Randy

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Election aftermath: Will California conservatives fight or take flight?

Thursday, November 8, 2018, 5:56 pm | Randy Thomasson

SaveCalifornia.com provides this solely for educational purposes
and does not support or oppose candidates for public office

Behavioral experts describe it as freeze, fight, and flight. These are three possible responses — a combination of God-given and environmentally-shaped emotions — that rise up within us when we perceive a danger. The danger may be true or false — but initially, we’re going to either freeze, fight, or take flight.

No matter your initial reaction to the just-concluded Midterm Elections, please join me in fighting. Because when evil dominates, it must be exposed and resisted. God always wants His people to steadfastly defend all that is good, right, and true. I aim to do that — how about you?

Here are 3 important things to know, which matter for your values:

1. Nationally, this election was very good news:

a. In the 100-member United States Senate, the Republicans have increased. They’ve gone from 51 to 52 in number, and could go to 53 if Martha McSally wins in Arizona, and up to 54 if Cindy Hyde-Smith wins Mississippi’s U.S. Senate special election on November 27.

b. The Senate Republicans have become more constitutional. Strong conservatives have replaced wishy-washy Republicans such as Bob Corker, Dean Heller, John McCain (and if Martha McSally pulls it off, Jeff Flake). This principled increase means hundreds of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees will have no problem being confirmed, despite any grumblings from pro-abortion Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska or Susan Collins of Maine. And given that 85-year-old ACLU anti-religious-freedom, pro-abortion attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg might be next to depart the nation’s high court, the Senate’s confirmation of yet another constitutionalist/originalist to replace her is imperative.

c. The Democrats’ outrageous personal attack upon U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh backfired. In the Senate battleground states of North Dakota, Indiana, Missouri, West Virginia, and Florida, all the anti-Kavanaugh votes were booted out of office, while pro-Kavanaugh Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia survived).

d. The loss of the U.S. House of Representatives to the Democrats was not as bad as it could have been. What’s more, the final count shows President Trump is more popular than President Obama. This election, Republicans have so far lost 30 House seats, but gained seats in the U.S. Senate. This is much better than Obama fared. As The Daily Signal (Heritage Foundation) reports: “The first midterm election under President Barack Obama in 2010 was a major electoral defeat for Democrats. Republicans gained 63 seats in the House of Representatives and six seats in the Senate while making significant gains in state houses and gubernatorial elections. The balance of power shifted Tuesday night, but not as drastically as Democrats had hoped.”

e. The Democrats winning back the U.S. House wasn’t because evil is too strong, but because Republican leadership was foolish. Moral conservative leaders with decades of wise experience held a post-election news conference to explain that the campaign advice of Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, California to run on local rather than national issues failed to energize conservatives. SaveCalifornia.com agrees. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are all about national issues anyway; they should be teachers and cheerleaders for issues of national importance that capture the public’s attention. Why do Democrats in Congress seem to understand this better than some Republican candidates?

2. SaveCalifornia.com’s mission is still for your cherished family values:

Despite the Democrat politicians’ union-funded grip* upon the State of California, our Campaign for Children and Families has survived three governors already (Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry Brown). And with God’s help and yours, we’re committed to survive, expose, and oppose the guaranteed wicked policies of Gavin Newsom that harm individuals and families.

* So far this year, government unions have donated $13.8 million and private unions have donated $20.8 million to Democrat candidates in California: https://bit.ly/2JOMLyN and https://bit.ly/2SU1yfP

Our Campaign for Children and Families promise to you:

a. We’ll keep shining our light for positive truth for children and families
b. We’ll keep exposing the darkness so people who listen will stop being deceived
c. We’ll keep training constitutional patriots to do good in their families and communities

I need to know you want to fight rather than take flight.

Because every loss is an opportunity to learn how to be and do better. And given the myriad of public policy problems caused by California’s ruling Democrats, now is the time to expose them. Please realize that simply running from a problem tends to make us insensitive to love, responsibility, and solutions. Because love doesn’t drop out; it presses in and sacrificially gives.

3. California is in a dynamic and the Democrat-union grip can indeed weaken:

Lastly, I believe California is in a dynamic. Look at history. Communism was dismantled in Eastern Europe because it went against God-given human nature. Likewise, some governorships on the east coast of the U.S. have flipped in the last few years from Democrat to Republican (think Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont).

And this election, a big liberal “environmental group” bond (Prop. 3) went down in California, to the frustration of liberal operatives. What’s more, an anti-establishment, academic reformer, Marshall Tuck, might become California’s state school chief. And we’re just beginning to see union membership dropping since the June 2018 U.S. Supreme Court Janus decision affirming the free-speech right of government employees to not have their money coerced away by power-hungry union bosses. Remember, Liberalism doesn’t work; when pressure is applied, it can indeed break down.

Meanwhile, it’s clear to me that a lot of professing Christians (especially younger adults) and a lot of frustrated conservatives (also the younger ones) don’t vote. I keep meeting them. Now, can you imagine what a well-articulated conservative voter registration drive campaign in communities could do? And what if Christian church denominations held voter registration drives in all their member churches, which then would internally lobby churchgoers to “get out the vote” in the big 2020 presidential election? And what if Campaign for Children and Families received confidential pro-family donations totaling $1 million to powerfully promote your values statewide through cost-effective media buys?

Finally, what if major conservative donors had given the gas tax repeal (Prop. 6) $10 million to show California voters convincing messages like SaveCalifornia.com produced? And what if John Cox had also received $10 million to blanket TV, radio, newspapers, and the internet with months of his ads exposing obvious problems caused by Democrat politicians? We might have a profoundly different Governor-Elect today.

