Why It Makes No Sense To Debate With Emotional Liberals

There was a whole book written on this. Generally, it is pointless to argue with liberals on any issue because liberalism, in most cases, tends to be emotional. As Larry Elder says "A fact to an emotional liberal is like kryptonite to Superman."

There are a few notable exceptions - some of our old blogging friends like Jack Hoff, Suzanne Lauer and Joseph Mailander, while tending be on the left side of the spectrum, make reasoned analyses, even if one as a conservative might disagree with some of their conclusions. Rachel Maddow and Juan Williams are somewhat civil in their tone at times.  But liberalism has decayed in recent decades and the Bob Beckel-Ed Schultz approach has run rampant.

Here is a visual example of how quickly a local liberal went south on our MayorSam Facebook page:

Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Friday

I'm not sure if Ron Kaye and the folks at the LA Weekly are surprised by this, but apparently Mayor Villaraigosa knew about plans by AEG to propose that the city-owned West Hall of the Convention Center be torn down for an NFL football stadium, months or perhaps years before it went public.  This, of course, was unknown to everyone else while other plans were being made for Convention Center business and an NFL stadium elsewhere.

Despite the fact that he wrote letters on his behalf, Antonio Villaraigosa won't say whether or not he agrees with Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to reduce the murder sentence of Esteban Nunez, son of former State Assembly Speaker and Schwarzenegger/Villaraigosa BFF, Fabian Nunez.  We do remember that the Mayor did speak of the young convict as "...a good boy.

The first candidate's forum for CD12 took place Wednesday night at the Chatsworth Neighborhood Council.  All six candidates on the ballot were in attendance where the topics covered equestrianism and developers. Oh and apparently current CD12 flack Mitchell Englander not mentioning his day job.

Read more »

Jack Hoff's Talk O' The Town

Photoshop Express REALLY WORKS!

Featured above is Mayor Sam Contributor Valley Doll with just a little airbrushing.

I'm sure we can all agree the effect is fantastic!

And, yeah, I know I'm in major trouble now....

Jack Hoff's Give 'n Take: Deadbeat Dads & Steve Cooley

(source: Daily News Op-Ed 3/26/08)

DN Headline: Hounding low-income dads won't pay
JH Headline: Hound The Bastards, It'll Pay Dividends For Everyone!

By Jeffery M. Leving and Glenn Sacks Jeffery M. Leving is a family-law attorney and the author of "Divorce Wars." Contact him through his Web site, www.dadsrights.com. Glenn Sacks writes on men's and fathers' issues.

Jack Hoff grew up with(out) his deadbeat dad. Now he writes for no money on a crappy political blog.

LOS Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley and Child Support Services Department Director Steven Golightly have announced a sweeping new campaign against "deadbeat dads." They say their new Most Wanted Delinquent Parent list is modeled on the FBI's fabled 10 Most Wanted list. On paper the 10 offenders owe over $2 million, but it's very questionable that Cooley and Golightly will be collecting much.

Do you think that's the entire point? It's a campaign. Campaigns are about communicating a message or position. Think hard, what could that message possibly be?
(More after the jump...)

Golightly's action is particularly remarkable considering that the California Department of Child Support Services, which supervises the CSSD, issued a report in January that contradicts any possible rationale for this campaign.

I see you've already missed my point.

According to the CDCSS, there are four primary factors creating child-support arrearages in California: "high child-support orders established for low-income obligors"; "a limited number of child-support orders adjusted downward"; "establishment of retroactive child-support orders"; and "accrual of 10 percent interest on child-support debt." Over a quarter of these arrears is interest.

Is this the "apples" part of your argument, or the oranges?

Unlike the Most Wanted Deadbeat Parent lists put out by most states and counties, the CSSD's list does not contain the occupations of the "deadbeats." One can understand why.

Lemme guess...it gets boring putting "unemployed" under each name?

Nationwide these lists are never comprised of well-heeled businessmen, lawyers and accountants, but instead of fathers who do low-wage and often seasonal work, and owe large sums of money, which they could never hope to pay off. It is rare to find a person with even a college degree on these lists.

