Notice who is supporting this bond issue. It’s the engineers, carpenters, iron workers, and construction trade groups. Why? This bond issue will provide lots of money for the construction industry. Will any of the money spent create one more drop of water? NO!

Over $13 Billion has been spent on water bonds since the year 2000. How was that money spent? This is more money that will be wasted.

Vote NO.

Proposition 2 – State Reserve Policy

No data posted by California Fair Political Practices Commission.

The argument against this proposal is that it may deny schools the support they need.

I am voting YES.

Proposition 45 – Approval of Healthcare Insurance Rate Changes. Initiative Statute

Supporting

Consumer Watchdog Campaign – Yes on 45 and 46, a coalition of consumer advocates, attorneys and nurses	$1,243,529
California Nurses Association	$1,000,000
Consumer Watchdog	$235,000
Wylie A. Aitken and Affliliated Entity Wylie A. Aitken Law Corporation	$100,000
Strumwasser & Woocher	$50,000
Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP	$50,000
Milstein, Adelman, Kreger LLP	$25,000
Adler Law a Professional Corporation	$25,000
Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP	$25,000
Paul Goldenberg	$25,000
CA Federation of Teachers COPE/Prop Ballot Measure Committee	$25,000
Shernoff Bidart Echeverria Bentley, LLP	$25,000
Yes on Prop. 46, Your Neighbors for Patient Safety, a coalition of consumer attorneys and patient safety advocates	$25,000
Total from top contributors	$2,853,529

Opposing

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.	$14,716,574
Wellpoint, Inc. and affiliated entities	$12,896,224
Blue Shield of California	$9,819,424
Health Net, Inc.	$261,224
UnitedHealthCare Insurance Company	$156,224
California Association of Health Plans	$60,000
California Association of Health Plans PAC	$10,000
California Hospitals Committee on Issues	$10,000
Total from top contributors	$37,929,670

Every other type of insurance has regulated rates in California. Thirty five other states also regulate health insurance rates.

Vote YES.

Proposition 46 – Drug and Alcohol Testing of Doctors. Medical Negligence Lawsuits. Initiative Statute

Supporting

Consumer Attorneys of California and its sponsored committees: Consumer Attorneys Issues PAC, ID 842149; Consumer Attorneys Initiative Defense PAC, ID 1275672	$1,183,000
Robinson Calcagnie Robinson Davis, Inc.	$250,000
Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP	$150,000
Bisnar/Chase Personal Injury Attorneys, LLP	$125,000
Panish, Shea & Boyle, LLP	$125,000
Casey, Gerry, Schenk, Francavilla, Blatt & Penfield, LLP	$115,000
Shernoff, Bidart, Echeverria, Bentley, LLP	$115,000
Bruce G. Fagel, A Law Corporation	$110,000
Law Offices of Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger	$100,000
Kazan, McClain, Satterley, Lyons, Greenwood & Oberman	$100,000
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Berstein, LLP	$100,000
Total from top contributors	$2,473,000

Opposing

Cooperative of American Physicians IE Committee	$10,161,489
The Doctors Company	$10,001,200
Norcal Mutual Insurance Company	$10,000,000
California Medical Association Physicians’ Issues Committee	$5,212,026
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., and The Hospitals	$5,000,000
Medical Insurance Exchange of California, Including Aggregated Contributions	$5,000,000
California Association of Hospitals & Health Systems	$2,500,000
California Hospitals Committee on Issues	$2,500,000
California Dental Association	$2,052,709
The Dentists Insurance Company	$1,620,000
Total from top contributors	$54,047,424

Wow! $2 Million being spent to support this proposition. $54 Million being spent to oppose this proposition. I had no idea that drug and alcohol abuse is a major issue among doctors. As to medical negligence, incompetence is prevalent. As I understand the current law the limit to reimbursements is $250,000. I once went to a dentist who seemed to be drunk. He was part of a dental group. I requested another dentist. There must be a problem if so much money is being spent.

Vote YES.

Proposition 47 – Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties. Initiative Statute

Supporting

Open Society Policy Center	$1,210,112
Hughes, B. Wayne	$750,000
Atlantic Advocacy Fund	$600,000
Munger, Molly	$325,448
Hastings, Reed	$246,664
Phillips, Steven C.	$125,000
Parker, Sean	$100,000
Drug Policy Action	$100,000
Delaney, M. Quinn	$100,000
California Federation of Teachers, AFT, AFL-CIO COPE Prop/Ballot	$50,000
Total from top contributors	$3,607,224

Opposing

No committee opposing this ballot measure raised enough money to reach the reporting threshold for this list.

