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Author: Leslie Eastman

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Leslie Eastman

I am an Environmental Health and Safety Professional, as well as a science/technical writer for a variety of news and professional publications. I have been a citizen activist since 2009, and am one of the co-founders of the San Diego-based group, Southern California Tax Revolt Coalition.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 01, 2016 24 Comments
When his second term comes to its inevitable conclusion, the final list of President Obama's policy failures will be ponderous. And few items on this list will place higher than his "Green Energy Initiatives." One of his gandest schemes involved backing Solyndra LLC, a solar-panel maker. Presidential aides pressured White House budget officials to complete a review of a $535 million U.S. loan guarantee to the firm, which subsequently filed for bankruptcy protection. Now comes news of a failure 5-times larger. Late last year, another Obama-based green energy company was poised for bankruptcy:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 30, 2016 1 Comment
As the primary battle in Wisconsin heats up with the endorsement of Senator Ted Cruz by Governor Scott Walker, an different kind of fight is occurring among the state's citizens. As of this report, nearly 60 Wisconsin residents have been stricken with bloodstream infection from a bacteria called Elizabethkingia, and 18 have died. Additionally, one Michigan resident has also died from an infection.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 30, 2016 18 Comments
A little over a year ago I reported that a Food Justice Warrior had been appointed "School Lunch Czar" to shake-up the signature program promoted by First Lady Michelle Obama. Prior to that appointment, students across the country ran a #ThanksMichelleObama campaign to share pictures of the unappetizing meals being served. More recent tweets show....that the Food Czar has been less than effective. I got a hollow chicken nugget in my school lunch #ThanksMichelleObama pic.twitter.com/ELhIr6sIag — Henry (@henrytheisen) March 18, 2016

