Monday, May 30, 2022

Election 2022: Hypocrisy, Your Name is Pat Furey


Soon to be gone Torrance Mayor Pat Furey is calling Councilman Aurelio Mattucci a hypocrite.

Really.

Check out the post he shared on his Facebook page:


The truth is that Aurelio Mattucci has received a number of donations from small business owners and developers because he wants to make the city of Torrance business friendly. I am surprised that some elected officials find that offensive.

Many people like the fact that Aurelio says what he means, and he does what he says he is going to do.

What is really galling about the attack post above is that the featured development is in LOMITA. It's not in Torrance, and Councilman Mattucci has opposed large developments like the one featured above. In fact, the city of Torrance weighed on this projected development and wanted to stop it, but it was ultimately the city of Lomita's decision.

But let's talk about creepy hypocrite Pat Furey.

Pat Furey accuses Councilman Mattucci of "say one thing, do another"? Really?

He also likes to use the word "rant" when describing comments that Mattucci has made in city council or during debates. The truth is that when Pat Furey hears people speaking the truth, he dismisses those comments as "rants." Furey is the same corrupt fraud who routinely shuts people down in city council meetings, only because he cannot handle watchdogs exposing the truth about the city's finances under his watch.

This same Pat Furey colluded in 2014 with a PAC sponsored by McCormick Ambulance, only then to vote to terminate the city's contract with the Torrance-based ambulance company Gerber in favor of McCormick. And Creepy Pat has the audacity to accuse others of "say one thing, do another"?

This is the same Creepy Pat who ushered in a bunch of ordinances on urban farming, only to refuse to enforce them?

This is the same Creepy Pat who violated campaign finance laws, and whose son violated campaign laws, too?

Hypocrisy, your name is Pat Furey.


Monday, May 23, 2022

Texas Run-Offs for State House, 2022: VOTE FOR JEFF YOUNGER!!!!!

 Texas Minute has provided extensive reporting on all the run-off elections for Texas State Rep this year.

This is a big change to get rid of all the RINOs who have allowed sex mutilation of minors to continue unchallenged.

This is a chance to stop the LGBT pandering which has become all too common place among Texas GOP Establishment figures, as well.

YEEHAW!


 

Good morning, 

Here is the Texas Minute for Monday, May 23, 2022.

 

– Brandon Waltens 

 
  • Election Day is tomorrow, May 24, in the primary runoff elections.
     
  • In these races, no candidate was able to secure more than 50 percent of the vote in the March primary election. 
     
  • In addition to three Republican statewide positions—which will be on ballots across the state—there are 17 runoffs for the state legislature (including 4 incumbent House members.)
     
  • As part of our Decision Texas coverage of the elections, Texas Scorecard has previewed all 17 mashups, including questioning the candidates on hot button issues such as ending the practice of putting Democrats in leadership positions.
     
  • Their answers (or lack thereof...) can help inform voters before heading to the polls.
 

Texas Senate

Senate District 24 
Pete Flores vs. Raul Reyes 

Texas House

House District 12
Kyle Kacal vs. Ben Bius 

House District 17
Stan Gerdes vs. Paul Pape 

House District 19
Ellen Troxclair vs. Justin Berry 

House District 23
Patrick Gurski  vs. Terri Leo Wilson 

House District 52
Patrick McGuinness vs. Caroline Harris 

House District 60
Glenn Rogers vs. Mike Olcott

House District 61
Paul Chabot vs. Frederick Frazier

House District 63
Ben Bumgarner  vs. Jeff Younger 

House District 70
Jamee Jolly  vs. Eric Bowlin

House District 73
Barron Casteel vs. Carrie Isaac

House District 84
David Glasheen vs. Carl Tepper 

House District 85
Phil Stephenson vs. Stan Kitzman

House District 91
Stephanie Klick vs. David Lowe 

House District 93
Nate Schatzline vs. Laura Hill

House District 122
Elisa Chan vs. Mark Dorazio

House District 133
Shelley Torian Barineau vs. Mano DeAyala 

Saturday, May 21, 2022

Stupid Sales Tax Desperation? Five Mailers in Two Weeks


In the last two weeks, I have received five mailers with different endorsements and scare tactics telling me that I MUST, MUST, MUST support Measure SST, which will raise the city sales tax by half a percent.

