Ref Rodriguez at the Ellen Ochoa Learning Center (Feb, 25, 2016)

At the Ellen Ochoa Learning Center, I spoke with LAUSD School Board member Ref Rodriguez two times.

Both times, my camera was available and visible for all to see.

The first time, I asked him about why LAUSD did not have enough money for the schools.

Prop 30 was all about restoring the funds which the state government had take away, Rodriguez told me.

What elected officials are not telling the residents of Cudahy or elswhere in LAUSD is that much of the district money gets wasted or taken away in lawsuits. Miramonte, anyone?

Ref Rodriguez

I started telling him to oppose the sanctuary district policy.

At that point, he started ignoring me.

As he walked toward the back exit, his office staff started surrounding him and prevented me from speaking to him further.

He then ducked into a nearby library to have a conference with a parent.

Is this how Rodriguez treats his constituents, too?

Teachers and parents had called him out during the meeting, claiming that he already knew the district's plans to turn the empty rooms at Ellen Ochoa Learning Center over to a charter school.

And now he is working hand-in-hand to permeate the lawlessness of de facto amnesty in LA Unified,

Enough is enough!

Markovich at Ellen Ochoa Learning Center (Feb 25, 2016)

I had a hard time finding the Ellen Ochoa Learning Center last Thursday.

Every person will face challenges venturing into new territories, and meeting new people.

At the elementary school in Cudahy, I anticipated confronting not just LAUSD School Board member Ref Rodriguez, but also absentee Cudahy Mayor Cristian Markovich.

He did not bother to attend the February 22, 2016 city council meeting, and with only three members present, the council could not conduct any major business.

Appropriations had to wait until the next meeting, when two other city council members, Chris Garcia and the mayor, finally show up and make the necessary decisions, cast the necessary votes.

Councilman Jack Guerrero informed his two colleagues and the public that he would not support and cover for his absentee colleagues.

For my part, I anticipated more leaders like Guerrero  who would not cave to any pressure and would stop the spending spree bankrupting the little working class community the 710 freeway.

At the Ochoa Learning Center, I noticed a slim diversity aside from the predominantly Latino members.

Some of the teachers were there, along with the parents.

The audience was complaining about a potential charter school moving into the empty rooms at the school.

A number of teachers from other schools were there to protest the charter school.

I heard lots of people talk about the need for more money for the schools. One teacher suggested that the school hire social workers and other personnel.

Excuse me! This is a school, not a community center, right?

And didn't the voters of the state of California opt to raise taxes to fund public education?

Where is all the money going?

At any rate, I stood in back and protested Mayor Marokovich, who bothered to show up at that meeting.

Later Jack Guerrero and Baru Sanchez arrived, too.

Pamela Mungia was leading the event, allowing members of the audience to ask questions. After about five minutes, a few people in the audience along with myself started asking when they would start conducting the meeting in English.

This is the United State of America, last time I checked. Some of the people standing near me agreed.

They also knew their rights, as much as I knew mine.

Finally, the leaders of the meeting started providing translations and communication in English and Spanish.

My first thoughts about the event: there is too much politicking in public education. Too many concentrated special interests are looking out for their narrow agendas, whether corporations or labor unions, and the education of children is getting lost in the scuffle.

Cristian's excuse for not coming to city council:
"Abuelita was sick!"

All of this is wrong. Teachers unions just want more money and better conditions for working. Many teachers there communicated that they wanted to do their best for the students, but faced unparalleled obstacles not just from district management, but from the parents themselves. Some residents told me that the parents attack the teachers, and even spit at them!

I could not believe what I was hearing.

At the end of the meeting, I confronted Mayor Markovich. I handed him a copy of the letter from the District Attorney, in which the DA's office informed the city council that they had engaged in numerous violations of the public meeting laws in California aka the Brown Act.

When I then asked him why he did not attend the Feb. 22nd city council meeting, he told me that his grandmother was deathly ill in the hospital with cancer. Despite these harrowing circumstances, I confronted him about the city council's repeated attempts to stifle debate and discussion from the community and members of the audience.

I have submitted a FOIA request for information about this excuse. Is it really true?

Huntington Park Gets a New Mayor: March 1, 2016

Huntington Park is having a special meeting tomorrow.

The city council will be selecting a new mayor and vice-mayor from among the five members of the city council.

Four of the city council members should be forced out and seated in a jail cell.

They appointed two illegal aliens to city commissions.

They have awarded contracts to friends and cronies through no-bid contracts.

They have appointed political allies and family members to city commissions.

They violated the First Amendment rights of numerous members of the audience and in the Huntington Park community.

