Saturday, February 20, 2016

Capitol Update Saturday, February 20, 2016

Bill Deadlines

Yesterday was the deadline for bills to be introduced for this 2016 legislative session. Many of these bills are what are known as “spot bills”- placeholders for the bill author to fill in the bill’s language at a later date. It is a commonly used way for legislators to get around our state’s constitutional deadlines for bills. These “spot bills” will have a vague title, bill number, author, and a brief ambiguous description of the bill’s intent. Then after this deadline (and sometimes a few others), the bill’s author will add the language of the bill when the author has a better sense of what the legislation will shape up to be. You can learn about “spot bills” and a whole host of other legislative shenanigans at our Advocacy Workshop next weekend in Rancho Cordova. There is still time to send in your late registration! CLICK HERE for more information!

NASCAR Initiative

A ballot initiative is underway gathering signatures that would require legislators to wear the emblems of their top ten donors when they attend political functions. The “Name All Sponsors California Accountability Reform” or “NASCAR” (see what they did there?) has already gained 40,000 signatures of the 365,880 valid necessary to make it to our November general election ballot. The sponsor of the initiative, John Cox, hopes that increased transparency in political donations would curb some of the power held by large corporations and wealthy donors. This measure might have a different effect than intended here in California. Conventional wisdom tells us that big businesses support Republicans but in fact, in this state, that isn’t true. In the 2014 election cycle, Democrats received three times as much as Republicans, with a large portion of the funding from Kaiser Permanente and Anthem Blue Cross. So what do YOU think of the proposed measure? Helpful for transparency or stifling free speech?

Water Rights Woes

Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis) introduced legislation to limit new well drilling in particular water-strapped groundwater basins. Property owners would have to obtain conditional permits and have to prove that the building of the new well would not have “undesirable impacts” on the land or water levels. 21 basins across the state would not be allowed to drill new wells at all. The persistent drought has required that agriculture and rural communities rely on groundwater more so than ever before. But this reliance has made scientists nervous that our aquifers may collapse and that makes Central Valley land very unstable. But again, legislation like this does little to fix the real problem at hand- providing water for all Californians through new storage projects. When Prop 1 (the Water Bond) passed, we were promised some of the money for new storage sites for critically needed water infrastructure projects. Instead Governor Brown is moving ahead with his twin tunnels project in the San Joaquin delta and High Speed Rail. In response to the Governor’s serious lack of perspective, a new initiative has begun circulation that would reallocate High Speed Rail bond money to water storage projects. The initiative proposes that $8 billion left over in bullet train bonds from 2008 and $2.7 billion approved by voters for Prop 1 passed in 2014 would instead be used for various water storage projects across the state, including raising the Shasta Dam and building two new storage sites. We will continue to monitor this and keep our members informed!

California Federation of Republican Women
Shirley Mark, President
Allison Olson, CFRW Advocate
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Jeb Bush Bows Out of Campaign, Humbled and Outgunned



Jeb Bush dropped out of the presidential race on Saturday, ending a quest for the White House that started with a war chest of $100 million, a famous name and a promise of political civility, but ended with a humbling recognition: in 2016, none of it mattered.

“I’m proud of the campaign that we’ve run to unify our country,” he said in an emotional speech from Columbia, S.C., Saturday night after his third straight disappointing finish in the early voting states. “The people of Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken and I really respect their decision.”











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RESULTS: SC, NEVADA...



































Dens: Nevada:







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Miami police union announces security boycott of Beyoncé concert

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Here’s the REAL reason the FBI needs Apple’s help in cracking terrorist’s iPhone





To give some background information, San Bernardino killer Syed Farook’s iPhone (which the FBI wants to access) is password-protected, and Apple claims that creating a backdoor to the iPhone could be disastrous in the wrong hands. Others think this is all one big PR stunt for the company.

Regardless of Apple’s intentions, the FBI wouldn’t need their help if it wasn’t for the government’s own incompetency. Just get a load of what The Gateway Pundit reported:
Apple responded on Friday evening saying the FBI changed the password to Farook’s phone and then forgot it.
ABC has more:
The password for the San Bernardino shooter’s iCloud account associated with his iPhone was reset hours after authorities took possession of the device.

The Justice Department acknowledged in its court filing that the password of Syed Farook’s iCloud account had been reset. The filing states, “the owner [San Bernardino County Department of Public Health], in an attempt to gain access to some information in the hours after the attack, was able to reset the password remotely, but that had the effect of eliminating the possibility of an auto-backup.”

Apple could have recovered information from the iPhone had the iCloud password not been reset, the company said. If the phone was taken to a location where it recognized the Wi-Fi network, such as the San Bernardino shooters’ home, it could have been backed up to the cloud, Apple suggested.




















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These eight federal agencies are the worst. Here's how to fix them.

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R.I.P. Associate Justice Antonin Scalia



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Poll: Trump on top, Cruz and Rubio virtually tied for second in South Carolina













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MUST READ: Donald Trump, Class Warrior



Another characteristic of the new upper class -- and something new under the American sun -- is their easy acceptance of being members of an upper class and their condescension toward ordinary Americans. Try using "redneck" in a conversation with your highly educated friends and see if it triggers any of the nervousness that accompanies other ethnic slurs. Refer to "flyover country" and consider the implications when no one asks, "What does that mean?" Or I can send you to chat with a friend in Washington, D.C., who bought a weekend place in West Virginia. He will tell you about the contempt for his new neighbors that he has encountered in the elite precincts of the nation’s capital....

These Washington friends, in case you were wondering, are good people. They'd be offended by crass, cruel jokes about any other group. They deplore prejudice and keep an eye out for unconscious bias. More than a few object to the term, "illegal immigrant." Yet somehow they feel the white working class has it coming.

