Category Archives: Economic Issues

Jack Guerrero for California Treasurer

Posted on by Standard Reply

Cudahy City Councilman Jack Guerrero is running for California Treasurer on a platform of defending taxpayers and investigating the financial excesses of state and local governments in California.

“As Mayor of his hometown city, Jack worked with the California State Controller to expose millions of dollars in wasteful and unlawful spending.”

Jack Guerrero will expose the mismanagement by politicians of California’s pension funds, which face a massive shortfall if not reformed.

As Mayor of Cudahy, Jack Guerrero held public hearings on the quality of education in local public schools! He successfully advocated for local school reform, organized parents, and demanded change in one school’s administration. Over the last two years, test scores for California students have declined and many parents are worried that their children are not receiving the education they need and deserve. Jack Guerrero has shown he knows how important this issue is for California.

Jack Guerrero is an economist who has worked as a consultant to Fortune 500 corporations in California, New York and Europe. He is a Certified Public Accountant and has audited government agencies at the state and local level.

His views on economics and politics are based on his education. He has included on his website a list of books that have influenced him:

  • “The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith
  • “Principles of Political Economy and Taxation” by David Ricardo
  • “Human Action” by Ludwig von Mises
  • “The Road to Serfdom” by Friedrich von Hayek
  • “Capitalism and Freedom” by Milton Friedman
  • “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand
  • “The Conscience of a Conservative” by Barry Goldwater
  • “Democracy in America” by Alexis de Tocqueville
  • “Witness” by Whittaker Chambers
  • “Ideas Have Consequences” by Richard Weaver
  • “The Conservative Mind” by Russell Kirk
  • “Reflections on the Revolution in France” by Edmund Burke
  • “On Liberty” by John Stuart Mill
  • “The Federalist Papers”

The best opportunity for California Libertarians in this election is to get behind the campaign of Jack Guerrero, Republican for Californias Treasurer.

For more information, or to contact the candidate, go to https://www.jack4treasurer.com/

Vote November 8:Lanhee Chen for Controller

Posted on by Standard Reply

Lanhee Chen came in first in California’s top-two primary, and faces off against Democrat Maili Cohen, a member of the State Board of Equalization.

“The Controller is California’s independent fiscal watchdog. The person who makes sure that taxpayer money—OUR money—is spent as we’re told it will be. But that’s not happening now. In fact, the Controller can’t even tell us where she sent over $300 billion in payments in 2018 alone.”

“For too long, the Controller has been a Sacramento insider, valuing partisanship over competence. The Controller has been beholden to other politicians, defending THEM, instead of fighting for and protecting YOU.”

The State of California collects hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes every year, and spends most of it. Not all of this money goes to its intended purposes. In 2020 and 2021 criminals defrauded the state out of more than 20 billion dollars in unemployment benefits – 11% of the total paid out in benefits during the Covid pandemic. And that is just one scandal.

This reflects a lack of oversight on spending by the State Controller – an abandonment of the Controller’s responsibility. California voters have a chance to elect a new controller who will take his responsibilities seriously.

Lanhee Chen pledges to protect taxpayers from fraud by “examining state programs that may be ripe for fraud and abuse.“

Lanhee Chen promises to hold Sacramento politicians accountable. California voters need to know how their tax dollars are spent. They need to know “why major political donors to Governor Gavin Newsom received no-bid contracts or plum appointments as part of the state’s pandemic response.”

Lanhee Chen promises to provide true fiscal transparency by using technology to ensure taxpayers have access to a best-of-class system to see where there tax money is being spent.

Lanhee Chen promises honest accounting so taxpayers will understand the real fiscal situation of our state government.

Lanhee Chen is an independent Republican who has never supported Donald Trump. Like most Californians, Lanhee Chen is pro-choice on abortion. Lanhee Chen provides a choice for Independent and Libertarian voters in California who know that California is taking too much in taxes and spending too much of our tax money.

Vote for financial responsibility and clarity. Vote Lanhee Chen for Controller on November 8, 2022.

