “what has become of the America I know and love?”

It is my belief that the communists of my youth have re-branded themselves into “environmentalists” where they can solicit funding and exert power affecting public policy without pejoratively condemned for their toxic philosophy which has resulted in the death or misery of millions of individuals over the past decades. There is little or no doubt in my mind that the neo-communists have infiltrated the Democrat Party where they continue to impact America’s future. Yes, the very same Democrat Party, also known as the party of lawyers, who achieve results in the Courts that they could never achieve in a legislative setting with open debate and a deliberative process. The strength of their attack on President Trump appears conditioned more on his reshaping of the federal judiciary and Supreme Court than any other factor.

So why am I not surprised that a group of environmentalists went to court to attempt to further cripple our economy, reduce our energy independence, and make us less resilient as a nation? 

“A U.S. District Court rejected a lawsuit filed by environmental groups against the federal government claiming its policies allowing fossil fuel development and use violate the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to wilderness unaffected by human activity.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund, Seeding Sovereignty, and six individuals sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Interior, and other federal agencies for violating a right they claimed was guaranteed under the First, Fifth, and Ninth amendments to the U.S. Constitution, by supporting the fossil fuel industry, whose actions are causing the climate to change in ways that  damage the health, beauty, and accessibility of wilderness areas.

Recognizing their lawsuit was stretching the boundaries of the law, the plaintiffs’ brief asked U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane of the District Court of Oregon to engage in ‘nothing short of revolutionary thinking’ by recognizing a ‘right to wilderness.’” <Source>

Speaking of freedom and resiliency, why am I not surprised that electric vehicles are near useless in regional emergencies and in times of extreme heat and cold which affect their batteries?

“Electric-Car Owners Shocked by California Blackouts: Everybody knows that electric cars are going to save the planet from climate change or something. Unlike regular cars, which run on gasoline and make all the polar bears cry as they sink into the sea, electric cars are powered by... um... magic? Mjölnir, the hammer of Thor? That must be how it works, or else owning an electric car would impose some sort of cost to the environment. And that can't be, or those guys wouldn't be so insufferably smug.

You know those intentional blackouts they're having in California to reduce the risk of wildfires? Well, guess what happens now?

Weeks can be a long wait if you’re looking at a Model 3 in your garage with a drained battery, no electrical power to charge it, and the closest grocery store with power 80 miles away. But such is life in the Golden State, where forests and chaparral are all on hair triggers ready to ignite with slightest transformer malfunction or transmission line break. And the political environment demands minimal risk after the 2018 fire season produced 8527 conflagrations burning an astonishing 1,893,913 acres of wild lands and more than 18,000 structures...

California is experimenting with its power-generation future. And right now, that experiment is hurting. Particularly those electric-car owners with dead batteries.

So if you're a Californian who bought an electric car to save the environment, now you can't drive it because of the risk to the environment. If you really cared about the planet, you wouldn't go anywhere or do anything or participate in 21st Century life at all.” <Source>

For those who haven’t noticed, California politics is controlled by progressive socialist democrats who appear to demand that its residents live in densely-packed hubs with mobility limited to mass transit, and who are dependent on the government for all services. I am sorry, but I demand the right of mobility, whether it is to escape local dangers or rush home to assist my family and neighbors in an emergency. Walking sixty or more miles is not an option. I have learned over time to keep my gas tank full in case of emergency, especially since the pumps at gas stations are electrically powered.

And, then there is the freedom to be a stupid child and engage in free speech – much of which might offend a politically-correct progressive democrat.

“A 12-year-old Overland Park girl formed a gun with her fingers, pointed at four of her Westridge Middle School classmates one at a time, and then turned the pretend weapon toward herself. Police hauled her out of school in handcuffs, arrested her and charged the child with a felony for threatening. Shawnee Mission school officials said they could not discuss the case, citing privacy laws, but did say it wasn’t the district that arrested the child.

A school resource officer, employed, by the Overland Park Police Department, would have handled the arrest, Smith said. The department said it could not discuss the case.

