Politics – Page 41 – Really Right

California’s Ideological Version of the Zombie Apocalypse

Given: The following logical propositions are true:

• Actions have consequences.

• Ideas have consequences.

• Elections have consequences.

Therefore, as we approach the anointing of Gavin Newsom as the next governor of California, I promise that you will see the attacks upon thought and personal beliefs accelerate in ways never seen before in the history of our nation.

Two harbingers of this have already been seen in the legislature—and be warned—they are just the beginning.

California Senate Bill 1146 (2016)

This threatens religious institutions ability to require that students attend daily or weekly chapel services, keep bathrooms and dormitories distinct according to sex, require students to complete theology classes, teach religious ideas in regular coursework, hold corporate prayer at events such as graduation, and so on. In other words, it threatens every practice that makes religious institutions distinct from secular institutions.

“The bill effectively eliminates the religious exemption under current law that allows Christian colleges and universities to operate in accordance with their beliefs, including the freedom to hire only Christian faculty and staff. If passed without amendments, the new law would also very likely disqualify students attending California Christian colleges and universities from eligibility for Cal Grants, a key state-level student aid program.”

California Bill Would Ultimately Erase Religious Schools

Religious leaders and colleges in California claimed victory this week after deflecting a proposed California bill that would have jeopardized state funding for students at religious schools that did not conform to state policy on gay rights.

At stake were hundreds of thousands of dollars in state tuition subsidies for tens of thousands of low-income students attending private religious schools. These subsidies come in the form of Cal Grants that provide substantial subsidies for poor students at private and public colleges.

The bill would have required any school whose students receive Cal Grants to comply with state nondiscrimination law and provide housing for same-sex married couples on an equal basis with heterosexual couples and to provide bathroom access to transgender students based on their chosen gender identity.

As amended, the bill would now be limited to two types of disclosure. First, colleges would have to publicize if they have requested a religious Title IX exemption from the federal government. Second, they would have to report to the state if a student is expelled for morality code violations.

This disclosure-only shift was hailed as a victory by religious schools and their advocates, but the victory may be a fleeting one.

Kristen Soares, president of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, which opposed the bill in its earlier form, said she expects the bill’s author to be back next year.

“This gives us more time to work on this issue,” Soares said. But, she says, she is under no illusion that this compromise is anything more than a pause .

California legislature balks at pulling grants from religious schools over LGBT issues

Assembly Bill 2943 (2018)

A new bill passed by the California Assembly on Thursday would classify the selling or advertising of gay conversation therapy as a fraudulent business practice.

Assemblyman Evan Low (D) said the practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation is ineffective…

California bill would classify gay conversion therapy as a fraudulent practice

A supporter of the concept of the bill, Conor Friedersdorf, wrote in the Los Angeles times, “…to settle what the law really is saying will require a decade of court battles .”

Conversion therapy for gays is awful, but so is California’s bill to ban it

Both the above pieces of legislation (and others I could cite) would be passed under Newsom. Governor Brown may or may not sign the one on Conversion Therapy. The thing you must remember is that all such legislation is just the next step to something else not the end in itself.

Folks, if you are a traditional, orthodox Christian whether you call yourself Roman Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, the State of California has placed you in their crosshairs for the purposes of extinction. You will conform or be persecuted. Sticking to your beliefs and teaching them to your children will have a cost.

The logical next step after private colleges are denied access to the Cal Grant program will be this: if you graduate from an institution that is not eligible for Cal Grants then you will be denied employment in any level of government. This may happen via the backdoor and the State may word the denial in terms of accreditation of institutions or some other weasel words. Perhaps they will require an affirmation of your support for homosexuality or abortion or whatever social issues they wish to attach. It will effectively be a Test Oath to swear allegiance to the power and wisdom of the State.

Truthfully, I’m surprised that current State employees don’t have to do this in some form already. I guess the assumption is that we really believe all the B.S. that they tell us or it just never occurred to them that many of us dissent from the wisdom of the rainbow people in government.

For example, State employees are subjected to sexual harassment training on an annual basis. Employees are required to sign-in at the training but currently no document is required with a signature saying that we agree, support, or affirm all the stuff the legislature says we need to do or believe. If you tune-out about 90 seconds of the one hour presentation then you likely just skipped the token rainbow pug for the year. I foresee the day coming when sitting in the room will not be enough, we will have to sign a pledge to tow the Party Line.

Most folks don’t understand that those elected to the Legislature are not bound by their consciences or oath to support and defend the Constitution; instead, their attitude is if you don’t like what we do then take the issue to court. Otherwise, shut-up and hold on.

The tyranny of the majority is here and they’re coming for you. The ideological version of the zombie apocalypse has begun and it’s an inside job.

The State of Our “gig” Economy

Hi, how is the local economy doing near you? I recently toured some areas in California with the Blog Father and was stunned at what I saw. I saw shopping malls and strip malls opening all over the Sacramento area; however, these are all low paying, barely minimum wage jobs, few of which offer any benefits!

I am old enough to remember when Ronald Reagan, whose modern-day heir is alleged by all you CRA and Tea Party folks to be Theodore Cruz, felt if the economy isn’t adding close 500k jobs a month we were going backwards, not growing! I find it ironic that the US population is 35 percent more than 1980 and adding half that number of jobs is regarded as a thriving economy. No wonder so many college graduates are living with their parents while they pay off their crushing student loan debt.