They have rejected reasonable building permits.

Now they want to establish pot dispensaries in the city!

Outrageous!

Citizens throughout Southern California have attended the meetings and demanded that they remove the appointments of the two illegal aliens.

August 17th, 2015

We the People Rising have pushed back against the rank and utter lawlessness in our midst.

Check out the work and actions we have done:

September 21, 2015

We have not ceased to make our voices heard, demanding respect for citizenship  and the United States Constitution:

We even protested at the homes of the four rogue councilmembers when the January 5th, 2016 city council meeting was cancelled, and for no apparent reason.

January 5th, 2016

It's time for more Southern California residents to rise up and demand that the city of Huntington Park respect the rule of law.

We the People Rising are rising up! More people have joined our cause.

January 19th, 2016, people from Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties came to protest the corrupt Huntington Park City Council.

and also

The city council has resorted to every miscreant effort to stifle our freedom of speech.

Dr. Robert Newman and I were unjustly removed from the city chambers. The Los Angeles County District attorney vindicated us, and rebuked the council for their actions.

February 16th, We the People Rising served them recall papers:

They have no idea what they got themselves into, when the council issued one illegal and unjust ruling after another.

Now we are calling on all like-minded patriots, conservatives, and freedom advocates:

Come to the Huntington Park City Council Meeting: March 1, 2016!

The  meeting starts at 5:00pm. Be there by 4:30!

6550 Miles Ave

Huntington Park, CA 90255

Huntington Park Tragedy-Nick the Greek Moving Out

February 28th, 2016.

What was feared, or rather a source of dread for many daring freedom-loving Americans, has happened.

Nick Ioannidis, aka Nick the Greek is moving his patriot treasures out of his tailor shop.

He had to sell his property, since bad business loans and fraudulent non-payment from the Huntington Park City Council has forced him out.

The stories I have heard about what the city of Huntington Park has put this man through -- it is beyond incredible.

Nick the Greek

From the early 1980s until the present day, mafia elements in Huntington Park have been trying to scare off Nick.

Nefarious elements planted a bomb in his car!

The bomb did explode, and killed one passenger.

Nick survived, despite his head crashing through the windshield of his car!

This kind of abuse and tyranny needs to be rooted out!

Instead of being rooted out, Nick the Greek is being forced to move out!

This is evil! This is wrong!

Why is this good and honest immigrant forced to move out of the city where he has donated so much of his time, effort, and love?

Friends and neighbors still celebrate Nick the Greek.

Political figures throughout Los Angeles County and around the country have celebrated his love for country, his adopted home

And now?

The Huntington Park City Council has stiffed Nick on the hundreds of thousands of dollars which the city owes him.

The police have not responded to his calls when there is over parking from the mortuary next door to his property.

Police officers were even directed to kill this man!

No wonder he can barely contain his rage when people confront about what is happening in Huntington Park.

This "City of Perfect Balance" is supposed to serve immigrants, right?

Immigrants are legal residents, individuals who obeyed the law to enter this country.

And yet ...

The Huntington Park City Council appointed two illegal aliens to city commissions.

The city has disregarded the rule of law repeatedly.

The last two years the city council has excluded Nick the Greek from Immigrants Day celebrations.

This is discrimination! This is wrong!

His story needs to be told, and people need to know that in the city where immigrants are supposed to be celebrated and feel welcome, the most patriotic of them all has been treated like trash and forced out of his business.

Please! Help us stop this wrongdoing! Help us to preserve Nick's legacy

Obama's Friend ... Uncle Joe?

Hillary Clinton is sweeping the Democratic nomination now.

What will happen in the weeks to come, though?

Will she find herself under federal indictment?

Will her health hold up for he to compete for the Presidency during the general election?

The Bernie supporters are turned off to Hillary Clinton. They do not like her at all, and left-wing partisans are happy to throw away an election for the "greater cause.

What will Democrats do, then?

Some discussion has turned to Vice President Joseph Biden, whom President Obama has featured a few times in recent eblasts.

Check out this campaign email from Organizing for Action:

Friend --

Earlier this week, I released my budget for my last year as President -- and if you take a look beyond the numbers and math of it all, what you'll see is a set of priorities that are uniquely American, that reflect our values and our core beliefs in equality, in progress, and in hope.

President Obama is a victim of Common Core math, like a lot of Democratic politicians, does not know--or care to know--how to count. Obama and his illiberal cronies have no problem spending other people's money, nor does he oppose raising taxes on those who make while creating more people who take!
My friend Joe Biden has said many times, "Don't tell me what your priorities are. Show me your budget and I'll tell you what your priorities are." I hope that this budget -- one that strives to promote economic fairness, to fight against the effects of climate change, and to find treatments for devastating diseases that affect far too many American families -- does just that.

