CALIFORNIA POLITICAL NEWS & VIEWS 08/25/2016

AB 109/Prop. 47/ACLU: Robber Arrested with 15 PRIOR Felonies By Stephen Frank on Aug 24, 2016 08:33 pm California is good these days for career criminals.  Thanks to AB 109 tens of thousands of criminals got early release from prison.  Thanks to Prop. 47, tens of thousands of criminals had felonies become misdemeanors and those stealing under $950 worth of goods barely get a ticket. California is a fantasyland for the career criminal.  […] Read More and Comment: AB 109/Prop. 47/ACLU: Robber Arrested with 15 PRIOR Felonies Some L.A. Public Schools Are Accepting That They’re in a Competition for Students By Stephen Frank on Aug 24, 2016 08:31 pm In 2004 the Denver schools had a graduation rate of 39%.  By 2014, the rate went up to 65%.  What was the difference?  In that time 25% of the students in the Denver Public Schools started to attend charter and other innovative schools.  In other words, competition made them better.  Looks like another example of […] Read More and Comment: Some L.A. Public Schools Are Accepting That They’re in a Competition for Students Sand: The Myth of the Underpaid Teacher Lives On By Stephen Frank on Aug 24, 2016 08:28 pm We are told that if we pay teachers more, we will get better teachers.  Yet the State Supreme court ruled that bad teachers can have the first choice to teach and great teachers take second place.  LAUSD has a real graduation rate of 54%–yet phonies up documents and gives diploma’s to 20% more students—as if […] Read More and Comment: Sand: The Myth of the Underpaid Teacher Lives On Quality Education Ruled Unconstitutional by Supreme Court for California Students By Stephen Frank on Aug 24, 2016 08:25 pm Great news for LAUSD unions—the State Supreme court has ruled that bad teachers have the right to be in your child’s classroom, teaching as best they can.  The Court determined that teacher tenure does not harm minority or people of color in the classroom—and they are right.  In truth the teacher tenure law, last in, […] Read More and Comment: Quality Education Ruled Unconstitutional by Supreme Court for California Students Orange County Spends $20 Million on Bike Lanes and Walking Trails—Bikers/Walkers Pay NOTHING By Stephen Frank on Aug 24, 2016 08:25 pm When you drive your car in Orange County you pay gas taxes, some of which stay in the County for the purpose of fixing the roads, streets and freeways in the area.  When you walk around your block or ride your bike in the street you pay nothing for this—not even a registration fee.  Now […] Read More and Comment: Orange County Spends $20 Million on Bike Lanes and Walking Trails—Bikers/Walkers Pay NOTHING Kersey’s Marijuana Tax Could Net San Diego $22M in First Year By Stephen Frank on Aug 24, 2016 08:23 pm Great news for the people of San Diego.  If marijuana becomes legal they will be able to collect almost $22 million in taxes the first year—but that is the gross collection, not the net.  From the $22 million will come the cost of increased medical problems, car accidents, the crimes committed, petty, that will occur […] Read More and Comment: Kersey’s Marijuana Tax Could Net San Diego $22M in First Year Sacramento Voters Say NO to $150 Million Street Car: Guv Brown Trying to Force Tax on People By Stephen Frank on Aug 24, 2016 08:21 pm To hack politicians in Sacramento and Washington, the vote of the people is a suggestion, not a decision.  In 2015 the people of Sacramento voted against a $150 million streetcar.  One reason might be that they knew this would be a money loser and funds needed for cops would instead be spent on a streetcar.  […] Read More and Comment: Sacramento Voters Say NO to $150 Million Street Car: Guv Brown Trying to Force Tax on People SB 1234: Sacramento Politicians to OWN Your Private Pension—Taxpayers On Hook By Stephen Frank on Aug 24, 2016 08:18 pm Next year, if you work in a firm that has five or more employees, a political hack elected to the Assembly or Senate will OWN your pension and your paycheck.  SB 1234, the so-called “Secure Choice Act” mandates that a portion go to a new State government agency to own your pension money and invest […] Read More and Comment: SB 1234: Sacramento Politicians to OWN Your Private Pension—Taxpayers On Hook Commentary: UTLA head should seek to avert state crisis, not create one By Stephen Frank on Aug 24, 2016 08:16 pm In Los Angeles the LAUSD union, United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) has determined its role is to create chaos in the classroom and the schools, and to assure further deficits and its policies’ via teachers, to make sure children are not allowed to have quality teachers.  This is a failed district, with only a […] Read More and Comment: Commentary: UTLA head should seek to avert state crisis, not create one Could This Be The Year That California Lawmakers Stop Surprise Medical Bills? By Stephen Frank on Aug 24, 2016 08:14 pm Under the current laws, having ObamaCare could kill you economically.  “Earlier this year, Laurie Kirkland of Laguna Beach was taken by surprise when she received medical bills for her husband’s spinal surgeries. Their Blue Shield insurance deductible had been met, and the surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center was in-network. The bills, she soon found out, […] Read More and Comment: Could This Be The Year That California Lawmakers Stop Surprise Medical Bills?   In Case You Missed It: Santa Moscow: After November Election HIGHEST Sales Tax in Nation? Sweeping climate change bill passes Assembly, expected to become law–job losses guaranteed High Speed Rail Touts “Savings” On Kings River Bridge–$1.2 BILLION The Growing Urgency for Serious Public Pension Reforms ‘When School Preempts Summertime’– An Open Letter to LAUSD Board President Zimmer