In the Reagan era, most jobs were decent paying private sector jobs; think factories, office buildings, etc. Now the jobs we are “gaining” are low skilled, low paying jobs, and oh by the way, the job numbers now also include a growing number government jobs, so I guess low wage and government sectors are growing nicely in this “service economy”; at least that is what I saw in sunny California. In the Blog Father’s town, several new government buildings have been added and several more are scheduled to be built. I guess if you owned the local Five Guys, BJ’s, Subway, etc. you are doing better but I argue the economy in general is doing poor and we are living in a mirage economy.

Look at how most corporations such as Intel, Apple, or even Comcast organization their employees. For example, I had Comcast install cable at my house; however, I noticed something funny when the technician showed up. The truck and their identification badges read: O. C. C. Communications, no Comcast logo anywhere. When I questioned this, not wanting to let strangers into my house, they said they were independent contractors used by Comcast for installs and service work. Since they were the only guys knocking on my door during the time the appointment was scheduled I let them in.

These guys do not work for Comcast; instead, they are contracted out and paid by the job, no benefits, or anything. Intel does the same thing, I bet in the Ivory Tower in Folsom, most of those “employees” are not affiliated with Intel at all, just vendors or contractors. The guy who delivered my FedEx package? He works for Package Delivery LLC, not FedEx. Want to take odds he is a contractor as well?

Now there are benefits to having a mostly contracted workforce do not get me wrong. Corporate labor costs become just another fixed expense because the details are somebody else’s problem. This makes product prices lower and outsources compliance to government’s myriad of labor regulations.

Such a workforce could/should be more motivated. Labor suppliers are motivated to perform because they know that their contract could end and they all may be terminated after a set date based on performance. Such an arrangement gives the parent company limited liability exposure if the labor force does poor workmanship.

But now the downside. In such an arrangement, you have no bargaining power, and no rights. If your “contracted employer” wants you gone…adios. You get no healthcare and pay no taxes so you’re on your own to settle up with Uncle Sam at Tax time. You are 100% at the mercy of your contracted company. If the contract goes out for bid and your company doesn’t bid the lowest, you’re out of a job. You are essentially a Labor Ready employee, knowing full well you are 100% disposable and completely at the mercy of your employer.

In our economy, there exists a tier below even this level. This is the “gig economy”.

In a gig economy, temporary, flexible jobs are commonplace and companies tend toward hiring independent contractors and freelancers instead of full-time employees. A gig economy undermines the traditional economy of full-time workers…

Definition: Gig Economy

Examples of the gig economy are companies like Airbnb, Uber and Lyft. Again you are an independent contractor but you are able to work in your spare time, as much or as little as you want.

Here is the problem with this system….government regulation. Well that fear is coming true in California, as the State Supreme Court ruled those workers need to be classified as employees not contractors. Yes folks that Uber ride you take to the airport, used to be $15, likely will be $25 soon.

This is the way it works folks, if you’re no longer a contracted worker then your employer is not going to allow you to wait around in your house for your Uber app to ding saying someone requested a ride. So you will be burning more gasoline driving around aimlessly. Oh what’s that, you want to work the late shift? Sorry we need you to work the morning shift! What’s that you don’t like it? You’re fired. Really the end game here is the State of California wants to allow these folks to unionize and pay more dues into the system to elect more socialists to give them “handouts.” This ruling actually hurts the people who depend on it the most, I’m talking in terms of Uber, Lyft etc. The gig economy allows younger people to work whenever they feel like it and earn a little extra money on the side, like to buy and smoke weed for example, or pay off your student loans, or something.

The gig economy has its place. It’s a nice supplemental income to support your minimum wage paycheck. Also it can be fun to have flexible hours. Lost in all this is the idea that the minimum wage was intended as a training and entry level wage, not something to continue earning for the rest of your adult life. It is not the minimum income to support a family and be a productive member of society.

This court ruling is being aimed at cracking down on big businesses trying to skate employment law, but it’s going to hurt the ones who depend on it most. I learned a lot about how millennial and Gen-X live these past few days. As much as I faulted them for being “live in your parent’s basement types”, boy was I wrong. How does one live on a paycheck of $1,750 gross a month? Especially when an apartment costs $1,100, and you have a car payment, insurance, cell phone, cable bill etc.? Along with $100k in student loan debt? Yeah I would drive for Lyft or Uber too. It’s too bad because the futures of these kids just got set back a decade, or forced them to become government slaves for life.

However if I may address the other side of this coin, the older workers on contract for a big company. This is a horrible way to live life, no benefits, being lied to, and living on a 90-day contract cycle. Some workers exist in a sort of limbo because the company they went to work for doesn’t want to pay medical or other benefits. Even worse, if the company doesn’t meet earnings expectations for its shareholders, your job could well be outsourced. This was the case for Conagra Brands (Chef Boyardee, Reddi-Whip, and Hunts) as they outsourced their entire sales team (over 1,000 jobs) to a Florida outsourcing company. The bottom line is, in today’s regulatory and Wall Street driven world economy, there are two sides to the coin. Heads I win, Tails you lose.

Until next time,

When Your City Has No Leadership and No Plan

By John Slamkowski

I want to take a moment to reflect on what has happened to my hometown of Elk Grove, CA. Several contributors to this blog live in Elk Grove. First some background. Our City was founded on July 1st, 2000, splitting off from being an unincorporated area in Sacramento County. The vote passed overwhelmingly; mostly because the folks pushing hardest made some convincing arguments.

