Where the Leftist Central Planners Want to Force Us To Go

While small businesses, including restaurants, were locked down by government force, Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom partied with a group at an expensive restaurant. The California Democrats have decreed gasoline-powered automobiles won't be sold in California in a little over a decade from now, while the state's power infrastructure can't handle current demand for electricity. In the county of Los Angeles, freeways can't handle existing traffic, but the "road fund" is regularly spent on buses, rail, and non-transportation projects and programs.

What the Leftist Democrats are doing in California - which they'd love to take national - might not make sense to someone who has common sense, who doesn't seek to control others. But what the power-hungry social engineering central planners are doing makes sense when you realize what they want, and they've publicly said so and/or demonstrated, is to:

• Install most of our children into government-controlled institutions from six weeks of age into their twenties.
• Get those children dependent on government for most of their meals, served at or distributed by the schools.
• Move most of us into large apartment buildings, especially ones with commercial space on the first level or three.
• Ensure those apartment units will have water and power controlled and limited by remote, and waste (like the trash you throw away) controlled, limited, and analyzed.
• Force us out of automobiles we control into government-run mass transit.
• Discourage entrepreneurship and small businesses so that we're all working for government or large businesses, which can be more easily controlled by government, or dependent on government redistribution of money.
• Get most of us dependent on the state for health care.
• Disarm private citizens when it comes to defending themselves, their family, or their property.

We can see this at the state level and with the counties and cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles. They are constantly seeking to make government bigger, more intrusive, and more controlling, and get as many of us dependent on government as they can.

They hate liberty for anyone other than their own little clique.

Resist Leftism. Defeat Leftism. Defend Liberty.

A Safe and Reliable Water Supply is a Basic Element of Civilization

The Leftist Democrats controlling California and Los Angeles county are failing again. They are failing at some basic, core responsibilities.

Despite people literally fleeing the state, there is again a water "shortage" and residents are yet again being told to reduce their water usage.

Ever look west? California, including Los Angeles county, is on the world's largest body of water.

There isn't a shortage of water. There's a shortage of competent, dedicated service to the residents of California by people who are supposed to be public servants.

The Leftists running the state will blame "climate change" for their failure.

Hogwash.

Absurdities in California

Time for the March of the Criminals and Commies again, since it is May 1. And of course it is pure coincidence that the Caravan of Wannabe Invaders came all the way to the California portion of the border and arrived at this time. Riiiiiiight. What a bunch of stupid theatrics.

Someone forgot they were supposed to be in the shadows!

Speaking of stupid cultural appropriation of kabuki theater, Larry Lopez, appearing under his stage name Nativo, is still doing a very poor imitation of Jesse Jackson. Or maybe Gloria Alred? Whichever. Larry, whose attempt to beat a criminal prosecution had him either feigning dementia eight years ago, or making a miraculous recovery since, or perhaps is still demented (I'll let you decide), made it into the Orange County Register and either the reporter was too lazy or agenda-driven to note the paper's previous coverage of Larry, or the editors decided to cover for him. It even appears to me that they have prevented comments from being made on the article.

If you're not interested, at least scroll down for a reminder that rioting has lasting negative consequences.

The State of California

[I'm bumping this up because the new gasoline tax is about to take effect.]

I was born in California and have lived my entire life in California. The state has great climate and geography, natural resources, and human resources. Unfortunately, it is ruled unchallenged by gender-confused, big government, nanny state, unionist, environut reconquistadors, or, to be redundant, Leftists. Democrats have a supermajority in the state Senate and Assembly, and our Governor is a Democrat. These are not moderate Democrats, either. They are far on the Left. Not only is San Francisco city/county led by Leftists, but so is Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles. L.A.’s Mayor is itching to run for Governor or even President.

Illinois is having trouble and California isn't far behind. This is what the rest of the Union faces the more Left it goes.

Here are just some of the things going on in the state right now, that are getting closer and closer to driving me and my family from our home state.

The Stupidity of Identity Politics

If you would have asked me if the President of the California NAACP would be in favor of expanding the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors or against it, I would have guessed "in favor". And yet, Alice A. Huffman has a commentary in the Pink Transgender Lady (a.k.a. Los Angeles Times) advising against it, which means I agree Huffman!

State Constitutional Amendment 12, or SCA 12, would allow California voters to amend the state’s Constitution to require that L.A. County expand its Board of Supervisors from five to seven members and create an elected chief executive position with outsize powers and no accountability to the board.

That means voters all over California would get to decide the structure of the Los Angeles county leadership. The Amendment would not change things in any other county.

Currently, all legislative and executive power of the Los Angeles county government (other than whatever powers are retained by elected Department positions such as Sheriff) flows from the five-member board, and the last time an incumbent running for re-election was defeated was in 1980. Members of the board kept getting re-elected until they retired, until statewide term limits were put in place. It is those terms limits that have likely been a major inspiration for the proposed Amendment, as state legislators would very much like to have more elected positions in which to land when they are termed out of Sacramento. There are over ten million residents in the county of Los Angeles, so even if the board had two more members, each one would represent well over a million people, and there's no doubt that a new elected executive would be a Democrat staging position for Governor or President.