But according to Johnson County District Court documents, on Sept. 18, the girl “unlawfully and feloniously communicated a threat to commit violence, with the intent to place another, in fear, or with the intent to cause the evacuation, lock down or disruption in regular, ongoing activities …” or created just the risk of causing such fear. A person familiar with a more detailed incident report spoke to The Star on condition of anonymity. The person said that during a class discussion, another student asked the girl, if she could kill five people in the class, who would they be? In response, the girl allegedly pointed her finger pistol — like the ones many children use playing cops and robbers.

Because of that gesture, The Star was told, the girl was sent to Principal Jeremy McDonnell’s office, and the other students involved were also talked to. The school resource officer recommended that she be arrested, the source said. She was detained by police and later released to her mother. A hearing in the Juvenile Division of the District Court of Johnson County is set for Tuesday.” <Source>

Is one federal judge more powerful than the President of the United States?

Another federal judge ruled against President Trump’s use of a “national emergency” declaration to divert funds for the construction of a border wall on Friday, finding the use of an emergency proclamation “unlawful” because it violated a Congressional budgeting measure from January. “The Congressional language in the [bill] reveals Congress’s intent to limit the border barrier funding,” wrote Judge David Briones, who was appointed to the federal District Court for the Western District of Texas by former President Bill Clinton. In July, the Supreme Court stayed a ruling by a lower California court that temporarily prevented Trump from unilaterally appropriating the funds.

There is little or no doubt that a “national emergency” exists at America’s Southern Border, where illegal aliens are pouring into our country and causing irreparable harm to our infrastructure, economy, laws, and culture. That the president has plenary powers to protect the nation seems to escape federal judges, especially those who are progressive socialist democrats. Again, the Democrat Party has turned to the courts to stop President Trump from fulfilling his campaign promises – all to make him less attractive to the electorate in the upcoming 2020 presidential election and to pander to the immigration lobby and the poverty pimps who are a necessary component of the Democrat base.

Sport’s leagues and athletes have no problem condemning historic racism, but refuse to condemn modern-day tyranny…

Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey found himself and his franchise embroiled in controversy last Friday after he tweeted: “Fight For Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” Morey’s tweet was met with immediate backlash in China, the NBA’s largest international market. China’s consulate general in Houston expressed his anger with Morey and the Rockets, telling them to immediately “clarify and correct the mistakes.” NBA sponsors and Chinese-based partners began to jump ship in short order. <Source>

Particularly odious was Charles Barkley …

“However, Barkley doesn’t have a problem with the NBA not wanting to risk a ton of money by standing up to China.

“They have billions of dollars at stake. It’s a business decision…the players and owners have billions of dollars at stake. It’s easy for these Monday morning quarterbacks to say they should do this or that because it’s not their money,” the NBA legend told Dan Patrick on Thursday morning.

He didn’t stop just there and added, “You know the thing that’s really funny, all these idiots and jackasses and fools that are ringing at their televisions that these players should do that, these are the same people who have been hating on Colin Kaepernick for the last three years, and that’s in another country. So, I find it hilarious listening to all these idiots, fools and jackasses on radio and TV talking about these players should stand up.”  <Source>

Colin Kaepernick is disliked, not for oppressing people or expressing his opinion, but for violating the long-standing policy to keep politics out of athletics and doing it in such a manner as to openly insult the majority of our population and especially the soldiers who have died or have been maimed so this idiot can play football and tell us we are bad people because of the actions of our ancestors.

What Constitution?

Few people are condemning Francis “Beto” O'Rourke for proposing that, as president, he would violate the Constitution’s Second Amendment by confiscating arms –specifically anything he would designate as an assault weapon, a mythical creation of progressive socialist democrats. "Now he is openly attacking religious institutions for their religious beliefs by stripping tax-exempt status from any religious organization that supports traditional marriage, defined as one man and one woman. In fact, his position essentially amounts to a government preference for pro-gay marriage religious bodies that likely violates the Establishment Clause.”

The sheer idiocy of a self-promoting elitist…

To millions of shoppers, the supermarket is just a place to stock up on produce and pantry staples to keep the family fed. But to others, especially children of immigrants who may already feel pushed to the margins of the American mainstream, the supermarket can be just another place to experience the sting of their outsider status.

The sting occurs whenever they walk down the “ethnic” food aisle, the section of the supermarket that, to some, plays out like a remnant of the Jim Crow era, when laws established separate facilities for African Americans in the post-Reconstruction South. Sometimes known as the “international” food aisle, or even “Asian” and “Latino” aisles, these rows can come across to the shoppers they seemingly target as de facto segregation, another kind of “separate but equal” policy that marginalized African Americans for generations.

