Farewell To My Friends

I have spent a lot of time trying to think of what I would say to each of you in this, my last, Monday Morning Memorandum. God, and some gonzo lawyer, has put an end to this phase of my political career, and I personally don’t have the hardware or the training to send this out each week to the 30 or so thousand of you that receive this memo. So, I have to end this commentary, for the moment. If I can, I will resume it, but for the moment, this is the last of my comments to you.

14 years is a long time, and I have spent that time in Sacramento doing what I can to change the direction of California. For the moment, it appears that I have been unsuccessful, but I know that my duty has been done. I stood for what I believed was right. I expressed that belief at every occasion, and I fought the battles necessary. For that, I have earned great friends and a good life.

To my constituents in Western Riverside and Northern San Diego Counties, thank you. It has been a great honor in my life to be able to represent you. You invested a level of faith in my abilities. I only hope that I have justified the faith you had in me. To the others who have fought the good fight, I only hope that from time to time something I have said and done helps you continue the fight. Our country and our state are worth fighting for. The freedom our founding fathers secured with their blood, and each succeeding generation has preserved with theirs, is unique in this world, and it is our duty to pass it along to our children. No sacrifice is too great to ensure that we preserve that legacy. It would be a sad comment if our posterity were to look back at our time and said, “They ruined it for us.” It is our responsibility to ensure their futures.

There will always be those who say that compromise and peace are better than freedom. We will be exhorted to lay down our arms to “work together” with those who would expand their power at the expense of our freedom. That is the siren’s song. We cannot destroy our children’s future freedom on the shoals of a compromise to achieve a peace that increases the power of government. Diligence in the preservation of freedom requires a willingness to ignore the insults of those who counsel surrender to power. Our short term distress and unease will yield to the long term internal peace in the knowledge that we have done our duty for our children and grandchildren, that we have preserved this great republic for their enjoyment as our forbears preserved it for us.

The battle is never over. Even now, after this last election, some are telling us to give up, to “just get along” with those who have made it clear that their acquisition of power is more important than freedom for our children. My counsel is this: Never give up. This is just one short term setback in the return of a national and state government that recognizes its limits and its power. The next election is just two years away, but freedom sacrificed for short term peace may never be regained.

I don’t know what will happen to me. I do know that the cause for which I have fought these last 14 years is an important cause. It is the cause for which hundreds of thousands have fought and died throughout the entire history of our Republic. It is the cause of limited government, individual freedom, and family. It is the cause of freedom.

In my time in the Legislature, I have had the opportunity to cut your taxes, and the opportunity to participate in a small way in the historic recall of a Governor. I have had the opportunity to fight against every increase in the size of state government, and to fight for families and the children not yet born. I may not have succeeded in all my endeavors, but I have never turned from a fight. I never will, and I hope you don’t either.

Thank you.

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Let's do our part to thank veterans

http://www.dailybulletin.com/opinions/ci_4627233

11-09-06

All Americans owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who have served in uniform. I feel strongly that we must do more to recognize the contributions of veterans and to express appreciation. On Veterans Day - and throughout the year - I would like to see Americans take the following steps to show our individual and collective thanks: Think about veterans. Take a moment to remember those who have served in the armed forces.

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School district devours classroom funding

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/op-ed/
editorial2/20061105-9999-mz1ed5bottom.html

11-06-06

One of the enduring mysteries of our public school system is why spending more money does almost nothing to better educate our children. The answers are troubling. For openers, California pours far too much money into the maw of school district bureaucracies. Consider San Diego Unified, which in 2001 spent 62.5 percent of its operating budget inside its classrooms. That's according to SchoolMatters, a neutral clearinghouse for federal data. This year the district's budget calls for just 53 percent. So a key measure of efficiency is in free-fall.


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World listens in online when Cal professor teaches physics

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/
c/a/2006/11/06/BAGCVM6PHC1.DTL

11-06-06

UC Berkeley physics Professor Richard A. Muller finds himself suddenly popular in some surprising corners of the world. It turns out self-starting students in 35 states and 43 countries have been watching the 90-minute "Physics for Future Presidents" talks he gives every Tuesday and Thursday morning to a packed lecture hall of 300 undergrads on campus. And the list is growing.

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Election could drive minimum-wage hike

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-minwage
9nov09,1,4304720.story?coll=la-headlines-
business

11-09-06

The first raise in the U.S. minimum wage in a decade has become a very likely possibility following Tuesday's Democratic election victories and passage of minimum-wage ballot measures in six states. President Bush suggested Wednesday that he would agree to a hike in the federal minimum, set at $5.15 an hour since 1997. This could restore a bit of California's competitive edge by making its recently passed minimum-wage hike less out of line with other states.

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Santa Ana is now nation's largest city with an all-Latino city council
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-
santaana9nov09,1,1362569.story?coll=la-
headlines-california

11-09-06

Santa Ana has already been anointed the most Spanish-speaking city in the United States. Now, it is the largest U.S. city with an all-Latino city council. On Tuesday, three Latino candidates won seats on the city's seven-member council, joining four other Latino incumbents. According to the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, no other city with a population over 300,000 holds that distinction.

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San Bernardino's bad luck underlies its crime wave

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-
sbmurders6nov06,1,1000463.story?coll=la-
headlines-california

11-06-06

As daylight faded in San Bernardino, Reggie Brown, 12, traced a familiar path on his red bike: from Home Avenue to the white house on Magnolia Street where his friend Anthony Ramirez, 11, lived before he was shot to death. One evening in June, nearly a dozen neighborhood kids were choosing teams for a pickup basketball game at nearby Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School when a 15-year-old aspiring gang member fired into the crowd, striking Anthony in the back.


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State ads blur lines of political influence

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/71366.html

11-06-06

California's state auditor last week issued a scathing review of the practices of a commission created in 1998 when voters approved a tobacco tax increase to fund services for young children. The California Children and Families Commission, the auditors said, used shoddy practices and violated state law in awarding millions of dollars in contracts to private firms for public relations work to promote its causes. But these transgressions, serious as they are, were run-of-the-mill government malfeasance. The commission skirted bidding rules and failed to account properly for costs. These problems can be corrected with better controls and improved oversight. People who broke the law can be prosecuted.


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New York Plans to Make Gender Personal Choice

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/nyregion/07
gender.html?ei=5090&en=2586a6f49b530f49&ex=
1320555600&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc
=rss&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1162953783-
nH7zdytSjxXLuNR7opwHNA

11-7-06

Separating anatomy from what it means to be a man or a woman, New York City is moving forward with a plan to let people alter the sex on their birth certificate even if they have not had sex-change surgery. Under the rule being considered by the city’s Board of Health, which is likely to be adopted soon, people born in the city would be able to change the documented sex on their birth certificates by providing affidavits from a doctor and a mental health professional laying out why their patients should be considered members of the opposite sex, and asserting that their proposed change would be permanent. Applicants would have to have changed their name and shown that they had lived in their adopted gender for at least two years, but there would be no explicit medical requirements.

