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THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CALIFORNIA - This site is dedicated to exposing the continuing Marxist Revolution in California and the all around massive stupidity of Socialists, Luddites, Communists, Fellow Travelers and of Liberalism in all of its ugly forms.


"It was a splendid population - for all the slow, sleepy, sluggish-brained sloths stayed at home - you never find that sort of people among pioneers - you cannot build pioneers out of that sort of material. It was that population that gave to California a name for getting up astounding enterprises and rushing them through with a magnificent dash and daring and a recklessness of cost or consequences, which she bears unto this day - and when she projects a new surprise the grave world smiles as usual and says, "Well, that is California all over."

- - - - Mark Twain (Roughing It)

Monday, September 26, 2011

Monster wave of new home foreclosures to hit


A monster wave of new home foreclosures to hit Northern California.
Socialist Big Government Democrats are clueless on how to create jobs.  Their
answer to everything is more taxes and anti-business regulations.


Democrats are Clueless:  A tidel wave of new foreclosures . . . but don't you dare ask for new private sector jobs to be created in the People's Republic 


A monster wave of new foreclosures threatens to engulf Sacramento's already battered real estate market as major banks move to slash their backlog of delinquent loans.

Socialist Democrats cannot seem to grasp that if you encourage new business or the expansion of current businesses that might create jobs.  With jobs people could afford to make their house payments.

To the Socialists of this People's Republic the only answer to everything is more taxes.

Nearly one out of every seven mortgages in the Sacramento region is somewhere in the foreclosure pipeline, a grim reality that could hold back any near-term recovery in the local housing market, according to a Sacramento Bee analysis of local foreclosure data.

Based on the average monthly sales in the capital region, it would take a year and a half to exhaust this "shadow inventory" of distressed properties. In the past two years, such distress sales have dominated the local real estate market, pressing prices ever-downward and making it hard for other sellers to compete.

"This problem is going to be with us for a while," said Kevin Stein, associate director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, a San Francisco-based consumer advocacy group.

A Bee analysis of foreclosure records compiled by Irvine-based RealtyTrac and Foreclosure-Response.org places the Sacramento region's shadow inventory at 53,256 homes in Sacramento, Yolo, Placer and El Dorado counties.

This figure includes three categories of distressed properties:

  • 12,285 houses already owned by lenders but not sold.
  • 19,367 units whose owners have received an initial foreclosure notice, or notice of default, but have not yet been foreclosed upon.
  • Another 21,604 borrowers who are 90 days or more behind on their payments but have not yet been served with a foreclosure notice.

Lenders won't foreclose on all these homes. A sizable number of homeowners will win lender approval for short sales, which allow them to sell for less than they owe and get out of their mortgage. Others will obtain loan modifications.

But a big chunk of the distressed properties will be taken over by the banks because the amounts owed are so large and the loans have been delinquent for so long.

"This problem has been lingering for a long time," said Doug Covill, president of the 5,500-member Sacramento Association of Realtors. "The sooner we get through this inventory, the sooner the economy improves."

The region's mountain of distressed loans grew over the past year, in part because major lenders suspended or slowed down completion of foreclosures in response the "robo-signing" scandal. Banks and mortgage servicers were accused of rubber-stamping foreclosures without actually reviewing homeowners' loan documents.

For more on this story

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

California ranks #50 out of 50 on business climate



California continues to decline.  Socialist Democrats are clueless on how the economy works in the real world.


The Socialist leaders of the People's Republic continue to live in their fantasy world of an equal, "fair" and perfect Worker's Paradise while the state slides into poverty.

California ranks last among the states for best business climate on yet another survey of corporate executives. This newest one was conducted by the New York-based Development Counsellors International.

California has been the worst-ranked state on this survey, conducted every three years, for the past four surveys dating back to 2002. New York was worst before that, says the Orange County Register.

It’s not the first survey to label California unfriendly to business. The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council ranks California 48th. CNBC ranked the Golden State 49th for cost of living. Council on State Taxation gave California a D —.

“With the battle for business more intense than ever, states and their economic development organizations need to pay close attention to the results of this survey,” said DCI President Andrew T. Levine. “Whether accurate or misguided, perceptions about a location’s business climate often play a crucial role in site selection decisions and where companies invest money and create jobs.”