My neighbors in West Virginia are good people too. Hard to believe, since some work outside and not all have degrees, but trust me on this. They're aware of how they're seen by the upper orders. They understand the prevailing view that they're bigots, too stupid to know what's good for them, and they see that this contempt is reserved especially for them. The ones I know don't seem all that angry or bitter -- they find it funny more than infuriating -- but they sure don't like being looked down on.

Many of them are Trump supporters...

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Is Jeb Bush's campaign on life support?

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ATTN DEMOCRATS - THIS IS WHAT YOUR PRESIDENT DID> Iran to Russia: Take $14bn and build us a modern army

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South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford endorses Ted Cruz



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Tom McClintock endorses Tom Del Beccaro in #CASen over establishment pick Duf Sundheim



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Friday, February 19, 2016

Rubio picks up his eighth Senate endorsement





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Government spends billions on public relations firms to promote itself.



More than $4.3 billion in taxpayer money has been spent on public relations since 2007, according to Open the Books.

About half of that money goes to private-sector PR firms.

One global PR firm, Ketchum, charges the federal government $88 an hour for the work of an intern.

It's not alone. Other firms are billing more than $40, $50 and $60 an hour for interns

“What we found was, quite frankly, stunning,” Andrzejewski said.

...From travel warnings and health updates about the Zika virus, to the Department of Homeland Security's "See something, say something" anti-terrorism campaign, to Smokey Bear, Stier said public affairs officers are a vital part of government.

“There are a lot of ways in which, if the government doesn’t do a good job of putting information out in an interesting way, then the public won’t really understand it,” Stier said.

Of the 10 government agencies that spend the most on public affairs, none would agree to an on-camera interview, although several sent written statements.
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Caitlyn Jenner: I get more flak for being Republican than being transgender

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Thursday, February 18, 2016

POPE ATTACKS TRUMP, TRUMP RESPONDS















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NY Times Editorial Board, 1987: Party That Controls Senate Has ‘Every Right to Resist’



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Fox News Poll: @realDonaldTrump leads in South Carolina





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The headline on the February cover of “wSieci” reads “ISLAMIC RAPE ON EUROPE,” with the sub headline: “Our report: what media and elites in Brussels hides from European Union citizens.”





“Economically, the situation is very serious,” Antoine Ravisse, a member of the Shipping Federation of the Port of Calais told Nord Littoral ”Calais is heading in the opposite direction to the wider world – businesses are closing, property prices are plummeting. We must stop the bleeding.”

Jean-Louis Foissey, also a member of the Shipping Federation said: “An exceptional situation calls for exceptional measures. The President hasn’t instigated a state of emergency – but the emergency exists!”

Comparing the situation to that of a natural disaster, another group member added: “We cannot wait, this is happening now.”









Update:



Definition: (SJW = Social Justice Warrior)
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Wednesday, February 17, 2016

WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER?











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TRUMP: 'I want dreamers to come from United States!'

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New national poll shows Cruz overtaking Trump — but...









...the poll includes a higher sampling of "very conservative" voters, a Cruz stronghold, than the previous NBC/WSJ survey did. Re-weighting the poll to reflect last month's sample would give Trump a 26% to 25% edge over Cruz, according to an NBC News release.





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Officials warn first 29 mile high speed rail segment may cost $150 million more than expected.

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Nikki Haley endorses Marco Rubio









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Obama to skip Scalia's funeral







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Monday, February 15, 2016

How quickly the official narrative changes.



As for Kerry, we find it ironic that the person now warning about refugees posing "a near existential threat" to an entire continent, was just five months ago so very eager to welcome 100,000 Syrian refugees to the US. We wonder if his policy on accepting those same refugees with open arms has changed as of this moment... and who gets to profit this time?
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What Conservatives Need In The Next Supreme Court Justice



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White House says Obama won't pick Scalia's replacement during current recess

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Expert: Administration tips Syrian 'refugees' to scrub Facebook to get into U.S.

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FLASHBACK: On Supreme Court, Democrats are the party of no. Much to @chuckschumer's dismay, transcripts & video from 2007 do still exist.

















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The next Republican debate is Thursday, February 25th

The next Republican debate is Thursday, February 25th at the University of Houston. CNN will host; Wolf Blitzer will moderate. It comes just two days after the Nevada primary and is the last debate before Super Tuesday.
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Sunday, February 14, 2016

The Empire State Building on Valentine's Day night

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'Worse than Watergate'



“This is the greatest scandal in the history of the United States,” Caddell said. “They all ought to be indicted. This is worse than Watergate.”

Clinton, he explained, would soon be exposed for using her connections in the State Department to enrich her family, her foundation, and her supporters.

“They were selling out the national interests of the United States directly to adversaries and others for money,” he said. “There is just nothing that satisfies them. They are the greediest white trash I have ever seen.”
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Europe gives up on American leadership against Russia

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Trump's America







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Iran rules 'decadent' Valentine's Day celebrations a crime...



The backlash in the Islamic Republic is part of a drive against the spread of Western culture.



While Americans celebrate Valentine’s Day today, the holiday is steadily gaining popularity around the world, include in Asia and the Middle East.

Not everyone around the world’s happy about it, though. Iranian police officials released a statement on Friday, warning citizens that doing anything connected to Valentine’s Day would be considered criminal, according to Al Arabiya. And they’re taking their cues from Grand Ayatollah Ali Khameini.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reports that “[i]n a speech on November 25, 2015, Khamenei warned of what he called ‘dangerous trends’ and ‘infiltrating networks’ created by the West, with ‘money and sexual attractions’ designed to ‘hollow the country of its native ideals and lifestyle and replace them with Western culture.'”
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Sunday Funnies:





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Theodore Roosevelt's diary on Valentine's day

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