After 40 years, Proposition 13 still protects California taxpayers

In a Public Policy Institute of California poll released in March, 65 percent of likely voters said Proposition 13 turned out to be a good thing, while only 23 percent said it was a bad thing. https://t.co/iW5Un5Is7Y

— Assemblyman Acosta (@AsmDanteAcosta) June 5, 2018

The Proposition 13 tax revolt was more than an uprising against out-of-control property taxes. Passed by voters 40 years ago Wednesday, Proposition 13 survives in deep-blue California because it stands as a strong symbol not only about controlling taxation but also about voters’ power to command the government.

After 40 years, the measure still has overwhelming public support. In a Public Policy Institute of California poll released in March, 65 percent of likely voters said Proposition 13 turned out to be a good thing, while only 23 percent said it was a bad thing. Prop. 13 has majority support across party, gender, education levels and ethnic, age and economic groups.


But over the past 40 years, spending interests have tried to destabilize Proposition 13, and it remains a target for those who want to tax more. Ending it would send notice nationally that the tax cutting fire is out....

LGBT gun rights group sees membership skyrocket...

While House Dems bring pillows for gun control pajama party, gays hit the gun range for free classes https://t.co/wY0URHDRbH

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 23, 2016

LGBT gun rights group sees membership skyrocket... https://t.co/E97iQJGcGh

— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) June 21, 2016

Gun vote? Democrats REFUSE to protect Constitutional due-process rights. Just that simple.

— Neal Boortz (@Talkmaster) June 23, 2016

Germans Arming Themselves in Wake of Sex Attacks

Germans Arming Themselves in Wake of Sex Attacks https://t.co/Uvh1Vhnrnt #pjnet pic.twitter.com/QllWHrBZh3

— 2ANow (@2ANow) January 28, 2016

Weapons sales triple overnight

Police In German Town Told Not To Prosecute Migrants For Certain Crimes - https://t.co/WDNSPSSfQ6 pic.twitter.com/M2fHxkukId

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 28, 2016

Cologne carnival organisers hand out leaflets telling refugees not to rape women https://t.co/TxjZX0sgmW pic.twitter.com/a7czM21LGW

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) January 27, 2016

Man arrested at Disneyland in Paris with two guns, box of ammo, copy of the Koran https://t.co/yOs3XWOfUO pic.twitter.com/8x0ERxinXs

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 28, 2016

Chicago homeowners are facing massive tax increases because their politicians can't control their spending. California has big spending politicians too, but taxpayers here are protected by Prop. 13.

Did you know a lot of people don't know that Prop. 13 is protecting them? That's why you should watch and share our informative new video to educate your family, friends and neighbors on why they too should support Prop. 13!

New video with @JonCoupal explains #Prop13 protects all Californians! https://t.co/jUSHxQCbyD #CAPolitics #JobsNotTaxes

— HJTA.org (@HJTA) October 6, 2015

Chicago politicians want big tax hike on homeowners to pay for overspending, but in CA we're protected by #Prop13 http://t.co/RsqTQmEq3i

— HJTA.org (@HJTA) October 5, 2015

Major shifts: Majority of Americans now favors gun rights over controls

◼ Major shifts are occurring in Americans' attitudes about firearms - Investors Business Daily

With the second anniversary of the Newtown school shootings this weekend, a new Pew Research Center Poll finds a majority of Americans now say it is more important to protect the right of citizens to own guns than it is to restrict gun ownership.

Additionally, a new and even larger majority of Americans believes gun ownership does more to protect personal safety than endanger it....

This month Pew found 52% said protecting gun ownership rights was more important than restricting ownership, which 46% said was more important.

That's a substantial swing in 23 months. In the immediate emotional aftermath of Newtown, President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden launched a major drive to push more gun ownership restrictions through Congress. Back then, gun control drew 51% support while gun rights drew only 45%. But the administration's plans still failed on Capitol Hill.

A New Ebola Vaccine? Thank Dick Cheney

Drugs being tested to treat Ebola grew from Dick Cheney's post-9/11 biodefense measures: http://t.co/ewDNyRKIht

— Bloomberg News (@BloombergNews) October 23, 2014

When George W. Bush signed the Project BioShield bill into law, he claimed Cheney "was the point man in the White House" on the legislation.

◼ How Dick Cheney Joined the Fight Against Ebola Without Even Trying - Bloomberg

Thomas Geisbert spent the ’90s scraping together funds to work on an Ebola cure. Occasionally, he’d get enough to test a potential vaccine in primates, but the monkeys always died. There was just never enough money.

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and Dick Cheney helped change that. Cheney, then the vice president, said he feared assaults by bioterrorists could be far more devastating than what happened that day, and became an advocate in the George W. Bush White House for the appropriation of billions of dollars to stop deadly pathogens. Congress agreed, funds began flowing to scientists like Geisbert and breakthroughs followed.

At least seven drugs now being tested -- including some used to treat Ebola victims in the U.S. -- grew from biodefense measures first approved after Sept. 11. The National Institutes of Health budget for studying potential bioterrorism agents has grown to $1.6 billion from $53 million in 2001, according to Crystal Boddie, an associate with the UPMC Center for Health Security in Baltimore, Maryland.

◼ The U.S. Is Working on an Ebola Vaccine — And You Have Dick Cheney to Thank - Policy Mic

If she wants to “stop this endless loss of life,” try removing a draconian restriction that leaves members of the military unable to defend themselves

◼ The gun control debate Sen. Feinstein does not want to have - Brenner Brief by Sara Marie Brenner/Washington Times

If politicians and policy-makers would simply study the data, it would be clear that gun ownership should be encouraged in order to reduce the number of murders. There most certainly should be a gun control debate, and about that Sen. Feinstein is correct, but not in the way that the anti-gun lobby would want.

We should be discussing how to encourage more gun ownership, and whether taxpayer dollars should be allocated to help citizens learn how to better control the firearms we own. This is the gun control debate we should be having. By expanding the option for citizens in the United States to own a firearm and carry it, whether concealed or openly and in any location they choose, there would not be “gun free zones” that cry out to become the targets of a gunman on a rampage.

Senator Feinstein and others who are anti-gun should set the politics aside, and examine the reality of the statistics if safety is truly their end goal. Should they disregard the facts, then their true intentions must be questioned and exposed.

◼ Washington Navy Yard Already Suffers the Restrictions That Gun Control Advocates Favor - J.D. Tuccille/Reason

Background checks are only as good as the information in the database and the people running them. Alexis passed his background checks, then was issued credentials that allowed him to enter the Navy Yard, bypassing such armed security personnel as guarded the perimeter.

After that, he faced unarmed victims, deprived of the means to defend themselves. At this point the choice of weapons, nevermind Sen. Feinstein's fixation on AR-15s, was moot*.

This is gun control.

*Update: The FBI now says the weapons used by Aaron Alexis in the Washington Navy Yard attack were one shotgun and two pistols.

MEANWHILE: ◼ Obama waives ban on giving guns to terrorists - Rick Moran/American Thinker