The folks pushing cityhood argued that we (Elk Grove residents) were being overcharged and underserved by the County. The Elk Grove area is represented by one of five county supervisors and the other four could care less about our needs and concerns. Cityhood was advocated to allow residents to control their own destiny instead of being subject to the whims of folks that don’t live here. The cityhood plan was to contract certain services such as law enforcement and leave fire and parks to the Community Services District (CSD) which had been running them for many years while allowing the city council to manage other aspects of a small and fairly rural community.

It was hoped that cityhood would result in less expensive private trash service and a bus system that wasn’t Sacramento County backed Regional Transit (RT). On the surface the thoughts may have resonated well, RT most definitely was not perfect, and one would figure a private trash hauler would be cheaper than a county run one.

For a while things started off rosy. Trash bills went down as Waste Management took over garbage collection. The transition to a new bus service E-TRAN went like any other government takeover….horrific. E-TRAN was the first 100% hybrid bus fleet of its kind and in hot 100-degree Sacramento Valley weather, most of the buses either died or had the air conditioner go out frequently. Additionally, the buses had a very difficult time linking up with the RT buses to commute to downtown. I knew of one example of someone who was a lifeguard at James Rutter School. She would have to catch a bus that left at 6:30 AM just to be able to transfer to an RT bus and get to James Rutter by 11:30! The City also never understood one simple fact, mass transit is a drain on any budget; let alone when you decide to have a local bus as opposed to one administered Countywide. Additionally, no one is ever on those buses when I see them pass by!

A few years after cityhood passed, the carefully balanced cityhood agreement began to be dismantled by the city council. Two of the five council members who were active Sacramento County Sheriff deputies, were able to convince the council to establish its own police department. Before proceeding, I want to make one thing clear; no one writing for this blog is anti-police in any way, but this department is one of the worst run departments in the State of California.

First, when you form a new department, other departments around the area are more than happy to “pass the trash” from them on to you. (This term was used by a former lieutenant at EGPD by the way). Then we hired a police chief who resided full time in Renton, Washington, not Elk Grove. After telling you that, are you surprised our police department gets more complaints filed against it than any other city in Northern California?

The kicker came last year when a former trainee officer filed a discrimination lawsuit regarding his homosexuality against the city naming ¾ of the sergeant and lieutenants, as well as the outgoing chief and incoming chief of police, in addition to the internal affairs officers. Just as a side bar, not a single officer named in the lawsuit was placed on leave, terminated, or was ever investigated. It looks like a 7-figure settlement will be forthcoming. Hard to imagine if that is how they harass their own, what they must think of the average citizen who lives, works, or commutes through here daily.

58 percent of City of Elk Grove Budget is law enforcement
38,104,054/65,605,012=58.1 percent

City of Elk Grove 2017-18 Budget page 28

To make matters worse our City Council began appearing in the local and Northern California papers for all the wrong reasons. Some examples include a midnight vote guaranteeing health care benefits for life for the City Manager and City Attorney. Then one of our finest, Jim Cooper, who was on the council, also serving as a Sac County Sheriff Captain at the time, voted repeatedly on matters involving a contract between the City of Elk Grove and his own Sheriff department, leading to a grand jury investigation…ouch that had to bite. He will forever live in infamy with his Sheriff Deputy and councilmen pal Mike Leary—best known for being arrested after losing election for evicting his former girlfriend from their home and forging a document. Not to mention the City and our Parks, Recreation and Fire District, sued each other for several years regarding who should be in control of the City’s area parks. Like any other lawsuit, when two government entities sue each other, no side won or lost, lawyers got very wealthy, and the citizens got a Pepperidge Farm sausage to the backside.

During this period, city leaders began to see its residents as sources of revenue instead of the people that they were supposed to serve. Under the guise of helping law enforcement, the city installed “Cooper Cams ” at various intersection throughout the city to raise revenue to fund our ever-expending city payroll. The city doubled its utility tax, in part by calling it a tax cut in the ballot argument—which by the way was unopposed by the CRA and Tea Party folks living in our midst. The amount of taxes and fees just to break ground on a residential project rose to about $100,000 per home.

This was all happening during a time of unprecedented growth in this area. Population growth in Elk Grove was the highest in the United States for three years in a row. Most legislators in Sacramento resided in Elk Grove due to its quality of living and small-town feel.

Then the housing bubble popped, and Elk Grove found itself being hit extremely hard by its high concentration of subprime mortgages. This also saw the development of our “going to be better than Roseville Galleria Mall” stopped due to the mall developer’s parent company filing bankruptcy. The blighted area became a heavy topic of future city council elections allowing Steven Detrick and Steve Ly to get elected to the body. Suddenly the city that was known throughout the county as being a renegade town quickly became a part of the good ole boy network. By the way Detrick has more FPPC violations and grand jury investigations than most would have in several lifetimes.

Not long afterwards, voters decided to implement the election of a mayor every two years as opposed to rotating the job amongst the five council members every year. The original proponents of cityhood had purposely setup the rotating system amongst the five councilmen to allow for more sharing of power. No one person could have more sway with voters than another. Being mayor was just one among equals. The other purposeful distinction of cityhood was that candidates for council were elected by all the votes so that they were accountable to all not just represent their district to the exclusion of all else. It was a purposeful rejection of the model used by county supervisors in hopes that the council would act based on what is best for the city not just their little fiefdom.

It seems like since we got an elected Mayor that this city became Los Angeles on steroids. Suddenly strip malls start being built everywhere in central and western Elk Grove (Laguna). Worse yet, the buildings were erected but most never had a tenant, some even sit vacant to this day. It’s almost like the city just wanted property tax revenue as opposed to collecting tax just based on the land.

