Falling crime despite scare tactics

JULY 4, 2010 “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary,” observed the journalist, critic

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A Reagan holiday?

JULY 4, 2010 Ronald Reagan had a “humble background” but “worked throughout his life serving freedom and advancing the public good.” He “served with honor and distinction” for eight years as U.S. president. His “commitment to the nation’s children helped

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3 plans, no budget

JULY 2, 2010 The governor has a budget proposal. Democratic senators have a budget proposal. Assembly Speaker John Perez and the Assembly Democrats have a budget proposal. Does Mrs. Smith’s 10th grade civics class also have a budget proposal? With

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Boxer, Fiorina MIA on war

JUNE 28, 2010 As usual, American policy-makers, the media and California’s political candidates avoid the big issues while they make a huge deal out of the small stuff. The latest example is Afghanistan, where Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. and

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Cooling on Global Warming

JUNE 25, 2010 If you are still unclear about all the fuss surrounding California’s global warming initiative, AB32, it’s time to clear that up. AB32 is a nasty bill signed into law by the governor in 2006 that amounts to

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Follow the (Recycling) Money

JUNE 25, 2010 “It is reprehensible that anyone would use taxpayer money for anything other than its intended purpose.” That’s Aaron McLear, spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, speaking to the Los Angeles Times about its revelation that state-issued welfare debit

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Under the Influence Of Bad Legislation

JUNE 21, 2010 Sounding like a prediction from George Orwell’s 1984, after July 1 the counties of Sacramento, Los Angeles, Tulare and Alameda will require first-time convicted drunk drivers to install ignition lock devices in their vehicles. We are supposed

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Unions halt green jobs

JUNE 21, 2010 By STEVEN GREENHUT The state’s Democratic legislators have an inordinate hostility to the free marketplace, as evidenced by their endless push for new business regulations and for higher taxes for corporations and wealthy Californians. Yet there is

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Uneasy Riders

JUNE 18, 2010 The key is how many will ride the train. That’s all: how many people, say, 15 or 20 years from now, will buy a ticket for the California High Speed Rail train. You can’t figure out how

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GOP mod squad

JUNE 14, 2010 It’s now time for Republican moderates to put up or shut up. For years Republican moderates have insisted ad nauseam that they – not the party’s conservative base – hold the key to the future. Only middle-of-the-roaders

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