How about cutting off all services to illegal aliens?   My only exception would be medical aid to save their life. Then when they are able to travel, deport them. We can’t afford this anymore. This will save anywhere from 10 to 25 billion dollars, depending on who you talk to. But who really knows? Tell you what, lets do it and find out.

Of course, you will have to outlaw Sanctuary Cities and put up with the reduction in crime this will bring. Speaking of crime, more than 30% of the criminals in state prisons and local jails are here illegally. Without even deporting anyone, that number will shrink over time because without the illegals, we will have a reduction in crime. 

Next, lets look at these state funded grants to find out if smoking is bad, drunk driving kills and thousands of other studies funded by the state that are nothing but researchers being on the state dole.

Want more? OK. People are suppose to have driver licenses and insurance to drive, but according to AAA, 1/3 of the cars on the road does not have a licensed driver or do not have insurance. Do random traffic checks, impound and sell the cars of the offenders and have the proceeds go into the general fund. The long-term affect is fewer traffic accidents and the drain on the state funds that pay for the cleanup and injuries of those who are not insured.

There is plenty more. However, this is not the place. I’ll tell you what. If you would like some help, I will volunteer to go over the state budget with you and identify the expenses that can be cut to close the budget deficit without touching essential services. It’s time to cut the baloney not the beef.

Have you noticed that there are 300,000 fewer rich people filing state tax returns in 2008 than in 2007? They have left the state along with the $6 billion in income taxes they were paying, say nothing of their sales tax, car tax, gas tax and the hundreds of other taxes we pay. Perhaps a change in tax policy is necessary so the Golden Goose does not leave. As far as taxing in the state of California is concerned, we have reached the “Law of Diminishing Returns”. That is a basic law of economics. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that anyone in the state government has an economics degree or has even studied the subject. What other explanation is there for this insanity?

Glenn Strickler

Targeted Education?

Is the Obama administration about to do away with government education aid based on income and institute an education aid program to “targeted” careers only? 

Here is a quote from Obama’s appearance on Jay Leno:

“And what we need is steady growth; we need young people, instead of -- a smart kid coming out of school, instead of wanting to be an investment banker, we need them to decide they want to be an engineer, they want to be a scientist, they want to be a doctor or a teacher. And if we're rewarding those kinds of things that actually contribute to making things and making people's lives better, that's going to put our economy on solid footing. We won't have this kind of bubble-and-bust economy that we've gotten so caught up in for the last several years.”

Seems innocent enough. Yet buried in Obama’s proposed country-busting budget is just such a provision.  So if you are a poor child who wants to major in Business Administration, you can forget any government sponsored loans or grants, should this budget pass. You will need to major in one of the subjects that President Obama approves of. Sounds like education and indoctrination Soviet-style. However, this little statement went unnoticed by a media that is obsessed with the AIG bonus situation. This would not have been a surprise had they actually read the bill. Perhaps they will actually read the proposed budget.

This is what you get when you allow government to dictate how you will live your lives through targeted taxation and aid. You become nothing but a puppet on a string. And sadly, we are all living like this to one extent or another. We only need deductions for home mortgage, charity, property taxes and other deductions because government taxation is oppressive.   Look up the ”Fair Tax” and see if that is not a more reasonable system.

Either way, though, this practice will be coming to an end in one of two ways. The people rise up and put an end to the madness, or the economic train runs off the tracks and completely crashes. The laws of math and economics do not allow for any other outcome should we stay on our present course.

In another example of the mainstream media’s love affair with President Obama, there has been virtually no coverage of the ice storm that has paralyzed a large portion of our nation, Kentucky being the hardest hit. Nearly 25% of the state’s population has been without electricity for nearly a week in sub-freezing temperatures. Hardly a home or tree has escaped damage. In many cases, people are trapped in their homes and downed trees close roads. 

Fortunately, the area has responsible governors and mayors, unlike New Orleans. However, the scope of the problem is stretching local resources thin. It is also being underreported. But I have a much larger question?

Where is Obama? He has made no public comment. He has not toured the area. Requests by three of the area’s governors for a federal disaster declaration has gone unanswered for 3 days.   Where is FEMA? Where the hell is the media coverage of the people being pulled out of their homes that have been crushed by trees? Where is the body count? Where are the pictures of the people shivering in the cold? Where is the coverage of neighbor helping neighbor? During Katrina, we had cable networks such as CNN and MSNBC with 24/7 coverage. Here we have an ice storm covering a larger area, affecting more people, potentially causing more damage, yet we only get a 3-minute report from Anderson Cooper.

Only one question remains: If George W. Bush was still in office, would he get a similar pass?

We now have so-called Republicans attacking the inauguration for the flubbed oath, and the orchestra for syncing to a recording because of the extreme cold. Its minutia such as this that got the Republicans in the mess that they are in and is one reason why I am no longer a Republican. Worrying about birth certificates and lapel pins instead of policies and track records.

Go after the policies and track records. Contrary to what the media and the left would have us believe, the country did not make a left turn this past November. The message the voters gave was: “We are tired of business as usual!” All you have to do to verify this is look at the local elections and how people voted on local issues. 

There are millions of Americans who are just waiting for some type of genuine conservative leadership to emerge. There has been none. Lets face it. President Bush 41 was not a conservative, and he lost his bid for a second term. President Bush 43, while being conservative on defense, was not on other issues.  While he was elected to a second term, his lack of conservative leadership caused the decline of the Republican Party. There has been no elected conservative leadership in Washington since Newt. And that ended badly. 

Wise up, Republicans. Get conservative or get out of town. It’s not about moving more to the center left. You had that and have gotten your butts kicked two national elections in a row. It’s about showing a clear conservative difference between the Republicans and Democrats. If the Republican Party doesn’t get it soon, then they will fade onto the trash heap of history along with the United States, as we know it.

Tax time is nearing. With a good number of California citizens due for a refund and the state broke, the controller has announced that those of us due refunds will receive “registered warrants” or more commonly known as “IOUs”. Well all righty then, two can play that game and after doing some math, I have decided to apply my California tax refund (or my IOU) to my taxes owed for the 2009 taxable year and change my deductions accordingly in order that my withholding be lowered. You see, I am going to use that money this year one way or another. Should be no big deal, right?

Well, apparently enough of my fellow Californians have followed the same path that a sharp decline in revenue beyond what would be expected from the increasing unemployment rate has occurred causing some state legislators to look into the matter. Being shielded by the  news coverage of the inauguration of President Obama, those same legislators are moving to draft legislation to prevent more California citizens from changing their withholding. We shall see what happens. Unless they make it retroactive, I am safe. You should hurry, though, as you never can tell how fast the legislators can move when it comes to confiscating our money.