Dan Walters: Parcel tax changes could be big battle in California Legislature

◼ It could become, in brief, the high-octane supermajority dust-up that legislative leaders want to avoid. - Dan Walters/Sacramento Bee

...Some (school) districts have successfully asked their voters to approve differing levels of tax on different kinds of property – lower ones for homes and higher ones for commercial properties and/or taxes based on square footage of properties.

Those variations have made some parcel taxes more closely resemble value-based levies of traditional property taxes. In a case involving the Alameda Unified School District, the 1st District Court of Appeal said those taxes violate a law requiring "uniform" rates of parcel taxes.

If the ruling prevails in the state Supreme Court, Alameda Unified and other districts that adopted parcel tax variations may have to refund many millions of dollars in revenues to commercial landowners.

They want the Legislature, therefore, to not only lower the threshold for approving parcel taxes, but validate the more creative, albeit illegal, ways in which such taxes have been levied and, perhaps, protect them from having to make the refunds.

Responding to those demands would make writing a parcel tax amendment much more complicated because it would bring business interests, seeing it as an assault on Proposition 13, into the political equation.

It could become, in brief, the high-octane supermajority dust-up that legislative leaders want to avoid....

The bill had tax breaks for “everyone but the American people.”

◼ From Terri Hall, Examiner: "[Last night] Pat Caddell, committed Democrat and political film consultant, received a standing ovation from a room full of Texas conservatives. - Breitbart

Women on the Wall hosted an awards banquet honoring Texas women activists on the eve of the Texas legislature convening in Austin, and Caddell headlined the event. He perfectly articulated what’s broken in politics today: government no longer operates by the consent of the governed, it’s rigged against the ordinary citizen by lobbyists, special interests, and corruption, and as a Gallup poll announced today, two-thirds of Americans believe Congress cares more about retaining their power, even to the detriment of the country, than they do about serving and preserving the country.

Caddell called such sentiment a “pre-revolutionary condition” and said, “this country is on the verge of an explosion.”

Estelle Fennell, Mark Lovelace and Rex Bohn were sworn in as Humboldt County Supervisors

There is an article in The Times-Standard, but it is not linked online. (Pic via Estelle 2012 Facebook Page) The swearing in does not appear to have been covered in any of the local papers otherwise.

MULTIPLE ROUNDS HELP WITH SELF-DEFENSE

◼ GOP strategist Kate Obenshain recently sat down with Scott Rasmussen and explained why she and other women prefer semi-automatic weapons. - Mary Chastain/Breitbart

“Semi-automatic weapons are the most popular gun purchased for self-defense right now,” said Ms. Obenshain. “They’re the Glocks or the guns that women buy that have the detachable magazine that holds 10 rounds.”
“I’m a woman, a single mom, I have a weak arm and I shake when I’m scared. I want multiple rounds in my guns if I want one for self defense,” she said.

◼ The Interview

Sipsey Street Exclusive: Thomas Nee, key member of Joe Biden's "gun violence commission," has a son who was convicted of plotting a Columbine-style mass murder at a school -- possibly with a service weapon obtained from his father.

◼ (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) "Vice President Joe Biden, right, with President of the National Association of Police Organizations and Boston police officer, Thomas Nee, center and Attorney General Eric Holder, far left, speaks to media during a meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, in Washington. Biden is leading a task force that will look at ways of reducing gun violence." - Sipsey Street Irregulars

Sipsey Street has learned that a key member of the President's committee to find "the solution" to school shootings, has a son who was convicted of plotting a Columbine-style school massacre -- possibly with a service pistol obtained from his father. Nee is the former head of the Boston Police Patrolman's Association and is currently the head of the National Association of Police Organizations. In short, says one source familiar with the notoriously anti-firearm Nee, "he is a political hack/thug/activist who happens to carry a badge."

Sources point out that not mentioned in state-run media accounts of the Biden comission is that Thomas Nee's son was arrested and convicted for plotting a Columbine-style attack on Marshfield High School in Massachusetts. Additionally, says one source, "Joseph Nee might have armed himself at one point with his father's service pistol though that story went off the radar."

This source continued, "As usual, the 'solution' will be the attempted theft of freedoms from the innocent while the root causes of these evil shootings, especially dysfunctional parents will be ignored."

There are a ton of links out there re this story... learn more at the link.

◼ Member of Biden's Gun Control Task Force Has a Son Convicted of Planning School Mass Murder - Katie Pavlich /Townhall

President of the National Assocation of Police Officers and Boston Police Officer Thomas Nee is a member of Vice President Joe Biden's gun control task force, which was created by President Obama in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Nee's son, Joseph Nee, was convicted in 2008 for planning to commit mass murder of students and teachers at Marshfield High School in Massachusetts, similar to that of Columbine in 1999. After spending nine months in prison, Nee's conviction was upheld by the Supreme Judicial Court.

Nee told police the plan involved taking ammunition and explosive devices into the school, securing the school's exit doors with bicycle locks, and shooting students and staff.

As the blog SipseyStreetIrregulars first pointed out, Nee may have planned to carry out murders of his classmates with his father's service gun....

Thomas Nee is serving as an expert on gun violence for Biden. Attorney General Eric Holder, Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department Charles Ramsey and others have also been tapped to provide their expertise to the task force.

Obama Increased Foreign Aid Spending 80%

◼ That big tax hike last week? A third of it just went to foreign aid. Luckily it’s patriotic to pay taxes to Pakistan. - Daniel Greenfield/Front Page

In fiscal 2008, the government spent a total of $11.427 billion in international assistance programs, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement. In fiscal 2011, according to the statement, it spent $20.599 billion—an increase of $9.172 billion, or 80 percent, from 2008.

Since 2008, international assistance spending has increased each year. In fiscal 2009, it climbed to $14.827 billion. In fiscal 2010, it jumped to $20.038 billion. And, in fiscal 2011, it climbed again to $20.599 billion.