Free Republic

“California suffers largest job-growth drop in US – 54% cut in job creation between 2015-19 and 2019-23.” “California’s job-creation shortfall ranks as the largest among the states, as the Golden State fell from No. 1 for new jobs in 2015-19 to No. 3 in 2019-23,” the Orange County Register reported. It was in state government jobs that were created – not private sector jobs. The OCR presented the receipts: “Look at the chill in the state’s largest job markets … Los Angeles County: 195,500 slower job growth – 79,000 hires in 2019-23 vs. 274,500 added staff for 2015-19. That’s a...

“Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty. This is known as "bad luck.” ― Robert HeinleinAfter nearly two centuries of uninterrupted economic and population growth, California has hit a pothole in the road. There had been...

Facing a recall election Tuesday that could soon leave him without a job, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been pointing to Texas as an example of where the Golden State is headed if Republicans takeover, according to a report. While campaigning last week, Newsom, a Democrat, made reference to a new Texas abortion law that many liberals fear could lead to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion in America. “The whole idea that a constitutional right, the right to choice, the right to reproductive freedom, rights of women, now are under assault...

An executive order signed last week by President Trump that would exclude undocumented immigrants from the decennial reapportionment process would cost the nation’s three largest states at least one seat in Congress, a new analysis finds. It is unclear how the Trump administration plans to alter any final Census figures, or what datasets they would rely on to determine how many undocumented immigrants live in each state. Most legal scholars believe the order will not stand up in court. But if it were to stand, it would likely mean Texas and Florida would each gain one fewer seat in the...

Lion on the loose: Former San Francisco talk radio host Bernie Ward, who has spent the past seven years in federal prison for distributing child pornography online, was quietly freed Friday.

Warning follows threat from Harry Reid that grazing dispute 'not over' The chief of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association says his sources inside the federal government are warning that Washington’s weekend retreat in a dispute over grazing land in Nevada was just to distract and defuse – because a raid on the family’s ranch still is being strategized. And there probably would be violence involved, said Richard Mack, the former sheriff of Grisham County, Ariz. “I don’t think it would be possible” to launch a raid without violence, he told WND Monday. “I don’t the Bundys would lie...

In 2008, California voters endorsed Proposition 2 which banned the confinement of animals. California egg producers had to ensure that chickens had enough room to move around which negated so-called “factory farming” and would end up raising the price of eggs by 20%.Obviously this was a problem for California agriculture which would have trouble competing on price with free agriculture. And there’s only so much of a market for fair-trade free-range organic chickens lovingly raised in a Quaker school by social justice experts on a strict diet of granola and NPR broadcasts.And so California’s reds decided to instead raise the...

We wish it weren't so. But the evidence keeps coming in that other states, such as Texas and its Sun Belt neighbors, are doing something right in promoting business and jobs creation, and California is doing something terribly wrong. The U.S. Census Bureau just released estimates of the top 10 fastest-growing metropolitan areas, by population, from April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011. Not one was in California. The fastest-growing was Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash., which grew 4.3 percent during the 15-month period. It enjoys a diverse economy and Washington's lack of a state income tax. Second-fastest growing was Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos,...

The California Senate passed a bill that would require all state public schools to teach the history of the gay civil rights movement and the contributions of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. The bill passed the Democratic-majority Senate by a 23-14 vote, along party lines. Mario Guerrero, government affairs director at Equality California, an LGBT lobbying organization, said his organization expect the bill to move to the state Assembly sometime in June, where it will likely pass. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the Assembly, 52-27. A similar measure in 2006 was passed by the legislature, but vetoed...

Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Meg Whitman find themselves tied in their race for California governor, but voters have grown increasingly disenchanted with both candidates, according to a poll released Wednesday. Brown has support from 44 percent of likely voters, compared with 43 percent for Whitman, but the difference is well within the Field Poll's margin of error. The poll shows 40 percent have an unfavorable impression of the state attorney general and former governor, up from 32 percent in January. Since she won the primary, Whitman has released television ads that are playing continuously throughout the state, one promoting...

Having first met Jerry Brown in 1976 and reported extensively on five of his political campaigns between 1976 and '92, I was planning on waiting until later this summer before doing any reporting on his 2010 general election campaign for California governor. In light of Brown's propensity for vagueness and ambiguity, I thought that it might take some time yet for his latest political persona to sufficiently clarify itself and to see if he started to take some actual stands on the issues. But last week, Brown suddenly emerged with a stunning accusation against his Republican opponent Meg Whitman...

California is the nation's shameful example of what happens when Democrats influenced by big-government labor rule the statehouse for forty years. With 12.5% unemployment (up from 4.5% a mere three years ago) and a "recognized" budget deficit of $21 billion, California has just found that out it is in much, much more financial trouble than anyone, especially a Democrat, really wants to admit. California's governor Schwarzenegger commissioned a study by Stanford University, which has found that California's three public employee pension funds (The California Public Employees' Retirement System [CalPERS], California State Teachers' Retirement System [CalSTRS], and University of California...

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman continued her record-shattering spending streak this spring, burning through $33.8 million in about two months, according to a campaign finance statement filed Thursday. That amount brings the billionaire candidate's spending total to more than $80 million, with $68 million of it coming from her own personal wealth. The former chief executive officer of online auction firm eBay has said she's prepared to spend as much as $150 million of her own wealth on her campaign. Whitman had $3.8 million in cash on hand as of May 22. By comparison, Democratic candidate Jerry Brown had spent...

You have seen discussion of the California Governor's race on other places on this web site. Today we want to discuss the candidates and campaign for the U.S. Senate nomination to replace Barbara Boxer. Months ago we were in an enviable position, both candidates were pro-life. Pro-life Assemblyman Chuck DeVore was running and Carly Fiorina, who had made public statements of being pro-life. What remained was assertaining just how real those commitments were. Fiorina is the former Chairman of Hewlett-Packard and her pro-life comments were in contrast to the typical Silicon Valley 'culture' of monied Republicans. Her pro-life commitment meant...

The California prison system must reduce overcrowding by as many as 55,000 inmates within three years to provide a constitutional level of medical and mental health care, a federal three-judge panel tentatively ruled Monday. Relying on expert testimony, the court ruled that the California prison system, the nation’s largest with more than 150,000 inmates, could reduce its population by shortening sentences, diverting nonviolent felons to county programs, giving inmates good behavior credits toward early release, and reforming parole, which they said would have no adverse impact on public safety. The panel said that without such a plan, conditions would continue...

SAN DIEGO U.S. agents arrested 22 illegal immigrants Wednesday who worked for a company that provided services to the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base. The workers, all Mexican men, were arrested at their homes by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers during an early morning sweep. Agents were looking for 72 illegal workers employed by Burtech Pipeline, Inc., an Encinitas-based business that had a contract at Camp Pendleton, the base near Oceanside that is home to some 40,000 military personnel, ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack said. None of those arrested had worked at Camp Pendleton, but Mack said some of the...

Help me figure this out: Bill Bennet spent millions of dollars of money he earned gambling at Indian Casinos and he is the guy that writes all those books on virtues. he earnedthe money and could do with it as he saw fit. Cruz Bustemonte receives millions of dollars from Indian Casinos and alte claimes he did not know they had special interests. He did with the money moved that even his part faithful find a little distastefull. So, 1) Did any of Bill's money go to Cruz? 2) Would you come out of an Indian Casino with more money...

<p>SLIP SLIDE: Demos up in the Legislature just commissioned a statewide poll on the state of the state -- and it doesn't look pretty.</p> <p>Results had 57 percent of the voters saying they felt California was on the wrong track.</p>