If I do not support the sales tax hike, every core and essential service will shut down!

If I do not tax myself more on every purchase I make in the city, then the whole city will go bankrupt!

If I do not add to the inflation already crippling household budgets and forcing people to cut back on essentials, then life as we know it will end and the world will self-combust in a ball of fire!

Blah, blah, blah.

Councilman George Chen rightly denounced these scare tactics.

It's really insulting that the city staff and the city council majority forced the residents to even consider a tax hike, when so many of us are hurting because of the high costs of gas, groceries, and other goods and services.

How tone deaf, how out of touch can people be?

So, let's take a look at the five mailers which have flooded mailboxes throughout the city begging every voter to cough up more of their dwindling financial resources to the city:

Here's the first one I received:



"Every second counts!"

Yes, indeed, every second counts when it comes to emergency care. No one would dispute that. The argument, however, that we must raise the sales tax to ensure that the fire department and the ambulance services remain running is disingenuous at best.

Last month, I had a health emergency and called the fire department. They arrived on scene within two minutes. In fact, there are six fire stations in the city, and they are currently adequately staffed.

Also, there is already a $23 million reserve in the general fund (not $500k, as the Daily Breeze had earlier reported), and that fund is going to increase to $32 million by June, 2022.

We do not need the sales tax increase. No, we do not have to worry about health emergencies going unanswered if the sales tax increase does not pass.

Now, here's two more flyers pressing for the sales tax increase:



The SST committee is relying on LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn to make the pitch for this stupid sales tax? Really?

Who thought that this was a good idea?

Most people have no idea who their supervisor is, representing them in Downtown LA.

Second of all, so what if some other elected official outside of the city wants a sales tax increase? 

This kind of advertisement is a bigger turn-off than a turn-on to support this tax move.

Let's cut through the crap here: Supervisor Hahn simply wanted to put her face on a mailer so that she could promote herself, and she wants to keep in good graces with the public sector unions in the city. She is a union whore, after all, giving the public sector union lobbies everything they want and then some, no matter how much it costs the taxpayers, and no matter whether the citizens get their money's worth for all the spending.

These two flyers were just an insulting waste of time, to put it mildly. Pure political opportunism and sex promotion, nothing more.

Here are two more flyers. The first one tries to appeal to everyone's sense of Torrance as a nice, home-town place where everyone belongs and everyone shares the long-standing history of the city:



Hey, it's a great map! It's a nice, glossy mailer that gets the reader's attention.

But guess what? I still don't want to pay more in sales tax!

Here's another flyer:

Yes, there is that headline "Every penny stays right here to keep in Torrance."

Actually, such a blunt, obvious headline does not inspire confidence. I guess a focus group or another poll indicated that people are more worried now than before about how the money will actually be spent, and whether it will actually stay in the city of Torrance.

The SST committee is not being completely honest here. There is no certainty that the money will be used for police, fire, or paramedics. There are no specific strings attached to the monies to ensure that they go to essential services. In fact, much of the money will likely go to pensions and benefits for retired workers, which means that the money will NOT stay in the city at all!

But regarding the fact that the money will not be earmarked to specific costs, the city will indeed have the full discretion to spend the new tax revenues on anything they want in the city. That does not inspire confidence to support this measure, even if all the money stays in the city.

When the city council was debating this matter, Councilman Mattucci offered to consider this tax measure if the ballot initiative made it absolutely clear that the monies would only be spent on police or fire. For that kind of initiative to pass, however, would have required a two-thirds vote of the residents.

There is no way that two-thirds of the city would support a tax increase, even if the money would be directly tied to specific essential services in the city only.

In fact, when the city council and staff were investigating how to raise revenue via a sales tax increase, they had initially consider a .075 percent sales tax! After polling on that issue, however, they realized that it would not pass. When they considered a .5 percent sales tax, their polling sample resulted in a bare 52% supporting the tax increase. Of course, all of that was before the price of gas doubled and budget-crippling inflation had set in!

This Stupid Sales Tax Committee has tried so many arguments to make their case. They have threatened residents that core services will suffer if they do not vote to tax themselves more. They have asked Supervisor Hahn to endorse the proposal, and they sent two tacky flyers promoting the self-promoting county politician to everyone in the city.