While that was going on, more disturbingly we began hiring top positions for our city from other cities throughout northern California, none of whom called Elk Grove home. Our City Manager Laura Gil? From ritzy El Dorado Hills. City Economic Director Randy Starbuck? Pittsburg, California. As mentioned earlier, the Police Chief continued to call Renton, Washington home.

When you hire people with no ties to your city, they tend to not have the best intentions. Take Randy Starbuck for example; he worked for this city from 2011-2014, a time where cities’ economies were reviving, and the result of his three years of hard work? 70 new jobs in Elk Grove, the majority being minimum wage jobs. Starbuck was known for the monthly “business trips” to Las Vegas to try to shake down businesses and convince them to come to Elk Grove. He also spent countless hours trying to lobby Major League Soccer to grant Elk Grove a team. Think about that for a couple moments, Las Vegas trips and a major league soccer team….in a town of 175k?

Editor’s note: If soccer is so great, how come nobody talks about the success of the taxpayer funded multimillion dollar facility in Stockton?

I attended the council meeting where Starbuck was grilled and had his fate sealed. I remember the meeting like it was yesterday, he was grinning ear-to-ear talking about how he had recruited Green Acres to open a store here in Elk Grove…..yeah….great success. The council let him have it, as did the actual residents of this town. Reality is, it wasn’t all Cluster***ks fault. The city manager and council share more than a majority of the blame. They allowed this man to run around unchecked and not held accountable. Also, Starbuck was not fired. Instead, he was put on paid leave for the remainder of his contract. Yes, folks we have a typical crony capitalist city out here now.

Despite efforts at economic development, the stores opening in Elk Grove aren’t much better either. We now have four Little Caesars Pizza stores, pretty much every chain restaurant known to man, a Smart and Final, Popeye’s, and a Grocery Store Outlet. Gone are stores such as Bel-Air, The Fresh Market, and Baguettes. Essentially the stores coming in match the clientele moving in, lower middle class and working poor families.

I doubt any legislative staff or legislator calls Elk Grove home anymore. They have all moved to Folsom, Roseville, or downtown. What do two of those cities have in common? They are fighting adding more Section 8 housing within their city limits. Again, I’m not being racist here, just stating the obvious. Look at the Franklin/west of Highway 99 area of Elk Grove; most of the government subsidized, low income housing was built there, and crime has skyrocketed. A friend of mine was hit by a hit and run driver in that area. Upon speaking to a police officer dispatched to take an accident report, he was told “hit and runs are an epidemic in this area now.” Crime being up and hit and runs are a direct result of police officers not chasing bad guys but instead focusing on writing tickets in an effort to close the budget gap in our town. Bringing me to my next point.

Remember how I talked about shopping centers popping up on each available square inch of land in the city? Government buildings are going to start popping up very soon as well. The city council is spending money they don’t have like a couple of drunken congressmen. In the hopper already is a new library (keep in mind we have two already run by the County), an convention center (the Falls Convention center was built less than two years ago and with private funds) an aquatic center (we have 2 water parks already—run by CSD—as well as two privately owned gyms with Olympic sized pools). Apparently, the city needs to have facilities that they can control, or it doesn’t count.

At the January 13, 2016 City Council meeting, staff presented a conceptual Civic Center Master Plan for the southern portion of the Civic Center site that would include an Aquatic Center and Commons, Senior Center/Community Center, Veterans Hall, Children’s museum, Library and botanical gardens/nature preserve. At the meeting, the City Council directed staff to proceed with the completion of the refined Civic Center Master Plan, including a Phase 1 of the project, which includes an Aquatic Center, Senior Center/Community Center and Veterans Hall. The site plan and facilities continue to be refined through design team efforts and public outreach.

These Phase 1 projects are estimated to cost approximately $61 million.

City Planning and Special Projects

By the way, our city council thinks we will get some of the summer Olympics events here if California bids for them. Yup, why would an Olympic swimmer want to swim in sunny southern California with Shamu and Mickey Mouse, when they can choose Elk Grove, that mass of houses in a bedroom community near Sacramento?

We are building a sports complex in sparsely populated east Elk Grove. I’m not upset because I live out there, I’m upset because if you live on the other side of Highway 99—which goes through the center of our town—you are closer to downtown Sacramento than to Grant Line Road.

Elk Grove city employees are seeking input on possible features and amenities at a proposed sports complex on property just south of the city.

City staff at a July 11 workshop will provide a presentation on the 100-acre parcel near the corner of Grant Line and Waterman roads in south Elk Grove.

City Manager Laura Gill said the cost to build all of the elements at the complex is estimated at around $110 million.

Elk Grove Citizen: Sports Complex

Also, rather than pay Sacramento County for animal shelter services at 500k per year, we are going to build our own dog pound for 12 million dollars plus salaries, benefits, and upkeep. Lastly, we will be getting a landfill at some point because…well we could get fees from other cities and municipalities to dump here!

Bid document for Animal Shelter and Community Center

Again, these will all be government administered buildings, which means more government jobs, pensions and benefits paid out later, paid for by bonds and taxpayer dollars right? Or will they be?

Remember that mall that was supposed to get built? Every 6 months we got an update from one or more of our council members saying we will be breaking ground soon. Our Mayor at the time, Gary Davis, said in the Fall of 2018 that the mall would be ready to be up and running.

