Texas vs. California Update for April 15, 2014

April 15th, 2014

Today sucks if you still have to finish your taxes. It sucks more in California than Texas, since you have to pay state income taxes as well. That includes a marginal tax rate of 9.3% for all those millionaires making more than $49,774 a year. As opposed to Texas’ marginal rate of 0.0% for all…

  • Rich Californians don’t seem to mind that their green fantasies are screwing the poor.
  • California Democrats are trying to write racial quotas into the state Constitution. Oddly enough, Asian Americans are actually objecting to their children getting screwed out of college admissions. (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
  • “A combination of unfriendly tax policies, military budget cuts and cutthroat competition is wreaking havoc on California’s storied aerospace industry, a new study cautions.” ​​More here, which notes that:

    Texas and Washington offer low corporate income tax and no personal income tax, while providing a stable business climate and skilled work force. Many high-profile corporations have relocated their operations to new states. Recent examples include Northrop Grumman, which moved its headquarters to Northern Virginia; Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, which moved its headquarters to McKinney, Texas; and Boeing, which moved two aircraft modernization programs, for the C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft and the B-1 bomber, from Long Beach to Oklahoma City.

  • CalPERS latest report proves conclusively that the fund spontaneously generates unicorns, rainbows and jobs. The Wall Street Journal examines the claims, wipes the vaguely yellow liquid off their legs and concludes “This political report offers one more reason why taxpayers and public workers shouldn’t trust Calpers with their money and would be better served by defined-contribution retirement plans that employees own and control.”
  • The California State Teachers’ Retirement System announced it faces $73.7 billion in long-term liabilities. “CalSTRS has a $71 billion unfunded pension liability.”
  • Both CalPERS and CalSTARS are desperately in need of reform.

    The state teacher pension fund, CalSTRS, needs an extra $4.5 billion each year for 30 years to pay off its unfunded liabilities. CalPERS’ local government members will see costs increase by 50 percent during the next six years. And the state needs to contribute $1 billion more per year for retiree health care benefits.

    These obligations for benefits already earned must be paid, and over the next decade, they will continue to drain funding from essential services such as education, public safety, transportation and health care.

    Yet, powerful interests remain all too eager to kick the can down the road and push our pension problems onto future generations.

  • Why California has an affordable housing crisis.
  • Is there a way out of Taxifornia? As such a solution would require liberals to stop acting like liberals, the answer is: probably not.
  • Bell’s corrupt officials agree to plea bargain deal. Bonus: Robert “Ratso” Rizzo gets 33 months on federal tax evasion charges. (Hat tip: Dwight, who has been all over the Bell story.)
  • At least 60 companies have relocated from California to Texas. But Elk Grove, California is striking back, trying to lure Texas companies to California. “The slogan: ‘Don’t wait for high taxes and stifling regulation to come to you, end the suspense and move to California’ just doesn’t seem too appealing to me.”
  • Continuing troubles with California’s high speed rail boondoggle.
  • Sports equipment maker MonkeySports is relocating from Corona, California to Allen, Texas, adding up to some 225 Texas jobs over two years.
  • A closer look at relocations to the Austin area.

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    Posted in Budget, Economics, Regulation, Texas, unions, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »

    LinkSwarm for April 14, 2014

    April 14th, 2014

    Time for another LinkSwarm:

  • By the standards of signing up the previously uninsured, “Obamacare may be headed for an epic failure.”
  • Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius resigns, leaving behind a legacy of incompetence and deception. “Rarely has any single public official done more to undermine the public’s confidence in the ability of government to function than Kathleen Sebelius.”
  • This just in: People still think ObamaCare sucks the farts out of dead wildebeests.
  • “Democrats face this reality: [ObamaCare]’s a political loser, and there’s no easy fix.”
  • New Jersey children lose health insurance thanks to ObamaCare.
  • The real reason for the Bundy Ranch standoff: Harry Reid’s son is in the pay of a Chinese solar power company that wants the land.
  • How Harry Reid’s insider trading and crony deals have made him a wealthy man.
  • Speaking of Harry Reid (via Iowahawk’s Twitter feed):