United States Senator and member of the Democratic party, Dianne Feinstein, came out against Proposition 47 in a column featured in the Los Angeles Daily News. Feinstein said she found the proposition to be dangerous, especially the way it classifies at-risk individuals.

I have been a supporter of eliminating laws that penalize people who use drugs. Petty theft should not be a felony because we are short jail space.

I respect the senator’s opinion. I was going to vote yes but now am on the fence.

Proposition 48 – Referendum to Overturn Indian Gaming Compacts

Supporting

No committee opposing this ballot measure raised enough money to reach the reporting threshold for this list.

Opposing

Table Mountain Rancheria	$3,528,099
Brigade Capital Management, LLC through affiliated entities	$2,666,780
Riva Ridge Recovery Fund LLC	$226,232
DG Capital Management, LLC and affiliated entites	$113,258
United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria	$100,000
Chukchansi Economic Development Authority	$25,000
Club One Casino, Inc.	$15,000
Total from top contributors	$6,674,369

This is something that I do not have enough knowledge to accurately judge.

The governor supports this change in the law. The argument is that this law will create jobs. Casinos are closing in Atlantic City. Isn’t it mostly the poor who waste their money in casinos? Over $6 Million to oppose this proposition should be a message. Probably those in this business don’t want any more competition. Indian tribes have benefited from their casinos.

I am voting NO because the idea was to provide Indians with an income source. More competition will harm that source.

Another Sad Military Adventure for the U.S.A.

Our president has succumbed to the war mongers.

President Obama’s speech to destroy ISIS (or ISIL) was for the most part excellent. The latter part of the speech where he spoke of the United States recovering from the Great Recession was irrelevant.

He told us his plans to accomplish the goal. He placed only one condition on those plans. There will be no American army doing the ground fighting. Without spelling out every detail he implied that American forces would be used in Syria.

I have one big problem with this military adventure. The president did not tell Americans why we need to be involved in the effort. Other questions:
• Where is the evidence that America will be attacked if ISIS is not destroyed?
• What interests of the United States will be effected by the rise of ISIS?
• Who will do the ground fighting if it’s not Americans?
• How can we rely on the Iraqi army when they dropped their weapons and ran away in the face of attack by ISIS?
• Why hasn’t the Arab League lead this fight?
• Given our track record in the Middle East, why will the outcome of this war be any different?
• When will we know we have won the fight?

Two things we can be sure of is that the manufacturers of military hardware will be earning more money and American lives will be lost.

President of the United States is a Killing Job

Barack Obama June 23, 2011

Barack Obama August 20, 2014

The job of President of the United States is a killer. Look at the impact on the appearance of President Obama. Look at other past presidents and you will observe the same impact. The world is a tough place. It’s bad enough that we have enemies in other nations but even worse is the beating the president takes from other political parties. You have to be a superman to withstand the constant barrage of verbal abuse. Add the many issues arising around the world and you have black hair turning gray and unknown effects on the many internal mechanisms.

President Obama is now 53 years old. Could a 70 year old handle the stress? Hilary Clinton is now 66. If elected president, she would enter office at 69. Why would she or anyone want the abuse the office must bear?

American Corporations try to Dodge U.S. Taxes

As more and more giant American corporations try to dodge U.S. taxes by moving overseas, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday, July 25, announced legislation to ban those businesses from receiving lucrative U.S. government contracts. Sanders said that he will file an amendment to a Department of Defense authorization bill to prohibit the U.S. government from awarding federal contracts to companies that reincorporate overseas to avoid paying U.S. income taxes. “I have a message for these corporate deserters: You can’t be an American company only when you want corporate welfare from American taxpayers or you want lucrative contracts from the federal government. If you want the advantages of being an American company then you can’t run away from America to avoid paying taxes.”

Sanders announced the legislation on the same day pharmaceutical giant AbbVie said it plans to take over Shire, its European rival, in a merger that would allow the Chicago-based drug maker to reincorporate in Britain and lower its effective U.S. income tax rate from 22 percent to just 13 percent by 2016.

Walgreen’s, the giant drugstore chain, recently announced that it is considering moving its corporate headquarters from the U.S. to Switzerland to avoid $4 billion in U.S. taxes over the next five years. According to a recent report from Americans for Tax Fairness, nearly a quarter of Walgreen’s $72 billion in sales last year came from Medicare and Medicaid.