******************************

Full legislative text, analyses and votes are available on the State web server at:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov

Assemblyman Haynes’ office can be reached at (951) 699-1113 in Temecula, California
or in the Capitol in Sacramento at (916) 319-2066

To subscribe to this Memorandum by e-mail, please send a request to:

Assemblymember.haynes@assembly.ca.gov

To Contact California State Senators:
http://www.sen.ca.gov/~newsen/senators/
senators.htp

To Contact California State Assemblymembers:
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/
acsframeset7text.htm

From - the editor@ccnews.org - it has been a pleausre and joy to stand in the wing watching and assisting the Monday Morning Memorandum as a blog with real satisfaction. Assembyman Haynes, you have done an outstanding job and you are much appreciated by the people of California. We will not forget you. Instead we will pray for God's blessing of protection, direction and favor (pdf) over this next phase of your life. The best is yet to come! Thank you for your leadership and sacrifice as a public servant!

Fight For Freedom

FREEDOM COSTS

November 6, 2006

This is a call to action. For too long, we have been told to “vote our pocketbooks.” That sort of selfishness has left us with a selfish government. We can no longer vote “our pocketbook,” we must vote for our children’s political freedom.

For those who may wonder what they can do to vote for freedom, it is simple. We need to vote for smaller government, less taxes, property rights, and candidates who support these principles.

That’s it, and that has to become a moral imperative for those of us who believe in these principles.

Bonds grow government. Taxes grow government. Property rights shrink government, and shrink government taxes.

That is why the Governor’s opposition to Proposition 90 makes absolutely no sense.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I like Governor Schwarzenegger, and he is the better candidate by far. Even when I was criticizing him for growing state government too much, I still wanted him to be re-elected. The alternative would be disastrous. That desire, however, doesn’t mean that I abandon all common sense.

In his statement opposing Proposition 90, the Governor said that he believed “independent analysts” who said that Proposition 90 would lead to “higher taxes,” and that is why he is opposing the initiative. Of course in reality, his bonds are more likely to lead to higher taxes than Proposition 90, but even assuming that were not so, when have those in “government” been worried about increasing taxes? The independent analysts the Governor cited have openly and consistently advocated for greater taxes for welfare and other government programs. It appears that the only time they apparently worry about increased taxes is when the government is going to have to pay out money if it intrudes on individual freedom.

More important, the independent analysts are not all that independent. They work for government, and ignored the evidence brought to them that Proposition 90 will not cost any more money. Unfortunately, for these “independent analysts,” they sacrificed their independence to achieve a political goal, that is, the defeat of Proposition 90.

Even if the initiative would cost more money, the cost would be justifiable, since the major role of government is to protect our personal security and our individual freedom. Having said that, however, I don’t believe Proposition 90 will increase government costs one penny. What it will do is change the government’s behavior. Right now, government can trample on an individual’s property rights with impunity. Proposition 90 will hold those government officials accountable if they do so. That is fair and proper. To complain that a government agency may have to pay if that agency abuses a landowner is akin to arguing that it is unfair to require someone to pay for an accident they caused. It is nonsensical.

I don’t expect our elected officials to understand the nuances of protecting freedom, but it is fair to expect them to do all they can to protect individual freedom, not government prerogative. Unfortunately, the Governor chose government over the individual when choosing to oppose Proposition 90. The Sacramento establishment opposed 90, and the Governor chose not to fight that establishment.

We, however, can fight that establishment. We can choose freedom. We can choose property rights. We can choose to limit the power of government and to limit government prerogative when it interferes with our individual freedom. We can do that when we vote. Many Americans have fought and died to protect our freedom. We can honor their sacrifice and their legacy by choosing to exercise our vote to promote and protect freedom. Voting for freedom is not that great a sacrifice, but it can make all the difference in the world for the future we are creating for our children.


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Taxing Decisions

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/
20061101/news_lz1ed1top.html

11-01-06

You are not alone if you think this year's voter information booklet, which seems as thick as the San Diego phone book, is pretty intimidating. Thankfully, however, help has arrived from the Tax Foundation. In a recent study, the respected Washington think tank reports that California's tax policies make it more hostile to business when compared with other states. Last year, California's “business tax climate” was the nation's ninth-worst; this year it is the nation's sixth-worst, surpassed only by those rust-bucket engines of innovation in New York, Ohio, New Jersey, Vermont and Rhode Island.

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819 More From Class Of ’06 Pass California Exit Exam

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/
news/local/15909108.htm

110-02-06

When more than 40,000 seniors from the Class of 2006 failed to pass the California High School Exit Exam before graduation in June, many schools offered prep classes and extra help. The hope was that educators would track the students who didn't receive a diploma and encourage them to keep taking the test until they graduated from high school. But five months after graduation season, only 819 students -- about 2 percent of the former seniors who didn't pass the exam last year -- have earned winning marks and the chance for their high school diploma.

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Is the Sky Really Falling? A Review of Recent Global Warming Scare Stories

by Patrick J. Michaels, The Cato Institute

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.
php?pub_id=6622

08-23-06

Executive Summary

In the last two years, a remarkable amount of disturbing news has been published concerning global warming, largely concentrating on melting of polar ice, tropical storms and hurricanes, and mass extinctions. The sheer volume of these stories appears to be moving the American political process toward some type of policy restricting emissions of carbon dioxide. It is highly improbable, in a statistical sense, that new information added to any existing forecast is almost always “bad” or “good”; rather, each new finding has an equal probability of making a forecast worse or better. Consequently, the preponderance of bad news almost certainly means that something is missing, both in the process of science itself and in the reporting of science. This paper examines in detail both recent scientific reports on climate change and the communication of those reports. Needless to say, the unreported information is usually counter to the bad news. Reports of rapid disintegration of Greenland’s ice ignore the fact that the region was warmer than it is now for several decades in the early 20th century, before humans could have had much influence on climate. Similar stories concerning Antarctica neglect the fact that the net temperature trend in recent decades is negative, or that warming the surrounding ocean can serve only to enhance snowfall, resulting in a gain in ice. Global warming affects hurricanes in both positive and negative fashions, and there is no relationship between the severity of storms and ocean-surface temperature, once a commonly exceeded threshold temperature is reached. Reports of massive species extinction also turn out to be impressively flawed. This constellation of half-truths and misstatements is a predictable consequence of the way that science is now conducted, where issues compete with each other for public support. Unfortunately, this creates a culture of negativity that is reflected in the recent spate of global warming reports.

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Sun Delivers For Oakland Mail Plant

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/
localnews/ci_4584229

11-01-06

Chevron is going solar. The San Ramon-based energy company today unveils one of the nation's larger solar arrays, a nearly 1-megawatt system atop the U.S. Postal Service's processing plant in West Oakland. The solar array, combined with energy-efficiency improvements made throughout the cavernous sorting plant, will save the agency an easy $1 million a year and cut power purchases from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. by nearly one-third.

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Choices, choices, choices

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/47308.html

11-01-06

When it comes to natural gas, California faces a quandary. On one hand, the state does not have a terminal anywhere along its coast that can off-load LNG (natural gas that is stored in a ship in its super-cooled, liquefied form). On the other hand, California does have an increasing demand for natural gas. It has become the clean-burning fuel of choice to generate electricity and heat homes. Yet new domestic supplies aren't keeping up with future demands.