More than 7 out of 10 (71%) of respondents said California is bad for business citing (more than one answer was allowed):
  • High taxes, 40%
  • Too much regulation, 36%
  • High cost, 23%
  • Anti-business climate, 17%
While California was the worst by a wide margin, the other states joining California at the bottom of the heap are:
  • New York, 47%
  • Illinois, 24%
  • New Jersey, 24%
  • Michigan, 16%
The major negatives for New York were taxes, 61%; costs, 38%; and regulations, 19%.
The states with the most favorable business climates are:
  1. Texas, 49% (top ranked on every survey back to 1999)
  2. North Carolina, 27%
  3. South Carolina, 14%
  4. Tennessee, 14%
  5. Florida, 14%
If these business executives vote with their feet, many businesses will be on the move because 46% told this survey that their company will make a decision about moving, expanding or consolidation within the next two years. An additional 31% were not sure about possible movement.





For more on this story

Friday, September 16, 2011

12.1% unemployment in California - Democrats clueless


Democrats are clueless  -  They subsidize and import poverty from other nations while
exporting good jobs out of the state.

Democrats:  More jobs?  NO! . . . More taxes?  YES!


It is frightening how fucking stupid Socialist Democrats are in this People's Republic of California.

Modern Communists in China, Cuba and Vietnam are adopting Capitalism to create jobs and wealth.  But here in the Golden State, Socialist Democrats are adopting old-style Communism where there are no jobs, no wealth and everyone except the Elite is equally poor in a phony Worker's Paradise.

California's jobless rate grew for the second straight month in August to 12.1 percent, up one-tenth of a percentage point from the previous month.


The state Employment Development Department reported Friday that nonfarm payroll jobs fell by 8,400. The construction industry had the biggest decrease, down 7,200 jobs reports the San Diego Tribune.

Six categories lost 17,500 jobs: construction; information; financial activities; educational and health services; other services; and government.

Five categories added 9,100 jobs last month. They were mining and logging; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; professional and business services; and leisure and hospitality.

The unemployment rate had been declining since March until it spiked back to 12 percent in July.

California's rate is the second highest in the nation, behind Nevada. The national unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent.





For more on this story

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The unions have taken over the state



A Union Takeover  -  Bankruptcy here we come


The labor unions have totally taken over the People's Republic of California.

Over multiple election cycles they have spent tens of millions to buy and pay for a lackey state legislature and Governor who will drop their pants on command and do their bidding.


Now that the one-party dictatorship is in place the unions are flooding Sacramento with special interest legislation to feather their nests at the expense of the taxpayers.





BILL WATCH

These are among labor-backed bills on their way to the desk of Socialist Governor Jerry Brown:

Senate Bill 202The bill, by Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, would require ballot initiatives in 2012 to be put on the November ballot. The measure would favor Democrats and their labor allies in initiative campaigns because Democratic turnout for the November presidential election is expected to be far higher than in the June primary.

Senate Bill 126The bill, a compromise measure proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown and negotiated by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and the United Farm Workers union, would give farmworkers greater protections in labor disputes with growers. Brown previously vetoed legislation that would have let farmworkers organize by submitting signed petition cards instead of by secret ballot.

Assembly Bill 101The bill, amended at the legislative deadline to include language by Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, would let unions organize child-care providers who work out of the home. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, vetoed similar legislation three times.

Assembly Bill 740The bill, by Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield, D-Woodland Hills, would strengthen existing restrictions on state agencies using private contractors, forcing them to immediately end business with a private vendor if the State Personnel Board rules that the contract violates state law. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, vetoed similar legislation.

Assembly Bill 183The bill, by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, would prohibit grocery stores from selling beer, wine or liquor using electronic self-checkout lanes.

Senate Bill 922The bill, by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, would allow public agencies to require project labor agreements on construction projects, typically favoring unionized workers.

For more on this story

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Big Brother lives in San Jose



Buying a bottle of wine or six-pack of beer could get tougher for residents of San Jose, California.

The San Jose Mercury News reports the city council is considering a proposal that would restrict new liquor licenses to grocery stores and other "full service markets." Convenience, drug and liquor stores would no longer be able to get them.


Big Brother government just can't let people alone.  If a drug store wants to sell a legal product like beer what the Hell business is it of the government?

San Jose officials say placing limits on liquor licenses would give grocery stores an incentive to locate in neighborhoods that don't have grocers or large retailers.

But Councilman Pete Constant says the proposal is a form of social engineering that could hurt the city's efforts to attract new businesses.

The city council is expected to vote on the proposal this fall as part of an update to the city's general plan.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Union thugs act to prevent job creation


Union backed Socialist Democrat legislators are targeting non-union businesses with
more and more red tape to prevent job creation.

