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California Tag

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 05, 2017 22 Comments
California has a massive housing crisis, pension troubles, and an escalating crime rates. So, what do the state's leaders decide to do? Hire one of the most controversial figures in the Obama Administration to engage in legal battles against the Trump Administration.
Bracing for an adversarial relationship with President-elect Donald Trump , the California Legislature has selected former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. to serve as outside counsel to advise the state’s legal strategy against the incoming administration. The unusual arrangement will give Holder, leading a team of attorneys from the firm Covington & Burling, a broad portfolio covering potential conflicts between California and the federal government. Former Los Angeles Rep. Howard Berman, a Democrat who is now a senior advisor to the firm, will also be part of the effort.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 30, 2016 23 Comments
A report in the Washington Examiner featuring a new law about to go into effect in California is causing quite a stir. Contributor Travis Allen reports that starting Sunday, prostitution by minors will be legal in the Golden State.
SB 1322 bars law enforcement from arresting sex workers who are under the age of 18 for soliciting or engaging in prostitution, or loitering with the intent to do so. So teenage girls (and boys) in California will soon be free to have sex in exchange for money without fear of arrest or prosecution.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 30, 2016 13 Comments
I love San Francisco, but now I'm glad I haven't visited it in years. Turns out someone had to develop an online map to help people avoid human feces on the street. How disgusting:
After 20 years of envelope-pushing changes to grow government and ease law enforcement, the once-shining City by the Bay has turned into a place where:
  • Property crime runs amok
  • An online map is needed to track human feces on city streets
  • Discarded syringes are common sightings
  • Public urination is so widespread it has damaged subway elevators and escalators, building walls and power poles

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 29, 2016 8 Comments
Legal Insurrection fans probably despair of California, given the inanity of our politicians and the desire of some of our citizens to leave the Union. However, I would like to share a touching story of patriotism that may redeem our state, slightly. Videographer Tom Baldwin reports that Amador Varsity Football, from a small California town outside Sacramento called Sutter Creek, had a game against Lincoln High in San Francisco. However, the friends and family of the visiting team noticed something was amiss prior to kickoff.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 27, 2016 13 Comments
California's notorious progressive pixie, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, is exiting Congress with the dignity we have come to expect from this Golden State representative. Apparently oblivious to the constant press attention, fake and otherwise, that President Donald Trump has been accorded since taking his ride down the escalator at Trump Tower in the summer of 2015, Boxer demands that the mainstream media hold him accountable once he enters the Oval Office.
Going forward, I intend to remain very involved in the issues we face, and like all your readers, I will rely on the work you do every single day. As we march into uncharted territory with a new president-elect who has never held elected office — and who at times has threatened the media — the role of the free press is more important than ever.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 22, 2016 25 Comments
I recently blogged that the Yes, Californa secession campaign is being run by a 30-year-old American who lives and works in a city on the edge of Siberia. Now, even before all the required signatures for the ballot measure have been collected, the chief secessionist says that a California embassy has opened in Moscow, Russia.
California gained an embassy in Russia last weekend, at least in the eyes of those who have promised to seek a statewide vote on secession, nicknamed "Calexit," in 2018.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 06, 2016 61 Comments
On the morning of Nov, 9th, California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, both Democrats, issued the following statement about Donald Trump's Presidential victory:
“Today, we woke up feeling like strangers in a foreign land, because yesterday Americans expressed their views on a pluralistic and democratic society that are clearly inconsistent with the values of the people of California.
That same election created a Democratic Party super-majority within out state legislature, pretty much enabling it to pass any progressive policy Democrats can dream up.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 06, 2016 10 Comments
Investigators are working to determine the cause of a massive warehouse fire that claimed the lives of over 30 young adults who were attending a party.  The facility housed a community of artisans in Oakland, California.
The warehouse where at least 36 people died in a massive fire Friday night has been deemed too unsafe and unstable for emergency workers, prompting fire officials to temporarily halt search efforts that have now stretched into a fourth day. Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said a criminal investigation team is involved, which means the site of the warehouse fire is a potential crime scene. Melinda Drayton, battalion chief for the Oakland Fire Department, said at a news conference Monday morning that crews stopped searching overnight after noticing that a wall at the back of the building was leaning at an alarming angle. The search was halted just after midnight, Drayton said, adding that once it resumes, “we absolutely believe that the number of fatalities will increase.”

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 03, 2016 38 Comments
The nation's largest sanctuary cities, San Francisco and New York City, are busily revisiting their budgets in anticipation of President-elect Trump taking office and making good on his pledge to slash federal monies sanctuary cities currently receive. From the federal government, San Francisco gets a billion dollars each year, and New York City gets approximately $7 billion each year.   For some perspective, NYC receives more money from the federal government than the state budgets for Delaware ($4.1 billion), Mississippi ($6.4 billion), New Hampshire ($5.7 billion), Oklahoma ($6.8 billion), South Dakota ($4.5 billion), and Vermont ($5.8 billion). San Francisco is struggling with budget-related problems already, and with Trump's threat of withdrawing up to a billion federal tax dollars, the city is anticipating further budget issues.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 03, 2016 21 Comments
In October, I reported that thousands of California soldiers in the National Guard soldiers were being forced to repay over-paid enlistment bonuses and student loans. Many of these brave men and women were struggling financially to meet the repayment terms. Shortly after the Department of Defense took a substantial P.R. hit once the details behind this travesty became widely known, Secretary Ash Carter announced he was suspending this program.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 24, 2016 22 Comments
It's as predictable as the sun rising in the east: A Democratic candidate loses the presidential election and progressives begin complaining about how the unfair Electoral College. This Thanksgiving Week, I would like to discuss how Americans everywhere should be thankful our Founding Fathers established this system by using California as an example of what would happen if the presidency rested on popular vote totals.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 21, 2016 26 Comments
Recently, there has been one bright spot for me remaining a California resident: The sheer entertainment value offered by the dramatic response of our leading politicians to President-elect Trump. For example, our state's representatives are lining up to work actively against our new President. The apparent goal is to make California to Trump what Texas was to Obama.
In the early morning hours after Donald Trump became president-elect of the United States, California Senate leader Kevin de León and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon were on the phone grappling with what comes next.

Posted by Mary Chastain on November 12, 2016 46 Comments
A student at Bret Harte Preparatory Middle School in Los Angeles, CA, caught a substitute teacher telling Latino students their parents will be deported after Donald Trump won the election:
“If you were born here, then your parents gotta go and they gonna leave you behind. You’ll be in foster care,” according to the recording made by one of the 6th-grade students.
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