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The Audacity of Hospitals

Do you want cheese with that whine?
Written By: Greg Scandlen, Health Care News, The Heartland Institute

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=19987

11-01-06

When it comes to audacity, no industry has hospitals beat. For how many years have you heard them whine about the inappropriate use of emergency rooms? The hospitals are especially unhappy because they are the providers of first resort for all the illegal immigrants coming into the country, which adds an enormous burden to their finances. So the federal government appropriates one billion dollars to help with that problem ... and the hospitals can't be bothered to collect it. A September 19 Chicago Tribune article quoted the director of the federal Center for Medicare Management, Herb Kuhn, as saying, "We are really not certain why providers are not claiming the money." The article lists a number of excuses the hospitals give. They complain they might have to hire a staffer to apply for the funds because the application process is too complicated. The feds won't give them enough money (so they would rather have none). And reason number one is that it would be rude to ask patients about their immigration status.

******************************

Brewer’s Millions

http://dailynews.com/opinions/ci_4581983

11-01-06

If the cliché that you get what you pay for holds true in public education, then the Los Angeles Unified School District will soon have an educational miracle-worker as superintendent. It better. Because absent some truly extraordinary leadership, it's hard to see how the taxpayers of Los Angeles aren't overpaying for incoming Superintendent David Brewer III. Aside from his staggering six-figure salary, just look at Brewer's other perks: A $45,000 annual expense account. A $3,000 monthly housing allowance. Plus a car - and a driver.

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Neither rain, nor sleet, nor squirrel ...

‘It was a freak thing,’ PA letter-carrier says after attack by jumpy rodent

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15530693/

11-02-06

OIL CITY, Pa. - Letter carriers occasionally have to deal with angry dogs or maybe even a spider’s nest in a mailbox, but a mean squirrel?

Barb Dougherty, a 30-year Postal Service employee, said she was attacked and bitten Monday by a squirrel while delivering mail in Oil City, about 75 miles north of Pittsburgh.

“It was a freak thing. It was traumatic,” Dougherty told The Derrick newspaper. “I saw it there on the porch, put the mail in the box and turned to walk away and it jumped on me.”

She said the animal ran up her leg and onto her back.

******************************

Full legislative text, analyses and votes are available on the State web server at:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov

Assemblyman Haynes’ office can be reached at (951) 699-1113 in Temecula, California
or in the Capitol in Sacramento at (916) 319-2066

To subscribe to this Memorandum by e-mail, please send a request to:
Assemblymember.haynes@assembly.ca.gov

To Contact California State Senators:
http://www.sen.ca.gov/~newsen/senators/
senators.htp

To Contact California State Assemblymembers:
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/
acsframeset7text.htm

The Real Evil In This Election - October 30, 2006

By Assemblyman Ray Haynes

I guess I’m a real political junkie. I just love political commercials. I know it sounds weird, but I actually change channels during the news programs during an election season, just to see the commercials. Who’s running them, what they say, what they think the issues are, and who are they trying to talk to. Call Republicans racists in the last three weeks of a campaign, and African Americans will forget the bad things that Democrats have done over the last two years, and vote straight Democrat. Talk about raising taxes, and Republicans will vote against it. Talk about protecting the environment and improving education, and Democrats will vote for it. Quite frankly, the messaging becomes so important that the substance of the message is often lost in the words of the message.

Take the No on 90 campaign. They are trying to have it both ways. The “taxpayer trap” words are trying to get Republicans and the “environment” language is trying to get Democrats. They are wrong on both counts, but that is why they are doing it. Messaging.

We see the same thing in the Yes on 86, 87, 88, and 89 campaigns. These initiatives are tax increases. When the Yes on 86 campaign says they want to tax big oil, they don’t say “We are going to tax Big Oil, and give the money to ‘Big Government.’” They say, Big Oil is destroying the world, and we want to stop big oil, and create alternative fuels. You don’t like Big Oil, so you want to stop them, too.

Or, Big Tobacco. Big Tobacco is killing your kids, and they want to kill you. We are going to stop Big Tobacco.

I don’t give money to Big Tobacco. I don’t give money to Big Oil. I pay for gasoline because I like my SUV, and that darn thing needs gas to go. But you can rest assured I will never buy a Prius, or some other low emission vehicle. I hate them. I want to make Big Oil rich with my car. I really dislike cigarettes, so I will never make Big Tobacco rich. However, in both cases, it is my choice. The point is that Big Oil and Big Tobacco make big money because we give it to them for gasoline and cigarettes. If we don’t buy cigarettes, or if we buy a sissy, prissy Prius, they make less money. That is fair.

Big Government, however, makes money by taking it from us. If I don’t like Shell, but I like Chevron, Chevron makes money. If I don’t like the gas tax, but I don’t care about the cigarette tax, I still have to pay Big Government. Big Government doesn’t care about my likes, dislikes, desires, or satisfaction, it just takes the money. The subtext of each of the campaigns for the initiatives to raise taxes is “We don’t like ‘X” industry or group, so take their money, and give it to ‘Big Government.’”

Big Government, not Big Oil or Big Tobacco or special interests or rich people, is the problem. Big Government takes our money, and spends it on what they want to spend it on. My choice is to pay or get shot.

The real evil in society is Big Government. Big Oil and Big Tobacco will leave us alone if we don’t want their stuff. Big Government will search for ways to harass us. As long as we keep giving it money, it will continue to ask for more, and those who make money off of Big Government will continue to pay for the laws to take more. If we vote for Big Government, I guess we get what we deserve.


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We Worked Until July 12 to Pay for Gov't

Written By: Elizabeth Karasmeighan, Budget & Tax News, The Heartland Institute

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=19645

09-01-06

The typical American this year worked until July 12 to earn enough gross income to pay his or her share of spending and regulatory burdens imposed by federal, state, and local governments, according to the annual Cost of Government Day (COGD) report issued by Americans for Tax Reform. "The Cost of Government Day report has become a true measure of whether the conservative movement is achieving its goal of shrinking the size of government," said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, upon the report's release July 12. "And this year's report demonstrates that there is a lot more work to do at the federal, state, and local levels to prevent government from growing out of control."


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Union Dues And Don’ts

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/opinion/
editorials/article_1329028.php

10-25-06

A fundamental American freedom is being able to spend – or not spend – one's own money on political campaigns, for persons or initiatives. Money forcibly taken from a person to support a candidate or initiative that the person opposes is a form of tyranny. In early November the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearings on one of the most important cases in this area, Washington vs. Washington Education Association.


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State Regulations Drive Up Health Care Costs: Study

Written By: Michael Coulter, Health Care New, The Heartland Institute

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=19753

10-01-06

A report released this summer by The Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis (CDA) demonstrates a strong relationship between state regulation and the rising cost of individual health insurance plans. Insurance premiums are $80 per month higher in states that require more than the national average of 26 benefits, mandate direct access to specialists, make employers liable for damages because of health plans, or prevent insurers from terminating contracts with medical providers, than in states without those regulations. "Differences in health care costs are due to insurance regulation," said author Michael New, Ph.D., a political scientist at the University of Alabama. "In fact, regulation in some states makes it almost impossible to offer individual health insurance plans."