And now they are trying to assure everyone that the money will stay in the city.

Last of all, they have listed a whole bunch of politicians and city staff, retired and current, who endorse this proposal.

Check out the latest flyer that I received, with a whole bunch of  endorsements!




                                                  

I really have to question this kind of logic.

So what if a bunch of former and current city councilmembers, administrative staff, fire chiefs, police chiefs, etc. endorse a sales tax hike? It's not their money.

It's our money they are asking for more of!

And, the current city councilmembers who endorse this SST measure are the same people who approved spending down the general fund reserves over the last SEVEN YEARS! They were fiscally irresponsible. Why should we pick up the tab on their lack of restraint?

But what really caught my attention with this latest flyer is that they repeat names on the list! Did anyone bother to edit this flyer?

Look at these close-up shots of the listed endorsements:




"Street Racing Kills" is listed twice. What does the fight to curb street racing (which is a dangerous practice, to be sure) have to do with raising the sales tax? And why list it twice? Granted, the second list includes the director for the movement, but shouldn't the organization's endorsement alone suffice?

Oh, and the flyer lists Jimmy Gow, the abused President of the Torrance Democratic Club, as an endorser. This is the shameless, self-promotional politics that we got with the two previous flyers propping up Supervisor Hahn. Give me a break!

Oh, and Jimmy Gow is listed twice, too:


So, because a partisan activist who trespassed on a veterans hall, and went with minions who spit at veterans and stole their property -- he is listed twice on a flyer to endorse a sales tax increase?

What was the SST Committee thinking?!

This is desperation, nothing more.

Torrance voters need to reject this Stupid Sales Tax. One flyer after another indicates clear desperation. Frankly, the committee pushing this measure should be ashamed of themselves, considering all the economic challenges that Torrance residents are facing as it is.

The United States is facing a recession. The S and P Index just touched into Bear Market territory this past week.

The price of gas has skyrocketed, and it's only going higher. The price of groceries is going up by 20%, 30%, 40%. Business is slowing for many small business owners, too.

And with this perfect storm of econmic troubles, the city council and staff want to push a sales tax increase? And this increase is not even necessary, and it will only discourage commerce in the city.

Say NO to the Stupid Sales Tax increase.

                         

Torrance City Council Election 2022: Vandalism Against George Chen Sign

Wow!

Are we getting Hawthorne-style politics in Torrance!




The Numark Campaign needs to condemn this wanton vandalism right away.

This is beyond outrageous!

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Escape to Reality: Doers of the Law Will be Justified?

 

Doers of the Law Will be Justified?

What does Romans 2:13 mean?

Was the Apostle Paul confused when he wrote Romans 2:13? Because this verse doesn’t seem to belong in the Bible:

For it is not the hearers of the law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. (Romans 2:13)

Doers of the law will be justified?!

Was Paul having a senior moment? Did he forget to insert the word NOT?

There is an easy explanation for this strange verse, which we’ll get to in a minute. But first, let’s be clear: we are justified by faith alone and NOT by keeping the law.

Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)

Justification by faith is one of the great themes of Paul’s writing. Again and again, he reminds us that we are justified or made right with God through faith in his Son (Rom. 3:28, Gal. 3:24).

Since we are justified by faith, and the law is not of faith (Gal. 3:12), no one can ever be justified by keeping the law.

By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in his sight. (Romans 3:20)

And one more time for emphasis:

We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. (Galatians 2:16)

Paul could not be any clearer. We’re justified by faith not law. Try to impress God with your law-keeping, and you’ll fall from grace and cut yourself off from Christ:

You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. (Galatians 5:4)

So with such a clear message (faith, not law), why does Paul say doers of the law will be justified?

Doers of the law

Paul was not saying, “Try and keep the law and you will justify yourself before God,” for that would contradict what he says elsewhere about being justified by faith.

He was saying, “hearing the law is not enough, you have to keep it – and none of you can!”

In context, Paul was speaking to people who knew the law (Rom. 7:1). Like many believers, they had been raised on a diet of rules. They thought if they heard the rules, studied the rules, and hung them on their walls, God would be impressed.