“If you go to the ethnic food aisle, that is sort of the last bastion of racism that you can see in full daylight in retail America,” David Chang, the man at the helm of the Momofuku empire, said on his podcast this summer. “It is something that’s got to go.” <Source>

I wonder what part of “convenience” and “ease of discovery” this schmuck does not understand.

Bottom line…

We are so screwed.

-- steve

PAUSING POLITICS FOR REAL LIFE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

CALIFORNIA PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS SEEK TO DAMAGE FREELANCERS AND INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS

Once again, California pushes back against freelancers and individuals who want to participate in the “gig economy.”

AB-5 GOES INTO EFFECT ON JANUARY 1, 2020 AB-5 Worker status: employees and independent contractors – “Codifies the decision of the California Supreme Court in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles (2018) that presumes a worker is an employee unless a hiring entity satisfies a three-factor test, and exempts from the test certain professions and business to business relationships.” <Source> ABC test for independent contractors as set forth in the California Supreme Court’s ruling in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903.  Part A of the test requires that the worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact; and Part B of the test requires that the worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business; and Part C of the test requires that the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as the work performed. Terms and conditions apply depending on the strength of the industry lobbying group and the degree of corruptness of key politicians.

Here is what is likely to happen…

Lloyds contractors face job loss or pay cuts over tax changes Thousands of freelance workers at Lloyds Banking Group will be told on Tuesday that they face losing their jobs or taking pay cuts of up to 30 per cent, because of a government crackdown on tax avoidance. New legislation coming into force next April forces all large and medium-sized UK companies to assess the employment status of contractors they use, to tackle what HM Revenue & Customs calls “disguised employment” — where workers are treated like self-employed contractors, despite in effect being employees, meaning both sides pay lower taxes. Banks are major users of short-term contractors, particularly for IT projects, but are taking a hardline approach to the new rules. <Source>

Bottom line…

With all of the taxes, regulations, and the imposition of a $15/hour “living wage,” many companies are firing full-time employees and hiring part-timers or freelancers to stay in business. How any rational person can accept the progressive socialist democrats attempt to purchase political support by creating $30,000 burger flippers working at entry-level jobs never meant to support a family of four?

This is just another attempt to destroy the Golden Goose that makes California great. No wonder individuals are moving to no-tax or low-tax states, leaving the state to illegal aliens unable to support the state’s infrastructure and the pension funds that keep senior citizens alive.

Think before you elect any progressive socialist democrat to office. Apparently, they do not care because they are exempt and immune from the consequences of their actions.

We are so screwed.

-- steve

TIME TO INVESTIGATE THE FAUX WHISTLEBLOWER AS A SPY PLANTED IN THE WHITE HOUSE

CBS: MORE FAKE NEWS ON THE UKRAINE WHISTLEBLOWER

Now that everybody has had the opportunity to read the official transcript of President Trump’s conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, why should any credible media outlet release a rehash of debunked allegations or pay any additional attention to what appears to be an incredibly corrupt and partisan whistleblower?

This is the essence of “fake news” -- repeating unsubstantiated lies and a bogus interpretation…