“Outlet Mall. Howard Hughes Corporation (HHC) continues its development and leasing efforts for The Outlet Collection at Elk Grove, which will involve the construction of approximately 775,000 square feet of commercial uses… certificates of occupancy must be issued for 400,000 square feet by November 2018…” City of Elk Grove 2017-18 Budget page 3

City of Elk Grove Budget 2017-18

Steve Detrick told me to my face that city staff were cold calling and already had half the leases spoken for at our state-of-the-art mall that would make every other city jealous.

During the mall talk, an Indian Tribe nobody ever heard of before started looking at Elk Grove to build a casino, yes one of those casinos. We were told again by the same two city councilmen and soon to be Mayor Steve Ly that a possible site could be at the mall, but the casino was just doing fact finding on available options.

Then overnight, the casino was announced. The casino developers promised that between the city and local school district over 132 million would be contributed over 20 years.

The Elk Grove City Council on Sept. 28 unanimously approved a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with the Wilton Rancheria. The tribe is proposing a $400 million entertainment and gaming facility on a 35.9-acre site near Highway 99 and Kammerer Road.

If the casino opens for business, the tribe would pay nearly $132 million in recurring and nonrecurring payments to the city and community of Elk Grove during the first 20 years of the MOU.

Elk Grove Citizen: Council Approves Casino Agreement

“The total cumulative payment from the Tribe to the community over 20 years is approximately $132 million. This amount far exceeds that which the City would expect to receive from tax revenues associated with the portion of the mall site upon which the Casino would be built.”

City of Elk Grove 2017-18 Budget page 4

The only good to come of this was that the city’s effort for a local sales tax increase was put on hold for a few years. The casino was coming to Elk Grove in the place of the planned mall….let’s call this exhibit 666 from our three congenital liars on the council. This casino is being built because the city wants to expand and thinks it can legally extort its citizens to do so, via laundering the money through gambling agreements.

I have been harboring my feelings of frustration on the decline of our community for a long time but then the big boom, last straw or whatever you call it occurred when I went to my mailbox the other day and found a city-taxpayer funded glossy with an outline of Elk Grove, the purpose of which was to encourage citizens to spend money inside the lines, so it stays local to fund citywide initiatives. At that point I felt the need to vent on the mismanagement and hypocrisy that passes for local government from people claiming to represent me.

Shop Between the Lines Newsletter

The article makes a point to avoid the Target on the other side of Calvine Road, even though that Target wanted to locate in Elk Grove before being rebuffed. Ditto for both the Lowe’s and Costco. Add the Walmart on Florin Road to that list, Steve Detrick fought it and that propelled him to be a councilmember. Additionally, targeted, ironically are the CarMax and the new Delta Shores Mall by Green Haven. This is rich, both entities wanted to be in Elk Grove. CarMax was willing to make every concession possible, but they were told “NO”, so they built just on the outside of Elk Grove. Delta Shores, a nice brand new shiny mall, should have been here in Elk Grove but instead the council wanted a casino. Full disclosure we are getting a Costco soon, but this is what happens when you have no vision and no plan.

Stormy, Romance, and Trump

On Sunday, CBS’s 60 Minutes is scheduled to air a segment on Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels.
In it, Trump will be berated for paying women for sex and giving gifts.

Also circulating is this story:

Stormy Daniels’ attorney hinted on Thursday that he may have hard evidence that the adult-film actress had an affair with President Trump…

Link: Stormy Daniels’ lawyer posts photo of mystery disc in a safe

“Hard evidence” in the porn industry? Last I heard, they only cared about one thing being hard but I’ve never heard it described as evidence before.

Stormy is getting all the attention now but waiting in the on deck circle is Karen McDougal. McDougal is a former Playboy model that reportedly had a relationship with Trump in 2006.
Link: Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal says Trump tried to pay her after making love

Folks, for the sake of this post, I will stipulate that Trump did pay women for consensual sexual relations and that there are more women that are less willing to come forward and discuss it.

Who cares? Trump has been married at least twice and constantly surrounds himself with beautiful women. Doesn’t our culture teach us that rich guys do that? Hollywood does it in their movies and in real life. They tell us that is a sign of success. How many movies have you seen where the rich guy—usually a bad guy at that—has a swimming pool full of scantily clad women at his beck and call. We expect James Bond to have at least two women in every movie and in the next flick two more and that is just the way he rolls. They are working on the 27th Bond flick so that is at least 54 women this character has bedded with a slam, bam, thank you ma’am.

Rush Limbaugh, the man who claims that you can trust him in a Motel 6 with your wife and daughter was busted with 29 Viagra pills upon returning from a sex tour in the Dominican Republic.
Link: Rush Limbaugh’s Dominican Stag Party

Folks, rich and powerful men have been behaving like this since we were booted from The Garden.

In my freshman year of college, I remember Denise Macintosh telling me that the only thing more powerful than sex and drugs was Jesus. If you don’t know God, you will fill Pascal’s God shaped vacuum with other things to try to fill the void, folks that have the means often resort to sex and drugs.

So why is this attack on Trump taking place?

First, the Liberals are trying to make a moral equivalence between Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.

However, the two are not comparable. Trump and Clinton are both unfaithful to their marriage vows but the similarity end there. Clinton is a serial rapist. He often takes who he wants by force. Clinton also preyed on young women. He appears to have trouble reigning-in his appetites.

Second, the Establishment is trying to drive a wedge between Trump and his conservative base.