At least a dozen other major companies are considering abandoning America through a loophole in the tax code known as corporate inversion. Such inversions allow U.S. companies to move their corporate headquarters overseas by merging with a foreign company in a low-tax country, even though most of their profits and sales occur in America.

Sanders last year introduced the Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act (S.250) that would prohibit these companies from receiving tax breaks by shifting their headquarters to the Cayman Islands and other offshore tax havens. That bill would also stop rewarding companies that ship jobs and factories overseas with huge tax breaks. The Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated in the past that the provisions in this bill will raise more than $590 billion in revenue over the next decade. Nearly two-thirds of the companies who have established subsidiaries in tax havens have registered at least one in Bermuda or the Cayman Islands, according to a June 2014 report from Citizens for Tax Justice.

Companies that have received billions in corporate welfare and have made billions in profits should not be allowed to renounce their U.S. citizenship to avoid paying U.S. taxes,” Sanders said.

RULES ARE RULES!

RULES ARE RULES!

The Good news: It was a normal day in Sharon Springs , Kansas , when a Union Pacific crew boarded a loaded coal train for the long trek to Salina .

The Bad news: Just a few miles into the trip a wheel bearing became overheated and melted, letting a metal support drop down and grind on the rail, creating white hot molten metal droppings spewing down to the rail.

The Good news: A very alert crew noticed smoke about halfway back in the train and immediately stopped the train in compliance with the Governmental Regulations.

The Bad news: The train stopped with the hot wheel over a wooden bridge with creosote ties and trusses. When crew tried to explain to higher-ups they needed to move the train, they were instructed not to move the train because Federal Regulations prohibit moving the train when a part is defective.

Well okee-dokey then, and the pictures tell the rest.

As always the Government knows what is best for us

REMEMBER, RULES ARE RULES!

Don’t ever let common sense get in the way of a

Government Regulation.

And now they decide your health care!

Compromise is not a Dirty Word

Some random thoughts.

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The more suggestions the better. At some point in time we will have to reach a compromise. Those that refuse to compromise need to be ignored. Compromise is not a dirty word.

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“Barack Obama believes in government; we believe in you.” This is not what Americans want to hear. Americans want to hear the ways our government will make America more successful. Does “we believe in you” mean we will do nothing to further America? It is a hands off philosophy that would make Ayn Rand proud.

American government has continuously invested in the country. First it was canals and postal roads. Then it was the railroads and building highways. It was America that stood up to the Soviet Union with the Marshall Plan and the G.I. bill that sent our WWII vets back to school. It was America that put a man on the moon.

We don’t want a do nothing government. We want a government that helps lead the country to new successes!

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The median American family income in 2009 was $49,777, not statistically different from the 2008 median according to the U.S. Census Bureau. (Arithmetic Median Definition: Median is the middle of the given numbers or distribution in their ascending order.) The U.S. Census Bureau also reports that 43.6 million people in 2009 were defined as being in poverty.

However over 1% of the population has earnings of more than $250,000 per year. That is more than 3 million people. The GOP obtained extension of Bush income tax cuts for that group. Even worse is capital gains are taxed at 15% while salaries are taxed on a graduated tax scale. Thus a family earning taxable income of $212,300 – $379,150 is in the 33% tax bracket.

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Representative Paul Ryan is the un-Robin Hood.

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On Social Security. As I listen and watch political talk shows it is obvious that politicians do not want to deal with this issue. There are only four possible solutions and even a combination of solutions is too hot for most people.

Raise the retirement age.
Raise taxes.
Lower benefits.
Change the plan to a private investment option that does not guarantee a specific payout.

Since politicians won’t deal with the problem the solution is an independent commission similar to the commission that raised taxes and the retirement age. The National Commission on Social Security Reform, chaired by Alan Greenspan in 1983 was the last time changes were made. The next commission will have to take more drastic measures to ensure the viability of the system.

An Incompetent President

I have always voted for the Democratic Party presidential candidate so this commentary was an unpleasant task.

It is not unusual to believe the current president of the United States is incompetent. I cannot recall one that received my appreciation while he held office. Presidents usually receive their lowest approval numbers in the last two or three years of their second term. So perhaps it is not unexpected that I too do not approve of Barack Obama’s presidency.

The difference is that I believe he will be listed as one of America’s worst presidents. The honor for worst, in my opinion, is Jimmy Carter. The reasons be addressed in another column.

President Obama came to office when the country was in economic collapse. It was not his fault. We have the Bush administration to thank for that horror. Banks were on the verge of bankruptcy, many large companies were experiencing rapid declines in sales that were jeopardizing their very existence, unemployment was at 7.2% and falling, home foreclosures were massive, etc.