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Backlog in California DNA database impedes detectives

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dna24
oct24,1,710411.story?coll=la-headlines-california

10-24-06

With state officials 14 months behind in putting DNA evidence into a database, Los Angeles police detectives are having a tougher time identifying suspects in hundreds of violent crimes, including five that apparently involve serial killers, officials said Monday.


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Region's illegal immigrant population pegged at 272,000

http://californian.com/articles/2006/10/25/news/
top_stories/1_04_4910_24_06.txt

10-24-06

NORTH COUNTY -- According to a new study, an estimated 272,000 illegal immigrants are living in San Diego, Imperial and southern Riverside counties, a figure that translates to nearly 7 percent of the region's 4 million residents. While the percentage of illegal immigrants remained in the single digits, their numbers are rising rapidly, according to the study. The number of illegal immigrants living in San Diego and Imperial counties rose 38 percent; in southern Riverside County, the number rose 18 percent between 2000 and 2005, according to the study commissioned by the American Immigration Law Foundation, a nonprofit in Washington that supports legal immigration.


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Big Drop In U.S. Home Prices – California Sees Rise

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/
2006/10/26/BUGHQLVSTH1.DTL

10-26-06

National housing prices took a record fall in September as the pace of sales skidded for the sixth consecutive month. The median price for an existing home nationwide -- including single-family houses, condos and co-ops -- dropped 2.2 percent to $220,000 from $225,000 a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. It was the biggest drop on an annual basis in monthly housing prices on record.


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Taxifornia, Here We Come

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/opinion/
editorials/article_1330494.php

10-26-06

California may be back on its way to becoming Taxifornia – and that's before voters give their verdicts on Propositions 86 (cigarette tax), 87 (oil tax), 88 (property tax) and 89 (corporation tax). California was rated as having the 45th-worst tax climate among the 50 states in 2007, down from 42nd in 2005, according to the Tax Foundation's State Business Tax Climate Index, released this week.


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LAUSD Added More Charter Schools In Fall – City Now Has Most In U.S.

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_4557582

10-27-06

Los Angeles Unified opened 20 charter schools this fall - roughly one-third the total launched statewide - with most of them modeled after existing programs, the California Charter Schools Association announced Thursday. The opening this fall of 65 public charters in California brings the total to more than 600 campuses, with some 220,000 students enrolled. With that surge, one in 15 public schools statewide is a charter.


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Analysis: Environmental Activists Just Don't Get It

Written By: Joel Schwart, Environment New, The Heartland Institute

http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=19733

10-01-06

America's entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are passing up a chance to earn billions of dollars by investing in technologies to reduce California's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The only way to overcome business people's stubborn refusal to get rich is for California policymakers to adopt mandatory GHG controls. That's the conclusion of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Climate Action Team, according to an April report to the governor, and of researchers at the University of California at Berkeley Climate Change Center in an August report, "Economic Growth and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in California." The UC-Berkeley experts claim meeting the governor's GHG reduction target--a 25 percent reduction in GHG emissions by 2020 when compared with a "business-as-usual" projection--would increase California's economic output by $74 billion per year, or more than $1,700 per person. If that's true, then reducing GHGs would create tremendous wealth in and of itself, and society should be eager to do so regardless of how concerned we are about human-induced climate change.


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Celebs Who Claim They're Green but Guzzle Gas

http://www.tmz.com/2006/10/18/celebs-who-
claim-theyre-green-but-guzzle-gas

10-18-06

Hybrid cars are all the rage in Hollywood. Celebrities drive them like they're a badge of honor. You save a few gallons of gas, you save the planet. Right? Well, not when you hop on a private jet and burn enough fuel to propel NASCAR through 2050. Of course, the stars need to go here and there. The location shoots, the fabulous vacations, etc. But that's why God created United Airlines. G-IV's, on the other hand, were created in the image of precious celebs.


******************************


Full legislative text, analyses and votes are available on the State web server at:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov

Assemblyman Haynes’ office can be reached at (951) 699-1113 in Temecula, California
or in the Capitol in Sacramento at (916) 319-2066

To subscribe to this Memorandum by e-mail, please send a request to:
Assemblymember.haynes@assembly.ca.gov

To Contact California State Senators:
http://www.sen.ca.gov/~newsen/senators/
senators.htp

To Contact California State Assemblymembers:
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/
acsframeset7text.htm

The Greatest Generation? - October 23, 2006

A lot of comments have been directed at this country’s “greatest generation,” those who suffered the Great Depression, fought World War II, and then rebuilt this country from the ruins of those catastrophic events.

I remember, as my generation attended college and entered the workforce, a lot of debate among my peers as to what we would do when we take over. We all thought we would “do it right,” make this country a better place to work, live and raise a family. I think I can say, having inherited a sizable legacy from the “Greatest Generation,” the baby boomers have pretty much screwed things up.

My peers really thought they were smarter than anybody else. Just ask them. They will tell you how much smarter they are than you. You are greedy. If you keep your money, you will just spend it on selfish things, like food, clothing and shelter for you and your family. You have to give your money to them, so they can spend it on food, clothing and shelter for your family. Medical care? Education? If you choose your doctor or your children’s school and pay for it, you will refuse to make sure your kids are healthy or can read and write. If they choose your kid’s doctor or school and pay for it, your children will get quality health care or education.

Of course, you have to hire them to do the work, and because they are so much smarter than you about what is good for you, they are going to require you, by use of government rules and regulations, to pay them a lot of money. They then use that power and money to enhance their power and money, not because they are greedy. Of course not, you are the greedy one, not them, because you don’t want to give them more of your money.

As a result of the arrogance of my generation, our health care system is falling apart, and our education system has collapsed. Government is bloated, incompetent, and inert. My generation is so smart, however, that these problems cannot possibly be our fault, so we keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting to make things better.

Most of the initiatives on this November’s ballot prove this point. With the notable exceptions of Propositions 83, 85, and 90, the rest of the initiatives grow government, increase taxes, and/or expand government spending beyond all comprehension.

When I joined the state legislature in 1992, total state general fund spending was $42 billion. Our bonded indebtedness was about $15 billion. The Legislature talked about floating a $3 billion school bond. Today, total general fund spending is $102 billion; our bonded indebtedness exceeds $50 billion, and we have floated $35 billion in school bonds in the last six years. My colleagues in the state legislature still think we are not spending enough money, that we don’t have enough money to build schools, and that the people of the state of California are still too cheap because they don’t want to pay more in taxes.

When the “greatest generation” took over state government, they built an entire freeway system, a water system, a higher education system, and our entire K-12 structure on a state budget of less than $15 billion general fund per year. We can’t build a dam, a freeway, a levee, a school or a university on $102 billion. We can hire 50,000 new bureaucrats who will sit around and collect $100,000 a year to think about how they can build a freeway, school, dam, or university better, but they will never actually build anything.

I wonder what our kids will say about us when we hand this mess over to them.


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VOTE!

PROPOSITIONS ON THE NOVEMBER 7, 2006 BALLOT

Prop. 1A: Transportation Investment Fund Protection. Will make it harder for the Government to borrow money from the Transportation Investment Fund (TIF). The State cannot borrow the money more than twice in any 10 year period, and must repay it within 3 years. Prohibits Suspension of Prop 42 if the money from a previous year has not been repaid. Any money borrowed to date must be repaid by June 20, 2016.