Uncle Joe for President?

Notice "My friend Joe Biden." Nothing about "friend Hillary Clinton." What's going on?

But I want to be very clear that these aren't all battles we're going to win while I'm still in office. These are long, hard fights, and they're going to take the dedication and hard work of our next president, and the one after that, and the one after that.

So I need to know you're committed to electing another Democrat to the White House -- and giving him or her a Democratic Congress to work with:

http://my.democrats.org/Onward

I believe, more than anything else, that when we stand together and fight for the change we believe in, we can do some amazing things. So let's do this -- let's make this country the brightest it can be for our kids, our grandkids, and generations to come. Thank you so much for standing by my side.

Barack Obama

Is Uncle Joe still waiting in the wings for the moment when Hillary Clinton crashes and burns; or when she ends up in jail?

Anything can happen, and Democratic power brokers have no problem ignoring the will of the primary voters to push their preferred Establishment candidate.

What is happening in Cudahy? Martha Hernandezz Speaks

 Martha Hernandezz tells it like it is about Cudahy, and the corruption eating up the city.

She expressed her frustration openly yet respectfully.

In city of Cudahy we need our city streets safe, clear of graffiti and less gangs/drugs. The four city council members do not care for our safety, but more of campaign contributions.

I respected Mayor Markovich and now I am really disappointed that he can't control his wife... Krystal Markovich does not care about our community. I saw the video where she disrespects a innocent church senior Nelly Black calling her ignorant just because she disagrees with her point of view.

In the same video Krystal Markovich the Mayor's wife goes stray to attack city councilman Jack Guerrero blaming him for people standing up and demanding respect from the four city council members.

We the People Rising in Cudahy

Yes, Krystal Markovich did start yelling at Jack Guerrero, and unfairly. Here is the video.

Krystal Markovich states " I am not like those people".

Wow! That's very prejudiced!

Really like what people. Like my family which voted for Cristian Markovich we were expecting him to be different. Not with a wife that gets off insulting grandmothers. Nelly Black is a dedicated church woman for many years.

I have a great deal of respect for Nelly Blacker. She is a calm person and she agrees with us, that the city of Cudahy should never have declared itself a "sanctuary city".

A year has passed by after the election and the n

ew city council has no progressed on cleaning the graffiti in our city. Not to mention the roads, gangs nor parks.

The city of Cudahy is not doing its job.

And that statement comes from a resident.

KPCC Journalistic Malpractice: Cudahy/Huntington Park City Councils Are Anti-Immigrant

Here is the latest story on the activism of We the People Rising.

Published today by KPCC, following my interview with journalist Ann Gilbertson.

Annie Gilbertson

Check out the hateful title:

Anti-immigration activists' heckling, hostility taking a toll on cities in LA's Latino suburbs

Annie Gilbertson February 26, 03:16 PM

Excuse me? The true hostility begins and ends with the corrupt city councils, which exploit their power and abuse the residents!

Second of all, residents in the city have been glad for our engagement and activism in the city. This headline is shameful!

Cudahy city council members say anti-illegal immigration activists hostility forced the council to move the location of its meetings from chambers to a "safer" space. GRINDALL61/ YOUTUBE

Self-described "anti-illegal immigration" activists are expanding their protests of small city governments in South Los Angeles that they believe are overly sympathetic to residents without legal status.

We are more than "Self-described." It's the truth. We are sympathetic to the plight of legal residents

The group, called "We the People Rising," recently targeted Cudahy's Latino-dominated City Council after lawmakers declared Cudahy a "sanctuary city" — meaning the city will not generally cooperate with immigration authorities.

Why won't they? They have no right to decide whether they comply with federal law or not.

Huntington Park officials appointment of two local residents without legal immigration status to city commissions drew the activists to city meetings last fall.

Yes, and that was wrong, too.

"Sanctuary cities can attract gang members in our country illegally — an issue that can promote lawlessness in our country," said Robin Hvidston, a Claremont resident who founded the organization in 2013 as a response to loosening local and national immigration enforcement.

Robin is spot-on on this issue. These pandering, enabling policies have made the illegal immigration problem worse in our country. Cities should be for citizens not for illegals.

Councilman Chris Garcia said group's hostility, including heckling throughout city business, has taken a toll.

Wrong. They refuse to do the city's business. and continue spending money that the city does not  have on projects which no one wants to impress people who do not care.

"All because we are creating safe and inclusive environment for people who are here undocumented – they don’t like that," Garcia said.