  • It turns out that the Overland Park Jewish Center shooter shared two fraternal organizations with late Sen. Robert Byrd.
  • Left out of all the left-wing Cesar Chavez hagiography: “Chavez had a very strong dislike for illegal immigrants.”
  • Indeed, we can best honor Cesar Chavez by making his birthday National Border Controls Day.
  • Backers of illegal alien amnesty may think it’s now or never.
  • It must have been a sad day for John Edwards, being barred from his sugar momma’s funeral.
  • Jay Carney is so use to lying, he can’t even resist PhotoShopping his own house. Badly. (Or maybe The Washingtonian is simply desperate to glamorize all Democrats profiled they won’t let little things like “competence” stand in the way…)
  • Is it just me, or did Hillary Clinton choose a singularly unflattering outfit for ducking shoes in?
  • The ideological slap-fight between radical lesbian feminists and tranny activists. “But all crazies are not created equal and, as crazy as the radical man-hating lesbians may be, they at least have valid science on their side in saying that ‘female’ is a biological category — genetically determined, rather than being a ‘social construct.'”
  • Vermonters just aren’t sure they want eyeball-bleeding tax rates just to satisfy the left-wing fantasy of single-payer health care.
  • France’s ruling socialists get their collective (ha!) asses kicked in municipal elections.
  • Property prices collapse in China. (Hat tip: Ann Althouse.)
  • Puerto Rico: 1.2 million workers, $70 billion in debt.
  • DC Power couple divorcing. Hilarity to ensue for, oh, probably a year or so.
  • Cowardly Brandeis University withdraws planned honorary degree for Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
  • Who is killing the bankers of Europe?
  • Ex-Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens wants to “fix” the Second Amendment so its easier to disarm citizens.
  • Alec Baldwin forgets yet again that Twitter is not his friend.
  • Round Rock incumbent City Councilman Carlos Salinas appears to be benefiting from his position in a way that violates both city and state codes. How nice to pass a city-funded, interest-free loan for a building to a crony, then lease the same building back at below-market rates…
  • Well, this is disturbing: Kobe Bryant dispensing actual wisdom: “If we’ve progressed as a society, then you don’t jump to somebody’s defense just because they’re African-American. You sit and you listen to the facts just like you would in any other situation, right?” (From a New Yorker piece behind a paywall.) And naturally a firestorm erupted…
  • Speaking of the NBA: How two brothers owning a failing ABA franchise managed to earn a cool$1 billion from the NBA. The advantages of foresight,,,
  • PAX coming to San Antonio in 2014.

    • And remember that your taxes are due tomorrow…

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    Posted in Border Control, Democrats, Elections, Guns, Media Watch, Supreme Court, video | 1 Comment »

    How Not to Commit the Perfect Murder

    April 13th, 2014

    Here’s a pro-top for aspiring murderers: If you want to bump off your wife, don’t talk over murder methods with all the other paramedics you work with.

    Despite which, it still took seven years to indict and convict the guy.

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    Posted in Crime | No Comments »

    If You Don’t Think Ted Cruz is Running for President in 2016, You Haven’t Seen His Schedule

    April 11th, 2014

    Some political observers think Ted Cruz will pass on running in the 2016 Presidential race, including the very perceptive liberal law professor Alan Dershowitz, who says flatly that “Cruz won’t run in 2016.”

    I would suggest to those who don’t think Cruz is running should look at his travel schedule. This Saturday, for example, Cruz has a pretty hectic itinerary in New Hampshire:

    Saturday, April 12

    10:00 am ET – Nashua
    Greater Nashua NHGOP Day of Action Rally
    Nashua City Hall, Back Parking Lot
    229 Main Street
    Nashua, NH 03060

    11:00 am ET – Manchester
    Greater Manchester NHGOP Day of Action Rally
    Livingston Park, Pool Parking Lot
    14 Red Coat Lane (off Hooksett Road)
    Manchester, NH 03104

    1:35 pm ET – Manchester
    Sen. Cruz to hold media availability
    The Executive Court
    Media Room
    1199 South Mammoth Road
    Manchester, NH 03109