Let's all take a moment to pity the uneducated deadbeat dad who travels the country earning his low wage, yet liberally "spreading his seed" throughout the land...

In recent years there have been several highly publicized actions similar to CSSD's, generally coupled with arrests.

Praise the Lord, somebody's gotta do something!

For example, Virginia's Most Wanted list was topped by a laborer, a carnival hired hand and a construction worker, who collectively somehow owed over a quarter-million dollars in child support.

Fifty states in the union, and you choose Virginia to establish your fundamental argument?

Similarly, Kentucky's list during its campaign sported only one obligor with an education, and the most common designation for occupation was "laborer."

See above, add "deadbeat dwarf shot out of cannon." And btw, sure glad this is about L.A. County, Cooley & Golightly...

How do men of such modest means end up with such fantastic arrearages?

How do turkeys drown when they look up in the sky during a cloudburst?

The child-support system is largely impervious to the economic realities working people face, such as layoffs, wage cuts, unemployment and work-related injuries. According to the Urban Institute, less than one in 20 noncustodial parents who suffers a substantial drop in income is able to get courts to reduce the support obligation.

Because, jackass, nobody lowers the cost of food and clothes for children who need something to eat and wear just because daddy lost his job again or the price of a six pack just went up...

To Cooley's and Golightly's credit, they did explain that some of the "deadbeats" they're pursuing may be able to use California's Compromise of Arrears Program. COAP allows some obligors to settle their artificially inflated paper debts to the state for realistic amounts.

Ah, there is a rainbow after the storm. Now low-wage deadbeat dads can hire a lawyer like you...for $350/hr.

The problem is there has been little outreach done on COAP, so few obligors are aware of it.

See, that's the problem, you can't do "outreach" to deadbeat dads who refuse to leave a forwarding address...

Fewer than 5,000 have used it since its inception in 2003.

Not surprising. How'd you find them, at another one of their weddings or baptisms?

Moreover, it's unlikely that those on the list will view the Most Wanted approach as much of an invitation to turn themselves in.

Ahahaha....So smug. Where is my vomit bag?

Golightly says he's doing this so the "deadbeats" will "take care of their children." This is misleading, because 70 percent of California's child-support debt is owed to the state, not to custodial mothers and fathers.

Okay, you're not gonna win any friends on this blog by trying to make that point....

It is understandable that taxpayers want money spent on welfare benefits to be repaid.

DOH!

Yet it makes little sense to hound low-income fathers, particularly since research shows that in some cases, were it not for child support, the men would still be playing a role in their children's lives.

Oddest point of all...conclusion being that "if these men didn't have to support their children, they would still be in their lives, uhm, supporting their children, yeah, that's it!"

The Cooley/Golightly approach may be good politics, but it's counterproductive policy.

What's counterproductive, sir, is that your potential client base (absentee fathers, deadbeat dads) is largely responsible for the gang problem in our city, the high dropout rate in our schools, drug and alcohol abuse amongst teens, and myriad other ailments in our society. Try taking a look at that research some day....

And get back to us!!

Jack Hoff's "This Just In!": Easter Bunny Endorses Waldman For AD40

Breaking News: In a late-Sunday night speech to The San Fernando Valley Progressive Christian Democrats Between The Ages Of Five And Six, a tired Easter Bunny endorsed Stuart Waldman for Assembly District 40...

...at least, that's what the Waldman camp claimed after reviewing the enclosed videotape.

Jack Hoff (Almost) Meets Billy Blanks

This was in my favorite section of the Daily News yesterday. It's that "Around the Valley" column. For me, any reading material labeled "Around the..." is almost sure to have something JackHoffian within.

This is the item verbatim:

(source: Daily News 3/22/08)

AROUND THE VALLEY - Van Nuys

Blanks, Cardenas to teach self-defense

Celebrity trainer Billy Blanks, creator of the Tae Bo workout, will join City Councilman Tony Cardenas, who became interested in self-defense after a female staff member was kidnapped and freed herself, today in teaching a self-defense workshop for both men and women. The free session runs from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Delano Park, 15100 Erwin St., Van Nuys.