Excuse?! The city is NOT safe. They routinely shame, slam, and limit public commit. The crime and corruption has gotten worse.

The Council moved the location of its meetings from chambers to a "safer" space — which prompted further protests from the activists.  They filed a grievance against the Council for violating open meeting laws after protestors were interrupted during public comment. The L.A. District Attorney's Office sent a warning letter to the Council, saying the group must be allowed to protest. The letter did not threaten any penalties.

Not once were they ever in danger. I even confronted the absentee mayor Cristian Markovich at th Ellen Ochoa Learning Center. One of their supporters assaulted a young female.

In response to the letter, Cudahy City Attorney Rick Olivarez said the Council encourages public comment.

This is the biggest laugh of them all. They are actually limiting public comment to one period, when in the past residents and  members of the audience could comment at three separate periods.

"They just try to make us look bad," said Cudahy City Councilman Baru Sanchez.

Baru, you do not need any help looking bad. Your corruption and mismanagement have drawn the negative publicitly. You look bad without anyone else's help!

Council members said they don't agree with the protestors' statements, but there's not a lot they can do to prevent them.

They have no business trying to prevent us from speaking, or anyone else for that matter!

"We have our First Amendment laws," Garcia said.

The First Amendment is more than a law, Chris! It's the first of the Bill of Rights, natural laws which every human being is born with. There is nothing that you can do stop every legal resident from speaking out against the crime, corruption, and bankrupt lawlessness in  your city!

Final Reflection:

KPCC journalist Ann Gilbertson called me two days ago, as I was headed to the Ellen Ochoa Learning Center to protest Ref Rodriguez and Mayor Cristian Markovich for putting illegals ahead of legal residents.

She contacted  me after talking to Robin Hvidston, who explained very clearly that our activism focuses on the rule of law and ending the anarchy of this illegal immigration lawlessness in California and throughout the country.

I explained to her up-front that We the People Rising are not anti-immigrant, but anti-illegal immigration.

So did Robin.

And yet the article lists us as anti-immigrant.

Let's set the record straight. Cudahy and Huntington Park are anti-immigrant, because they are proomoting illegal immigration at the expense of the legal residents, whether born or naturalized.

The headline and its slant is one more example of the illiberal journalistic malpractice diminishing our public discourse.

I called Gilbertson shortly after the article was published. She explained to me that she told the editor about our stance on immigration.

And yet ... there's the headline: "Anti-immigrant""

Ann Gilberston should be held accountable, along with her editor Rina Palta.

And speaking of Gilberston.

Here is her reporting on the police shooting in Los Angeles County. She claimed that in tense situations, the police officer often reaches for the gun. Really?

I have spoken with police officers, and they have told me that you cannot tell if it's a life or death situation. I am not intending to defend every police officer. If they are using excessive force, that police officer needs to be held accountable.

Here is a link from her Facebook page where she is praising a liberal activist from Scripps College.

Read her comment about her interview with feminist-activist Angela Davis:

A privilege to interview activist and feminist theorist Angela Davis. To Scripps students amid emotional campus protests, she said “Remember when you’re facing the most powerful forces in the world and no one expects you to win, people come together across political, racial and national boundaries."

She clearly leans left.

And she left out so much of the truth from what is going on in Huntington Park and Cudahy.

Call Annie Gilbertson, and demand a retraction of 

this slanted story!

(714) 651-0655

Senator Lindsey Graham is "S'More"

I have written about US Senator Lindsey Graham in previous posts, decrying his willingness to ease away from his pledge not to raise taxes. I have also supportedhis strong stance against nominees for Secretary of Defense candidate Chuck Hagel and CIA Directornominee John Brennan.

Sadly, Graham is crumbling, betraying his own colleagues in the US Senate, while choosing to dine with the President. Graham's membership on "The Gang of Eight" has given "compromise" a bad name, since every agreement with the President and the Democratic leaders in Congress has only raised revenue without cutting spending or bringing down the national debt without providing relief for the taxpayer. Three Democrats voted against the fiscal cliff deal, showing more integrity with their views, even if they chose not to stand with their party.

Congressman Graham fought against the lying and corruption of the stained and soiled former President Bill Clinton. From his ascendancy to the US Senate until today, Graham has gone from outsider to insider, representing the interests of the Beltway instead of the Palmetto State. Graham has made other political blunders, too. He endorsed a Democrat for Congress, Howard Berman of Valley Village, CA, when he should have stayed out of race altogether. He supported unqualified judicial nominees (Sotomayor, Kagan). He has recently insulted an outspoken libertarian US Senator, Rand Paul of Kentucky, who pressed President Barack Obama to confirm that drones would not be used against American citizens on domestic soil. Graham denounced Senator Rand Paul's staged filibuster to block the confirmation of John Brennan, a nominee who gave troubling answers without providing any confirmation that future drone strikes would never be used against Americans.