    2:15 pm ET – Manchester
    Sen. Cruz to speak at Americans for Prosperity “Freedom Summit”
    The Executive Court
    1199 South Mammoth Road
    Manchester, NH 03109

    He’s also been to Iowa this year:

    Tuesday, March 18

    1:40 pm CT – Des Moines, IA
    Sen. Cruz speaks at the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE) Homeschool Day at the Capitol
    Marriott Hotel Downtown
    Iowa Ballroom
    700 Grand Avenue
    Des Moines, IA 50309

    7:40 pm CT – Mason City, IA
    Sen. Cruz speaks at the Cerro Gordo County GOP Dinner
    The Music Man Square
    308 South Pennsylvania Avenue
    Mason City, IA 50401

    There were a significant number of events in Iowa and new Hampshire last year as well:

    Friday, October 25

    7:00 pm – Des Moines, IA
    Sen. Cruz keynotes 2013 Iowa GOP Ronald Reagan Dinner
    Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center
    Iowa Events Center
    730 3rd Street
    Des Moines, IA 50309

    NOTE: Sen. Cruz speaks at ~7:30 pm; he will take questions from the press following the program in room 402.

    Saturday, October 26

    12:00 pm – Les Mars, IA
    Sen. Cruz Speaks at Defenders of Freedom Banquet
    Le Mars Convention Center
    Banquet Hall
    275 12th Street, SE
    Le Mars, IA 51031

    NOTE: Sen. Cruz speaks at ~1:05 pm; he will take questions from the press following the program.

    Friday, August 23 – Dublin, New Hampshire

    4:45 p.m. ET
    Media Availability
    Knollwood Farm
    4 Windmill Hill Road
    Dublin, NH 03444

    6:30 p.m. ET
    New Hampshire GOP Summer Backyard Party
    Knollwood Farm
    4 Windmill Hill Road
    Dublin, NH 03444

    On Saturday, August 10, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz will speak at the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa.

    Saturday, August 10

    3:50 p.m. – Ames, IA
    Iowa State University
    Stephens Auditorium
    400 Beach Avenue
    Ames, IA 50011

    *NOTE: Sen. Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, will speak prior to the Senator at 3:35 p.m.

    If Cruz isn’t running, he’s sure spending an awful lot of time in Iowa and New Hampshire for a Senator from Texas.

    For an additional data point, note that there’s already a Draft Ted Cruz Super PAC that just happens to be run by Cruz regional director Raz Shafer (and a rare kudo for David Weigel for doing the leg, er, Google and WHOIS work).

    Finally, this video on the Ted Cruz for Senate YouTube channel sure sounds like a campaign ad:

    If I had to bet money, I’d say Cruz is running for the Presidency in 2016, and I think he’ll make a formidable candidate.

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    Posted in Elections, Republicans, video | No Comments »

    When Democrats Say There’s No Voter Fraud, They’re Lying

    April 10th, 2014

    There’s an risible liberal talking point that continues to rear its ugly head regarding ACORN and the Democratic Party’s demonstrated record of voting fraud:

    “That’s not voting fraud, that’s voter registration fraud.”

    Before we address the talking point proper (which seems to have originated at the liberally biased “fact checking” site FactChek.org), let us note that:

    1. Voter registration is merely a specific type of voter fraud, not something entirely different.
    2. Both kinds are deeply destructive of the “one man, one vote” principles of representative democracy.
    3. The FBI places both registration and at-the-polls fraud in the same category of fraud.

    So in summary, there is no legal distinction between “voting fraud” and “voter registration fraud.”

    However, even when making that dubious distinction, there have been numerous, documented instances of Democrats and ACORN staffers (but I repeat myself) committing in-person voting fraud:

  • Take, for example, this case in Troy, New York:

    Four Democratic officials and political operatives have pleaded guilty to voter fraud-related felony charges in an alleged scheme to steal an election in Troy, N.Y., FoxNews.com reports.

    The group forged signatures on applications for absentee ballots and on the ballots themselves in a 2009 primary of the Working Families Party, which was affiliated with now-defunct community group ACORN.