The item ran Saturday morning for an event that was scheduled for, uhm, Saturday morning and I missed it.

But, I still find this "Self-Defense with Blanks & Cardenas" concept interesting -- and I do have just a couple of questions:

So, if I'm abducted, is the idea here to get my captors to start doing Tae Bo?

Or if I do Tae Bo in front of my captors, are you saying they will free me?

What if my captors don't have the Tae Bo DVD's...what should I do then?

Hey, if I'm abducted, how long do I have to warm up before I can free myself?

Should I invite my captors to do Tae Bo with me in the hope that they will suffer cardiac arrest and die within the first 20 minutes?

From the writing, I'm still unclear as to who kidnapped whom -- did Cardenas' staffer free herself from...Cardenas (??) and that's why he's interested in self-defense?

Did the staffer know Tae Bo?

HellifIknow...it sounds like an interesting story -- and, frankly, a rather "big" story, but I couldn't find anything about it through Google....maybe it happened pre-internet...

As to the headline, since when did Cardenas "teach" self-defense anyway?

Last I heard, he had "Get out of my face!" down pretty well, but that was when confronted by a miniature City Controller weighing in at about 67 lbs.

JH Addendum:

Tony, I'm just having fun at your expense, but in all seriousness, this city needs "group" defense, not self-defense.

And you know which "group" I'm talking about.

Onward, brother, come on, let's get this done!

Jack Hoff's Talk O' The Galaxy

Jack Hoff's Talk O' The Town

Jack Hoff's "What Were They Thinking?"

When Shawnie Comes Marching Home...

Read this.

03/18/08 Daily News Editorial

Shawn Sage has a Marine's determination.

Although the Simi Valley foster teen's dreams of entering the Corps early were dashed when an anti-war judge blocked him from early enlistment, Sage hasn't given up on his plans to serve his country.

He's counting the days until his eighteenth birthday - June 7. "The very next day," he says, "I'm going to the recruiting office and sign."

That Commissioner Marilyn Mackel's decision deprived him of a possible $10,000 bonus doesn't concern Sage. He's as eager as ever. "I can't wait," he says.

And if his commitment to the Corps weren't testament enough to his willingness to serve, Sage's past few weeks in the limelight have made him all the readier. He's already done battle against both political correctness and the media.

"I feel just a little bit overwhelmed," Sage confesses. "Now I know why Britney Spears is crazy. I never thought (my story) would get this big." He's sure shown he's got the heart. And if he can handle the paparazzi, he can handle anything.

Wha?

Who wrote this?

Did they really just say, "if he can handle the paparazzi, he can handle anything."?

Have the paparazzi been shooting BULLETS at Britney Spears?

I mean, we all knew Paris Hilton had a hole in her head, but it wasn't the result of photog armed with a Nikon and a Glock.

Perhaps we should consider sending the paparazzi over to Falluja, instead of this kid who probably just got his driver's license last year.

(More after the jump....)

We're talking about a young man who, at the age of 17, wants to be a sniper for the Marines TODAY and, apparently, the DN thinks he'll do "just fine" because he can handle photographers and reporters.

Remember that....

Photographers and reporters = IED and bullets whizzing past your skull in a 130 degree war zone...

Of course, it makes all the sense in the world to me that a kid who has been in the L.A. County foster care system for the last 15 years would choose upon his 18th birthday to immediately become a ward of the federal government as a Marine.

It's a simple and quite natural leap from one f'd up government program to another.

And it's interesting that he's willing to fight for something he has never truly experienced; freedom.

Shawn, when you turn 18 buddy, go stand outside that court, raise your fists in the air and shout "I'm free, goddammit!" until you fall to your knees with the realization that indeed, sir, on that day you are free of the government making decisions for you and on that day indeed, sir, you are a man free to make your own choices.

Why that choice would include signing up for the Marines the next morning is beyond me.