For more information go to https://chenforcalifornia.com/

.

Bloomberg:”On Climate Change, Republicans Need a Crash Course in Capitalism”

Posted on by Standard Reply

Red-state lawmakers are increasingly trying to interfere in private firms’ decision-making. They’re making a terrible mistake.

The climate is changing, and so are the incentives.
The climate is changing, and so are the incentives.Photographer: Eddie Seal/Bloomberg

By

Michael R. Bloomberg

Republican elected officials seem to think they’ve found three new evil letters to pair with their favorite bugaboo, CRT, or critical race theory. This one is called ESG, which refers to investment strategies that consider environmental, social and governance issues. Critics call it “woke capitalism.” There’s just one problem: They don’t seem to understand capitalism. And flogging ESG is not only a terrible economic mistake. It will be a political loser, too.

Republican critics of ESG have focused primarily on the “E,” arguing that climate change should not factor into investment decisions. Texas has adopted a law restricting the state, localities, and pension boards from doing business with financial firms that seek to limit their exposure to fossil fuel companies. Even firms that have large investments in fossil fuels are being banned, if they dare attempt to price climate risk into their portfolio allocations. Oklahoma has enacted a similar law, and other Republican leaders are moving in the same direction. Last month, Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, supported a resolution barring pension fund managers from considering ESG factors.

All these anti-ESG crusaders position themselves as defenders of the free market. But they are attempting to use government to block private firms from acting in the best interests of their clients, including retired police officers, teachers and many others who depend upon public pensions. And in doing so, they are turning the most basic investment rules on their head.

Any responsible money manager, especially one with a fiduciary duty to taxpayers, seeks to build a diversified portfolio (including on energy); identifies and mitigates risk (including the risks associated with climate change); and considers macro trends that are shaping industries and markets (such as the steadily declining price of clean power).

That’s investing 101, and either Republican critics of ESG don’t understand it, or they are catering to the interests of fossil fuel companies. It may well be both. Either way, they are standing in the way of the most powerful force we can muster in the fight against climate change: the private sector. And the stakes could not be higher.

Full Commentary by Michael R Bloomberg @ https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-09-06/on-climate-change-republicans-need-a-crash-course-in-capitalism

Lanhee Chin for California Controller

Posted on by Standard Reply

“The Controller is California’s independent fiscal watchdog. The person who makes sure that taxpayer money—OUR money—is spent as we’re told it will be. But that’s not happening now. In fact, the Controller can’t even tell us where she sent over $300 billion in payments in 2018 alone.”

Lanhee Chin is the only Republican running for State Controller on the June primary ballot. His campaign will focus on four themes:

Protecting Taxpayers From Fraud:”As Controller, I will use my audit authority aggressively and frequently, particularly in examining state programs that may be ripe for fraud and abuse.“

Holding Sacramento Politicians Accountable: “California taxpayers deserve answers to questions like how tens of billions of dollars in federal assistance during the pandemic were spent. And whether school districts are actually using the funding they’ve received to help get our kids back into the classroom safely. Or why major political donors to Governor Gavin Newsom received no-bid contracts or plum appointments as part of the state’s pandemic response? These are the sorts of questions that, as Controller, I will answer on behalf of taxpayers.”

Providing True Fiscal Transparency: The Controller’s Office was unable to disclose to the public where each one of the roughly 50 million payments it made—totaling over $300 billion in 2018 alone—went…I will leverage the innovation and technology we have in our state to ensure that taxpayers have access to a best-in-class system to see these payments and understand exactly how their money is being spent.”

Ensuring Honest and Transparent Accounting: “Our state government shouldn’t be using gimmicks and smoke-and-mirrors to hide the true nature of our fiscal condition from California’s taxpayers. One example is the way that our state pension funds report on their own fiscal health. As Controller, I will fight to ensure that our state’s public pension funds, CalPERS and CalSTRS, clearly tell taxpayers how much they will owe once retirement benefits for current and former government employees come due.