  • Or how about Massachussets Democrat State Rep. Stephen Smith (a member of the Joint Committee on Election Laws” who plead guilty to voter fraud and resigned after casting fraudulent absentee ballots “in multiple elections.”
  • “Three Arkansas Democrats and a police officer pleaded guilty to…bribing voters for their absentee ballots for a local election in 2011.”
  • In Indiana, a “former state representative and longtime Jennings County Democratic Party worker received an 18-month sentence Wednesday for three felony convictions of voter fraud” for registering and voting the ballots of other people.
  • “A Milwaukee man pleaded guilty Monday to illegally voting five times last year in West Milwaukee, when in fact he did not have residency there.”
  • Here’s a Brownsville woman voting multiple times in the Democratic primary.
  • Here’s a Maryland woman who plead guilty to trying to cast the vote of her recently deceased mother.

    • So even by the standards of facetious distinctions between “voting fraud” and “voter registration fraud,” Democrats and ACORN have committed plenty of both.

    No wonder they oppose Voter ID…

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    Posted in Crime, Democrats, Elections, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

    WordPress Appears To Be Broken Today

    April 10th, 2014

    It won’t save drafts. More specifically, it won’t save drafts from the dashboard, though you can publish them, and you can edited previously save drafts.

    If you save a draft from the dashboard, it creates what appears to be a copy of the last draft you have before than. Clicking on that draft brings up that older draft, and the duplicate then disappears from the list of drafts when you go back.

    This is on WordPress 3.7.2, which was working yesterday.

    I’m hoping this is a transient error…

    Update: Upgraded to 3.8.2, and Quick Draft still appears to be broken…

    Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

    Venezuela: A Ray of Light Amidst the Encroaching Darkness?

    April 9th, 2014

    When last we checked, Venezuela had come down with a case of Terminal Socialism. Here’s an update.

    Faced with crippling inflation and a shortage of basic goods due to endemic cronyism, horrible mismanagement and laughable official exchange rates, Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government has finally thrown in the towel and instituted floating exchange rates… sort of:

    A dollar will cost you 6.3 bolívares if you are the government, or if you can persuade Cencoex (the government’s foreign-trade body) that you intend to import vital goods such as food or medicine. Then there’s the Sicad I rate, currently just over 10 bolívares to the dollar, but contingent on irregular, “auctions” (which are nothing of the sort). The new Sicad II process, which is as close to a free market as the government will allow, opened at a whopping 50 bolívares to the dollar. But even that is a bargain compared with the unofficial exchange rate, which at the time of writing stands at almost 68 bolívares.

    Meanwhile, shortages of basic goods mean Venezuelans get to enjoy that classic staple of late stage socialism: waiting in line to get food:

    And the violent crackdown against opposition protesters continues:

    Naturally, as a prelude to cracking down on the opposition, they followed the old socialist playbook by outlawing private ownership of guns. It’s always so much easier to oppress people once they’ve been disarmed. Even so, as the following video (via Legal Insurrection) shows, police don’t always get the upper hand:

    Security forces have also committed dozens of documented instances of torture.

    Are there any rays of home in the grim situation? Yes, Maduro’s government and opposition leaders have agreed to talks. Whether these can actually accomplish anything remains to be seen, but the fact that Maduro “ruled out any changes to the course of what he calls the Bolivarian revolution, the distinct brand of socialism created by his predecessor in office, Hugo Chavez,” tends to indicate that the prognosis is still grim.

    Other Venezuela news:

  • An interview with the jailed opposition leader.
  • Two relative of opposition figures murdered.
  • Globovision assignment editor Nairobi Pinto kidnapped.
  • Spain halts shipments of riot gear.

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    Posted in Communism, Economics, Foreign Policy, Guns | No Comments »

    Ben Carson for President: Save Your Money

    April 8th, 2014

    I’ve been getting a lot of political solicitations this year, one of which came from the Draft Ben Carson for President campaign.

    Since this is now a real thing (run by a John Philip Sousa IV) collecting real money, I would like to do my part to quash it.