SUPPORT: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Democrat Pty; CA Republican Pty

OPPOSE: Los Angeles Times


Prop. 1B: Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, Port Security Bond Act of 2006. Authorizes the issuance of $19.925 billion of general obligation bonds for high priority transportation corridor improvements, port security projects, and mass transit projects, and local street and road improvement, congestion relief, and traffic safety. Part of the Governors Infrastructure Plan.

SUPPORT: Governor; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Democrat Pty; CA Republican Pty

OPPOSE: Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes


Prop 1C: Housing & Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2006. Authorizes the issuance of $2.85 billion in general obligation bonds for various housing programs for the poor and homeless, infill development, and housing related parks. Part of the Governors Infrastructure Plan.

SUPPORT: Governor; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Democrat Pty

OPPOSE: Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes ; CA Republican Pty


Prop 1D: Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2006. Authorizes the issuance of $10.416 billion in general obligation bonds to provide aid to school districts, county superintendents of schools, county boards of education, the California Community Colleges, the University of California, the Hastings College of the Law, and the California State University to construct and modernize education facilities. Part of the Governors Infrastructure Plan.

SUPPORT: Governor; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Democrat Pty

OPPOSE: Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes


Prop 1E: Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Bond Act of 2006. Authorizes the issuance of $4.09 billion in general obligation bonds for the purposes of financing disaster preparedness and flood prevention projects, such as the levees in Northern California. Part of the Governors Infrastructure Plan

SUPPORT: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Democrat Pty; CA Republican Pty

OPPOSE: Asm. Ray Haynes


Prop. 83: Jessica’s Law – punishments and restrictions on sexually violent predators. . Increases penalties for violent and habitual sex offenders and child molesters. Prohibits registered sex offenders from residing within 2,000 feet of any school or park, and requires lifetime Global Positioning System monitoring of felony registered sex offenders.

SUPPORT: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; CA Republican Pty; CA Democrat Party

OPPOSE: Los Angeles Times; CA Attorneys for Criminal Justice


Prop. 84: Flood Control. Natural Resource Protection. Park Improvements Bonds. Authorizes the issuance of $5.388 billion in general obligation bonds, for safe drinking water, water quality and supply, flood control, state and local park improvements. Cost of about $10.5 billion over 30 years.

SUPPORT: Governor; CA Democrat Pty; Phil Angelides

OPPOSE: Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; CA Republican Pty


Prop. 85: Waiting Period And Parental Notification Before Termination of Minor’s Pregnancy. Amends the California Constitution to prohibit abortion for un-emancipated minor until 48 hours after physician notifies minor’s parent or legal guardian, except in medical emergency or with parental waiver.

SUPPORT: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; CA Republican Pty.

OPPOSE: CA Democrat Pty; Los Angeles Times


Prop. 86: Tax on Cigarettes to fund Emergency Room Services. Imposes an additional tax of $2.60 per pack on cigarettes as well as increasing the taxes on other tobacco products for the purpose of funding emergency services at hospitals, nursing education, and to provide health insurance to eligible children.

SUPPORT: CA Democrat Pty; Phil Angelides; Los Angeles Times; Am Lung Assoc; Latino Issues Forum

OPPOSE: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Republican Pty


Prop. 87: Tax on oil extracted in California. Imposes a tax of 1.5% to 6% (depending on oil price per barrel) on crude oil extracted in California. Establishes the California Energy Alternatives Program Authority, an energy bureaucracy to disperse funds for alternative energy research, alternative energy vehicles, and energy efficient technologies.

SUPPORT: CA Democrat Pty; Phil Angelides; Pres. Bill Clinton; Julia Roberts

OPPOSE: Governor ; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Republican Pty


Prop. 88: Imposes a Parcel Tax for education funding. Imposes a $50 per parcel tax on all property in California, to raise funding for public schools to provide for class size reduction, textbooks, school safety, and computer systems. Will raise about $450 million annually.

SUPPORT: Jack O’Connell, CA Sup of Education; Los Angeles Times

OPPOSE: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; CA Democrat Pty; CA Republican Pty


Prop. 89: Public Financing of Campaigns. Candidate must collect a specified number of $5.00 contributions, (from 750 to 25,000 depending on the office, and money must be turned over to the state), they may receive public campaign funding. The amount of funding would depend on the office sought. For Assembly, they could receive up to $250,000 for the primary, and $400,000 for the general election. It increases the income tax rate on corporations and financial institutions by .2% to fund the program. It imposes new limits on private campaign contributions (For Assembly it would reduce the individual and corporate contributions from $3,300 to $500). Provides for each candidate who choose public funding and won their election, to receive $50,000 annually to pay for campaign expenses..

SUPPORT: Phil Angelides; CA Nurses Assoc; Sierra Club

OPPOSE: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Republican Pty


Prop. 90: Restrictions on the use of eminent domain by government. Amends the Constitution to bar state and local governments from condemning or damaging provide property to promote other private projects or uses. Provides for just compensation for government takings for public use.

SUPPORT: Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; CA Republican Pty

OPPOSE: CA Democrat Pty; Nature Conservancy; Sierra Club; CA Teachers Assoc


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Rental Ban For Illegal Immigrants Enacted

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/
20061019/news_7m19ecoun.html

10-19-06

With supporters calling it a historic day for the city and the United States, the City Council voted 3-2 yesterday to enact an ordinance that prohibits landlords from renting to illegal immigrants. In so doing, Escondido becomes the largest city in the nation to pass such a law, which opponents say will be challenged in court and hope never will be enforced.


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Taxing gifts

http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/editorials/
stories/PE_OpEd_Opinion_D_op_17_ed_
remittances1.31f4a8b.html

10-17-06

The Federal Reserve Board undermines America's border security efforts by encouraging illegal immigrants to pump billions of dollars out of the U.S. economy every year in the form of "remittances." Congress should tax remittance services and use the revenue for border security programs. U.S. banks collect hundreds of millions of dollars a year from immigrants who transfer money to relatives in their home countries. Given how lucrative such services are for banks, Congress is unlikely to crack down on the practice. But legislators don't need to ban remittances to discourage illegal immigration; taxation could accomplish the same goal.


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In A Pickle Over Plans To Pay For Retirement

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/39174.html

10-16-08

When Tim Smith was running for City Council a few years ago in the Sonoma County town of Rohnert Park, he noticed a footnote in a city document that mentioned the public's liability for health care benefits the city had promised its employees in retirement: $39 million. That seemed like a big number for such a small town, and Smith, who is now mayor, began asking questions. Why did the city owe so much money?


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Your Taxes At Work In Alabama

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez1
5oct15,1,2386875.column?coll=la-headlines-
california

10-16-06

Whether you live in Eureka or Escondido, vote Democrat or Republican, make six figures or barely break even, one thing unites all Californians. We're being pickpocketed. For every dollar sent to Washington in federal taxes in 2004, the last year for which records are available, 79 cents came back to the state in spending, contracts and services.