Read the whistleblower's memo about Trump's Ukraine call, as described to CBS News Washington — CBS News has learned the full contents of what appears to be a memo written by the whistleblower one day after President Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July.  The memo, dated July 26, is based on a conversation the whistleblower had with an unnamed White House official who listened to the call. [OCS: There is little doubt that a crime has been committed. While it is unknown if the whistleblower, purported to be a current or former CIA employee assigned to the White House, solicited the information from the unnamed White House official or the information was volunteered, both parties appear to be complicit in sharing privileged and classified information. I suspect that the White House official, who is purported to be represented by the same legal team as the whistleblower, is seeking whistleblower status to shield them against criminal charges for leaking the information.] According to a source familiar with the matter, the memo was among the factors that led the intelligence community inspector general to determine the whistleblower's formal August 12 complaint was credible. The inspector general testified Friday behind closed doors before the three House committee leading the impeachment inquiry. [OCS: It should be noted that the role of the intelligence community inspector general (ICIG) is rather well defined and limited to intelligence employees and actions taken by the intelligence community. The President of the United States is not part of that community and the ICIG is not like a U.S. Attorney with the expansive power to investigate a wide-rage of activities. Considering that the ICIG did not request a copy of the official transcript or the “memcon” (memo of the conversation) from the White House before deeming that what amounts to hearsay was credible, I would scrutinize the ICIG’s actions, and in particular, their associations with the Obama intelligence community's leadership – specifically the former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, and the former Director of the CIA John Brennan. Both men who have lied under oath to Congress and are suspected of participating in actions to interfere with a presidential election. It should also be noted that the whistleblower apparently lied to the ICIG when they failed to disclose a preliminary contact with the Democrat staff of Adam Schiff’s House Intelligence Committee, and that the whistleblower allegedly received advice to “lawyer up” using a Democrat-connected law firm and then to submit a complaint to the ICIG. A complaint that appears to be the work product of a law firm, complete with legal citations, footnotes, and appendix materials – much as you would find in a legal brief.] The president's call with Zelensky was held on the morning of July 25. The whistleblower wrote the memo the next day after speaking with the official in the afternoon. The whistleblower wrote that he or she spoke with the White House official for "a few minutes," and summarized their conversation. According to the memo, the White House official described the contents of the call as "crazy," "frightening" and "completely lacking in substance related to national security." [OCS: By now everyone has read the actual transcript – which the opposition may have thought President Trump would never declassify – and there was nothing crazy or frightening said. Moreover, neither the White House official nor the whistleblower can judge the national security implications of improving a working relationship between world leaders.] The whistleblower said the official was "visibly shaken by what had transpired and seemed keen to inform a trusted colleague within the U.S. national security apparatus about the call." [OCS: One might ask how the whistleblower knew if the White House official was visible shaken – or sarcastically, if the whistleblower was one of those snow flakes that trembles and shakes when they hear something they don’t like or understand?] The whistleblower's summary of the White House official's account of the call largely comports with the call record released by the White House, though some details are missing. The full text of the memo, as described to CBS News: 26 July 2019 The following is a record of a conversation I had this afternoon with a White House official about the telephone call yesterday morning between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The official who listened to the entirety of the phone call was visibly shaken by what had transpired and seemed keen to inform a trusted colleague within the U.S. national security apparatus about the call. After my call with this official I [redacted] returned to my office, and wrote up my best recollection of what I had heard. The official described the call as "crazy," "frightening" and "completely lacking in substance related to national security." The official asserted that the President used the call to persuade Ukrainian authorities to investigate his political rivals, chiefly former Vice President Biden and his son, Hunter. The official stated that there was already a conversation