I’ve been taking a break from blogging, but am going to do more soon.
More blogs soon
February 5th, 2010Comic turn in Norby vs. Ackerman Calif. Assembly race
November 7th, 2009Even if you’re not from California, you might find this amusing. A special election is being held Nov. 17 to fill a vacant seat for Assembly District 72.
The main candidates are Chris Norby, an Orange County supervisor, and Linda Ackerman, the wife of former Republican Senate leader and current lobbyist Dick Ackerman.
One hit piece being put out by the Ackerman campaign brings up a sexual harassment suit against Norby that was dismissed in court. According to one account, the accusing woman said Norby “made remarks about her legs.”
Isn’t the point of a woman showing her legs that men notice them?
That reminds me of a scene in “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,” starring one of my favorite comedy teams. The boys eventually meet the Wolfman, who says, “You don’t understand. Every night when the moon is full, I turn into a wolf.”
To which Costello replies, “You and twenty million other guys!”
Assuming Norby even made the remark — which is questionable — what’s the big deal? Does Mrs. Ackerman want to return to Victorian times, when when women wore hoop skirts? (And couldn’t vote.)
And aren’t Republicans supposed to be less Politically Correct than Democrats, less obsessed with every minor comment somebody might make?
The real issues
The Ackerman smears are a classic case of changing the subject — in this case away from the Ackermans being actual residents of Irvine, which is not part of the 72nd District. So she’s a carpetbagger.
Another matter is the fiscal record. Norby has turned in a superb record of fiscal responsibility on the Board of Supervisors. In the Assembly, he would be another Tom McClintock, fighting for every taxpayer dime.
By contrast, La Ackerman likely would be simlar to her husband. As I was the first to point out:
[Norby's] principal opponent would be Linda Ackerman, wife of Republican former state Senator Dick “Deficits” Ackerman. As Republican minority leader in the state Senate from May 10, 2004-April 15, 2008, he was part of the “Gang of Four” (the governor, plus the Democratic and Republican leaders in each house) that wrote the state budget, then got their colleagues to pass it. So he was responsible for the budgets from fiscal 2004-05 to fiscal 2007-08.
During those four fiscal years, general fund expenditures rose from $78.3 billion in fiscal 2003-04 (the year before he took charge) to $103 billion in fiscal 2007-08 (his last year in charge.) That’s a rise of $24.7 billion — or a whopping 32% — in just 4 years! (The data are on Schedule 6, page Appendix 13, of this .pdf.)
Backfire
I think the Ackerman tactic of smearing Norby will backfire. After all, the charges were dismissed.
And people are tired of so many ridiculous charges of harassment. Some voters will remember Anita Hill’s attack on Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearings to the Supreme Court back in 1991.
Real charges are serious, and should be pursued. But frivolous charges should not be pursued.
Especially during these difficult economic times — made worse by the wild spending of Sen. Ackerman — people are looking more closely at what’s really at stake.
In the next week, Norby can expect increasingly ridiculous assaults by the Ackermans. Let’s hope the voters see through it and vote for Norby.
“Escape from New York II”
October 28th, 2009Kurt Russell should make another sequel to his movie “Escape from New York.” This one, “Escape from New York II,” would feature New Yorkers fleeing tax-collecting ogres.
Reported the New York Post:
New Yorkers are fleeing the state and city in alarming numbers — and costing a fortune in lost tax dollars, a new study shows.
More than 1.5 million state residents left for other parts of the United States from 2000 to 2008, according to the report from the Empire Center for New York State Policy. It was the biggest out-of-state migration in the country.
The vast majority of the migrants, 1.1 million, were former residents of New York City — meaning one out of seven city taxpayers moved out.
New York rivals California in having terrible government. Mayor Bloomberg and the New York state’s governors have been obsessed with hitting people with greater taxes.
It was just in 2007 when Bloomberg and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger were celebrated as by Time magazine “The New Action Heroes.” Now, both men are global laughingstocks of bad government.
Come to think of it, Kurt Russell already made a flick about leaving Taxifornia, “Escape from L.A.” After making “Escape from New York II,” he could make “Escape from L.A. II.”
(Check this out: 3,500 TV Stations Directly On Your Computer.)
Time to leave Afghanistan
October 27th, 2009It’s always puzzling why presidents continue foolish wars. Both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon didn’t want to be “the first president to lose a war.” It turned out both, plus Gerald Ford, got tagged with losing the war.
Now, Obama is continuing Bush’s foolish Afghan war. 55 Americans have been killed there in October, a new record.
Meanwhile, a brave Foreign Service officer, Matthew Hoh, resigned in protest because the Afghan war is pointless. He’s also a former Marine captain. Let’s hope he’s the first of many such resignations.
What happened to Obama’s promise of “Change you can believe in”? So far, it’s “More Bush you can’t believe in.”
Obama needs to be like Ike, not Bush. (For you youngsters, that’s Ike Eisenhower, pictured at right, not Ike & Tina Turner.)
He should look to Eisenhower, who promised to “go to Korea,” did so after he was elected, and ended the war.
(Check out: 3,500 TV Channels Directly On Your Computer.)
(Check out: 12-Hour Cure for Yeast Infection.)
Free classical music
September 28th, 2009Here’s a great site with free classical music:
I can help you market your products and services
September 26th, 2009I’m doing marketing consulting now and just spent a weekend learning from one of the best marketers around. I might be able to help your company sell. Write me to set up a consultation:
john [at] johnseiler [dot] com
Take a break with Ludwig…
September 26th, 2009The following free concert begins with Beethoven’s little-known Opferlied (Offering Song). Then it continues with the complete, monumental Ninth Symphony. It’s by Philharmonia Baroque. More here.
