Longtime readers of this blog will remember my opposition to tax rate increases to solve our mammoth state budget deficits. That’s because in an economic crisis like this, increasing tax rates will never collect the same level of tax revenues, and will almost always make the problem worse, since it disincentivizes the economic activity that produces tax revenue.

Sure enough, that’s what happened. In the first quarter, California’s tax revenues lagged projections by $300 million. Not a small amount of money, but if that trend had continued for the remaining three quarters of the year, we would have been short $1.2 billion.

Then the new tax increases went into effect on April 1, and the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office just announced that tax revenues actually lagged projections by $1.8 billion dollars in April alone. That’s 6 times the rate of decline as the previous three months combined!

If this doesn’t cure those who believe that raising taxes is the solution to California’s massive budget deficits, you may be beyond help.

The Bush-Obama bailout inspiration continues with the introduction of a $3.6 trillion dollar spending plan for the federal government. There are supposedly $17 billion in “cuts” in this budget, but the Wall Street Journal lays out a little more detail.

President Barack Obama delivered Congress the details of his $3.6 trillion budget Thursday, eliminating or cutting back 121 programs but swamping the $17 billion in savings with new efforts, from a college-completion fund to a new affordable-housing trust fund to 50,000 more cops on the beat.

At a time when state and local governments are slashing services, the Obama budget for 2010 shows little real sign of belt-tightening.

The $17 billion in cuts amount to about 0.5% of the $3.6 trillion spending plan. And with absolutely zero belt tightening and massive increases in spending, we’re about to see if we can have our prosperity and eat it too.

» Read the Entire Article

Photo Credit: WSJ

In a word, wow.

It’s a little wisp of a thing, like a triple-thick credit card. It has one power button, one status light and a swappable battery that looks like the one in a cellphone. When you turn on your MiFi and wait 30 seconds, it provides a personal, portable, powerful, password-protected wireless hot spot.

The MiFi gets its Internet signal the same way those cellular modems do — in this case, from Verizon’s excellent 3G (high-speed) cellular data network. If you just want to do e-mail and the Web, you pay $40 a month for the service (250 megabytes of data transfer, 10 cents a megabyte above that). If you watch videos and shuttle a lot of big files, opt for the $60 plan (5 gigabytes). And if you don’t travel incessantly, the best deal may be the one-day pass: $15 for 24 hours, only when you need it. In that case, the MiFi itself costs $270.

I’m going to give this a try. If I can get good speeds on Verizon EV-DO at my house in Colfax, I seriously might switch my home Internet access to this (I already pay $85 a month for a very slow connection). Then, when we travel, just take the Mi-Fi along.

» Read the Entire Pogue Review

Pre-meeting documents:

• Meeting Agenda
• Contracts (General / Capital Projects)
• Warrants

Highlights of this meeting will include work on our 2009-10 Board Goals, a discussion on redistricting, a report from the NCC expansion oversight committee, and a deal to assist the City of Rocklin with the widening of Sierra College Blvd.

Most importantly, we’ll be holding a board planning session to push some of the strategic and facilities planning pieces down the road a bit more. We always seem to run out of time at our board retreats, and the goal was to make progress in this area between retreats. I’m excited we’re doing it, and many thanks to Leo and Barbara for scheduling it.

As we get ready for Emma’s arrival (likely this fall), one of those important steps is Spencer moving into a big boy bed.

We went to Ikea this afternoon. The first one was sorta interesting…

The second one was fun but too big with the canopy and all…

The third one looked way too girly…

And the fourth one is just right! Here’s Spencer ready to go to bed. Check out those Thomas-the-Train sheets that Mommy found…

It fits in perfectly with his room!

(Sorry for the last two being a little fuzzy…we were too tired to use the Nikon and Ikea has slightly better lighting than we do!)

The Sacramento Bee had a great story this weekend about Eric Mee, a Sierra College student who lost his eyesight due to the loss of blood in a stabbing attack (this occurred at the American River, and isn’t related to the security incident on campus some weeks ago).

The story reminds us that we have a choice in how we deal with the challenges that come into our lives. It’s a great read…

Eric Mee lost so much blood when he was stabbed at the American River last year that his optic nerves died and left him blind, maybe for life.

The attack may have turned off the light in his eyes, but Mee says it regenerated an inner vision that has opened his soul to a new life’s path.

“Ever since I was little, I was a church-going kid. Then, in my senior year (at Casa Roble High School in Orangevale), I started walking away from the Lord,” the the 20-year-old community college student said.

“I was slipping up, going to parties, drinking and doing stupid kid stuff and I kept rationalizing it in my head, thinking, ‘There’s probably no God,’ ” he said. “The day I got stabbed, when I came to in the hospital, I realized God had me there for a reason. He’s basically bringing his servant back, saying, ‘Hey, kid. I got you. You got to follow me.’ ”

Since his tortuous recovery from the May 20, 2008, knife attack, Mee has been the star of his own speaking circuit. He’s addressed crowds at Sunrise Community Church, Carmichael Bible Church and Victory Christian School.

He is taking public speaking classes at Sierra College and thinking about becoming a pastor.

In a special ceremony this morning at the Board of Supervisors chambers at 700 H St., Mee is scheduled to receive an Outstanding Citizen Award from District Attorney Jan Scully.

The DA will be honoring a big kid whose carefree life of fishing, football and beer was derailed by his brush with death, which is leading him to a higher calling.

“The first time I called Eric to introduce myself, the first thing this 19-year-old kid said to me was, ‘I forgive these people,’ ” Deputy District Attorney Caroline Park said. “That’s the kind of kid Eric is. He’s never shown any kind of bitterness or sadness.”

» Read the Entire Article

Photo Credit: SacBee

One of my political heroes, Jack Kemp, has lost his battle with cancer at the age of 73. I got to meet him and shake his hand just once, in San Diego in 1996.

The year I was born, he told Congress that the United States had a “tax code that rewards consumption, leisure, debt and borrowing, and punishes savings, investment, work and production.” That’s still too true today.

His was not a philosophy of “government is bad”, but rather a belief that getting government out of the way of economic growth, innovation and job creation was the key to building a stronger America for people of all backgrounds, races and income levels. He believed that a properly-run free market could solve the problem of poverty. And he was a strong believer in creating equal opportunity for education.

My favorite paragraph in the New York Times story remembering Jack was about his disagreements with Bob Dole, who he ended up running for Vice President with. I’ve used this line to kid with my brother ever since I read it during that 1996 presidential race.

In one exchange, in 1985, Mr. Dole said, “Kemp wants a business deduction for hair spray.” Mr. Kemp retorted: “In a recent fire, Bob Dole’s library burned down. Both books were lost. And he hadn’t even finished coloring one of them.”

The other thing I’ve borrowed from Jack Kemp is his political label. My philosophy doesn’t often fit a label, but I felt most at home when described as he described himself: a bleeding heart conservative.

The United States has lost one of its great leaders, and those who believe in the cause of freedom and each individual’s opportunity to achieve the American dream, have lost a great friend.

May God bless his family.