underway with White House lawyers about how to handle the discussion because, in the official's view, the President had clearly committed a criminal act by urging a foreign power to investigate a U.S. person for the purposes of advancing his own reelection bid in 2020. [OCS: The President actually asked a question about CrowdStrike, the security firm that purportedly examined the hacked DNC server that was part of the Trump/Russia story. It should be noted that the DNC refused access to the server to the FBI and its forensic experts and that credible security experts question CrowdStrike’s methodology and conclusions. ' Additionally, the President spoke about corruption and U.S. officials routinely seek the help of foreign governments in corruption and criminal investigations. That Joe Biden may have been a presidential candidate does not immunize him from allegations of corruption – especially those he confessed on a videotaped record in front of an audience.]  The phone call lasted approximately half an hour. The two leaders spoke through interpreters. My conversation with the official only lasted a few minutes, and as a result, I only received highlights: The President asserted that "it all started in Ukraine," referring to the allegations of foreign interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the subsequent investigation into the Trump campaign's contact with Russian individuals The President asked Zelenskyy to locate the "Crowdstrike server" and turn it over to the United States, claiming that Crowdstrike is "a Ukrainian company," (Note: This appears to be a reference to the DNC server from which Russian hackers stole data and emails that were subsequently leaked in mid-2016; the DNC hired cyber security firm Crowdstrike to do the forensic analysis, which informed the FBI's investigation. It is not clear what the president was referring to when he claimed Crowdstrike is a Ukrainian company; one of its cofounders was born in Moscow.) The President told Zelenskyy that he would be sending his personal lawyer, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, to Ukraine soon and requested that Zelenskyy meet with him. Zelenskyy reluctantly agreed that, if Giuliani traveled to Ukraine, he would see him. The President raised the case of Burisma Holdings, Hunter Biden's role in the company, and former Vice President Biden's role in setting Ukraine policy. The President urged Zelenskyy to [end page 1] investigate the Bidens and stated that Giuliani would discuss this topic further with Zelenskyy during his trip to Kyiv. The President urged Zelenskyy not to fire Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, who the President claimed was doing a good job. (Note: Lutsenko has spearheaded various politicized investigations, including on Burisma Holdings and alleged "Ukrainian interference" in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Lutsenko is widely reviled in Ukraine, and Zelenskyy has pledged to fire him but has been unable to secure approval from the legislature.) The President stated that he wanted Attorney General William Barr to speak with Zelenskyy as soon as possible. (Note: It was not clear whether this conversation was to be in reference to Crowdstrike or the investigations of the Bidens.) The President reiterated his concern that Zelenskyy was surrounded by people who were enemies of the President, including "bad oligarchs." The President did not raise security assistance. According to the official, Zelenskyy demurred in response to most of the President's requests. I did not review a transcript or written notes, but the official informed me that they exist. [OCS: Everything appears to be based on second-hand hearsay and leads to the question of why the ICIG changed a standardized form that demanded whistleblowers present first-hand knowledge and not hearsay which is inadmissible in any formal prosecution or court.] The standard White House practice for Presidential-level phone calls with world leaders is for the White House Situation Room to produce a word-for-word electronic transcript that memorializes the call. The transcript is typically then circulated to key White House officials to be transformed into a formal memorandum that is distributed as an eyes-only document, to the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and Director of the CIA. In this case, the official told me that such a transcript had indeed been produced and was being treated very sensitively, in hard copy only. Moreover, several additional senior White House officials listened to the entire phone call in an adjacent room in the Situation Room suite and they presumably took written notes on the call. The official did not know whether the President was aware that other people were listening and that the call was being transcribed. The official also was not certain whether anyone else was in the Oval Office with the President during the call. On the Ukrainian side, it is unclear who listened to the call or whether a record was produced. [OCS” It stands to reason that additional security measures were required because of continuing criminal leaks of presidential conversations.] <Source>

