SB 350 which is being proposed in the state legislature will be very destructive to working families and small businesses who are trying to stay alive in our state. Rationing gasoline is a very absurd idea where we take our current environmental policy on overdrive to make our 3 dollar gasoline to rise up to 5 dollars plus.
Assembly Districts 47, 52 and Senate District 20 are working class districts. I find it ironic that our legislators in these districts want to slice of the noses of their constituents for the utopian environmental policies they want to advocate.
I know it is unlikely that the three legislators in those districts will not oppose SB 350, but they need to amend SB 350 to add mass transit funding so people would have an alternative to driving. Foothill Transit and Omnitrans in our region would need to be expanded to provide an alternative for people to escape the high gas prices.
California Republicans Can No Longer Hide In Ghettos
Face it, California is changing and we fail to understand demographics and political culture. We are losing out in the box office and became shut out of statewide offices for two elections in a row. If we want to become a statewide party instead of a regional party we have to go against our comfort zones so we can become a bigger political force.
As a moderate I learned that I cannot go and rely on moderate voters only. I had to reach out to conservative voters as a candidate. The same can be applied for the conservative candidates and elected officials across California. There are not as many safe Republican districts any more, we have to adapt with the times.
We need to be welcoming without sacrificing our integrity. We need to show that we are not the party of swinging baseball bats at hornet’s nests at the demographic groups we are not used to associate with. Simply discounting people because they may not speak English well or they may not be heterosexual is not the wise idea. We cannot afford to be picky about who may or may not vote for us. Our party should not be giving people more reasons why people should not vote for our candidates. Animus is not beneficial.
Politicians that say that homosexuals are a threat to liberty are not going to help us in reaching out in cities that do not lean Republican. Even though there may not be not as many LGBT people in the general population, young people and straight allies are numerous and they can easily take their votes to our opponents. There are gay people who actually have served our nation in distinction in the armed forces, operate small businesses and have many other traits that Republicans find admirable. Painting a community in a broad brush just leads people to choosing the other leading party instead of helping us win elections.
On immigration I can agree that its anarchy how President Obama wants to open the borders completely. However as Republicans we need to come up with meaningful ways people can earn citizenship and work permits while enforcing our border. Politics is about optics and perception, if we are perceived wrongly it will harm us on Election Day. How we sell our messages makes a big difference, if we want to end the hidden gas tax or make it easier for small business to succeed we need more people for our collation.
As a working class Republican I am told that Democrats are supposed to represent people like me. However it seems they are making it harder for people like me to live our day to day lives. For many of us to survive we have to drive to work where employers ask their workers to use their car to do job obligations. If you use 20 gallons of gasoline a week that is 125 dollars a year redirected from life’s necessities such as buying groceries or paying utilities.
I know we want better roads, but when our state has one of the highest gasoline taxes we should ask ourselves how we are spending the money before consider raising gas taxes or vehicle registration fees which also will rise. Are revenues being consumed by top heavy administration which prevents us from repairing our bridges and roads? Questions need to be investigated and answered before taxes rise.
The History of the California Republican Party Platform
I was curious what was in the recent California Republican Party platforms from 1995, 2000 and 2004. I know the 2011 platform was based on the 2008 platform, but oddly enough our platform is based on a 16 year old document. I think its better to know what is in our past platforms to make a better informed vote at the convention in Anaheim as a delegate.
1995 Platform
This was a straightforward platform that was very lengthy with over thirty pages. It has some stuff that Republicans would squirm today such as advocacy for high speed rail. It regurgitated stuff that should of stayed in the federal platform which led to the increased length.
On LGBT issues, they express the position that non-straight people do not belong in the military and the preference for heterosexual relationships as the ideal for society.
There is some interesting language in the 1995 platform that could be helpful in a 2015 platform that could help us express our disapproval for SB 277.
Recognizing the family is the foundation of our society; that parents, as the leaders of the family, should be free from excessive and undue interference and intrusion from the state into matters relating to the family; and that parents are the people most capable of making decisions for and about their children; the Republican Party of California opposes:
any effort that would weaken parents freedom of decision and freedom of choice and
any abridgment of parental rights by the state.
I tried to write an amendment to the platform during the drafting committee on this subject recently, and they thought it was a pro-abortion amendment even though Planned Parenthood did spend big money against me last year.
2000 Platform
After realizing the 1995 platform was very long, the platform is much shorter and is reflective of documents of today.
The family plank adds statements exclaiming that LGBT people should not get any extra benefit under the law.
2004 Platform
The platform is basically the same as the 2000 platform however the Equal Opportunity plank adds the new language
We oppose any special privileges, rights, or accommodations based on sexual or behavioral preferences.
**2008 and onward. **
The platform of today is based on the 2008 platform. It is basically has the same format as the 2000 and 2004 platforms. The moderates wanted a new platform instead of the same engine for three platforms in a row, but the conservatives fought back and we had the same platform as 2008 again. I think there is an opportunity for us to have a visionary document while making sure we make all sides of our team content in some aspect. We are a symphony and we need the assets of all our members. We may not agree entirely with each other, but we have skills and abilities to make California better.
The show must go on. I decided to migrate to tumblr for my blog. I will be posting the majority of the posts from my previous blog to this site. I hope you enjoy the content on this blog.