What did the president do? He proposed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, his $800 billion stimulus bill for a $14.57 trillion economy. Was that enough? I don’t think so. Many economists said the stimulus should have been twice his proposal. The money was to be spent on “shovel ready projects.” There just weren’t very many of those projects immediately available. Although the administration claims that law created jobs the reality is the unemployment rate continued dropping through October 2009 to a rate of 10.1%. That rate did not decline to 9.5% until June 2010.

In the meantime the administration pushed his health care law (Affordable Care Act: AKA Obama Care) that has yet to prove its value in any significant way. That was the wrong focus. The introduction of that new program was a disaster. It is his signature program and yet it was not given the attention needed to accomplish a near perfect launch.

In other domestic issues he has been late to the table. Veteran’s Administration, gun regulation, domestic spying, immigration, and massive outsourcing of jobs are the issues that come to mind.

In foreign affairs the president has pulled back from every situation in the world. From drawing a red line in Syria, to a too fast draw down of troops in Iraq the president has not considered the unintended consequences of his decisions. Today Islamic terrorists are threatening Iraq, Syria, and many African nations. Now we are faced with thousands of children entering our country from Central America. He didn’t see the issue of thousands of children entering the country until the situation has become overwhelming? How can that be?

What we have here is a reactive presidency rather than a proactive presidency . The president reacts to situations. CNN and FOX seem to know what is happening before the president. He does not initiate attention to an issue.

Americans want their president to initiate the steps to resolve issues even before the public is aware. This is not a characteristic that can be evaluated until a person is holding the office of POTUS.

Barack Obama was the wrong choice for president. Sadly the Republicans did not offer Americans a good alternative. Perhaps this column should have been titled “America’s Broken Political System.”

NO to more California Water Bonds

40,000 people watch water spilling into the San Fernando Valley — LA Aqueduct opens Nov 5, 1913

40,000 people observed the opening of the aqueduct into the San Fernando Valley

The latest water bond proposal calls for $7.5 billion that would allocate $2 billion for surface and groundwater storage projects, $850 million for Delta levees and habitat restoration, and $1 billion for groundwater cleanup. If this sounds familiar you are not mistaken. We have spent billions of dollars doing the very same thing. None of those projects has resulted in more available water.

On December 9, 2012 George Skelton, Los Angeles Times commentator/reporter, wrote “The truth is that no matter what the size of the bond issue no additional water will come to Los Angeles nor will there be any additional water for agriculture. The reality is that Californians will have to face water rationing. However, construction companies will benefit from this giant expenditure. I wonder how much money will be donated to campaign re-elections.”

I conducted my own on line research on California water bonds and found the following bonds approved.

Proposition 13. In March 2000, California voters approved Proposition 13 (2000 Water Bond), which authorizes the State of California to sell $1.97 billion in general obligation bonds to support safe drinking, water quality, flood protection and water reliability projects throughout the State.

Proposition 40.In March 2002, California voters approved Proposition 40, a $2.6 billion state bond measure for conservation, neighbourhood parks, and coastline and watershed protection. Proposition 40 was the largest conservation bond measure ever approved in California.

Proposition 50.In November 2002, the $3.4 billion water bond measure, the largest in California history, was approved by voters. It provides $825 million in funding for CALFED for a variety of programs, including surface water storage studies, water conveyance facilities, levee improvements, water supply reliability projects, ecosystem restoration, watershed programs, conservation and water recycling. More on Proposition 50 is available at http://www.water.ca.gov/grants- loans.

Proposition 84. In November 2006 California voters approved this measure that will fund water, flood control, natural resources, park and conservation projects by authorizing $5,388,000,000 in general obligation bonds. The bonds will be used to fund various projects aimed at (1) improving drinking and agricultural water quality and management; (2) preserving, restoring and increasing public access to rivers and beaches; (3) improving flood control. See details of the law at http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/1008/files/prop 84 text.pdf.

My calculator says these propositions spent more than $13 billion. The cost to pay back those bonds with interest will most likely be double that amount.

California is up to its neck in commitments and needs. The recent claims that the state government has a surplus is incorrect. The surplus is only in terms of money needed to pay this year’s bills. We are drowning in future debt owed to retired teachers, retired state employees, and other bond commitments. Our infrastructure is falling apart.

Unless I hear some startling reason for this waste of tax dollars we should all vote NO to this give away.