Since 2010 California has been dominated by the Democratic Party. Democrats have used this dominance to promote new government programs and new mandates. The California Republican Party has not always defended freedom and limited government; Republicans have committed to leaders who have championed more government to deal with social problems. But this year, California voters committed to limiting government can vote for Lanhee Chen for Controller and Jack Guerrero for Treasurer to keep a spotlight on the cost of the government that the Democrats are delivering to California voters.

for more information on Lanhee Chen for Controller go to https://chenforcalifornia.com/

UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times has endorsed Lanhee Chen for State Controller https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-04-21/endorsement-lanhee-chen-for-california-controller

(By Gene Berkman, Editor, California Libertarian Report)

Jack Guerrero for California Treasurer

Posted on by Standard Reply

Cudahy City Councilman Jack Guerrero is running for California Treasurer on a platform of defending taxpayers and investigating the financial excesses of state and local governments in California.

“As Mayor of his hometown city, Jack worked with the California State Controller to expose millions of dollars in wasteful and unlawful spending. As a former pension auditor and one-time university lecturer in statistics, Jack understands the severity of the state’s unfunded pension liability which at nearly $500 billion, threatens the long-term financial stability of the state! Jack will EXPOSE this mismanagement by reckless politicians. Jack will safeguard state assets and advocate for policies that place citizens FIRST, including lower taxes, smaller government, and a prosperous California economy.”

“Mr. Guerrero’s passion for justice extended to education initiatives, when (as Mayor) he did the unthinkable:  He held public hearings on the quality of education in local public schools! He successfully advocated for local school reform, organized parents, and demanded change in one school’s administration.”

Jack Guerrero ran for California Treasurer in 2018, coming in third place in the top two primary. This year, Jack Guerrero faces the incumbent Democrat, Fiona Ma, along with one other Republican, and a Peace & Freedom Party candidate. In June, if Jack can come in second this time, he will face the incumbent in November.

Jack Guerrero was educated as an economist, and he has worked as a consultant to Fortune 500 corporations in California, New York and Europe. He us a CPA and has audited government agencies at the state and local level.

His views on economics and politics are based on his education. He has included on his website a list of books that have influenced him:

  • “The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith
  • “Principles of Political Economy and Taxation” by David Ricardo
  • “Human Action” by Ludwig von Mises
  • “The Road to Serfdom” by Friedrich von Hayek
  • “Capitalism and Freedom” by Milton Friedman
  • “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand
  • “The Conscience of a Conservative” by Barry Goldwater
  • “Democracy in America” by Alexis de Tocqueville
  • “Witness” by Whittaker Chambers
  • “Ideas Have Consequences” by Richard Weaver
  • “The Conservative Mind” by Russell Kirk
  • “Reflections on the Revolution in France” by Edmund Burke
  • “On Liberty” by John Stuart Mill
  • “The Federalist Papers”

There are no Libertarian Party candidates on the California ballot for any statewide offices this year. The best opportunity for California Libertarians in this election is to get behind the campaign of Jack Guerrero, Republican for Californias Treasurer.

For more information, or to contact the candidate, go to https://www.jack4treasurer.com/

(By Gene Berkman, Editor, California Libertarian Report)

Williamson:”We Are Not Winning the Trade War”

Posted on by Standard Reply

The problem with winning a race to the bottom is that you end up at the bottom.

President Donald Trump’s idiotically conceived and incompetently executed trade war with China shows no signs of abating — the president himself said this week that he’d be happy to see negotiations drag on throughout the coming year — and now Trump has decided to expand the theater to Brazil and Argentina.

Trump says he is imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum from Brazil and Argentina because those two countries have engaged in a policy of competitive currency devaluation, i.e., they have artificially driven down the value of the real and the peso, respectively, in order to gain an unfair advantage for their exports. Trump charges that this has hurt U.S. farmers and says he is imposing these sanctions on their behalf. The Commerce Department, Treasury, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the governments of Brazil and Argentina learned about this on Twitter in the wee hours, because that is how the Trump administration makes policy.