Nope.

Going to church and hearing the rules is not enough.

Teaching the rules and condemning those who break them is not enough.

Lobbying for God’s law to be hung on courthouses is not enough.

You have to keep all the rules and no one can.

It is impossible for imperfect man to deliver a lifetime of perfect performance. Paul is not calling us to attempt the impossible; he’s trying to get us to admit defeat.

Doers of the law will be justified, but you are not and never can be a doer of the law.

There was only one Doer of the law who was made right with God and that Doer offers you his righteousness as a free gift.

So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24)

To be justified means God has judged you righteous and not guilty of sin. To be justified is to be made right with God.

You cannot earn the gift of righteousness and you cannot justify yourself before God. The only thing you can do is receive his righteousness by faith.

Want to get right with God?

Start by thanking him for Jesus who was made sin so that you might be justified and made righteous (2 Cor. 5:21).

You are not justified or made right with God because of anything you do, but because of everything he has done.

—–

Want to learn more about justification, righteousness, and the law? Check out our ever-expanding Grace Glossary.

Read more articles and these frequently-asked questions about the law.

Save California: Stop These Three Bills

 

How to stop the 3 worst Assembly bills
Because a Democrat bill to punish doctors who differ with the establishment "consensus" was skipped over Monday on the Assembly floor, you have more time to oppose AB 2098, as well as AB 1797 (a statewide "vaccine" database) and AB 2223 (legalizing infanticide).

AB 2098 could be voted on as soon as this Thursday morning, while the vaccine database and infanticide bills will likely be on the Assembly floor as soon as Monday, May 23.

SaveCalifornia.com believes since medical "mandates" are controversial, since fear of the the China virus has significantly diminished, and since this is an election year where every California assemblymember is up for election, both AB 2098 and AB 1797 -- and AB 2223, the infanticide bill -- can be stopped if you help flood Sacramento with opposition calls.

We've identified 28 deciding votes on these 3 bills on the floor of the 80-seat California State Assembly, which currently has 78 members and two vacancies. If none of the19 Republicans nor at least 19 of the 28 deciding votes do not support these inhuman bills, they'll be defeated for lack of 41 minimum votes to pass bills by the May 27 deadline.

2 ACTION STEPS:

STEP #1: Please create a buzz against these 3 bills now. Oppose all 3 when you call your own state assemblymember. Please email him or her tonight or call on Wednesday, May 18, during the day, because your assemblymember might vote on AB 2098 on Thursday morning. Find your assemblymember's website here:

AB 2098 (Low): "Support medical independence. Oppose AB 2098, which would result in the revocation of licenses of good doctors who think outside the box. AB 2098 is unfair and wrong -- oppose it."

AB 1797 (Weber): "Support an individual's choice of medical treatment. Oppose AB 1797, which would set up a vaccine database that would discriminate against and segregate conscientious Californians who don't want a particular injection. Do not track me or my family, whether we want a particular shot or not. Vote no on AB 1797."

AB 2223 (Wicks): "Protect the lives of babies, whether they're an hour, day, week, or year old. Oppose AB 2223, which would make law enforcement look the other way when an infant dies and it's claimed the death was 'pregnancy related.' By prohibiting law enforcement investigations of 'perinatal death due to a pregnancy-related cause,' AB 2223 would permit killings of newborns up to year after birth. Vote no on this infanticide bill."

STEP #2: Because the bill revoking the licenses of doctors who disagree with the establishment "consensus" could come up for a vote as early as 9:15am on Thursday, May 19, please leave anonymous voicemails Tuesday evening or Wednesday evening for as many as 28 deciding votes.

Remember, AB 2098 is a unjust, unfair bill that would punish good doctors who know and say the facts about Covid and vaccines. AB 2098 would label as "misinformation or disinformation" anything a physician said or did that "was contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus to an extent where its dissemination constitutes gross negligence," which, if so, would prohibit the doctor from practicing medicine. For its initial practical purposes, this bill would attack and harm physicians who have studied the reality of many adverse reactions to vaccines and who support medical freedom.