 Union Thugs control the Legislature


Labor Unions thugs in the People's Republic legislature are targeting non-union businesses with roadblocks to opening new stores.

Socialist Democrats and their thug allies live in fear that non-union businesses might open new stores and create jobs in California where we have 12% unemployment.  Non-union superstores would have to pay for special (and useless) economic impact reports.  While union stores are exempt from doing the reports.


The Assembly today voted 43-28 to send Socialist Gov. Jerry Brown a union-backed bill that would require cities and counties to assess the economic impact of so-called "superstores," such as Wal-Mart, proposed for their communities, reports the Sacramento Bee.

Senate Bill 469 by Sen. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, requires the economic studies, to be paid for by project applicants, to evaluate the impact of the store on small businesses and the economic well-being of the community in general.

Supporters in organized labor said the requirement will give local government decision makers more information before approving projects.

Opponents, including business groups, said the measure will erect more impediments to job creation and economic development.

Sacramento Bee

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Jerry Brown packs government with labor union hacks



LEGAL BRIBERY:  If you hand a politician an envelope full of cash you go to jail for bribery.  But if the enveloped is marked "campaign contribution" it is legal.


Socialist Gov. Jerry Brown is seeding state government with fellow Democrats, political supporters and appointees linked to powerful labor groups that helped install him in office, an Associated Press review found.

Public employee unions representing nurses, teachers, firefighters and other workers spent millions of dollars in the 2010 campaign to put Brown in charge in California, fearing Republican Meg Whitman would make good on her promise to shrink the state payroll and collar the soaring cost of government pensions.

So far, Brown has placed a string of appointees with ties to those unions in prominent jobs that intersect with labor: The state agency that negotiates worker contracts is now headed by a former champion of the prison guards union, and the chief lawyer for the agency that settles disputes between workers and state managers has ties to the powerful California Nurses Association.

Brown's office says there is no connection between the union support he received in 2010 and his job picks, but it has opened him to criticism that he is stacking the deck in favor of labor interests as the state struggles with an ongoing financial crisis.


"If you look at who funded his gubernatorial campaign, they are getting one hell of a return on their investment. It's paying off in spades through these appointments," said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a low-tax advocacy group that supported Whitman in 2010.

Some accounts nearly 3,000 appointments come with the California governorship that range across state agencies and a web of boards and commissions that have influence in everything from agriculture to energy.
Records show appointees with ties to unions are laced throughout the administration. They include:

  • Ronald Yank, a retired labor lawyer and Democratic donor who has represented bargaining units for state prison guards and firefighters, is making $143,000 as director of the Department of Personnel Administration, which negotiates contracts with state employee unions. His appointment also made him a board member at the California Public Employees' Retirement System, which oversees state worker pensions and its $226 billion in assets.

  • Howard Schwartz, special legal counsel from 1984 to 1999 for the Service Employees International Union Local 1000, the state's largest public employee union, joined Yank as chief deputy director at the Department of Personnel Administration, where he makes $132,396.

  • Marty Morgenstern, whose union ties include consulting for labor organizations and serving as a former area director at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is making $175,000 as head of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, which oversees an array of labor and business panels. He was director of the state Department of Personnel Administration from 1999 to 2003 in the administration of former Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat. Pension benefits were sweetened for many state workers during that period.

  • A. Eugene Huguenin, staff counsel at the California Teachers Association from 1979 to 2000 and husband of longtime Democratic activist and donor Aleita Huguenin, was appointed to a $128,109 position on the Public Employment Relations Board. The quasi-judicial agency oversees labor laws for tens of thousands of state workers.

  • M. Suzanne Murphy, legal counsel for the California Nurses Association from 2006 to 2007, was named general counsel of the Public Employment Relations Board.

Brown's office said in a statement that he makes appointments based on qualification, not campaign donations or party affiliation.

Kelly Green, a regulatory policy specialist at the California Nurses Association since 2009, who was named to a $105,000 deputy director's post at the Department of Health Care Services, and Patricia Ann Rucker, named to the state Board of Education. Rucker worked as a lobbyist for the California Teachers Association and, earlier, was a consultant to the union on instruction and professional development from 1997 to 2008.
Brown rewarded his campaign manager, Steven Glazer, with a nomination to the California State University Board of Trustees, while Richard Maullin, co-chairman for Brown's 1980 presidential campaign and associate campaign manager for his 1974 run for governor, was named to the Independent System Operator Board of Governors.

Banker Mark Ferron, a frequent Democratic donor who, with his wife, gave more than $50,000 to Brown's campaign last year, was named to the California Public Utilities Commission. Duran, Brown's spokesman, said Ferron's donation had no connection to his appointment.