Senator Graham and his meandering (neither moderate nor maverick) Arizona Senator John McCain, have gutted an pretense of representing the people, the taxpayers, the businesses, in their states or in this country. Not ideology, but idiocy undermines these two senators. The voters of South Carolina should not submit to Graham's poor representation any further. 

Graham has crumbled. He is like a "S'more" who looks tough on the outside, but on the inside he wants to be liked (the chocolate), and he is squishy and soft on the issues (the marshmallow). Ge may counter with "compromise, compromise!" Compromise is not a bad word, but it must be principled, it must be purposeful, and it must remain persuasive.

Someone must mount a serious primary challenge to Senator Graham for his growing list of abuses: illiberal Supreme Court nominees, reneging on no-tax pledges, to his refusal to filibuster the appointment of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense, in spite of Hagel's dreadful performance before the Armed Services Committee (defenseless in the face of his "Jewish Lobby" comment). 

Someone needs to have him removed from office for parting ways with his oath of office.

In his latest shameful act, he said that anyone who killed Ted Cruz would never be prosecuted because everybody hates him.

First of all, he has friends in the US Senate with the pro-liberty caucus, including Mike Lee (R-UT) as well as members of  the House who have refused to to stop fighting the Big Government onslaught from Washington against the states and the people.

Graham also claims that the Republican Party has gone batsh** crazy. No, the votes, the grassroots, the base is "Mad as Hell" and tired of campaign conservatives who cave and keep voting against our rights and dignity!

This S’more is a Satan Sandwich!

He has crumbled under the pressures of a politician who wants to please everybody, and even when he gets tough, in the end he reveals how softy and squishy he really is. South Carolina, and the United States, deserve better.

No More of Lindsey “Smore” Graham – He needs to be roasted over a fire and eaten away for good!

Aprahamian: Fear and Apathy is America’s Biggest Hurdle

Greg Aprahamian of We the People Risingwrote the following about Huntington Park and why more people need to stand up and fight back - take back your state!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Crooked Huntington Park City Councilmembers

(Except Valentin Amezquita,extreme left)

​

The Crooked Huntington Park City Council Is Served A Notice of Recall,

Fear and Apathy is America’s Biggest Hurdle

On Feb. 16th 2016,  four Huntington Park City Council members were served A notice of intent to recall.

In August  2015, The Huntington Park City Council appointed two illegal aliens to City Commission seats.  Since then myself and members of the activist group We The People Rising, started attending city council meetings to try and persuade the Huntington Park City Council to remove two illegal aliens that were assigned City Commission seats and replace them with American Citizens.  During our first City Council meeting we witnessed many accusations of corruption coming from a dozen or so residents of the city..

You can read my first account the troubles of Huntington Park here:  Link:  http://immigrationreform.com/2015/08/25/is-huntington-park-the-new-city-of-bell/

Since that first account last August,  some of the alleged corruption has finally surfaced.  The city council is now under FBI investigation for bribery:  Link:http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-tow-bribe-20160115-story.html

One would think recalling City Council members who are under an FBI investigation for bribery and a possible DA investigation would be a snap, getting the required twenty five residents of Huntington Park to put their signatures on a petition shouldn’t be much of an obstacle, but it was.   

Please, remember the city we are talking about, Huntington Park is 97.1 % Hispanic (according to Wikipedia) and 40-50% of it’s population are illegal aliens.  This same demographic exists all across South Los Angeles,  California’s Central Valley,  and much of Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico.

Once Americans are replaced in their  historic towns,  who’s left to mind the store?  

The new local government officials, often with links to cartels, manage the accounts of these cities with a population that has no history and little interest in public accountability.   If public corruption has a womb, it is in places like these.

Case in point:  The FBI recently arrested nearly every elected official in a remote Texas town:

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/02/07/3746990/texas-officials-indictment/

The notice of intent to recall was the first step in the recall process.  25 signatures are needed for each council member,  then after it is served.  another petition is needed with a number of signatures based on a percentage of voters in the city.

I asked a few members of the residents that were organizing the recall why it is so hard to get just twenty five signatures?

Answer:  Fear and apathy.

