West Coast Populist Party

Smoke at home, get a fine

I couldn’t find a recent article on this ban but I was outside having a smoke with some people in my building where I work(we were in the designated smoking area) and a gentleman from Belmont was telling us about the ban.

He said that it got passed 3-2 and that the people of the city didn’t really get a chance to vote on it at all. Some democracy, huh?

SF’s Universal Health Insurance: Force Employers to Pay

I was shocked to read this in the paper recently:

A local restaurant association took its fight against additional costs to one of the nation’s highest-ranking jurists.

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has until Wednesday to respond to a petition the Golden Gate Restaurant Association filed with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy — who also serves as circuit justice for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals — to overrule an emergency stay the appeals court issued in January.

Schools and Taxes: Mismanaging our Money

Looks like the mismanaged SF Unified School District needs more money…again. Is anyone surprised? It seems like they always need more - but the quality of education keeps staying the same or getting worse. hmmmm.

Living beyond our means

According to a recent article in the Sacramento Bee, Defaults and foreclosures are skyrocketing in California.

In fact, things are getting so bad in the California housing market, that foreclosures jumped up 500% in the fourth quarter of 2007.

It doesn’t appear to be getting any better, either.

Serving the Corporatocracy

I received the following from Congressman Rick Larsen (D-WA) regarding my call for impeachment. See my reply below.

Dear Steve and Adrienne:

Thank you for contacting me to express your support for impeachment proceedings against members of the current Administration. While I appreciate hearing from you, I want to let you know that I do not support pursuing impeachment proceedings at this time.

California vs the Navy

Don’t step on the toes of the military - that’s what the US Navy is saying to the state of California these days.

It appears that the use of Naval sonar is causing problems for sea life off the coast of California, and the Navy is not too happy about being restricted in their operations there.

Constitution and Bill of Rights: The Core of our Existence

by Steve Osborn

A letter to Rep. Larsen (D-WA).

The United States lives under the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. Those documents are the core of our existence as a nation.

When you and the other members of the administration took your offices, you swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. That oath was taken by everybody from Mr. Bush on down and includes Senators and Congresspeople.

In America the Minority Rules

Sad, but true. When often times less than half the people vote, we’re simply getting politicians that represent only 25-30% of the people. Doesn’t sound too “democratic” to me!

A recent article in RealClearPolitics hit home on this issue for me, “The big winner: None of the Above.” Here’s an excerpt:

Residency Restrictions and Sex Offenders

The California State Supreme Court is reviewing restrictions on sex-offenders as listed in Prop 83. The SF Chronicle reported on this recently:

SF Muni: Bureaucracy Rules

Big news flash - a bureaucrat got a raise! According to the SF Chronicle, that raise was not too shabby for Nathaniel Ford, head of SF’s Muni (Municipal Transportation Agency).

Ford’s raise? A paltry 17,000 more per year. And - he got a $20 cash bonus! Poor guy can hardly make it, I’m sure - he’s now the highest paid ‘crat in the city, “earning” over $330K per year!

And for what?