Not only does AB 2098 infringe on freedom of speech in both the U.S. and California constitutions, it blatantly violates the Hippocratic oath of doctors to "do no harm or injustice" to patients. Because if certain facts inform physicians that the State of California is recommending medical treatment that is unnecessary, ineffective, or harmful, doctors will be punished for doing good, patients will be denied informed consent, and the doctor-patient relationship will be shattered.

If you know a doctor who supports medical freedom, urge him or her to make a call or calls on Wednesday, May 18. Time is crucial, and their authoritative voices are needed.

What to say: In your voicemail messages, please say something like, "Support medical independence. Oppose AB 2098, which would result in the revocation of licenses of good doctors who think outside the box. AB 2098 is unfair and wrong -- oppose it."

Important to know: Unless you see your own assemblymember on this list below, please remain anonymous, so your calls will have impact and not be “trashed” (the Democrat legislators’ modus operandi is to disregard every message not from their own constituents). By leaving anonymous voicemails only, legislators' staff cannot reliably “trash” your calls, and you’ll “mix” in and be part of the flood of opposition calls.

28 Assembly floor targets (27 Democrats and 1 independent)
Please leave anonymous voicemails May 17-18 between 7pm and 8am 

Call their State Capitol offices or legislative district offices or both:
Joaquin Arambula of Fresno County 916-319-2031 and 559-445-5532
Tasha Boerner-Horvath of north San Diego County 916-319-2076 and 760-434-7605
Ken Cooley of Sacramento County 916-319-2008 and 916-464-1910
Jim Cooper of Sacramento County 916-319-2009 and 916-670-7888
Tom Daly of central Orange County 916-319-2069 and 714-939-8469
Mike Fong of Monterey Park to Arcadia in L.A. County 916-319-2049 and 323-264-4949
Eduardo Garcia of Imperial and Riverside counties 916-319-2056 and 760-347-2360
Mike Gipson of South-Central Los Angeles 916-319-2064 and 310-324-6408
Adam Gray is running for the new Central Valley congressional seat that includes West Modesto, Ceres, Patterson and Newman among other central and eastern Stanislaus County communities 916-319-2021 and 209-726-5465
Timothy Grayson of northeast Contra Costa County 916-319-2014 and 925-521-1511
Jacqui Irwin of southwest Ventura County 916-319-2044 and 805-482-1904
Brian Maienschein (independent) of north San Diego 916-319-2077 and 858-675-0077
Chad Mayes of Palm Springs/Yucca Valley/Yucaipa 916-319-2042 and 760-346-6342
Al Muratsuchi of the Los Angeles South Bay 916-319-2066 and 310-375-0691
Adrin Nazarian of Van Nuys 916-319-2046 and 818-376-4246
Patrick O’Donnell of Long Beach 916-319-2070 and 562-429-0470
Cottie Petrie-Norris of coastal Orange County 916-319-2074 and 949-251-0074
Sharon Quirk-Silva of Fullerton/Buena Park/Anaheim 916-319-2065 and 714-525-6515
James Ramos of Redlands/Loma Linda/Highland/north San Bernardino and Rancho Cucamonga 916-319-2040 and 909-476-5023
Eloise Reyes of San Bernardino/Rialto/Fontana 916-319-2047 and 909-381-3238
Luz Rivas of northeast San Fernando Valley 916-319-2039 and 818-504-3911
Robert Rivas of Monterey, San Benito, and San Cruz counties and Gilroy 916-319-2030 and 831-759-8676
Freddie Rodriguez of Ontario/Chino/Pomona 916-319-2052 and 909-902-9606
Blanca Rubio of Azusa/Glendora/Covina and other east L.A. County communities 916-319-2048 and 626-960-4457
Miguel Santiago of downtown Los Angeles 916-319-2053 and 213-620-4646
Rudy Salas is running for a new congressional seat covering parts of Fresno, Kern, Kings, and Tulare counties 916-319-2032 and 661-335-0302
Carlos Villapudua of Stockton and Tracy 916-319-2013 and 209-948-7479
Lori Wilson of Fairfield/Vacaville/Rio Vista/Antioch/Brentwood 916-319-2011

Monday, May 16, 2022

GRIFTER ALERT: Joe Collins and Omar Navarro


This is a blog post I have not wanted to write, but now is the time to confront this lingering problem in California politics, both generally and specifically.