The state is facing a host of issues tied to labor, including examining benefits for disabled workers and meeting the staggering cost of payments to unemployed workers in a state with double-digit unemployment - nearly $23 billion last year, according to state records.

Public employee unions wield broad influence with Democrats who control the Legislature. With Brown's picks, unions will have ties to administration appointees who negotiate labor contracts, as well as legislators who later ratify them.


For more on this story

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Libraries closed in order to fund illegal aliens


The Socialists of California worship before the throne of Labor Unions and illegal aliens.

A crime against Civilization:  "These actions are completely irreversible, and will be deeply regretted by future generations"


In a major victory for Socialists in the People's Republic of California, a key state Senate committee cleared the most significant obstacle to a bill that would give college students who are illegal immigrants access to public aid for the first time.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the final part of a two-bill package known as the California Dream Act, which would allow students who qualify for reduced in-state tuition to apply for an estimated $40 million in Cal Grants, community college fee waivers, and other public scholarship and grant programs.

So while the Share-the-Wealth Socialists fall all over themselves to fund illegal aliens the libraries of universities are being closed for lack of funds.

Driven by dramatic budget cuts that will shutter four campus libraries, staffers at UC San Diego are removing roughly 150,000 books and journals from their collections by summer’s end – selling volumes to the highest bidder or donating them.


If UCSD students or researchers want to check out the selected writings of Benjamin Rush, they might have to request it through an interlibrary loan and wait for a couple of days until it is delivered from another UC campus or from one of two UC library storage facilities, says California Watch.

The UCSD libraries face at least a $3 million budget cut in the coming academic year – about a 12 percent decrease. That comes on top of previous cuts of $5 million since 2008-09, UCSD libraries spokeswoman Dolores Davies said.

To deal with the cuts, the university has closed its medical center library, the International Relations & Pacific Studies library, and the Center for Library & Instructional Computing Services. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography is slated to be closed next year.

Officials have said the savings will come from eliminating vacant positions and ceasing to operate the buildings. The library closures sparked controversy among faculty and students, but it's less widely known that they have also caused a significant weeding of the university’s collections.

Overall, the university will cull about 4 percent of its 3.5 million volume print collection by the end of summer. The university could get rid of more volumes later this year, depending on officials’ assessment of other collections.

Andrew Hsiu, a UCSD student hired to help pack and move the withdrawn books this summer, said the university has been trying to keep a low profile on the project. He said that when a library facilities employee saw him taking photos of withdrawn books and blacked-out barcodes, the employee ordered Hsiu to delete the photos, telling Hsiu that releasing the images to the public could stir controversy.

"Even though all the students here at UCSD know that certain libraries are closing, the vast majority of them are completely unaware that this entails discarding hundreds of thousands of books," Hsiu said in an e-mail.

Hsiu, a junior majoring in linguistics, said he's concerned about the university's shrinking collections.

A student worker was told to stop taking pictures
of library books being boxed up and sold because his
actions were "disruptive".

"These actions are completely irreversible, and will be deeply regretted by future generations," Hsiu said. "Out-of-print books that used to be at UCSD are going to be gone forever. Future generations of scholars and students need the books right here in San Diego."

Davies said a student employee had been asked to stop taking photos because "his actions were disruptive to the work flow and we do have clear guidelines about filming or photographing in library buildings."

A draft report released in May by a UC library task force said that as a result of UC's obligation to fully fund the retirement system and to absorb a cut of $500 million to $1 billion in state funding, the libraries may see budget cuts as much as $52 million, or 21 percent of their budget base, over the next six years.

The budget cuts will "inevitably have an undesirable effect on library services and support for the University’s academic programs," task force chair and Executive Vice Chancellor Gene Lucas wrote in the May report.

For more on this story

Friday, August 26, 2011

Seven Assembly Republicans vote for "Green Taxes"

The Bi-Partisan Socialists in California are using Green Taxes to re-distribute the
wealth to their special and approved friends.


Seven "small government" Assembly Republicans sided with Democrats to tax $400 million out of our wallets


Socialist California Gov. Jerry Brown is sponsoring legislation to extend a state program that collects about $400 million a year from utility customers and invests it in renewable energy and efficiency programs.

Bi-Partisan Socialism is all the rage.  Just color the Big Brother program or tax "Green" and many Republicans just drop their pants and vote yes.

The surcharge, added to monthly electric bills since 1997, is set to expire at the end of the year, and the Legislature has only two weeks to reauthorize the levy.