Wouldn't a free man take at least 24 hours to seriously consider how much that freedom is worth before giving it away for a three year stint, a rifle and ten thousand bucks?

Hell, as it turns out, they're not even gonna give you the ten thousand bucks...

All I'm saying Shawn, is be free first.

Experience freedom first.

Later on, you'll have a much better idea of what you're really fighting for.

Jack Hoff's City Hall Mad Libs!

Since folks at City Hall seem to have plenty of time to play games and hurl insults over the so-called “gang crisis,” I thought that perhaps today all of us should take a moment to relax and join in on the fun!

So grab a pencil and paper and let's play:

City Hall Mad Libs!

First, number your paper from 1 to 13, then fill in the appropriate word – be creative!

After the jump, read your new creation out loud.

1. an adverb
2. a plural body part
3. an animal
4. a plural noun
5. another plural noun
6. your favorite cartoon character
7. your favorite Brady Bunch Family Member
8. plural unit of time
9. a body part or orifice
10. yet another plural noun
11. an adverb
12. another adverb
13. a bodily function

(With major apologies to our source: the Daily News and political scribe/hero/ombudsman Rick Orlov, who wrote an excellent article…after you play City Hall Mad Libs, please go out and buy a Daily News so we can keep Rick employed)

In a (adverb) awaited confrontation over the future of Los Angeles' anti-gang programs, City Controller Laura Chick and Councilman Tony Cardenas butted (plural body part) Friday over her proposals to revamp the city structure and move the programs under the authority of the Mayor's Office.

"The words `turf war' are gang terminology and have no place at City Hall," Chick said in opening remarks to the Ad Hoc Committee on Gang Violence and (animal) Development.

"I know there are many questions on what we are proposing," she told the panel, which is chaired by Cardenas. "But I hope we move (plural noun) to discuss what can be - and not what can't."

But after a three-hour hearing with impassioned testimony about the need for reforms of gang-intervention management, Cardenas said he still had too many (plural noun) to act.

Chick, joined by (favorite cartoon character) and (favorite Brady Bunch Family Member) swiftly countered that action is needed immediately.

The end of the hearing came (plural unit of time) after Chick and Cardenas began the day with a confrontation in which Cardenas retorted: "Get out of my (body part or orifice)."

Chick said she wanted to clear up some differences with Cardenas over whether her report on (plural noun) was delivered late.

Cardenas said later that the two were talking (adverb) and (adverb) when Chick made a (bodily function) - which he would not detail - that he considered an insult.

From Jack Hoff's "This Just In...!"

Jack Hoff to L.A. City Council: Stop Graffiti NOW!

Jack Hoff's "What Were They Thinking?"

Pavley Leads Levine In, uh, Pavley Poll

Here's a straight shot from a credible Jack Hoff source:

"The Fran Pavley for SD 23 campaign is circulating the results from a 400 sample survey conducted by Goodwin Simon Victoria Research between March 2-4. It finds that Pavley leads 36% to 18% over primary election opponent Asm. Lloyd Levine in the initial ask, and 'after balanced positive paragraphs about both,' Pavley's lead increases to 56% to 29%. The poll also finds 'Pavley crushes Levine' in the half of the Senate District that overlaps AD 41, which Pavley represented for six years, and that she leads 'among men and women; liberals, moderates and conservatives; Catholics, Protestants and Jews; Latinos and Anglos; and among all age groups.'"

JH: As a compromise, Levine has just offered Pavley the highly prized Chief of Staff position upon his election...

Is Cal Chamber Trying To Kill Us?

It's 2008, and after all this time, Los Angeles still has the dirtiest air in the U.S. Diesel particulate matter (called PM, it's basically soot that comes from diesel trucks and buses) kills about 1,415 of us in the South Coast air basin annually. Childhood asthma in Los Angeles is nearly TWICE that of the nation. Almost one out of every ten kids in LAUSD has asthma. What's 10% of 700,000? Whatever it is, it's a lot of inhalers in the nurse's office.

The Air Resources Board pegs the actual cost of California's air pollution at about $12B annually in lost productivity, hospitalization costs, absenteeism...ah, the list goes on.