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Caltrans – Dodging Reform

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/
abox/article_1314012.php

10-16-06

For more than three decades, the California Department of Transportation has dodged efforts to reform its controversial land-management practices. An Orange County Register investigation on Sunday showed how the department's appetite for property acquisition has turned neighborhoods into eyesores and deprived local government of millions of dollars in property taxes.


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O.C. Supervisors OK Plan to Allow Deputies to Act as Immigration Officers at Jail

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ocsupes
18oct18,1,1301600.story?coll=la-headlines-california

10-18-06

Orange County supervisors approved a plan Tuesday to allow 24 sheriff's deputies to act as federal immigration officers so they can check inmates' legal status when they are booked into county jail. The program will expand efforts already underway by U.S. authorities to identify illegal immigrants in the county's jail system, by checking the status of foreign citizens brought into custody.


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I Is Smart

Study finds half of college graduates are only semi-literate
Goldwater Institute, Center for Educational Opportunity

http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article.php?
/1151.html

10-17-06

Earlier this year, the American Institutes for Research (AIR) assessed the literacy of 1,800 graduating seniors from 80 randomly selected two- and four-year colleges and universities. What they found was not pretty. 20 percent of U.S. college students completing four-year degrees have only basic quantitative literacy skills. That means they are unable to estimate if their car has enough gas to get to the next gas station or to calculate the total cost of ordering office supplies. The study also finds that more than 50 percent of students at four-year colleges have only the most basic literacy skills, meaning they can't do basic tasks like summarize the arguments in a newspaper editorial. On both measures, students at two-year colleges perform even worse.


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Educators Look To Duplicate Charter Success

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20061020/NEWS01/610200320/1001/
NEWS01

10-20-06

Charter schools outperformed their traditional public school counterparts on standardized tests in 2006, and educators in charter and traditional schools are hoping they can use the results to improve education everywhere. Not only did charter schools outperform traditional schools, according to a report released earlier this month by the California Charter Schools Association, test scores among charter schools that have been in existence for five years or longer tend toward the top.

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Full legislative text, analyses and votes are available on the State web server at:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov

Assemblyman Haynes’ office can be reached at (951) 699-1113 in Temecula, California or in the Capitol in Sacramento at (916) 319-2066

To subscribe to this Memorandum by e-mail, please send a request to:

Assemblymember.haynes@assembly.ca.gov

Welcome to the Conservative California Election Website!

Welcome to Robyn Nordell's Conservative California Election Website

For the November 7, 2006 General Election

Remember - You do not need to fill in every office or proposition
on your ballot in order for the ballot to be valid.

Our Governor, Legislators, Local Officials, and Judges
Are going to be making decisions that affect these important issues:

War on Terrorism... Illegal Immigration... Eminent Domain Abuse...
Education... Out of Control Spending... Massive Bond Debt...


The "LGBT" agenda in our public schools and communities
(Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transsexual)...
Euthanasia... Cloning...Embryonic Stem-Cell Research...

Every Election is Incredibly Important!

If you find this information helpful,
Please tell others about our site!

Assemblyman Ray Haynes Debates Prop 90 at Chapman Law School

YOU'RE INVITED!
I WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN A DEBATE ON PROP 90

PLEASE FORWARD TO INTERESTED FRIENDS!

Friday, October 20, 2006: PLF-Sponsored Eminent Domain Debate in Orange County

What: Symposium on eminent domain issues and DEBATE ON PROPOSITION 90 (initiative that would restrict eminent domain) . Free to general public. Attorneys may receive 3 CLE units for $15 ($10 for current Federalist Society members).

Co-sponsored by Pacific Legal Foundation.

Where: Chapman Law School, Room 237, One University Drive, Orange, California 92866.

When: Friday, October 20
1:00 p.m. Panel One: History of Eminent Domain and Current Controversies.

3:30 p.m. Panel Two: DEBATE on Prop. 90, which, if passed, would restrict eminent domain and other regulation.

"Yes on 90": Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Riverside; Professor Gideon Kanner, Loyola Law School

"No on 90": Gary Patton, Planning and Conservation League; Ken MacVey, Best Best & Krieger

Moderator: Dave Stirling, Pacific Legal Foundation

5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Reception.

You are invited to a discussion and debate on property rights and eminent domain this Friday afternoon, October 20, at Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California.

Co-sponsored by PLF, the event is entitled, "Eminent Domain: An Imminent Danger?" Lead-off speaker will be PLF attorney Timothy Sandefur, whose new book, "Cornerstone of Liberty: Property Rights in 21st Century America," has just been published by the Cato Institute.

Another highlight will be a DEBATE on Proposition 90, the California statewide initiative that would bar eminent domain for private projects and impose other restrictions on land use regulations. David Stirling, PLF’s vice president, and a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, will moderate the debate. Speaking in support of Proposition 90 will be Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Riverside, and Loyola Law School Professor Gideon Kanner, one of the nation's leading authorities on property rights law. The "no" side will be represented by prominent eminent domain attorney Ken MacVey, and Gary Patton, executive director of the Planning and Conservation League.

Along with Pacific Legal Foundation, the event is co-sponsored by the law firm of Nossaman Gunther Knox & Elliot, and the Chapman University Federalist Society.

Admission is free, but attorneys may receive three units of CLE credit for $15 ($10 for current Federalist Society members).

The first presentation starts at 1:00 p.m.; the debate commences at 3:30 p.m.; and a cheese and wine reception follows at 5:00 p.m.

Chapman University School of Law is at One University Drive, Orange CA 92866. For more information, visit PLF's website: www.pacificlegal.org. For directions, visit Chapman's web page.

Freedom First

October 16, 2006, By Assemblyman Ray Haynes

If we have lost anything in this country, it is our sense of what is important in a political election. Recently, Jerry Brown called Chuck Poochigian an extremist because Senator Poochigian believes in the Constitution.

Mayor Brown is a very smart and experienced politician. Obviously, he thought his accusation would get him votes. That is very frightening. An electorate that doesn’t soundly reject any politician who advocates ignoring the Constitution, expanding government power, and diminishing freedom is in serious trouble.

In so many ways, California is in serious trouble. Quite frankly, there are just too few voters whose decision on issues and politicians are driven by protection of the fundamental American value of freedom.

Of course, a lot of politicians invoke that value in political discussions to justify their political positions. Unfortunately, in California, fewer and fewer politicians believe that they need to use their defense of freedom as a reason to vote for them. Like Brown, they just invoke some obscure fear as a reason for government expansion. The people then vote for him over someone, like Senator Poochigian, who will actually defend freedom and the Constitution.

There are bigger things to fear. Like an all powerful government.

In the last week, Secretary of State records revealed that the League of California Cities gave over $2.5 million to oppose Proposition 90. When the contributions from the California State Association of Counties ($400,000) and the California Redevelopment Association ($300,000) are added to the totals, the contributions to the No on 90 campaign from government supported organizations totals over $3.2 million. In addition, the list of donors includes a laundry list of private organizations who make money off of big government, either as government vendors (such as lawyers, trash collectors, and street improvement contractors) or beneficiaries of the use of government powers (such as the developers who use eminent domain to take your property so they can pay less money for their development projects).

Almost $5 million has been collected by the opposition.