What caught my eye, though was that people are touting "diversity" to support and oppose the Amendment.

Twenty Five Years Since Infamous Murderous Riots in Los Angeles

I remember early 1990s Los Angeles well.

Rodney King was a criminal and druggie who was speeding and then attacked police officers. after his dangerous speeding drive finally ended. While the famous video looks bad, a jury in a state/county criminal trial found that the arresting officers did not violate the law (actually, they were split on one charge against one of the four officers). Having followed the trial closely, I didn't disagree with their verdicts. I do not believe the jury was racist. If there was a bias in the jury, it was probably a "pro police" bias.

You can disagree with me on that, and still agree with me on everything below.

Opportunists and murderous criminals subsequently rioted, doing far worse to innocent people than the officers ever did to King.

Under the guise of such things as "Rebuild LA" the response was to REWARD the neighborhoods where these rioters were raised and encouraged and defended with taxpayer money and money from businesses. Businesses can do whatever they want with their money; if I'm an investor I can object or pull out my money. If I'm an employee I can quit. If I'm a customer I can stop being one. Taxpayer money is another story. Large companies offered jobs to young people living in these neighborhoods, giving them preference over kids from neighborhoods that weren't full of rioters, making accommodations they'd never make for anyone else.

The way I see it, after riots, I'm willing to support residents and businesses seeking to relocate and rebuild elsewhere; the last thing I want is to reward rioters.

After the riots, the feds came in and did a "civil rights" trial against the police officers. Two of the four were subsequently convicted, and of course the jury couldn't possibly have had in their minds "We'd better convict or the city will burn," right???

I'm not aware of any of the convicted former officers subsequently beating up any people, regardless of skin color. But Rodney King kept committing crimes and being a danger to others, generally wasting his life and his sizable settlement check, and died relatively young. His autopsy results indicated he died from accidental drowning, and that a combination of alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, and PCP found in his system were contributing factors.

The officers who arrested him in the famous incident had said they suspected he was on PCP, based on his behavior (including being able to fight off the officers), so it was interesting that all those years later (and after rehab programs) it was still found in his system.

We're fortunate King didn't do more harm than he did. He easily could have killed people with his behavior.

There are still blighted areas in the rioter neighborhoods 25 years later. Of course there is! Even with incentives from misguided government, why would people rebuild a business or move their business in to a place where people burn businesses down, steal, assault, and murder?

Let People Break Laws Because: Lawbreakers

So much for hiding in the shadows. People who are breaking laws by coming or staying here illegally are again demanding we change how we do things to accommodate them. Look, pal, I welcome legal immigrants with open arms and a big smile and congratulations, but I still expect them to adapt to the Union, not have the USA adapt to them. We sure as heck shouldn't change a darn thing to make life any easier for someone who didn't follow the rules to begin with.

Kate Linthicum has the article at the Pink Transgendered Lady, which only allows you so many clicks per months before they want $. So keep that in mind if you are thinking about clicking through.

This is how the article is headlined:

Immigrants Rights Groups Urge Changes in Car Impound Policies
Activists persuaded the LAPD to amend its policy on unlicensed drivers, and the number of cars impounded last year fell 39%. They hope the Sheriff's Department and other police agencies follow suit.

An immigrant is someone who comes here and stays here legally. A foreigner who is here illegally is an illegal alien. Calling these people "Immigrants Rights Groups" is dishonest.

A 2011 state law requires police at drunk-driving checkpoints to give unlicensed drivers the chance to call someone with a license to take the car before it is towed.

They dropped the provision where the police were also required to offer them taxpayer-funded sex change operations.

But that law does not apply to routine traffic stops, and activists complain that unlicensed drivers across the county are losing their cars after being pulled over for minor infractions, such as making a wrong turn or driving without a seat belt. In many cases, the cars are impounded for 30 days at a fee of more than $1,000.

That's because they aren't supposed to be driving in the first place. What is the point of having a license if it doesn't allow you to do anything that someone without the license can do?

Activists say impound policies unfairly target immigrants here illegally, who cannot obtain licenses in California.

Yeah, you know those bank robbery laws unfairly target people who want money that isn't theirs.

At a news conference Wednesday held by a group called the Free Our Cars Coalition, Mexican immigrant Alma Castaneda said she and her husband have had their cars impounded five times for unlicensed driving. 

By "immigrant" the paper probably means illegal alien. In what other country would someone stand up at a press conference and admit to breaking federal law, and then complain that they were caught breaking state law five times?

That is how [whiny illegal aliens] persuaded the Los Angeles Police Department to make major changes to its impound policy, said Zach Hoover, a Baptist minister who leads an alliance of religious and community groups called LA Voice.

I won't hold my breath for the paper to run an editorial criticizing Hoover for trying to put religion into the law.