Grandma and Grandpa don't have much of a shot around here because PM really gets to the elderly and the infirm -- it shortens their lives. And now we find that our mothers (and women in general) have an elevated risk of cardio-vascular disease due to PM.

Due to breathing their own pollution, diesel truckers themselves have a 50% higher chance of dying from a heart attack than the rest of the U.S. population. Harvard recently figured that one out (and no, it's not "just because" truckers sit on their butts and smoke cigarettes all day).

And now, California Air Resources Board (CARB) is considering a dirty diesel truck rule in October to clean up the dirty diesel with PM traps and engine retrofits by, uh, 2014. CARB's job is to save lives, save the state (and the state taxpayers) money, increase productivity and help a lot of us stay healthier a lot longer. This rule is important.

And what does our California Chamber of Commerce want to do?

Weaken the rule, of course!

Here's an email sent to me just moments ago. Remember, the money you give to these commerce members goes right back into spending it on programs to kill you. Like this... they call it (don't laugh) "Driving Toward A Cleaner California." If you're short on time, I highlighted the JackHoffian part for your convenience.

"Dear Coalition Members,

As you know an impending regulatory action by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) threatens to have a profound, negative impact on the business community. CARB is proposing to adopt stringent new emissions regulations that could be the most costly and far reaching rule that business has yet to face.

Under the new proposed rule, any heavy-duty vehicle with a pre-1998 engine will need to be replaced or retrofitted with yet-to-be developed technologies by December 31, 2010. Additionally:
All vehicles with engines manufactured between 1998 and 2002 must be retrofitted or replaced by December 31, 2011;
All vehicles with 2003/04 engines must be retrofitted or replaced by December 31, 2012;
All 2005 and newer engines must be retrofitted or replaced by 2013; and
All trucks must meet 2007 emissions standards by the year 2114 and 2010 emission standards by the year 2022.
This rule applies to diesel engines and means you will be required to replace the most critical asset in your business in a few short years. And, if the rule goes into effect, the market will be flooded with “outdated” trucks greatly diminishing your ability to sell used equipment or recoup any resale value.

The good news is that we have the opportunity to make sure the business community’s voice is heard in this process and impact the final adopted rule. Currently, the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Beer and Beverage Distributors, the California Cattlemen’s Association, the California Trucking Association, the American Trucking Association, the California Independent Marketers Association, the California Grocers Association, and the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition have financially invested into the effort and are leading a coalition effort called “Driving toward a Cleaner California.” In order for the coalition to be successful we need your voice and financial help. We have finalized the coalition’s budget and have begun developing the strategy to ensure that CARB’s rule is not adopted as proposed.

Time is short, so I will be direct: We need your participation and your financial commitment now. The outcome of this proposed regulation could be devastating to business and to the fragile economy of our state.

If you have any questions or need additional information please call me at (916) 930-1228 or email me at Jeanne.Cain@calchamber.com.

If you are able to financially contribute please make the check out to the California Chamber of Commerce, attention Jeanne Cain. Our federal tax identification number is 94-0361980. Please let me know if you require an invoice.

Thank you for your commitment to the large task before us.

Jeanne Cain
Executive Vice President
CalChamber
916-444-6670
916-325-1272 (fax)

JH: Thanks, Jeanne. You're killing us.

The Free Market Works

Some people think that chain outlets like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Starbucks, etc. kill competition and harm small business. However, no less a left leaning blog than CurbedLA has found that Starbucks actually brings more business to competing independent coffeehouses by expanding the category while the upstarts manage to offer alternatives to corporate coffee.

There was a very similar experience in Glendale where competition from an innovative local store was one of the factors that lead to closing down a Home Depot.

Just as they once uprooted veteran retailers like Sears, K-Mart, Builders Emporium, etc. corporate behemoths like those mentioned above are potentially the dinosaurs of the near future when someone else figures out how to do it better.

Ergot - no need for the government to protect us from the likes of them.

And that, Jack Hoff, is the free market perspective.