Bottom line …

The whistleblower appears to be dirty, and Americans should demand their name and affiliations before giving them a second thought.

In the scheme of things, it probably is just another attempt to distract America from the official reports on the conspiracy to interfere with a presidential election and are yet to be released.

We are so screwed.

-- steve

PROOF THAT DISHONEST CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS CHEAT, LIE, AND STEAL

To see that California Governor Gavin Newsom, a progressive socialist democrat with presidential aspirations, is a liar, cheater, and a crooked con-man, one need look no further than the following excerpt of Governor’s Executive Order N-19-19 signed on September 20, 2019…

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes of the State of California, do hereby issue the following Order to become effective immediately to require that every aspect of state government redouble its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change while building a sustainable, inclusive economy. [OCS: The State of California is buried under an avalanche of unfunded pension liabilities and suffers under continuing sweetheart deals with the unions that appear to control Democrat politics in California. Yet we find the governor tinkering with the state’s investment portfolio to invest in the type of “clean energy” projects that cannot produce sustainable energy in a cost-effective manner or are little more than bankruptcies waiting to happen -- not to mention an adequate return on investment to service the growing pension debt. The truth is that California can do nothing to affect global climate or overcome the deleterious effects of pollution originating from Russia, China, India, and elsewhere -- where progressive politicians are shunned in favor of economic development and the improvement of the country's overall standard of living.] 1. To leverage the state's $700 billion investment portfolio to advance California's climate leadership, protect taxpayers, and support the creation of high-road jobs, the Department of Finance shall create a Climate Investment Framework. a. The Framework shall include a proactive investment strategy for the state's pension funds that reflects the increased risks to the economy and physical environment due to climate change. b. The Framework shall provide the timeline and criteria to shift investments to companies and industry sectors that have greater growth potential based on their focus of reducing carbon emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change, including but not limited to investments in carbon-neutral, carbon-negative, climate resilient, and clean energy technologies. c. The Framework shall align with the fiduciary responsibilities of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, California State Teachers' Retirement System and the University of California Retirement Program. [OCS: Truth be told, the fiduciary responsibilities of the trustees and directors of these pension funds demand that they ignore the Governor’s progressive posturing and do the best for their pensioners, past, current, and future rather than engage in social engineering.] d. The Department of Finance shall consult with the Governor's Office of Planning and Research, and the California Department of Human Resources on the Framework. 2. The State Transportation Agency shall leverage the more than $5 billion in annual state transportation spending for construction, operations, and maintenance to help reverse the trend of increased fuel consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the transportation sector. To accomplish this, the State Transportation Agency, in consultation with the Department of Finance, shall:' a. Align the state's climate goals with transportation spending on planning, programming and mitigation to achieve the objectives of the state's Climate Change Scoping Plan, where feasible, b. Reduce vehicle miles traveled by strategically directing discretionary transportation investments in support of housing production near available jobs and in accordance with the state's smart growth principles, as defined in Government Code section 65041. l, and taking public health into account, [OCS: In other words, locate transit near homes and jobs – code words for funding highly-unionized urban mass transit in the inner cities.] c. Reduce congestion through innovative strategies designed to encourage people to shift from cars to other modes of transportation, [OCS: Continuing the progressive agenda of restricting individual freedom and mobility and creating easily managed population centers. I do not remember when Californians voted to voluntarily give up their vehicles or develop sole reliance on mass transit which is susceptible to union strikes (blackmail for higher wages without any corresponding increase in productivity) and the type of systemic failure during a regional natural disaster that would leave thousands stranded and unable to assist their families or neighbors.] d. Fund transportation options that contribute to the overall health of Californians and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as transit, walking, biking and other active modes, and e. Mitigate increases in transportation costs for lower income Californians.

Thus, with a stroke of the pen, the Governor can steal any voter-approved funds that were specifically dedicated to improving road and driving conditions in California in favor of idiotic and nonsensical make-work projects for the unions and the consultants and contractors that get rich off land deals and feed out of the public trough. Especially egregious when you consider that every project is significantly delayed and massively over-budget. Anyone for a multi-billion not-so-fast train to nowhere important?

Look around, Californians pay the highest gas prices in the nation, including mystery gas taxes which nobody can adequately explain. Californians are at the mercy of refinery shut-downs for changing between state-mandated winter and summer blends – and because no new refineries have been built in decades, suffer higher prices even when refineries engage in routine maintenance. And, due to the global oil markets, California refineries often purchase significant amounts of oil from Saudi Arabia while trying to curtail domestic production.

Bottom line…

One glance at California’s $215 billion budget reveals the fraud, waste, and abuse of the taxpayer’s money. Often funding meaningless projects while our decaying infrastructure continues to crumble and is in desperate need of repair, replacement, and build-outs.

California citizens were sold a lie when they authorized Proposition SB-1, which was deceptively named “Road Repair and Accountability Act,” which many people believed was to raise funds to repair our roads highways, freeways, and bridges. Yeah right! Can you say “bait and switch?”

SB 1, Beall. Transportation funding.  

(1) Existing law provides various sources of funding for transportation purposes, including funding for the state highway system and the local street and road system. These funding sources include, among others, fuel excise taxes, commercial vehicle weight fees, local transactions and use taxes, and federal funds. Existing law imposes certain registration fees on vehicles, with revenues from these fees deposited in the Motor Vehicle Account and used to fund the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of the California Highway Patrol. Existing law provides for the monthly transfer of excess balances in the Motor Vehicle Account to the State Highway Account.

 

This bill would create the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program to address deferred maintenance on the state highway system and the local street and road system. The bill would require the California Transportation Commission to adopt performance criteria, consistent with a specified asset management plan, to ensure efficient use of certain funds available for the program. The bill would provide for the deposit of various funds for the program in the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account, which the bill would create in the State Transportation Fund, including revenues attributable to a $0.12 per gallon increase in the motor vehicle fuel (gasoline) tax imposed by the bill with an inflation adjustment, as provided, 50% of a $0.20 per gallon increase in the diesel excise tax, with an inflation adjustment, as provided, a portion of a new transportation improvement fee imposed under the Vehicle License Fee Law with a varying fee between $25 and $175 based on vehicle value and with an inflation adjustment, as provided, and a new $100 annual vehicle registration fee applicable only to zero-emission vehicles model year 2020 and later, with an inflation adjustment, as provided. The bill would provide that the fuel excise tax increases take effect on November 1, 2017, the transportation improvement fee takes effect on January 1, 2018, and the zero-emission vehicle registration fee takes effect on July 1, 2020.