The question is: how did they get that money? How are the League, CSAC, and the CRA able to raise $3.2 million to contribute to a political campaign, when they a consortium of local government entities? They say the money is “nonpublic” funds, but how can that be? Are there private individuals whose favorite charities are lobbying organizations for government? Or, are these just our taxes, laundered through some complicated scheme, into the campaign? Are those private organizations who are contributing to oppose property rights in California getting preferential treatment from these governments for helping to protect the power of these governments? Or are they being forced to pay the money under threat of being denied some government permit to do business? The whole thing stinks.

The former Soviet Union used to have elections, complete with campaigns. The people were told they were free because they had a Constitution and elections, but the courts ignored the Constitution and the government hijacked the elections. If anyone had the audacity to challenge the existing power structure, they were first vilified, and then jailed.

In California today, our courts routinely ignore our constitutionally guaranteed rights, such as property rights. And government uses our own tax dollars to vilify anyone who deigns to challenge the inappropriate assertion of government power, like those who support Proposition 90

Why should freedom be the overriding value in our political choices? Unless we vigilantly defend and preserve freedom, evil things like government trying to hijack elections, will continue to occur. The campaign against Proposition 90 has exposed this evil. The only question is whether we will heed the warnings, or succumb to an all powerful government.


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Editorial: How to build affordable housing

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/opinion/
abox/article_1304818.php

October 9, 2006

First, take down the government regulations and subsidies that distort the housing market.

Even with the air slowly seeping out of the housing bubble, bringing home prices down to more realistic levels, Orange County residents still pay an inordinately large percentage of their budgets to pay the rent or mortgage and other shelter-related expenses.


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Huge Baja Project May Chill Others' LNG Plans

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-
lngbaja9oct09,1,601366.story?coll=la-
headlines-california

October 9, 2006

In the high-stakes competition to import natural gas from across the Pacific to California, one San Diego-based company has such a commanding head start that it could determine whether others can stay in the race.

Being the first to open a marine terminal to process liquefied natural gas on the West Coast involves more than bragging rights. International companies are spending millions to get permits to build giant terminals in hopes of reaping billions in revenue.

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Court Ruling Could Force State to Lose $1.5 Billion in LLC Fees

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-
payments10oct10,1,3509158.story?coll=la-
headlines-california

October 10, 2006

A legal glitch in the state's tax code could cost California $1.5 billion in corporate tax payments, further draining a state budget that is projected to be billions in the red next year.

The state is in a quandary over taxes it demanded from companies that did no business in California. The collections affected a small fraction of the state's limited liability corporations, but one of them asked a trial court to declare the entire fee unconstitutional, and it did.


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'Orphan' Initiatives Left to Fail

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/
la-me-orphan11oct11,0,2804567.story?coll=la-
center-politics-cal

October 11, 2006

It must have seemed like a good way for two politically connected Silicon Valley millionaires to donate a slice of their fortunes: bankroll a campaign for a $50 annual property tax to help fund schools.

Netflix founder Reed Hastings and venture capitalist John Doerr jump-started the effort with nearly $7 million. The contributions, used to pay signature gatherers, consultants and attorneys, were enough to secure a spot for the parcel tax on the November ballot as Proposition 88.


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False Child Support Case Exposes System's Failures

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,219497,
00.html

October 10, 2006

Trevino's fraud began in 1999 when she and her former husband Steve Barreras divorced. Trevino claimed she had given birth to a child after the divorce and sued Barreras for child support, claiming he was the father. This fraud dissolved in 2004, when it was finally discovered that there was no such child. But Barreras, who works as a corrections officer in law enforcement, was forced to spend the ensuing years trying to make the New Mexico courts and child welfare service even look at evidence that the child for whom he was paying support did not exist.

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Stem cell board plans to make big grants in '07

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/
2006/10/12/BAGFSLNE8H19.DTL

October 12, 2006

California stem cell policymakers revealed a rough outline of what could be a $500 million attempt in 2007 to push the state's stalled experiment in stem cell research into a new phase of productive grant making.

The outline emerged from interviews during a two-day meeting here of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine's governing board, which is charged with implementing the $3 billion Proposition 71 stem cell bond initiative passed by state voters in the November 2004 election.

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Immigrants pay in-state fees, judge says

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/
news/state/15739168.htm

October 12, 2006

A judge has upheld a state law allowing public colleges and universities to charge in-state fees to undocumented immigrants.

The law had been challenged by a class action lawsuit filed in December on behalf of out-of-state students who claimed the tuition break discriminated against U.S. citizens.

Out-of-state students pay higher rates than California residents in the state's three-tiered higher education system -- the University of California, the California State University and California community colleges.

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Food-Stamp Program Finally Speaks Their Language

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/
la-me-stamp13oct13,1,552214,full.story?coll=la-
news-politics-california

October 13, 2006

Now a Spanish-language news report and television ad campaign have spurred thousands of immigrants in Orange County over the last several weeks to contact a nonprofit organization that offers a Spanish-language class called "Food Stamps in Four Hours."

The stream of immigrants contrasts sharply with what was going on just a few months ago when only a handful of immigrants would attend the free course.

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For Gays, a Loud New Foe

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-russgay
13oct13,1,2542185.story?coll=la-headlines-california

October 13, 2006

Organizers of the annual Rainbow Festival were prepared for trouble.

The Q Crew, a local "queer/straight alliance," distributed cards telling people what to do if approached by hostile demonstrators. Sympathetic local church groups formed a protective buffer along the festival ground's cyclone fence. Mounted police were on patrol.

Jerry Sloan manned a table for Stand Up for Sacramento, a recently formed gay self-defense organization.

"So far, so good," he said. "No Russians."

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Jumbo fire jet limited in state

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/
news/local/states/california/northern_california/
15748589.htm

October 13, 2006

DC-10 TANKER CAN'T WORK OVER FEDERAL LAND BECAUSE IT HASN'T PASSED U.S. SAFETY CHECK

Federal safety rules are preventing wider use of a major advance in firefighting -- a jumbo jet modified to drop 10 times more flame retardant than the typical air tanker.

The DC-10 first flew this fire season, opening its belly and releasing torrents of pink liquid in a spectacular string of sorties that helped halt blazes threatening state land in California and Washington.

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Full legislative text, analyses and votes are available on the State web server at:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov

Assemblyman Haynes’ office can be reached at (951) 699-1113 in Temecula, California
or in the Capitol in Sacramento at (916) 319-2066

To subscribe to this Memorandum by e-mail, please send a request to:
Assemblymember.haynes@assembly.ca.gov

To Contact California State Senators:
http://www.sen.ca.gov/~newsen/senators/
senators.htp
To Contact California State Assemblymembers:
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/
acsframeset7text.htm

Redistribution or reproduction of this Memorandum with attribution is permitted and encouraged!

Scaredy Cats - October 9, 2006

By Assemblyman Ray Haynes

In 1922, Ludwig Von Mises, an Austrian free market economist wrote: “It is not the business of entrepreneurs to lead the political fight against Socialism…It follows, therefore, that neither associations of entrepreneurs, nor those organizations in which entrepreneurs support counts, are inclined to fight on principle against socialism.”