I don’t doubt the fear that Huntington Park residents live with.  Currently there are about a dozen or so residents who will publicly stand up against the corruption that they see,  the rest hide. I mentioned in my first report:  “The group of  Huntington Park residents that I met seemed to voice a sense of desperation, feeling trapped in a world of corruption and a world that didn’t operate under the same laws and customs that they felt the rest of the country did”.

Life is fragile for most,  and I have no doubt they have reason to be fearful.  

Apathy exists everywhere, it’s why Americans put up with criminally convicted illegal aliens being released onto our streets, to then kill more Americans.  Apathy played a part in the death  Kate Steinly, and Jamiel Shaw Jr.   It’s why this problem has gone on for decades.

Why do I bother with Huntington Park?

Huntington Park is America’s future if Americans don’t put their fear and apathy in check.  Huntington Park and most of South Los Angeles  was on the front lines of open borders thirty and forty years ago,  Those in power and most of the public at that time didn’t care about Huntington Park and and they coldly washed their hands of the place.

Then they coldly washed their hands of many other places... the list is to long to name.

Huntington Park, and South Los Angeles was on the frontlines forty years ago,  Now it’s most of the country.

Take a closer look at the photo’s of the Huntington Park City Council members.  At first glance they look like harmless  young adults, but what you’re really looking at is Cartel control of an American city, and these Council members are the puppets.  When Americans abandon their cities or are  forced out,  Cartels take over.

Cities all over America have been taken over, and if uncontrolled immigration, both legal and illegal continue at our current rate, Hundreds of more American cities will follow the path that Huntington Park and South Los Angeles blazed thirty and forty years ago.

The public never condoned illegal immigration when it became a problem forty years ago,and when the government didn’t enforce immigration laws and towns and neighborhoods became unlivable, the only real choice was to leave, move to the next suburb.  If you couldn’t leave or didn’t have the money to leave you were trapped.  Forty years later it seems nothing has changed, only there are fewer places to run to, and prices are a lot higher.

For many Americans we’re at the end of a very long road of running away.

Fear and apathy played a big role in surrendering many American cities like Huntington Park and

I have no doubt that if Americans don’t put their fear and apathy in check most of the United States will eventually resemble Huntington Park.  

Beware, Huntington Park could be coming to a city near you.

Regards,

Greg Aprahamian

Greg Aprahamian with his son

Janet West Shouts: "Hell No!" on MCO Tax

Janet West

Janet West of Long Beach, CA lays out the bigger reason why every legislator must reject the MCO Tax:

Currently, there's a CA tax paid by Medi-Cal insurance companies and the tax is reimbursed by the Federal Govt. to these companies. So in effect, CA takes money out of the company's pocket and the Federal Govt. puts the money back in their pocket. Proposed in SB-2, instead of charging this tax to the Medi-Cal insurance companies, CA will tax all other insurance companies which of course will pass on this cost to it's customers - all people in CA who have healthcare insurance. Since the federal government never decreases it's budget, the same amount of money will be available in the federal government healthcare dollars to CA so this $1.3B will be available to be diverted to cover the expansion of Medi-Cal for illegal aliens and in fact, must be used for this purpose if SB 10 is passed.  SB 10, through the Section 1332 waiver, specifies that federal financial participation be maximized to cover this expansion of services to illegal aliens. It is my belief this money which will now be unattached will instead be diverted to funding this expansion.

"The power to tax is the power to destroy." Californians need legislators to stop destroying our economy and job opportunities!

Betty forwarded an update message from Sen. Moorlach.  It appears as if the media is trying to shame the Republicans into voting for this MCO tax saying that it would increase developmental funding. Sen. Moorlach says: "So, voting for the spending increases can be done without voting for the new tax, as the costs can be absorbed with current revenues. ... The managed care organization (MCO) tax increase will be the topic for this weekend, as we will vote on the bills Monday at noon. ... and the federal matching funds will be $1.3 billion, ... If CMS [the Federal department which oversees Medicare and Medi-Cal] has $1.3 billion of California taxpayers' money, then just give it to us. Forget the Obamacare machinations. " So it appears as if Sen. Moorlach will stand strong but my concern is that according to the article he sent, it will only take one GOP Senator to cave to pass this bill, SB-2.

No more caving. More legislators must follow the example of Jim Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) and Andy Vidak (R-Hanford) and shout "Hell No!" to the MCO tax.

From the Los Angeles Daily News: "A desperately needed increase in developmental funding will pivot on whether it can attract one “aye” vote from a Republican member of the state Senate. ...

The bills will need some Republican support in each house. Assembly GOP leader Chad Mayes is firmly behind the deal, so Assembly passage should not be an issue. But Senate GOP leader Jean Fuller has urged her caucus to reject the MCO reform because she views it as a tax increase." No duh, it is a tax increase!