Newsom and his cadre of progressive socialist democrats are hell-bent on eliminating the internal combustion engine – the power of the industrial revolution and the transport of goods to the farthest reaches of the state.

This is theft – pure and simple – by executive order.

We are so screwed.

-- steve

WHEN WILL THE DEMOCRATS AND THE MEDIA TELL THE TRUTH?

CALIFORNIA PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS SCREW THE POOR ON BEHALF OF THE WEALTHY LIKE TOM STEYER

For all the progressive socialist democrat prattling in Democrat-controlled California about protecting the poor from predatory lending and assisting those they designated as “un-banked,” it is hard to square the truth with proposed legislation …

Assembly Bill A.B. 539 -- California Financing Law: consumer loans: charges (As amended September 4, 2019) [OCS: Like all legislation benefiting those who can afford lobbyists, the language of the bill, although written in English, is formatted in dense legalese which puts it beyond the understanding of ordinary individuals. And, of course, no legislation would be complete without its “weasel-words.” Not to mention the deceptive title“Fair Access to Credit Act,”] (1) The California Financing Law (CFL) provides for the licensure and regulation of finance lenders and brokers by the Commissioner of Business Oversight. The CFL prohibits anyone from engaging in the business of a finance lender or broker without obtaining a license. A willful violation of the CFL is a crime, except as specified. Under existing law, a licensee who lends any sum of money is authorized to contract for and receive charges at a maximum rate that does not exceed specified sums on the unpaid principal balance per month, ranging from 2 1/2 % to 1%, based on the consumer loan amount, as specified. This provision, however, does not apply to any loan of a bona fide principal amount of $2,500 or more, as determined in accordance with a provision governing regulatory ceilings and evasion of the CFL. The CFL also authorizes a licensee, as an alternative to the above-described rate charges for consumer loan amounts, to instead contract for and receive charges at the greater of a rate not exceeding 1.6% per month on the unpaid principal balance or a rate not exceeding 5 5/6 of 1% per month, plus a specified percentage per month, as established by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, on advances to member banks under federal law, or if there is no single determinable rate, the closest counterpart of this rate. Under existing law, these provisions do not apply to a loan of a bona fide principal amount of $2,500 or more, as specified. The CFL further authorizes a licensee to contract for and receive an administrative fee of a specified amount that varies with the bona fide principal amount of the loan. [OCS: The bill  was sold to the public as capping the interest rate of small loans at 36% plus the federal funds rate. Hard to tell unless you do the math. Additionally, the legislation prohibits a CFL from charging a penalty for prepayment of a consumer loan and establishes minimum loan terms. The actual terms and conditions were never mentioned. Funny, the three largest lenders in the State of California that supported this bill, OneMain, Opportun, and Lendmark, are already in compliance and cap their loans at 36%.] This bill, entitled the Fair Access to Credit Act, would authorize a finance lender, with respect to a loan of a bona fide principal amount of $2,500 or more but less than $10,000, to contract for or receive charges at a rate not exceeding an annual simple interest rate of 36% plus the Federal Funds Rate. The bill would require finance lenders making loans subject to these provisions to, among other requirements, report each borrower’s payment performance to at least one consumer reporting agency that compiles and maintains files on consumers on a nationwide basis and to also offer, at no cost to the borrower, a credit education program or seminar that has been previously reviewed and approved by the commissioner, in accordance with specific requirements. The bill would further specify that a licensee may contract for and receive an administrative fee, as described above, in addition to these charges.' [OCS: It should be noted that many of these credit education programs are conducted by groups that can be described as “poverty pimps” with additional organizing efforts on behalf of the Democrat Party. And, you have to love those ill-defined administrative fees.] (2) Under the CFL, certain principles apply in determining whether a loan is a loan of a bona fide principal amount under specified provisions and whether the regulatory ceiling provision is used for purposes of evading the CFL. This bill would apply these principles to loans of a bona fide principal amount of $2,500 or more but less than $10,000. The bill would also apply these principles to any fees paid to a licensee for the privilege of participating in an open-end credit program. (3) Existing law prohibits licensees subject to the CFL from entering into a contract for a consumer loan that provides for a scheduled repayment of principal over more than the maximum terms set forth in relation to the respective size of the loan. Among other things, this provision prohibits a loan of at least $3,000 but less than $5,000 from exceeding a maximum term of 60 months and 15 days. [OCS: There does not appear to be anything that would prevent continuous “roll-overs of principle and interest to evade this provision.]  This bill would increase the maximum principal loan amount under the above schedule to $10,000. The bill would also prohibit a licensee from entering into a contract for a consumer loan that is at least $2,500 but less than $10,000 that provides for a scheduled repayment of principal that is less than 12 months. The bill would also specify that the maximum loan term of 60 months and 15 days does not apply to a loan secured by real property of a bona fide principal amount of at least $5,000. The bill would also prohibit a licensee from charging, imposing, or receiving any penalty for the prepayment of a loan under the CFL, except as specified. (4) The CFL regulates a specific type of consumer loan known as an open-ended loan. The CFL prescribes the amount upon which charges authorized by the CFL may be based, the amount of a minimum monthly payment, the amount of fees, costs, and expenses a licensee may receive, and the amount to be delivered by the licensee at the time the open-ended loan is made. The CFL applies these provisions only to a loan of a bona fide principal amount not exceeding $5,000, as specified. This bill would apply those provisions to an open-ended loan in a bona fide principal amount not exceeding $10,000, as specified. The bill would make conforming and nonsubstantive changes. By expanding the application of the CFL to cover more loans, the bill would expand the scope of an existing crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. [OCS: Many lenders inflate the loans by selling additional products such as sickness and accident coverage, etc.] It is not uncommon for lenders to understate their APR (Annual Percentage Rate) disclosures with these “off book” products. Check for large upfront fees, front-loaded finance charges, non-refundable origination fees, and disproportionate credit insurance coverage that does not adjust with the declining loan balance. Check for differences between the stated and an all-in APR, especially in states that cap interest rates but permit sales of credit insurance in conjunction with the loan and the financing of premiums.]  <Source: California Legislature>