Like a great deal of what comes out of this White House, the new tariffs and the rationale undergirding them exhibit a very fine blend of dishonesty and stupidity.

It is true that the real and the peso have declined in value of late. But this is not programmatic devaluation; rather, both Brazil and Argentina are in the midst of severe self-imposed crises in their national economies (when are these South American giants not in the midst or on the verge of economic crises?) caused by excessive public debt and misgovernment, afflictions with which the United States is increasingly familiar but as yet resistant to, owing to the sheer size and dynamism of our economy. When a nation’s finances tank, its currency tends to fall in value as investors scurry off rodentially from the keeling schooner that is the ailing nation’s economy. 

Full Commentary by Kevin Williamson @ National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/12/trump-trade-war-hurting-americans/?utm_campaign=FEE%20Daily&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=80315687&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9MJJvtm47ORFHa4pfUhsooaF8D0Zf24LnCw3BTHatYxLD7dLxg5JkC-I0B0klu5Xr_NpqDao2-4-JrSoadOcfPW880pA&_hsmi=80315687

“Happy 217th Birthday to French Liberal Economist Frederic Bastiat!”

Posted on by Standard Reply

Friday June 29 was the 217th anniversary of the birth of Frederic Bastiat, champion of free trade and personal freedom.
Mark Perry has a tribute to the 19th Century Liberal economist @ fee.org, the blog of the Foundation for Economic Education:

According to the Library of Economics and Liberty, Bastiat’s biggest contributions to economics were “his fresh and witty expressions of economic truths,” which “made them so understandable and compelling that the truths became hard to ignore.” Celebrating Bastiat’s birthday has become an annual tradition at Carpe Diem, and below I present some of my favorite quotes from the great liberty-loving, influential French economist!

1. One of Bastiat’s most famous and important writings was “The Candlemakers’ Petition,”…

“We [French candlemakers] are suffering from the intolerable competition of a foreign rival, placed, it would seem, in a condition so far superior to ours for the production of light that he absolutely inundates our national market with it at a price fabulously reduced. The moment he shows himself, our trade leaves us — all consumers apply to him; and a branch of native industry, having countless ramifications, is all at once rendered completely stagnant. This rival, who is none other than the sun, wages war mercilessly against us.”

“We ask you to pass a law requiring the closing of all windows, skylights, dormer-windows, outside and inside shutters, curtains, blinds; in a word, of all openings, holes, chinks, clefts, and fissures, by or through which the light of the sun has been in use to enter houses, to the prejudice of the meritorious manufactures with which we flatter ourselves that we have accommodated our country — a country that, in gratitude, ought not to abandon us now to a strife so unequal.”

Full celebration by Mark J Perry https://fee.org/articles/happy-217th-birthday-to-french-classical-liberal-economist-frederic-bastiat/?utm_campaign=FEE%20Daily&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=64159662&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-95PXiAGSHJE7GHbHJ2RsmLx8TRylwZgWxu8hPcaZgG7QDc42qGtuRKBws2nUTacJsPxK9WyHclaJalQgkj5Jwr17RfwQ&_hsmi=64159662

Jack Guerrero for Treasurer -Liberty, Free Markets & Respect for the Constitution

Posted on by Standard Reply

Former Cudahy Mayor Jack Guerrero is a Republican candidate for State Treasurer in the June 5 primary. His campaign theme is “Liberty, Free Markets & Respect for the Constitution”

Jack Guerrero has served as a member of the Cudahy City Council, and as Mayor. As a local official he exposed problems with the city’s financial controls, and worked with the state Controller to examine the city’s spending. Mr Guerrero also pushed for school reform and held public hearings on education quality.