Much of Trump’s base has been unmoved by the controversies surrounding his administration. This frustrates the hell out of the Liberals and media types. They keep probing for the issue to separate supporters from Trump so they can bury him. Short of impeachment, they would love to make him a one term anomaly so they can get back to business as usual.

Why Trump Attacks Don’t Phase Supporters
Folks, sorry but I’m not buying this attack on Trump. I know he’s no saint (and he doesn’t claim that he is). I do pray for the man and hope that he will find a saving faith in Christ. Flawed as he is, Trump is the last hope for the Republic.

Look at the demographics and trends when he took office, if Trump fails to turn the direction of the country, there will never be another Republican in the White House; ever. The Democrat Party will do for the other 49 states what they are doing here in California. Obama pushed the country to the brink of oblivion and now is the tipping point that will determine if the Republic has a chance of survival. The issues at stake are bigger than any man but as Providence would have it, the burden has fallen on a blue collar guy that has a New York attitude. Mr. Trump, I’m not alone in wishing you Godspeed in your administration.

Facebook Data Breach: Not

There is much nonsense going thru the Internet today about a Facebook data breach that was supposedly used to help elect Donald Trump. If you believe that Trump stole Facebook data to get elected, then I have a bullet train that I’d like to sell you. (Sorry, come to think of it, the people that bought the crap about the bullet train would believe this load of fertilizer too.) We also have it on good authority that neither George nor Aaron Park is believed to have impacted the results of the 2016 Presidential election.

Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg—a big time Liberal—was a zealous supporter of Mrs. Clinton in the last election. As you may recall, Mrs. Clinton’s only qualification to be President was that she slept in the same house with one for eight years—how often they spent together is a matter of speculation. Nevertheless, Zuckerberg is believed to be harboring aspirations for the Big House, I mean White House in 2020.

Given the partisan nature of Facebook and hostility that they have to anything religious, pro-Constitution, or generally Conservative, clearly Trump’s campaign could only benefit from Facebook data by stealing it, right?

Actually, Facebook gave the data on 50 million users away for free.

The reality is far more distressing: Facebook basically gave away our profile data. The company has always made all of this data available…

According to some excellent reporting by The New York Times, Cambridge Analytica built a personality survey app that required a Facebook log-in. That app was distributed by a compliant Cambridge University professor, who claimed the data would be used for research. This was entirely legal and in accordance with Facebook’s policies and the profile settings of its users. That the data was passed from the professor to Cambridge Analytica was a mere violation of Facebook’s developer agreement.

Around 270,000 Facebook users reportedly downloaded the survey app. So how did Cambridge Analytica harvest the data of some 50 million users? Because they were Facebook friends of people who downloaded the app.

Facebook’s policies and default privacy settings allow apps to collect massive amounts of profile data. That information is supposed to be used to provide you with a customized product; in reality, it’s usually tailored advertisements. The most painful part is that we users opened the door to these apps — the user has to download the app and grant it permission to access their Facebook profile. It tells you right up front what data it wants access to.

Taking the survey required allowing access to your Facebook profile. Thanks to Facebook’s default privacy settings (which only a small portion of users have changed) the survey app also pulled in the profile data of millions of Facebook friends.

That your data was readily available for exporting and exploiting — via your friends — should both appall and infuriate you. But this was not a breach or a leak; it was an exploitation of Facebook’s own tools and rules.

URL Link: Facebook never earned your trust and now we’re all paying the price

Sadly for Never-Trumpers and Democrats, no laws were broken, no furry animals were harmed, and no Russian spycraft was involved.

UPDATE
This was not just OK when Obama did it, it was brilliant.

The left is outraged that President Trump’s campaign used data mining to win the 2016 election – but neither the media nor Democrats seemed to mind when President Obama’s team did the same thing.

Shapiro noted that Facebook didn’t object when Obama’s team used tactics similar to what Trump’s campaign employed, noting that a former Obama campaign staffer recently admitted Facebook didn’t try to stop Obama’s 2012 re-election team because the company wanted him to win.

Obama’s campaign built a database of every American voter using the same Facebook developer tool used by Cambridge, known as the social graph API, according to the Washington Post. This technology allowed the Obama campaign to access information of voters to figure out “which people would be most likely to influence other people in their network to vote,” according to the paper.

Liberal media didn’t think data mining was so bad when Obama’s campaign did it

Why Republican Losses Are Good For Trump

Republicans have an openly hostile relationship with President Trump. We all know this but it’s really difficult for a sitting President to be at war with his own Party. Trump has a strategy to fix this, but it involves pain. I don’t like that Trump keeps backing Establishment candidates in the various special elections that have occurred since he was sworn in; however, the electorate doesn’t mistake Trump as part of the Establishment. If Democrats take back either the House or Senate, it will be a different dynamic. Trump will be the beneficiary. Here’s how.

• It’s OK that Trump is openly at war with the Democrats because they are the other Party.
• Trump will get more legislation passed if he must deal with the Democrats. Trump will gladly take 65 or 70 percent of something he wants than 100 percent of nothing—which is what the current crop of feckless Republicans have given him. But what about the tax cuts? Folks, the tax cuts are temporary, and, in a few years, they will revert to the old rates unless Congress passes more legislation. Remember, Washington wants issues to campaign on; they are not in the business of fixing anything.
• Without incumbents in election races, Trump can back whoever he wants and there is no political downside for him. Trump can handpick a legislative team willing to work with him. Even if the Establishment doesn’t like him, they will be forced to publicly pledge themselves to working with the President.
• Trump is head of the Republican Party and can control where much of the campaign money is spent.
• The Establishment types love power more than anything so they will set aside their differences with the President if they think he can help them keep their jobs.
• Trump—like Reagan—can bring issues before the public and bypass the media and political class.