Skip all that politics and listen to pure beauty…
Beethoven - Opferlied and Symphony Number 9 by Philharmonia Baroque
Greenhut leaving the O.C. Register
September 20th, 2009
I know what every government worker in Orange County is doing right now, this evening of Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009: Getting plastered on expensive booze, paid by their massive tax-funded salaries. They’ll be so hung over tomorrow don’t even try to do work with them.
They’re celebrating because the scourge of government in Orange County for 11 years, Steven Greenhut, announced today in his column in The Orange County Register that he’ll be leaving for Sacramento
to start a news bureau and investigative journalism project for a free-market think tank – Pacific Research Institute – as part of the “new wave” of journalistic endeavors sprouting up across the media horizon.
He’ll still be writing a weekly column for The Register, sometimes on Orange County issues. Indeed, I’ve always said he should be a national columnist. So perhaps his new job will lead to that.
But what will be missed are his daily, Rottweiler-tenacious attacks on the follies, waste, and criminality of Orange County government.
The good news is that he’ll be doing that against the state government, right from the belly of the beast. Gov. Arnold is going to wish he had stayed in Hollywood and made Terminator 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, Predator 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, and Kindergarten Kop 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.
New Greenhut book
You’ll also get a chance to read more Steve when, as he wrote, his new book on rapacious employee unions comes out before Thanksgiving. I’m helping edit it, and it’s a brilliant assault on the greed, power lust, and arrogance of today’s public “servants.” Unlike so many conservative and libertarian books that focus on the national government, Steve’s examines the government workers most of us suffer under every day: the local school, DMV, licensing, regulatory and other officials, and the brutal polizei.
In the meantime, read his book of a few years back, Abuse of Power: How the Government Misuses Eminent Domain. You can pick up for just a couple of bucks at the link on the right.
Great blog for military families
September 20th, 2009I don’t support the government’s current wars, which all are unconstitutional because Congress never declared war in any of them, as mandated by the U.S. Constitution.
But I support the troops. First, I support them so much I want to bring them home right away.
Second, I support military families. I was in the military myself, the U.S. Army from 1978-82, so I saw first hand the hard time these families have — especially when the troops are sent overseas, and even more so when the troops go into combat.
A great resource is The Kitchen Dispatch, by my friend Kanani Fong, whose husband is a military surgeon. She is a professional writer, and she writes every day. A sample blog is below; the picture is from that blog:
Compassionate, Quick, and Constant: A tribute to the medical teams
Today is one of those quiet, introspective days when I give thanks for all that we have. When I count my blessings that we are able to share our knowledge, expertise and experience with those who need it most.
Here’s a shout out to a group who has been charged with what seems to be the impossible. These are the techs, nurses, doctors, orderlies, janitors who work tirelessly to bring some semblance of peace into days wrenched with conflict, tension and uncertainty. Under conditions that most would never imagine, they save lives, take care of the wounded, and for those for whom it is too late, prayers are said and tears are shed.
So here’s to the solid professionals. The Real Deals. The Right Stuff. To the Forward Surgical Teams who will do this time and time again. Amazing. Utterly, spectacularly breathtaking. Their courage and commitment is to be admired.
Chris Norby for California Assembly
September 15th, 2009
Chris Norby
Most people think of Orange County as a place where conservative politicians thrive. Some do — but most actually are “moderates,” that is, liberals who try to appear conservative on some things.
One person who is the real McCoy is County Supervisor Chris Norby. He’s a principled opponent of the excesses of government, especially abuses of eminent domain that seize private property to help another, politically connected, private business. He’s always a reliable vote against government waste and for low taxes and bureaucracy.
Norby now might run for an open seat in the state Assembly. I hope he does. (He’s also considering running for county clerk/recorder, which would be a lesser position.)
The Ackerman Deficits
His principal opponent would be Linda Ackerman, wife of Republican former state Senator Dick “Deficits” Ackerman. As Republican minority leader in the state Senate from May 10, 2004-April 15, 2008, he was part of the “Gang of Four” (the governor, plus the Democratic and Republican leaders in each house) that wrote the state budget, then got their colleagues to pass it. So he was responsible for the budgets from fiscal 2004-05 to fiscal 2007-08.
During those four fiscal years, general fund expenditures rose from $78.3 billion in fiscal 2003-04 (the year before he took charge) to $103 billion in fiscal 2007-08 (his last year in charge.) That’s a rise of $24.7 billion — or a whopping 32% — in just 4 years! (The data are on Schedule 6, page Appendix 13, of this .pdf.)
If you look at the data, the budgets of those years appear “balanced.” But that’s only because of what in the state Capitol are called “gimmicks” — that is, accounting tricks that would land a private-sector accountant in prison for fraud. The actual deficit — with the gimmicks stripped away — is called the “structural deficit.”
As we saw this year, the “gimmicks” eventually are revealed as Enron-style legerdemain. In reality, if honest accounting were used, every budget of the Ackerman years was running structural red ink. And those were boom years, when there’s no excuse (such as higher welfare payments during a recession) for red ink.
As CalTax President Larry McCarthy wrote in 2006, during the middle of the Ackerman Deficits:
More than any other state, California offers promising opportunities to redirect and reprioritize spending. If elected officials in Sacramento had the political will to challenge public spending that is being ripped off, the structural budget deficit could be zeroed out.
The structural deficit is a $5 billion problem or 5% when calculated in relation to the total general fund.
If Ackerman had held firm on spending, the state’s budget would not have gone out of whack, and this year’s financial meltdown could have been avoided.
So, I hope another Ackerman doesn’t make it to the Legislature.
Go, Chris, go!
Posts
