Randy

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Archives for the ‘Good Government’ Category

My response to Jerry Brown’s budget veto: Game on again!

Thursday, June 16, 2011, 5:09 pm |

I’m glad that Governor Jerry Brown, who likes higher taxes and fees, has vetoed the Democrats’ budget bill because he either doesn’t like the way it was done or doesn’t like what it would do to his legacy.

While Democrat Controller John Chiang worries about his public image regarding whether to keep issuing legislators’ paychecks (there’s nothing in Prop. 25 that says the governor has to sign the budget bill for them to be paid), Brown’s veto means it’s “game on again” to stop higher taxes and fees extorted from California families.

On June 30, the abnormally-high sales tax and Vehicle License Fee (car tax) increases will expire. Brown doesn’t want taxes and fees to go down, but wants them extended for years. Brown said today, “We need four Republican votes and in the next several days I’m going to do everything I can — I’ll move heaven and earth — to get those votes.”

ALERT: If you know the true Power of heaven, fight against the tax-and-fee hikes of Jerry Brown and the Democrats. Right now, please again call and email Sacramento to demand “no more taxes or fees at the state or local levels!” Especially call the at-risk Republicans.

Here’s today’s SaveCalifornia.com news release responding on Brown’s veto:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2011

Response to Governor Brown’s Budget Veto
by SaveCalifornia.com President Randy Thomasson

Sacramento, California — In response to today’s veto by Governor Jerry Brown of the Democrats’ budget bill, Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, a non-profit, non-partisan statewide organization that promotes moral virtues for the common good, released the following statement:

“Jerry Brown may like higher taxes and fees, but he’s doesn’t like them in an obvious sham budget or in a way that makes him look bad. Whether his veto is for the sake of image or principle doesn’t matter as much as the fact that California families have been saved, for the time being, from more taxes and fees that take away their hard-earned money for a wasteful, greedy government to devour. We call on principled Californians to rise up and urge their state legislators — especially Republican assemblymembers and senators who can stop the Democrats’ money grab — to resist any and all tax hikes or fee hikes at the state and local levels.”

SaveCalifornia.com has identified tens of billions in government waste, and for the last several months has been calling on concerned Californians to demand an end to tax and fee hikes.

— end —

Act now: Call and email Sacramento to demand
“no more taxes or fees at the state or local levels!”

Democrat politicians pass higher taxes and fees

Wednesday, June 15, 2011, 10:26 pm |

Well, they did it. The Democrats that control the California Legislature have approved additional taxes and fees upon taxed-to-the-max California families.

And they did it just to ensure they wouldn’t lose a day’s pay under a new, voter-approved rule punishing legislators for late budget. Well, now a budget’s on time, but it’s bad. That’s obvious to State Capitol watchers, including veteran Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters, who writes, “Did Democratic legislators accomplish anything on the state budget crisis Wednesday other than protect their paychecks? Probably not.”

If Democrat Governor Jerry Brown signs this “sham” budget, which contains no structural reform, you will have to endure:

A quarter-cent increase in the sales tax you pay
A $12 surchage on your annual Vehicle License Fee or car tax
A new sales tax on every online purchase you make
A $150 fee each year on property owners in approx. 1/3 of the state (areas where the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection provides fire services)

This is an obvious disappointment because the abnormally-high state sales tax was scheduled to decrease one full percentage point, and the very high Vehicle License Fee (car tax) scheduled to be reduced by nearly half, on July 1. Instead, two weeks from now, the sales tax will decrease by three-quarters of a percent, the car tax will decrease but have a new surcharge for you to pay, and most Californians will either be paying more taxes through their online purchases or with “fire protection fees” that are redundant with state and county taxes.

Overall, if this bad budget is signed, you will be paying lower taxes overall than you did under the massive tax-and-fee hikes imposed back in February 2009, which are set to expire. Yet because of the Democrat politicians’ irresponsibility, foolishness, and thievery, you are still going to pay hundreds of dollars per year in new taxes. The Democrat legislators couldn’t stand losing a day’s pay under the new rule, so they’re punishing California families and individuals instead.

Take Action: Call Governor Jerry Brown first thing in the morning at 916-445-2841. Leave your message urging him to “Veto the higher taxes and fees. Let the people vote like you promised.”

SaveCalifornia.com and others were successful in lobbying Republican state legislators not to support higher taxes and fees. So be glad about that and pray to God that expected lawsuits are also successful. And tell people you know about the Democrat money grab. Here’s our SaveCalifornia.com news release issued earlier today:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2011

Response of SaveCalifornia.com President Randy Thomasson
to the Democrats’ tax and fee hikes

Sacramento, California — In response to today’s passing of additional tax and fee hikes by the Democrat-controlled California Legislature, Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, a non-profit, non-partisan statewide organization that promotes moral virtues for the common good, released the following statement:

“Hard-working Californians who love their families now have another reason to be disgusted with their state government. The Democrats’ budget takes more money from people who earned it — just so these politicians won’t miss a day’s pay. Californians are witnessing corruption, and have more reason than ever to oppose corrupt politicians. I hope lawsuits to enforce the two-thirds vote on taxes and fees are successful, because this blatant money-grab needs to be struck down.”

SaveCalifornia.com has identified tens of billions in government waste, and for the last several months has been calling on concerned Californians to demand an end to tax and fee hikes.

# # #

Can Prop. 8 be saved?

Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 7:21 pm |

For some time now, I’ve been asking whether California and the United States of America are still a republic and a democracy.

We already know that U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker last year violated his oath of office and attempted to craft a “new” U.S. Constitution when he ruled homosexual “marriages” were a constitutional right. That was a hot August day when I tried to hold the judge to account.

If you follow the news, you also know that Walker, now retired, recently announced he has been living the homosexual lifestyle for 10 years with another man. Now the Prop. 8 campaign has filed papers asking the federal appellate court to “vacate” (erase) Walker’s August 2010 ruling.

Of course it should be wiped out. Walker has proven he had a self-interest, which is why he should have recused himself. Walker had reason to seek and obtain a “same-sex marriage license” as a result of his biased ruling.

Good judges on a constitution-honoring court would vacate the anti-Prop. 8 ruling. But two of the three judges on the 9th Circuit panel, where the Prop. 8 case currently resides, are liberal appointees of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Sadly, I think it’s likely that this second court will “strike down” marriage licenses for “only a man and a woman.” Then the question would go to the U.S. Supreme Court. Here, I can see a 5-4 decision, with Justice Anthony Kennedy the deciding vote.  See my earlier blog, “Will Prop. 8 die on a technicality?”

Why should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Walker’s awful ruling? To review, Walker violated his oath of office in multiple ways:

1.    He had sworn to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” meaning the specific, written words and original meaning of those words contained in the Constitution. Yet America’s preeminent document doesn’t even contain the word “marriage.” Walker should have thrown out the challenge to Prop. 8, instead of taking the case.

2.    He violated the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which reads, The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Marriage is not in the U.S. Constitution, and is therefore the jurisdiction of the states — in this case, in the hands of the People of California, who have sole power to amend the California Constitution.

3.    He violated Article 4 of the actual Constitution, which reads, “The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government…” A republican form of government means states must act like a republic, not a dictatorship. A republic is a government based on written laws, such as Prop. 8. Here’s the applicable dictionary definition of a republic: “a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law.”

“Cherish therefore the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention…If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress, and Assemblies, judges and governors shall all become wolves.”
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States