A refresher … 

It used to be that each state had “usury laws” to protect the poor and disadvantaged from the unethical or unlawful loans that unfairly enriched the lender and bled the borrower dry as they were unlikely to be paid off.

In California, “the general maximum interest rate is 7% per year. The rate of 10% per year applies to goods used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. Other goods have a rate of 10% per year or 5% per year plus the rate established by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco on advances to member banks for loans on other types of goods. The constitutional limits do not apply to obligations of, among others, credit unions.” <Source>

Lay on additional legislation, and the results are extortionate interest rates that keep poor and minority individuals indebted for years. Courtesy of the progressive socialist democrats.

The rich are demonized as they get richer and continue to enjoy access to politicians with their attendant perks and privileges…

Funny, it appears that this bill benefits such rich cats as 2020 presidential candidate and global warming wing-nut Tom Steyer who provided the seed capital for Oportun and Madrone Capital Partners, the private equity firm associated with Rob Walton, the eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. The bill will impose additional regulatory conditions on Oportun’s competitors, possibly driving them out of business.

And if you want further proof that California screws the poor…

As of September 29, 2019, the California DMV is charging a 2.1 percent fee for using a credit or debit card for online registrations and other transactions. It's not enough that state fees have skyrocketed in proportion to its unfunded pension liabilities, but they now gouge you on processing fees. Remember, this is the same virtue-signaling agency the spent millions on new offices to process licenses for illegal aliens. I remember when they sold online services to maximize the efficiency of the DMV and reducing costs. 

Bottom line …

This bill is sitting on California Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. Like most bills, it was written for the politicians who get money for either supporting or ignoring the bill, and the special interests that contribute most of the bill’s language and provisions.

Once again, we find the progressive socialist democrats talking about assisting the poor, the minorities, and the middle class – only to find they are selling access to their respective offices to the special interests. Not that does not happen with both parties – but it pisses me off that the Democrats claim some form of politically correct moral advantage.

We are so screwed.

-- steve

TRUMP IS ABOUT TO SCREW THE POOCH BECAUSE THE PROGRESSIVES WANT IT