Truthfully, it may not require the Democrats to prevail in November. The thought that it could happen may be enough. If Republicans stand with Trump they will be OK but if they try to throw him under the bus, then they might be the ones looking to spend more time with their families after November’s ballots are cast. Trump’s name is not on the ballot this year, but he has a better track record than any Republican campaigning in this cycle. If Republicans in Congress run on their own record they will lose, if they run with Trump they will win.

21 to Buy a Gun?

Ok, I simply don’t get this at all. Why is it that the same generation that forced a Constitutional Amendment to change the voting age from 21 to 18, is the same group demanding that a person now be over 21 to buy a gun?

Back when I was a kid in the 1970’s, the Vietnam War was in full swing and the Draft was a way of life for the youth of America. Those wishing to avoid the draft could get a deferment by going to college or Seminary—which is one reason that the clergy in many churches are so damn liberal and don’t believe in God. As a last resort, many sought refuge by fleeing to Canada.

As it went on, Vietnam became a very unpopular war; the number of casualties and shear number of draftees increased all through the 1960’s. A tour in Vietnam was one year so those drafted at age 18, could serve their time and return to civilian life before they were old enough to vote in most states. This became part of the argument against the draft and was summarized in Barry McGuire’s Eve of Destruction:

You’re old enough to kill but not for votin’,

You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’,

Known in my youth as “the footprint of the American chicken”.

As result of Vietnam, the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was introduced and passed in a record three months and 8 days. It was ratified on July 1, 1971.

Flash forward a few decades and now these same people and their voting aged offspring want to go in the opposite direction. Now they want to be able to vote that they are too immature to properly handle a weapon. Do you not see the irony of this?

Back in the day, carrying a weapon and voting age were proclaimed to be synonymous; their linkage went hand-in-hand, but now…

Truth Claim #1
When it comes to guns, 18 is too young to understand the consequences of your actions and thus you should refrain from the behavior.

Truth Claim #2
Isn’t this the mirror image of the logical fallacy that abortion supporters use?

When it comes to sex, Liberals proclaim that you should engage in the behavior all you want regardless of age but if there happens to be any consequences, we can remedy that…

A woman uses bad judgement and gets pregnant but somehow her choosing to abort the baby is praised as the most mature and loving decision that she can make. Liberals claim this is her rite to make with no input from family, clergy, or others. And please don’t give me the line about this being a decision between a woman and her doctor. That is a bald-faced lie. Most woman have never met their abortionist before and unless they need another abortion will never see the guy again. This is doubly true because a large segment of abortionists are not properly licensed to practice real medicine. Being “baby butchers” is the only gig many can get any more.

Liberals want a national standard that you can’t purchase a gun until you are 21 unless you join the Army and then its ok to kill strangers in faraway places when you are only 18. Why is this solution better than in 1969? Didn’t “the people” solve this in 1971?

Sorry but there is no age limit in the Constitution related to firearms. The Second Amendment is not about hunting, it’s about using deadly force for self-defense. Hunting is just something to do with the weapon when you don’t need it for other things.

Our laws send mixed messages. How can a twelve-year-old in California legally shoot a deer and not be able to buy a gun? If purchasing and possession are different under the law, then what good is having an age limit? Some people can handle a weapon responsibly and others can’t. Our society relies of our use of self-government to make that determination. Training and experience are primary factors in the use of firearms, age is secondary. I killed my first deer at age 10 and my uncle killed his first Japanese soldier in WWII when he was 15 years old.

So, if you’re not mature enough to buy a gun until you’re 21—which is the same rule many states have for alcohol purchases—why should you be allowed to vote at 18? Voting wrongly—like for Democrats—can harm more people for a longer period of time than any Columbine wannabe. Democrats believe in genocide for the poor—abortion* , enslavement of generations not yet born due to irresponsible fiscal policies, euthanasia for the sick and elderly, and one set of rules for the rich & ruling class and another for the rest of us.

* Worldwide, Democrats and their fellow travelers kill 50 million children every year via abortion and yet somehow, they are regarded as champions of the poor. This is so illogical as to be farcical. Margaret Sanger said that she founded Planned Parenthood to “eliminate poverty by eliminating the poor” and called black people “weeds”. For those that can’t see the inherent problem with these truth claims try this: poor people voting Democrat is like Hindus thinking McDonalds and PETA were the same organization because both claim to serve beef.

Concerning raising the voting age, why stop at 21? Let’s require that you must hold a steady job for four years plus be say 40 years old and have a family and then maybe you’ll vote more responsibly. If you are young enough to confuse government handouts with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny then you are too young to vote.

A national law mandating age 21 to purchase guns is stupid, but its even more stupid to have all public property be “gun free zones” except of course where the lawmakers work and they have armed security, metal detectors, and x-ray machines—things they won’t let the rest of us have.

Issues That Are Never Solved

There is an old saying, “he who frames the issue wins the debate”. But what is supposed to happen is that after the debate, (eventually) the issue is solved or voted upon and then we move on. However, sometimes that doesn’t happen. Did you ever wonder why?

Before I proceed on this topic, please understand that I am the messenger. I wish to have readers look at my examples not in terms of agreeing with one side over another but as a political analysis.

I wish to begin with two topics that seem to have no solutions: abortion and immigration.