But because the surcharge is a tax, the bill has to be passed by a two-thirds majority of the Legislature. That would require rare bipartisan approval, yet some Republicans have shown support for the idea of more taxes on the public.


A draft of the bill — which the Brown administration calls the Clean Energy, Jobs and Investment Act of 2011 — was presented at a private meeting late last week in the governor's office with utility executives, legislative staffers, environmentalists and power plant developers, The Times has learned.

The bill to reauthorize it has broad support from the renewable-energy industry, environmentalists and labor unions that would benefit from new construction jobs.

It's opposed by antitax groups and some business groups, such as the California Manufacturers & Technology Assn.

Green Marxism  -  The environment is used
as an excuse to re-distribute wealth to
those with "needs".

"In our view, there's plenty of public-sector funding out there to support these energy-efficiency programs," said David Wolfe, legislative director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. "You're gouging ratepayers with very little accountability."

The manufacturers trade group said the plan is unneeded and would lead to higher electric rates. And ratepayers' advocates, who support the aims of bill, fear that the surcharge could be grabbed by future lawmakers to fill budget holes.

In a January report, however, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office questioned the value of the research and the ability to quantify the benefits, saying "it is by no means clear that the investment has resulted in a payoff to the state's electricity ratepayers."

A related measure that would extend the surcharge until 2020 passed the Assembly with 58 votes, including those of seven Republicans who broke ranks and sided with the Democrats.

Wolfe, of the Howard Jarvis group, which advocates lower taxes and government spending, said the organization is determined to get those lawmakers to change their minds.

For more on this story

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Massive public school dropout rate in California


The Socialist Elite takes your hard earned tax money from you and then tells you that you MUST send your children to sub-standard public schools and like it.  Freedom of school choice is an alien thought to the Liberal Statist.

18.2% public school dropout rate for California


"What’s wrong with education cannot be fixed with technology. No amount of technology will make a dent. It’s a political problem. . . . I’m one of those people who believe the best thing we could ever do is go to the full voucher system."   

- - - - Steve Jobs, Co-founder, Apple Computers

_______________________________________________________________________


New student dropout numbers from the Department of Education show a total and massive breakdown of the public school system in the People's Republic of California.

The Government Monopoly school system is seeing student dropouts at an alarming rate.  Add in the dumbing down of the quality of a high school diploma.  Many, many students are simply passed through the schools to keep the system "churning".  

Huge numbers of freshmen at the California State University schools are enrolled in so-called "dumb-bell" classes in order to get them up to grade level.

The failed public schools are graduating generations of functional illiterates.

BI-PARTISAN STUPIDITY:   The People's Republic is ruled by a bi-partisan Socialist Elite.  If a real democracy existed then a true opposition party would fight the status quo.  They would introduce bills to promote School Freedom of Choice or put an initiative on the ballot that might even grow their political party.

But nothing happens.  California is a Socialist one-party dictatorship. 

About a quarter of California counties have high school dropout rates of 20 percent or more.


The new figures released by the California Department of Education last week are based on information collected about individual students from their freshman year in 2006 through graduation in 2010.

Statewide, the study found nearly three out of four students graduated and 18.2 percent dropped out. The remainder of the students are either still in school, earned their GED or are in alternative programs, according to the department's press release.

The counties with a dropout rate of 20 percent or more are split between predominantly white, rural counties and more diverse counties of 100,000 residents or more.

Some of the worst dropout rates were in:
  • Inyo County (46.3 percent) 
  • Nevada County (46.1 percent)
  • Los Angeles County (20.3 percent)
  • San Bernardino County (21.2 percent).

Seven counties had a dropout rate of less than 10 percent – San Luis Obispo (9.7 percent), Mariposa (9.4 percent), Sierra (8.9 percent), Placer (8.7 percent), Amador (7.9 percent), Marin (7.3 percent) and Calaveras (6.5 percent).

The study also found "that there is still a significant gap that persists between Hispanic and African American students and their peers," with 67.7 percent of Hispanic students making it to graduation and 59 percent of African Americans earning a high school diploma.

Translation . . . .

32.3%    -    dropout rate for Hispanics
41%       -    dropout rate for African Americans

These figures represent the first time dropout rates are derived from following individual students and should more accurately represent the number of students leaving school before graduating.

Sorry little girl.  The politicians are bought and paid for by Public School Teacher Union campaign money.  Your education comes second to feathering the nest of union workers and the private contractors who service the Government School Monopoly.

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