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California Tag

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 27, 2016 18 Comments
In case you're one of the holdouts not yet convinced the Idiocracy is upon is, here's a little story for you. Seventeen-Year-Old TJ Khayatan placed a pair of glasses on the gallery floor of San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art to test patron's responses. And well... yeah...

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 27, 2016 7 Comments
I have long sensed that the 2016 California primary would be very memorable. Kemberlee Kaye just reported that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders may debate ahead of the California primary, as Hillary Clinton declined to debate Sanders recently. Hillary Clinton may want to rethink the non-engagement approach that led to this development, as Sanders is now closing the gap in recent polling.
The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) poll, conducted May 13 – 22 and released Wednesday, found: “Among Democratic primary likely voters, 46 percent support Clinton and 44 percent support Sanders. These voters include Democrats and independents who say they will vote in the Democratic primary. Clinton has a slight lead over Sanders among registered Democrats (49% to 41%)."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 26, 2016 18 Comments
Bernie Sanders agreed to debate his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, in a Fox News-hosted debate. Not surprisingly, Hillary declined. But what about a Sanders/Trump debate? On Jimmy Kimmel Live Wednesday night, Trump said he was open to the idea of debating Sanders, provided a network paid them for their time and those remunerations went to charity. "If I debated him [Sanders] we would have such high ratings and I think we should take that money and give it to some worthy charity," said Trump.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 24, 2016 11 Comments
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders predicts that the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia could be "messy" as he presses his progressive platform planks: "Democracy is not always nice and quiet and gentle." If the upcoming California primary is any indication, the Democratic Party could get messier far sooner. Both former President Bill Clinton and Sanders held rallies in the San Diego area this weekend. Sanders' first rally had at least 10,000 attendees.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 07, 2016 7 Comments
Finally, some good news from the Golden State! It looks like we have solved all our other problems, so Governor Jerry Brown was able to focus on the issue of paramount importance: Smoking!
Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed a package of bills that will regulate the manufacture and sale of e-cigarettes and increase the legal smoking age from 18 to 21. Other bills the governor signed will close loopholes in existing smoke-free workplace laws and require that all K-12 schools be tobacco-free.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 04, 2016 18 Comments
In the wake of Bernie Sanders' shock win in Indiana, and now substantially narrowed GOP field, the center of the Democratic Party's political universe is now California. Since there is currently a mere two point poll gap between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, every vote in this state is critical. So, both Clintons will be in California for various events over the next few weeks. Yesterday, I read that the former President would be in San Diego's Balboa Park Club for a speech. So I donned by Star Wars t-shirt (May the Fourth be with you) and attempted to blend in with Clinton fans for a on-scene report.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 29, 2016 48 Comments
Anti-Trump protesters surrounded rally sites, waved Mexican flags, and ventured to prevent Trump supporters from seeing The Donald speak. The term "protesters" being used to describe these thuggish demonstrators is an inaccurate, weak description. They harassed and intimidated Trump's supports who were attempting to hear the candidate speak at two separate California events.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 22, 2016 5 Comments
Regular Legal Insurrection readers may recall that prior to signing the new state minimum wage law, California Governor Jerry Brown was heckled at the Paris Climate Conference. Brown was challenged by a group of protesters opposed to carbon offset programs they said could hurt indigenous people. However, his enthusiasm for imposing draconian rules limiting carbon dioxide emissions has remained quite vigorous.
“This is one skirmish, but I’ll tell you, it’s increasing the intensity of my commitment to do everything I can to make sure we reduce oil consumption in California,” he said. “My zeal has been intensified to a maximum degree, and nothing, nothing is going to stop this state from pushing forward on our low-carbon fuel standard and our cap-and-trade and our ZEV [zero-emission vehicle] mandate.”
Brown's zeal was such that about a year ago he issued an executive order setting a goal for greenhouse gas emissions to be 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. The California Governor's mandate was short on specifics about how his new goal will be achieved, and relied on currently undeveloped or uninvented technology to ultimately achieve the goal.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 18, 2016 27 Comments
Minimum wage hikes tend to hurt lower income-wage earners more than help. California recently mandated a $15 minimum wage. Now, facilities maintenance and food service workers at UC Berkeley may find their jobs imperiled. Justin Holcomb writes for Townhall:
The $15 minimum wage hike in California has sent financially troubled UC Berkeley into decision making mode, and "the people who clean buildings, who work in food services or health clinics,” says Todd Stenhouse, will be the ones without a job.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 18, 2016 35 Comments
The Environment and Public Works Committee has been gathering testimony from a wide range of witnesses (industry experts, military official, and faith leaders) to discuss the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan. Because the Senators obviously wanted listed to many different perspectives, those invited to offer input included Alex Epstein, author of A Moral Case for Fossil Fuels and President of Center for Industrial Progress, as well as Father Robert Sirico (a Catholic priest and President of the free-market supporting Acton Institute).

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 13, 2016 77 Comments
Donald Trump inexplicably waited until YESTERDAY to name a State Political Director in California. The California primary on June 7 could determine whether Trump reaches the magic 1237 majority delegate number prior to the July convention. By all reports, Cruz is far ahead in the ground game in California, which awards delegates not only on the statewide vote but also by congressional district. Even if Trump wins the state, he may underperform in enough congressional districts due to Cruz's superior campaign preparation that Trump is stopped short. Or he may fail to file delegate slates in all districts. Erick Erickson reports:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 12, 2016 21 Comments
Californians are thrilled at the prospect of having their votes actually matter during the presidential primary season, especially when every delegate is critical. So many Republicans in the southern California area headed to various rallies yesterday to see aspirant Senator Ted Cruz. I joined two of our local Tea Party bloggers (W.C. Varones and Left Coast Rebel) and 2000 other interested voters at his San Diego event yesterday.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 12, 2016 10 Comments
If the list "Best California Governors" is ever created, our current one has a better shot at making the cut than Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger began his time in office with record high approval ratings (89% in December 2003), he left office with a record low 23% in 2011, only one percent higher than that of Gray Davis's when he was recalled. The reasons for the plummeting approval are many, but ultimately stem from selling himself as a conservative but abandoning these principles after important citizen-backed control measures were defeated because of union shenanigans. Californians might have forgiven him for bad politics, but one of his final acts as Governor was utterly disgraceful and unforgivable.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 07, 2016 10 Comments
I would like to introduce you to California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who is running for the U.S. Senate and hoping to take the seat occupied by Barbara "Don't Call Me Ma'am" Boxer. I would like to say that Harris, who is both the likely nominee and ultimate November victor, will be an improvement over the pugnacious pixie. But I can't.
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