Jack Guerrero promotes his vision of limited government with a recommended reading list “Great Works of Influence” which
includes “Human Action” by Ludwig von Mises; “The Road to Serfdom” by Friedrich Hayek; “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand; “Conscience of a Conservative” by Barry Goldwater and more books, all of them available at the Renaissance Book Shop www.renbook.com

His experience in local government and his commitment to liberty and free markets make Jack Guerrero the best choice for State Treasurer. Vote for Jack Guerrero for State Treasurer on Tuesday, June 5. More info @ https://www.jack4treasurer.com/

(By Gene Berkman, Editor, California Libertarian Report)

LP:Civil asset forfeiture is legalized theft by government

Posted on by Standard Reply

February 8, 2017

Yesterday, at a meeting with sheriffs, President Trump commented about ruining the career of a Texas legislator that proposed a bill to reform civil asset forfeiture.

“We’ll destroy his career,” the President said.

The legislator was unnamed and there are several Texas legislators currently proposing bills to reform civil asset forfeiture laws.

Such laws vary by state but in many states it is legal for law enforcement officials to seize property from someone before they are convicted of any crime and then even keep that property even if the person is found innocent.

There have been many cases documented that show how this practice can be abused and, for every case documented, there are countless others that are not.

The Libertarian Party thinks that the current practice of civil asset forfeiture is completely unfair and un-American.

Libertarian National Committee Chair, Nicholas Sarwark, says, “Civil asset forfeiture is nothing more than legalized theft by the government. Basic fairness and justice requires that there be a criminal conviction before someone’s assets can be taken for being proceeds of a crime.”

Sarwark continues, “This legalized theft has been a driver of the failed war on drugs. Thank you to the Texas legislators reforming our system to protect the property of innocent people from being stolen by the government. Our President and his nominee for Attorney General should be ashamed of continuing this immoral policy of legalized theft and bullying legislators who stand up for their constituents.”

He concludes, “When bullies don’t have an argument, they use threats to try to get their way. Such pathetic behavior from the President is sad, but not surprising.”

Senator Jeff Sessions, President Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, has been an outspoken advocate for civil asset forfeiture

Source:Post by Lauren Daugherty @ lp.org https://www.lp.org/civil-asset-forfeiture-is-legalized-theft-by-government/

California: Vote No on Debt and Taxes!

Posted on by Standard Reply

On Tuesday, November 8, Californians will vote on whether to issue 9 billion dollars in bonds to pay for school facilities, and whether to extend temporary tax hikes on high earners.

Proposition 51 authorizes the state to issue 9 billion dollars in bonds to pay for construction and repair of facilities for public schools, charters schools and community colleges. The bonds will cost the taxpayers 8.6 billion dollars in interest, for a total cost of $17.6 billion dollars. The state will have to collect a half billion dollars a year in taxes for 35 years to pay back these bonds.

Governor Jerry Brown opposes this new bond issue, because the state has too much debt already. Libertarians favor a system of private schools for all, with scholarships for those who need help paying tuition. This will guarantee access to education for all, while transferring the capital cost of school construction from the taxpayers to private and corporate educational businesses. Governor Jerry Brown and The Libertarian Party urge you to vote No on more debt, Vote No on Proposition 51.

Proposition 55 will extend for 12 years income tax hikes on residents earning $250,000 a year or more. Governor Jerry Brown promoted temporary tax hikes in 2012, and he favors letting the tax increases expire. California already puts a high cost on success, making the state less welcoming to successful individuals and successful companies. We must create a business climate that promotes economic growth in order to keep Californians working and productive. We need tax cuts for economic growth, not tax hikes. Governor Jerry Brown and The Libertarian Party urge you to vote against high taxes, Vote No on Proposition 55.

Proposition 53 is an amendment to the California Constitution that will require voter approval of revenue bonds if the issue exceeds 2 billion dollars. The Constitution now requires approval by the voters for bonds dedicated to funding specific projects, but does not require voter approval for general purpose revenue bonds. Proposition 53 will make it harder for the state to go more into debt. The Libertarian Party urges you to Vote Yes on Proposition 53.

(By Gene Berkman, Editor, California Libertarian Report)