Baloney! The money needed for the disabled can still come through, without tax hikes. The Mainste

On Monday, this bill will be voted on.  SB-2

Medi-Cal: managed care organization tax: 12202.2. ... (b) paid by an insurer described in this subdivision shall be 0 percent  ...  

14199.50. ... (a) Generate an amount of nonfederal funds for the Medi-Cal program equivalent to the funds ...

From SB 10:  " 100522.  (a) The Secretary of California HHS shall apply to the United States Department of HHS for a waiver authorized under Section 1332 of the federal act ... in order to allow persons otherwise not able to obtain coverage by reason of immigration status ... (e) ... The department shall maximize federal financial participation in implementing this section to the extent allowable."

This is one piece of the puzzle to the backdoor in Obamacare to provide healthcare insurance to illegal aliens and the California Legislature's goal of achieving this.

No health insurance of illegal aliens. No more burdens on the taxpayers!

Enough is enough!

Tell the state legislature and Governor Brown:

Kristin Olsen--Don't Be a RINO! Vote "Hell No!" on MCO Tax!

Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen (R-Modesto) has forgotten whom she is supposed to represent.

What kind of elected official keeps on voting for tax increases, even though she identifies with a political party dedicated to stopping all the spending and ending the expensive, undue burdens placed on hard-working Californians?

Olsen as assembly minority leader worked hard to ensure that her caucus stayed aligned against tax increases this past year.

Why is she caving now?

Jon Fleischman exposed how she flip-flopped and went along with tax increases three years ago, but the same interests which wanted the hike then told her to take a hike. Instead of aiding her bid for state senate against Mary Galgiani in the same region, she has backed out of the running.

Now that she keeps on embracing tax increases, I am glad that she is not running for higher office.

What has happened to some of these California legislators? They run on pledges to stop the abusive spending spree in Sacramento.

Former Assembly minority leader Kristin Olsen

Now they don't seem committed to stopping anything.

Ms. Olsen, I am so disappointed in you.

I met you a few times over the past year. You were willing to help your fellow colleagues elected in the South Bay (David Hadley) and East Bay (Catharine Baker), and yet now you are making their work harder by pushing for this tax increase.

Stop thinking about yourself! What kind of Republican are you?!

Do the math! What good is it for the state to (hopefully) get more federal dollars for a failing federal program, when it will mean more taxes, bad press, and losing numbers for Republicans across the state?

Mrs. Olsen, why do you even bother thinking about seeking higher office when you are not serving your constituents or this state with your frequent caving to raise taxes?

Do the math!

Don't be a RINO!

Vote "Hell No!" on MCO Tax!

Contact her office and shout the above loud and clear so that Olsen can hear!

CAPITOL OFFICE

State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 94249
916-319-2012
916-319-2112 fax

Allison Wescott- Capitol and Communications Director

Angela Qualley- Scheduler

Spencer Rhoads- Legislative Aide

Elias Garcia- Assembly Fellow

DISTRICT OFFICE

3719 Tully Road, Suite C
Modesto, CA 95356
209-576-6425
209-576-6426 fax

Paul Zeek- Chief of Staff

Michelle Finch- Office Manager

Evelyn Rojas- Field Representative

Emily Allen- Field Representative

Vidak is Right, Says "Hell No!" to MCO Tax

The liberal Fresno Bee faulted Republican state senator Andy Vidak (R-Hanford) for rejecting the MCO Tax scheme proposed by Governor Brown.

No taxes! None!

If Vidak has any reason to oppose this tax, it rests on the fact that he won a special and then a full general election as one more Republican to stop the tax-and-spendthrift state legislature.

He should be commended, not condemned, for stepping up and saying "Hell No!" to the MCO tax.

Here is the sham shame-editorial released by the Fresno Bee, with my comments.

Editorial: Andy Vidak is wrong to oppose vital health caretax bill

Andy Vidak, a Republican who represents the 14th state Senate District, the poorest in California, has branded himself an independent thinker who fights valiantly on behalf of his constituents.

The region will not get richer by making middle-class and working Californians poorer. 

But the Hanford lawmaker’s decision to oppose an important health-care tax bill that would restructure how the state taxes managed-care organizations so it complies with federal law suggests otherwise.

Why does the state of California have to restructure anything to get something from Washington DC? All of this wrong. The government, whether state or federal, should not be in the health care business. Period.

If California does not meet the federal mandate, it will lose $1.35 billion in federal health care funds. And there’s little doubt that if the bill does not receive the 27 votes it needs to pass the Senate, the negative impacts will reverberate throughout the 14th District, where poor residents already struggle to access health care.