California has some of the most obnoxious, obscene, and incendiary politicians in the country. The state also has a large bevy of wealthy donors who are ready to spend lavishly on candidates and causes. The media personnel and infrastructure is also quite considerable in the state of California.

Therefore, it's no surprise that the consultant class, or consultant lobby loves propping up puppet-like minority candidates to run against flaming liberals and destructive progressive Congressmen.

Some of the most outrageous politicians in California include:

1. Nancy Pelosi, who is the current Speaker of the House

2. Maxine Waters, the current chairman of the House Banking Committee

3. Adam Schiff, the current chairman of the House Intelligence Committee

4. Ted Lieu, who has developed a considerable pro-file on social media, and tweeted much more than President Trump had ever done.

Need I say more?

These politicians are widely and understandably loathed by people across the country. They are famous for being politically and morally infamous. People want them out!

However, the four Congressmen above represent some of the safest Democratic districts in the United States, not just in California. As of now, for a Republican to run against these incumbents to knock them out of office, it's pretty much a fool's errand. I hate to admit this, but we have seen one galvanizing Republican after another run against these evil Congressmen, and the Republicans often get 20 to 35% of the vote in each general election.

The districts are too blue, too brain-dead to consider an alternative the current incumbents and their rampant failures. Only another Democrat, with more money and more support from progressive political activists, would have any chance or removing those incumbents right now.

So, why did I bother giving this initial sob story about the current California political scene?

Because we need to understand the source of The Grift.

What is "The Grift," anyway? Well, generally speaking, to grift is

engage in petty or small-scale swindling.

In the realm of political campaigns, grifting occurs when candidates put off this big message that they are "in it to win" a race against an entrenched incumbent or score a victory, when in reality they just want to rake in as much cash as they can to pay for expensive frills and perks, much of which has nothing to do with winning the race. In fact, because most of those races are all but impossible for the candidate to win, most people don't pay close attention to where all the money goes.




And now we look at Joe Collins and Omar Navarro.

These two candidates ran for Congress against Maxine Waters, one of the most horrific, ugly, unbearable, insufferable Congressmen in Washington, DC. She is widely loathed, hated, despised, the epitome of arrogant stupidity.

She is just plain terrible, just awful, and she awakens such antipathies in voters. People all over the country want her out of office, and they are more than happy to send all kinds of donations to support whoever is running against her.

Then you have Omar Navarro and Joe Collins. These guys have spent campaign donations on plane trips to lavish events with famous conservatives to take photos with them. They use the campaign donations for nice hotel stays, uber rides, and other fancy things.

They also cut themselves, their families, and most importantly their consultants, campaign managers, and treasurers handsome checks.

Yes, candidates can draw a salary on their campaign cash. Did you not know that?

But the consultants who prop up these candidates stand to make big money off these campaign warchests, too. It's an obscene amount of money that these campaign staffers rake in!

So, there you have it: these campaigns are nothing but a full-on grift.

Omar Navarro has run for Congress in the 43rd Congressional District a record FOUR TIMES. In 2018, when he ran a second time and raised massive amounts of money following from his massive media presence on Fox News, InfoWars, the Gateway Pundit, etc.

Joe Collins ran against Maxine Waters in 2020, in which he barely made it into the Top Two for the general election. This year, he is running in CD-36 against Ted Lieu. Why? Wouldn't he have a better chance of making it into the Top Two against Maxine Waters, since he made it the last time?

Well, he goes where the consultants tell him to go. That's what he shared with some local candidates in the South Bay a few weeks ago, in fact!

The campaign consultants who prop up these candidates get big money from all the donations. In some cases, they can get as much as 70% of the campaign donations! Most people donate to a campaign because they think they are helping to fund the candidate's efforts to get the word out about his run for office. People donate because they want to help pay for lawn signs, flyers, radio ads, etc. 

Most of the money goes to fees and frills, nothing more.

These two candidates have no chance of winning. They know they have no chance of winning. They can talk a good game all the want, but the fact is that they are going to get lots of money from unheeding donors across the country, and then all that money gets spent on hotels, car drives, and some campaign stuff, too.

It's a full-on grift, and neither one of these candidates deserves anyone's support.