Abortion
Abortion opponents say that they wish to have government support life and will stop at nothing short of the human life amendment.

A Human Life Amendment can be both a unifying strategy for individuals and organizations and a powerful political tool to discern the true pro-life convictions of our elected officials.
The ultimate goal of the pro-life movement

Abortion supporters want unlimited abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy—this is the status quo under Roe v Wade. Plus, they want you to pay for them with taxpayer dollars. Many see abortion—or the absence of child bearing—as the only way to have real equality with men.

As you can see, there is no room for common ground, compromise, or any other of the usual political maneuvering using such a binary equation.

Immigration
Some folks want to allow everyone that can get inside the borders of the United States to come and then once here, they wish to unilaterally confer upon them all rights and privileges of citizenship without them even asking for it. No assimilation is required. This includes voting, employment and education. Think California once Gavin Newsom is sworn in as governor.

Other folks say they want to deport everyone here illegally. For them, Trump’s wall is just a symbol of the protectionism necessary to insure United States sovereignty. They wish to keep illegals from accessing any of the programs or opportunities available to our citizens. Only those who followed the established path to Green Cards and citizenship are welcomed.

As you can see, there is no room for common ground, compromise, or any other of the usual political maneuvering using such a binary equation.

Yes, there is a segment of squishy people in the middle of both these issues but the people driving the issue tend to be on one side or the other.

My question is why can’t a political solution be found for either issue? My answer is simple. Neither side wants it solved. They would rather have the issue to get votes in the next election than fix anything.

Remember Obamacare and the Republicans? Republicans wanted the issue for campaigning but really had no plan to “repeal and replace” even though they campaigned on that promise for eight years. When they got the chance with majorities in the House and Senate plus a supportive and friendly President, they could pass no legislation because there was no plan.

In the same way, abortion is not about killing or not killing babies, its about votes. Democrats view being pro-abortion as a winning issue for them and most Republicans view being pro-life as being to their benefit. Again, this is just posturing.

I have been told by Liberal Republicans that they wish the pro-lifers would go away because social conservatives have ruined the Party. My response is “simple, get the taxpayer money out of the issue. If you do, abortion will no longer be a political issue.” Think about it, both sides have built their respective fortresses on the issue of “to fund or not to fund”. Yes, there are moral issues involved but without taxpayer money, it is a mute topic at election time for the vast majority of folks.

Immigration is a more complex issue but given a choice of fixing a defective and broken system or having the issue at election time, politicians of all stripes would rather have the issue than fix it.

Conclusion
This ladies and gentlemen is the real gridlock in Washington. Both teams are happier playing “prevent defense” than winning. To strike a decisive blow for your side is to risk galvanizing the opposition. Think of it as trying to steal the other guy’s honey without being stung by their bees in the process. Get as much as you can and still make a clean getaway. This is what passes for modern statecraft.

Or to use a different analogy, we have entrusted our economic harem to the eunuchs in Washington hoping that they won’t screw us too badly.

Unarmed Trump Really Has Pursued Bad Guys

Someone once said “it ain’t bragging if you can do it” or words to that effect. President Trump got roasted by the media yesterday when he said that he would run into a school to stop a shooting even if he wasn’t armed. The Left had a cow but guess what? He’s actually done something very similar before…

Trump’s lightly-educated critics ignore history, including a 1991 incident in which The Donald rush to stop a mugging in New York and chased the armed assailant away, despite lacking any weapon himself. As James Rosen reported at the time in the New York Daily News, “When he saw ‘a big guy with a big bat’ bashing another fellow, Donald Trump did what any self-respecting billionaire would do: He ordered his driver to pull over.” Trump confronted the armed assailant, who recognized him and claimed not to have done anything wrong. Trump reportedly asked the mugger, “How could you not do anything wrong when you’re whacking a guy with a bat?” The mugger then ran away.
FLASHBACK: Donald Trump Rushed To Stop An Assailant In 1991 Even Though He Didn’t Have A Weapon

By the way, what even happened to the idea that a hero runs into a building when everyone else is running out?

Thoughts on California’s Housing Shortage

Happy Friday!

I’m just wondering what things are like in your corner of the world? Here in the shadow of California’s capitol, I keep hearing how great the economy is but I think its wishful thinking. Prices of food and energy keep going up due exclusively to government policies. In my town, Elk Grove, the city council is spending money faster than a drunken Congressman with a new girlfriend.

The only fault here that any politician will admit is a housing shortage. What shortage? The only thing in short supply is affordable housing. Ten years ago, at the peak of the housing boom, it cost about $100,000 per lot just to get a building permit. Wages, taxes, and utilities cost much more than ten years ago, but real estate prices in my area have never recovered their peak values of the last decade.

Nevertheless, single people that I know at work are paying apartment rental that is double what my monthly mortgage is costing me. What is worse is that there is plenty of housing available. I have three empty homes in my neighborhood that are within a two minute walk of my driveway. Two of the three are not even listed as being for sale. Yep, they are just sitting there. One has been empty for about two years and another for six months, and the third for about four months. Another family on my street is closing up shop and heading out of state later this year. If this is a common occurrence then things are worse than I imagine.

I fear that by the time Gavin Newsom and the gang in the “bill mill” are done with this state, we will be comparing ourselves to Haiti or Puerto Rico. That’s when you know that California has achieved its goal of being the worker’s paradise that we have been promised. Oh, and then government will have created affordable housing to boot. Until then, buckle-up.