When I first joined the Legislature, I could never figure out why the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Manufacturers Association, the California Taxpayers’ Association, and the variety of other “business” associations which populate the halls and lobbies of Sacramento, could not be counted upon to fight the left wing agenda of my Democrat friends in the Legislature. They were always ready to accommodate their demands. The unions would fight Republicans with all their influence and power, giving 99% of their contributions to Democrats. The business groups would (and still do) give 50 to 60% of their campaign money to Democrats. I used to complain that in politics, the Democrats married the unions, who have remained faithful partners. Republicans married the business community, and we got a partner who slept around. I then read the Mises quote, and knew that if was true in 1922, and still true in 2002, I wasn’t going to change it by complaining. I personally would fight against encroaching socialism in California, and leave the compromising with the Socialists and business lobbyists.

Free markets require two basic components to work: freedom of contract and protection of private property rights. A society that chooses to take private property is either socialist, or traveling quickly down the road to socialism. The threat of losing a lifetime of work to the whim of an all-powerful government will often convince even the most principled person to forego his or her freedom of speech.

I joined up with the proponents of Proposition 90, the “Protect Our Homes” initiative because of my belief that our current system of land use control, whether through the use of eminent domain or regulatory takings, is the key factor in California’s leftist state and local governments obtaining and maintaining power. This was my way of taking a principled stand against socialism in California.

I did not think that my friends in the business community, however, would oppose the roll back of socialism in California. They may not support us, but they certainly would not oppose those of us who stand in favor of free markets.

Boy was I wrong.

They are afraid, they tell me, of retaliation from the government, if they don’t oppose the initiative. Local governments are telling business and developers that, if they don’t oppose Proposition 90, they will make their business lives miserable. They are being told that if they donate money, their projects will be fast tracked. However, if they don’t help, their projects will go into some sort of governmental purgatory, lost in the bowels of some regulatory or planning agency until the new temple is built in Jerusalem. I am told that they have to oppose us because they just can’t risk it.

That is how far down the road to socialism California has gone. So much of the financial future of our business community depends on government action that the business community trembles in fear of the government officials. The ruling class in California knows that Proposition 90 will be their Waterloo, and they are trying to enlist the aid of all of their economic slaves to fight this last battle. The business community, now the economic slaves of our state government, is willing to sell out the freedom of us all to stay in business.

I know Mises was right; the business community is a bunch of “scaredy cats.” I have seen it in action day after day in Sacramento. I understand why; they have to survive in this socialist political environment. I am still disappointed.


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Escondido: Legal fights could delay immigrant housing law

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/
20061006/news_7m6folo.html

October 6, 2006

Long before the illegal-immigrant housing ordinance passed by the City Council goes into effect, legal challenges are likely to be brought that could stall its implementation indefinitely.

The American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties, in conjunction with lawyers representing various immigrant-rights groups, is evaluating what to do.

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New passport hurdle for churches

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_
News_Local_D_passport06.397247d.html

October 6, 2006

No passport, no mission.

That will be reality for Inland churches and others with longtime mission programs in Mexico as new passport requirements take effect over the next 15 months.

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Appeals Court Upholds State's Ban on Same-Sex Marriage

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-marriage
6oct06,1,4381808.story?coll=la-headlines-california

October 6, 2006

A state appeals court upheld a ban on same-sex marriage Thursday, ruling 2 to 1 that only the Legislature or voters can change California's traditional definition of marriage.

"Courts simply do not have the authority to create new rights, especially when doing so involves the definition of so fundamental an institution as marriage," William McGuiness, presiding justice of the 1st District Court of Appeal, wrote for the majority.

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Hewlett-Packard Wiretapping Scandal

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/
a/2006/10/06/BUG87LJ2UD1.DTL

October 6, 2006

Former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairwoman Patricia Dunn appeared Thursday before a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge to hear criminal charges in connection with the HP spying scandal.

Her surrender came a day after California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed criminal charges seeking indictments against Dunn and four other defendants implicated in HP's probe of boardroom leaks to journalists.

The scandal that has engulfed HP in recent weeks, and has become one of the most watched corporate scandals in Silicon Valley history, continued to generate news on multiple fronts Thursday.

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Thieves going after catalytic converters

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews
/news/local/15693604.htm

October 6, 2006

The owners often come into auto shops confused. Their SUVs were working fine when they parked them, but when they came back and turned on the ignition, their engines ran loud . . . super loud.

Their cars were so noisy because somebody had stolen their catalytic converters.

Over the past three months, dozens of SUVs have been turning up in South Bay auto shops with missing catalytic converters -- mirroring theft trends in other parts of the country. Toyota 4Runners seem to be a particularly popular target.

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Governor: Mexican immigrants should assimilate into U.S. culture

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/
2006/10/05/politics/p160037D05.DTL&type=
politics

October 5, 2006

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday that some Mexican immigrants "try to stay Mexican" when they come to the United States, and he urged them to assimilate into the American culture.

Schwarzenegger's comments came during a stop in Chinatown when he was asked about assimilation.

Recalling his own experience emigrating from his native Austria, the Republican governor said immigrants should learn English, learn U.S. history and "make an effort to become part of America."

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No NFL team for LA?

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_4443303

October 5, 2006

Frustrated by an apparent lack of interest from the NFL in selecting a stadium site, members of the Coliseum Commission said Wednesday that it might be time to end their decade-long pursuit to bring pro football back to Los Angeles.

"We probably started negotiating before we went into Iraq," commission member David Israel said of the latest negotiations that began 3 1/2 years ago. "At the current rate, we'll still be negotiating after we've left Iraq.

"We have to send a message to the league that if we don't get affirmative progress, we may have to go in another direction."

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L.A. Unified Rebuffs Villaraigosa in Picking New Schools Chief

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lausd
5oct05,1,3896493.story?coll=la-headlines-california

October 5, 2006

The Los Angeles Board of Education has rejected Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's request to take part in choosing the city's next superintendent of schools.

"It is disappointing from my standpoint that there doesn't seem to be any opportunity on this issue for partnership," said Ramon C. Cortines, the mayor's top education advisor.

"The mayor and I understand that the board has the authority to select the superintendent." But, he added, it is proper for Villaraigosa to "have a role" in light of legislation signed into law last month that will give him substantial authority over Los Angeles schools. The law is scheduled to take effect in January.

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Fatherly footsteps lead son to Nobel

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/
ci_4444590

October 5, 2006

Stanford University professor Roger Kornberg on Wednesday became the third Bay Area scientist to win the Nobel Prize this week, this time in chemistry for his groundbreaking work examining how cells copy genetic material — a finding that can lead to therapies for cancer and other diseases.

The award came 47 years after Kornberg's father, Arthur, shared the Nobel Prize in medicine for his discoveries on how genetic material moves from one DNA molecule to another.

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Charter school group: Scores on upswing

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/
localnews/ci_4444588

October 5, 2006

Oakland charter schools have caught up with their traditional counterparts and made greater overall gains this year on standardized test scores, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the California Charter Schools Association.

That data — the latest in a series of conflicting statistical reports on the subject — was heralded by charter advocates as evidence that the independently-run public schools were hitting their stride in Oakland.

"They've jumped over a tipping point here," said Gary Larson of the charter association.

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