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 27, 2016 13 Comments
California's elite politicos have long resented our state's system of propositions and ballot measures, which give the voters some measure of control on how Sacramento runs. Famous tax-payer victories include Proposition 13 (capping property taxes). Furthermore, Californians have organized statewide to defeat other issues (e.g., Proposition 1A, a temporary tax increase that California Tea Party Groups fought successfully in 2009). After a ballot measure was recently approved for a proposed, gradually-implemented $15/hour minimum wage law, our state's politicians played a round of "Let's Make a Deal" to bypass the will of the voters.
Lawmakers and labor unions have struck a tentative deal to raise the statewide minimum wage to $10.50 an hour next year and then gradually to $15, averting a costly political campaign this fall and possibly putting California at the forefront of a national movement.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 27, 2016 34 Comments
President Obama continued his "Spring Break" from America by undermining the foundations of the country's successful economic system. After dancing the night away, Obama was addressed the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative Town Hall at Usina Del Arte in Buenos Aires, Argentina:
I guess to make a broader point, so often in the past there's been a sharp division between left and right, between capitalist and communist or socialist. And especially in the Americas, that's been a big debate, right? Oh, you know, you're a capitalist Yankee dog, and oh, you know, you're some crazy communist that's going to take away everybody's property. And I mean, those are interesting intellectual arguments, but I think for your generation, you should be practical and just choose from what works. You don't have to worry about whether it neatly fits into socialist theory or capitalist theory -- you should just decide what works.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 25, 2016 8 Comments
Six years ago this week, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law...with all the arrogance and pomp we have come to expect! Obamacare is still the gift that keeps on giving...fiscal pain, budgetary heartbreak, and unfulfilled expectations. For this magic anniversary, Patrice J. Lee f the Independent Women's Forum walks us down Memory Lane:
During the debate over ObamaCare, President Obama promised –among many things- that the average family premiums would decline by $2,500. Let’s just see if that held up. According to the Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Americans in most states face higher healthcare premiums this year under ObamaCare. In 17 of those states, the deductible increases are 20 percent or higher. As for deductibles, those too have spiked. Forty-one states saw average deductibles for ObamaCare plans increase and 17 of them experienced double-digit increases.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 23, 2016 2 Comments
Californians are being treated to a rare opportunity to actually make a difference during a presidential primary season...at least if they are Republican. Senator Bernie Sanders is behind in the delegate count, and the "Super Duper" election results confirm Hillary is the likely nominee at this point. However, he is gamely continuing his campaign with a stop in my home town.
Thousands of supporters packed the San Diego Convention Center Tuesday evening to attend a Bernie Sanders rally. The Democratic Presidential Candidate stopped in San Diego for the rally more than two months ahead of the winner-take-all California primary in June. ...He said his campaign listened to the concerns of youths, military veterans and the elderly.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 20, 2016 9 Comments
Donald Trump's quest for the Oval Office certainly has been fascinating. This weekend, protesters in Arizona and their anti-Trump road blockage made for breathless press coverage. I suspect the organizers of that inanity are going to be shocked when they learn that it helped Trump win more votes and gave the business mogul free media attention. Now, Trump is being blamed by the elite media for the impending death of the Tea Party. For example, the Los Angeles Times engages in fantasy reporting with this analysis:
...Trump’s candidacy has not only fractured the Republican Party, it’s threatening to break apart the tea party movement and erode a once-powerful voting block that has driven conservative politics and elections for the past seven years. In addition to grass-root defections by activists like Dooley, tea party leadership has split over Trump’s presidential bid. Some conservative activists met this week to try to stop him, while others have joined his campaign. Meanwhile, major financial backers, including groups funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, have been sidelined from publicly backing GOP primary candidates, partly out of fear they might alienate their divided base.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 20, 2016 12 Comments
In December 2012, Professor Jacobson posted "Barack Morsi". It turns out the title was truer than he realized. President Obama took the advice of "back-benchers" over experienced security experts to promote the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, creating condition for the usurpation of power by Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi:
Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told Fox News that President Barack Obama ignored the advice of his “entire national security team” during the Egyptian coup in 2011 that ousted Hosni Mubarak, the country’s former president.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 18, 2016 29 Comments
It turns out that our 2012 Tea Party event was, indeed, crashed by a D-list Hollywood celebrity wannabe! The meeting, which focused on how citizen activists could counter false charges of racism, was crashed by a group of disruptors waving Confederate flags and holding White Power signs. One of our astute readers, Wolverbear, asked if it was Adult Swim comedian Eric André. Why, yes it was! Our savvy research team has uncovered this Youtube chestnut.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 16, 2016 21 Comments
Several savvy Legal Insurrection readers noted that Californians who flee our progressive paradise have the nasty tendency to take their politics with them. In light of the success business mogul and pugnacious political candidate Donald Trump has had in the GOP primary, Governor Jerry Brown may have stumbled upon a solution that should bring joy to many Americans.
Gov. Jerry Brown, mocking Donald Trump for his plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, suggested Monday that if the Republican frontrunner wins the election, California might have to take protective measures of its own. “If Trump were ever elected, we’d have to build a wall around California to defend ourselves from the rest of this country,” Brown told labor organizers at a dinner in Sacramento.
This idea may now have a lot more appeal to the citizens in our remaining 56 states, as the Golden State's crime rate has spiked.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 14, 2016 16 Comments
I knew that the 2016 election would be filled with black swans, events that deviate beyond what normally occurs during typical campaign seasons. However, the disruption of Donald Trump's rallies is not such a creature. Leftist operators have been a staple at conservative, grassroots events ever since I began organizing tea party rallies with our San Diego group in 2009. During the first year of the Tea Party, for which we obtained all the necessary permits and arranged for top-notch security, among our most consistent attendees were progressive counter-protesters who blasted bullhorns during speeches given by our guests. When Tea Party didn't disappear, anarchists in black coats began mingling with our crowds in search of opportunities to make trouble. Threats of harassment cast a shadow on these events. The direction of the threats were always one way: Toward us, as a group of average citizens who were over-taxed, over-burdened by regulations, and over-tired of being dismissed by the establishment.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 13, 2016 7 Comments
As of our last report on the Zika virus, the number of confirmed cases of infection among those living in the United States was steadily rising and several woman had pregnancies that were likely impacted by the mosquito-borne pathogen. While President Obama says "not to panic", the normally glacially responsive Food and Drug Administration took the initial steps to pave the way for the use of genetically modified mosquitoes in the fight to eradicate the virus. The agency has just published a draft of its environmental impact study of OX513A, a male Aedes aegypti mosquito genetically modified to pass on a lethal gene to his offspring.
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