I believe the time to invest in California is now, because liberal policies are ripe for taking down. As famed investor Warren Buffett said, “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” This certainly applies to the ruling Democrats’ house of cards. If convincing evidence can be creatively presented, it opens people’s eyes. I’ve seen this happen individually, so why not change minds on a grand scale?

Thank you for reading this and thinking about the dynamic culture we live in and how you, with your faithful, principled stand, can make an impact. Thank you for standing strong for your moral values with SaveCalifornia.com and our ongoing Campaign for Children and Families!

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, at the Last Supper

Pastors, teach Christian love by registering people to vote

Wednesday, September 26, 2018, 7:01 pm | Randy Thomasson


This election season, I have 3 important questions for professing Christians in California:

1. How can you enjoy religious freedom if the government does not grant, respect, and protect your legal right of conscience before Holy God?

2. How can we have good government unless people who know what is good are themselves the main influencers of government?

3. And since Christians are commanded to “love your neighbor as yourself,” shouldn’t they feel compassionate anger when bad government is harming their family and neighbors?

Obviously, California need more voters who know the basic difference between right and wrong.

Therefore, one of the simplest and best things pastors can do is urge everyone in their church to register to vote. People need to re-register if they’ve moved, turned 18, or if a woman has recently married and changed her surname.

If you’re a pastor or church leader, please act now:

1. Preach on the need for good government and urge everyone to be registered to vote.

2. Give everyone in the congregation a special bulletin insert.

3. Set up tables in the foyer to register voters on the spot.

California’s legal deadline to register to vote in the very important November 6, 2018 general election is Monday, October 22 (postmark deadline).

You can pick up registration forms at the post office or at your county registrar of voters.

You can also urge your congregants and their friends to register to vote by posting this link.

Churches used to be the source of morality in communities, and they can fulfill their biblical role again.

All that’s required is sincere love for Jesus Christ and for people, and obeying the LORD with action and in truth.

In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 1 John 3:10

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:16-18

My experience at the DMV

Monday, September 17, 2018, 7:23 pm | Randy Thomasson

Have you been frustrated by the DMV too?

I tried to save time by scheduling an appointment. I even chose a DMV office in a conservative town for their perceived efficiency and fewer crowds. And I got there early. But it still took more than an hour.

The computer terminal they had me stand at to fill out an application asked me if I intended to drive a “housecar or trailer” and showed me a drawing of a little teardrop camper. I thought, well I might rent a U-Haul trailer in the future, so I checked the box. But later I was told this option was only for trailers over forty feet long, and they had to manually correct my application. But why didn’t the computer tell me that or show me a long trailer instead?

When I finished the application, a confirmation code appeared on the screen. Just to be safe, I wrote it down. Later the person processing my documents she hoped I wrote down my confirmation code. I said it’s good that I wrote it down, but they need to post a note for people to do that and put post-it notes for them to write it out. The DMV lady said those were good ideas, but that she didn’t have the power to change anything.

The most frustrating thing for me was that, while completing the computer-based application, I was asked if I wanted to register to vote and was informed that the only way not to register to vote today was to check the box declaring that I wasn’t a U.S. citizen. Shocked, I still checked that box, since I was already registered to vote. Later, at the window with a live person, I say I AM a citizen and they corrected my application. How lame was this?

I should also mention the large walls above our heads and running the length of the entire, big room were completely blank. Is there any virtue in this? There were no signs directing people to the computers to fill out their applications. And there were no signs directing us where to go afterwards. Ironically, there were large TV screens running paid, DMV-approved commercials! So communication is important if advertisers say so and the DMV says so, but not if customers need something to be clear, instead of frustrating.

After standing in one DMV line to ask where I should go next, I walked over and stood in another line next to a refined, older woman. I complained about the DMV, then she did too. I told her if I were in charge, I’d reward the good staffers and fire the bad ones. She said she agreed, and we laughed about it, both knowing it’ll never happen.

There were several other errors and miscommunications that took place during my DMV visit:

The lack of good employee standards meant DMV staffer mistakes that I had to correct. Such as trying to charge me more than what my appointment was for.

I also saw employees wasting time for minutes on end, doing nothing, just playing with their smartphones.

Meanwhile, on the back wall, the large photograph of California’s top Democrat, Jerry Brown, saw everything but did nothing.

My visit to the DMV reminded me that putting the government in charge of something usually means substandard service. And if government employees can unionize, then the pro-union laws have a tendency of making government offices slow and self-serving. For example, the privately-run Federal Express exhibits efficiency that puts to shame the government-run DMV.

And just today, I was reminded that the ruling Democrat politicians and their DMV are thieves. When canceling my automobile insurance after finding a better deal elsewhere, I was informed that, upon cancellation, I was being charged a $2 “special purpose assessment.” When I complained, the insurance carrier explained, “This is a surcharge collected by the state of California… we do not have more explanation on this surcharge.” When I searched the California DMV website, I discovered what I suspected — it just another tax permitting the wasteful, Democrat-controlled government to take — via “nickel and dime” — more money from We the People.

All of this has added to why I’m voting YES on Proposition 6 this November to repeal the Democrat politicians’ 2017 unnecessary and corrupt gas tax and DMV fee hikes. Please join me in getting a righteous return of California families’ hard-earned money and sending a message to the ruling Democrats that we recognize and reject their thievery.

“[I]f the citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will be violated or disregarded.”
Noah Webster, “Schoolmaster to America” (1758-1843)