The new rules drew lawsuits from the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents rank-and-file officers, and from a national group called Judicial Watch that said the policy is unfair to taxpayers. California State Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris issued an opinion that the LAPD's impound policies were legal.

What does the law matter to Harris? She encourages lawbreaking.

If it is so difficult to live here as an illegal alien, then tough. I understand why people prefer the USA, especially over Mexico. However, they're going to have the deal with our laws, at least until they get as much political clout as marriage neutering advocates, who can simply ignore laws. We need to protect everyone, not just make things easier for illegal aliens.

The State of the City

Here's what we're dealing with the greater Los Angeles area, being part of the People's Republic of Alta California:

We're going to make it easier for people to commit fraud to get taxpayer-subsidized housing.

Some want to make it easier for unlicensed drivers who have been pulled over for traffic violations to keep driving. People who have been issued tickets and haven't paid a dime are going to be given amnesty, while people who have made some effort to pay won't.

Those of us who follow the law are being faced with being strongly limited in the automobiles we will be able to purchases due to an inherently flawed attempt to control climate.

Our utility bills are rising in a flawed attempt to control climate.

The largest port complex in the union wants to accommodate more traffic, but environmentalist whackos are just fine letting some other location in another country or state get those great jobs.

Crazy people are shouting at elected leaders to try to stop them from building new jails to replace overcrowded, aging jails, apparently preferring to let criminals and suspects run free.

Over 700 vicious first-degree murderers are being given shelter, health care, food, security, recreation, and other comforts of life on the taxpayer dime, with no execution date in sight, despite being sentenced to death.

The unemployment and underemployment rate is even worse than the national average.

The state and localities have many and high taxes, and there's a serious push for more.

We're running huge state budget deficits, but a 100,000,000,000-dollar boondoggle Unneeded Train-to-Nowhere that will be an ongoing drain on taxpayers is still being pushed.

Taxpayer-funded school teachers can tie up and blindfold elementary school kids and literally spoon-feed them Clinton-White-House-Intern-Blue-Dress-Staining Fluid, document their crime with pictures, and then resign and keep their pensions!

While all of this is going on, legislators are spending their time writing, discussing, and passing laws to make "adult video" performers wear condoms. Never mind everyone else, and the fact that the disease transmission rate through such performances has been close to zero.

You can't make this stuff up. This is what happens when Leftist Democrats are in control.

I Love Plastic Shopping Bags

Los Angeles County has banned certain plastic shopping bags in all areas that are not part of an incorporated city, and some cities within the county have banned those bags within their cities. I have written about this before (here, here, here, and here) [Sorry, links might not be working anymore].

Here's an article in the Los Angeles Times by Andrew Khouri.

Brandon Martin recalls the woman who came through his supermarket checkout line, only to find that she would have to pay a dime apiece for paper shopping bags.

Plastic bags, she was told, were no longer an option.

The woman thought for a moment, Martin recalled, and then directed him to load the groceries in the plastic trash bags she purchased.

"I thought that was a pretty nifty idea," said Martin, who bags groceries at the Ralphs in La Crescenta. "I've never encountered that."

Of course he thought that was nifty. It sells more trash bags, which take up more material, by the way.

But it may not be the last time. Since July 1, large supermarkets and pharmacies in unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County have been required to charge 10 cents each for paper bags and have been banned from using plastic grocery bags. Similar bans are in effect or pending in several cities across Southern California.

It's not good enough just to ban plastic bags. They now have to charge for the paper ones. Why? To encourage using the more expensive bags (which could lead to food poisoning).

The county ordinance was designed to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags and cut down on waste.

People living in these jurisdictions should protest by 1) shopping in jurisdictions that don’t have this ridiculous law, and 2) deliberately generating more waste. How many people reuse those bags to clean up after their pets? If they use something that take more material, isn’t that a net environmental loss? Everyone who used to use the grocery bags to pick up pet waste should now toss their used batteries in to whatever else they use. And their government-mandated toxic lightbulbs.

Some customers have been using odd contrivances to lug out their purchases — including baskets, cardboard boxes, old paper and plastic bags, backpacks and even their hands.

Back the car right up to the door.

Shopper Ana Castorena said that thanks to the ban, she never forgets to bring her reusable bag to the store.

Yes, but what if you don’t bring enough?

"If we're not forced, we won't make a change," said Castorena, 33, standing outside the Hacienda Heights supermarket.

Heaven forbid!

Just down the road from a Ralphs store in unincorporated Marina del Rey, a Ralphs in the city of Los Angeles remains unaffected by the ban. Sales have risen about 5% at that market since the store less than half a mile away stopped using plastic bags, a store manager said.

Great. It will be interesting to see what happens to sales tax revenue.

Long Beach's ban took effect Monday. Santa Monica begins enforcement Sept. 1, and Pasadena and other cities are debating scrapping plastic bags as well. By January, L.A. County's ban will extend to about 1,000 smaller stores in unincorporated areas.

One more reason to move.

Don't yell at the store staff. This isn't their fault.