    Ben Carson is an impressive person with a compelling life story, but giving money to this particular cause is a bad idea, for numerous reasons:

  • Carson himself has said he’s not running.
  • As impressive as Carson is, he’s never held or run for political office. The Presidency of the United States of America is not an entry-level position. Potential Presidential candidates should run for and win at least one high profile office before running for President*. Carson has not done that, though I’d love to see him run for Governor of Maryland.
  • There are no shortage of potential first-tier conservative Republican candidates for 2016: Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Scott Walker and Rick Perry are all far more credible and experienced candidates than Carson.
  • The idea that MSM would “go easy” on Carson because he’s black is bunk. Were he to somehow become the nominee, he would instantly become a threat to their narrative, and I suspect the attacks we’d see on his history, character, etc., would probably make those against Sarah Palin in 2008 look mild by comparison.
  • Money is fungible. Every dollar you give to Draft Ben Carson is a dollar that could be spent defeating Democratic Senators or Congressmen this year.

    • The only thing donating to the Draft Ben Carson campaign will accomplish is to pad the bank accounts of political consultants and direct mail specialists.

    Though I think we can all agree that Ben Carson would be a dynamite choice for Surgeon General…

    *This requirement is optional for any candidate that kicked Adolf Hitler into the dustbin of history.

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    Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

    Leland Yee/Shrimp Boy Chow Update for April 7, 2014

    April 7th, 2014

    Here are some updates to the story of California Democratic State Senator Leland Yee and Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow’s federal weapons trafficking charges, via Dwight and Instapundit (among others):

  • “State Sen. Leland Yee spent campaign donations in recent years to travel to the Philippines, the country from which federal authorities accuse him of arranging to smuggle hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of military-style weapons.” (Hat tip: Dwight.)
  • How did Yee escape terrorism charges? The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is not among the “56 foreign terrorist organizations designated by the U.S. State Department.”
  • Both Yee and Chow hire new lawyers.
  • Problem: California Democratic State Senator is illegally trafficking arms to international terrorist groups. Solution: California Democrats ask Obama to ban the import of “assault weapons.” It’s like Al Capone’s fellow mobsters making an impassioned plea for stricter laws on bootlegging. (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
  • Yee wasn’t just a gun control fanatic, he was an anti-corruption crusader as well. (Insta again.)
  • It took more than a week for MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow to finally mention that Yee was indicted for arms trafficking…and she still failed to mention he was a staunch advocate for gun control.
  • The guns of the Leland Yee scandal. I’d like to fire a Tavor Assault Rifle, but they seem to garner a hefty premium over AR-pattern rifles. (Hat tip: Dwight.)
  • Last time I checked, CNN still hasn’t covered the Leland Yee gun trafficking story. But thank God they covered his opposition to banning shark fin soup!
  • And speaking of CNN, maybe it’s not a coincidence that their ratings are near an all-time low.

  • San Francisco journalist spends a thousand or so words not explaining why San Francisco’s numerous professional journalists didn’t even catch a whiff of the the scandal. Hey, I think my tweet above just may have a clue…
  • Though he wasn’t in custody during the initial arraignment, sports agent co-conspirator Marlon Sullivan was taken into custody in Princeton, New Jersey.

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    Posted in Crime, Democrats, Guns, Media Watch | No Comments »

    Hope You Didn’t Want To Do Anything in Downtown Austin This Week

    April 7th, 2014

    This week, UT’s LBJ Presidential Library is having a three-day Civil Rights Summit commemorates the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For this they’ve managed to snag four different past and present U.S. Presidents:

    President Barack Obama will deliver the keynote address at a Civil Rights Summit at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, April 10, 2014….President Obama will be joined by three former Presidents who will also deliver remarks at the Civil Rights Summit: Jimmy Carter will speak on April 8; Bill Clinton will speak on April 9; and George W. Bush will speak on April 10.

    That’s a real feather in the cap for the LBJ Library and whoever arranged the summit, but it’s likely going to mean a huge pain in the ass to anyone who wants to do something in Austin when Obama comes to town. Obama’s over-protective security detail usually bring traffic to a complete standstill wherever he goes. I don’t know his schedule, but if he comes in and leaves Thursday, expect everyplace from the airport up to about 35th street to be all bit impassable for much of the day.

    Better pack a lunch…

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    Posted in Austin | No Comments »

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