Why Cut Vehicle License Fees? At Least They’re a Tax Write-Off

The budget deal between Gov. Jerry Brown and the Democratic majority Legislature being approved by lawmakers beginning June 28 includes a $12 increase in the registration fees paid on the state’s nearly 32 million vehicles.

The current registration fee is $31.

California drivers – the Department of Motor Vehicles says there are almost 24 million — pay annual registration fees that vary based on the age and purchase price of the vehicle.    Read more »

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Gov. Brown and Democratic Legislative Leaders Announce Budget Deal

Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders announced a budget plan June 27 that assumes the state will collect $4 billion more in revenues this year than expected, averting sharp cuts.

A key part of the deal includes keeping state support for public schools at $49.7 billion rather than increasing funding by $3 billion as the Democratic governor proposed in the revised budget he submitted to lawmakers in May.    Read more »

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Excerpts from the US Supreme Court’s June 27 Ruling on Banning Minors From Buying Violent Video Games

In declaring California’s law prohibiting the sale or rental of “violent video games’ to minors violates the First Amendment right to free speech, Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority of the US Supreme Court, says the following:

(Citations have been removed and paragraphs shortened to ease reading.)

California’s argument would fare better if there were a longstanding tradition in this country of specially restricting children’s access to depictions of violence but there is none.    Read more »

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Another At Least Quasi-Biblical California Place Name: San Joaquin

At a population of just over 4,000, San Joaquin is Fresno County’s smallest city. Created in 1850, San Joaquin County, with a population of some 650,000 is one of California’s original counties.

Both are named after Saint Joachim, supposedly the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Neither Joachim nor his wife Anne  — also a saint — are mentioned in the Bible.    Read more »

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Serves CNN Right to Hire a Classics Major as a Graphics Technician

“Oedipus Wrecks”

Caption Beneath Ben Stein Talking about Greece’s Financial Woes    Read more »

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June Tax Collections Offer Some Good News for Budget Writers

With nine days left in the month, June income tax collections are running $400 million over the amount expected in Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised budget released in May.

Brown’s Department of Finance predicted the Franchise Tax Board would collect $3.2 billion for the month. Through June 21, the board has logged more than $3.6 billion.    Read more »

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Controller Finds Budget Passed June 15 Is Not Balanced

SACRAMENTO – State Controller John Chiang today announced that his analysis of the state budget vetoed last week shows the spending plan was incomplete and unbalanced. His analysis sought to determine whether the budget met the requirements of Proposition 25 and Proposition 58, which forfeit Legislative pay if a balanced budget is not passed by June 15.    Read more »

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Not to Buttress Republican Arguments About Over-Regulation But “Kafkaesque” Is an Understatement

(From the United State Print Edition of The Economist:)

Red tape in California

Beware of the yogurt: The authorities save Californians from a phantom menace

May 19th 2011 | LOS ANGELES | from the print edition

HOMA DASHTAKI and her family came to America from Iran in 1984 and settled in a neighbourhood of Orange County, California favoured by fellow Zoroastrians.    Read more »

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Even if There’s a Budget Vote Soon, There Still Might Not Be Enough Time to Extend the Sales Tax

An extension of a 1 percent sales tax rate past its June 30 expiration as part of a budget deal may be not be feasible, according to a letter to legislative leaders from the Board of equalization.

In a June 6 letter, the board told legislative leaders that the shortest time to change a tax rate in the past was 15 days.    Read more »

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Of San Fernando and San Luis Rey

Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana, the city of San Fernando and the valley of same are named after King Ferdinand III of Spain who was canonized by Pope Clement in 1671.

Ferdinand, a lay member of the Franciscans, permanently united Castile and Leon, partly through inheritance. He expanded Spanish control of the Southern Iberian Peninsula by capturing the Moorish strongholds of Cordoba and Seville.    Read more »

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