How about not taking money from the American taxpayer in the first place?!

Vidak’s opposition to the Managed Care Organization tax bill is particularly disappointing because it was put together by Gov. Jerry Brown and Legislative leaders with significant Republican input.

The only input Republicans should be giving is "Hell No!"

For example, in accompanying bills that are part of the package, Republican members asked for – and received – $173 million in transportation loan repayments and $240 million from Proposition 2 debt repayment funds to pay down the liability for state retiree health.

They should not have to ask for these repayments in exchange for something. We need to stop paying people more money to do the same jobs which they had first pledged to do. The state legislature owes every legal resident goods streets and safe cities with our taxpayer dollars. There is no reason to beg for funds or buckler under higher taxes.

In addition, Republican and Democratic members received one of their big “asks” in another bill: major rate increases for community-based services for the developmentally disabled. With passage, this legislation will be worth almost $500 million to those who help the developmentally disabled.

The disabled and disadvantaged in our communities should have to do nothing more than just be there. What is it with our political class, that they sit and wait for us to beg them for anything? Shame on all of them.

More than $300 million would come from the state’s general fund, triggering another $189 million in federal funding.

The nearly $500 million would raise rates and wages for programs and caregivers serving those with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and similar conditions. The overdue raises would be the first in a decade.

That pot of money also would provide for the expansion of supported and independent living, respite, transportation and employment services. And it would reduce disparities in service delivery.

One critical element of the MCO tax reform bill is that it isn’t expected to increase health-care premiums. Here is what Assemblymember Kristin Olsen, the former Republican leader of the lower house, tweeted Feb. 22 about the MCO bill:

“Who benefits from MCO plan? Every Californian! Cutting debt, helping disabled, improving healthcare access, saving CA $1.3B = great package!”

Olsen is falling into more disfavor with grassroots Republicans. She keeps caving on taxes instead of standing on principle.

Olsen then followed with a second tweet: “If 2+2=4 then MCO is a net tax cut (not increase). It’s called math.”

No! It's called pandering and bending over for the tax-and-spendthrift Democratic majority in Sacramento. At least Vidak is refusing to go along with this nonsense.

Here’s how that math works. The state would eliminate the corporate and gross premium taxes it imposes on health plans such as Blue Shield and Anthem, at a collective cost of $371 million. That would be offset by a separate tax on managed-care organizations.

All of this tax kabuki theater is a big flop. Brown should be cutting those two taxes along with allowing the MCO to sunset.

No taxes!

Overall state tax collections would fall by about $100 million. But assuming Uncle Sam OKs the details, the state would remain eligible to receive the $1.35 billion in federal funds earmarked for Medi-Cal providers.

And there's the other rub. "Assuming Uncle Sam OKs the deal ..." California Republicans need to recognize that the Congress is not doing much of anything right now, and conservatives (rightly so) are looking to cut more spending, and get rid of the bad Boehner-Ryan spending Omnibus deal from last year.

It is significant that California Chamber of Commerce, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California, nursing home operators, physicians’ groups, and others support the deal. Kaiser is neutral, as is the anti-tax lobbying group the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

The Chamber of Compromise and the (Self-)Insurance industry love this deal? All the more reason to vote it down.

Even though the deal pencils and the state Chamber of Commerce has provided political cover for Republicans such as Vidak, the representative of a district where many people depend on Medi-Cal says he will oppose the MCO bill.

There is no such thing as political cover for Republicans in California. They need to stand for the taxpayers and stand on principle, just as Senator Vidak has on this issue.

And in an example of politics played in the most cynical of ways, Vidak says he will vote for another piece of legislation in the package: the $307 million increase for developmentally disabled services.

Yes. Do it. This funding should have happened last year or the year before. There is plenty of  money in Sacramento The problem is that most of the money is going to well-connected special interests instead of the public interes.

We reached out to Vidak’s office today. He emailed back that “despite promises to the contrary, the MCO tax hike will likely result in health insurance rate hikes on low- and middle-income families and small businesses that are already struggling to pay for Obamacare.”

He's right!

So, Vidak is voting to give up $1.35 billion in health-care funding because he doesn’t like Obamacare.

Good for him! Guess, what Fresno Bee editorial staff: lots of people do not like Obamacare! I shouted at Rep. Maxine Waters that "Obamacare can go straight to hell!"

We urge him, in Olsen’s words, to do the math and reconsider

I urge the liberal media to shut up and stop carrying water for Big Business and Big Labor.

TOday, I write a big:

Thank you, Senator Andy Vidak!