A Point About Funeral Protests

Funerals are times when family members and friends pay respect and mourn their loved ones in a private and peaceful manner. Unfortunately, there are despicable groups and individuals who attempt to disrupt these services for selfish political gain. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that funeral protesters have the right to express their opinions but also reaffirmed the government’s ability to restrict those protesters. SB 888 protects these sacred events by imposing time and place restriction for funeral protests. From Senator Lieu's Official Website

Senator Lieu has a seat on the Veterans Committee in Sacramento. If the state has any justified role in the well-being of our citizens, this focus is the most appropriate.

We should do everything in our power to make sure that our veterans are treated with the most care and respect.

When the Supreme Court ruled that hecklers and protesters have the right to disrupt funeral proceedings for military personnel, Senator Lieu and growing majority of Americans demanded that the state enact laws protecting the sanctity of the ceremony and the dignity of the soldiers and the families of the fallen.

I respect Senator Lieu's initiative to do something about the matter, but I understand fully why Governor Brown vetoed Lieu's legislation, which would protect military funerals from disruptive protesters.

SB 888– Funeral Protest Restrictions –  would have impeded on First Amendment rights to know end. I believe that the attendees at the funerals for our military can do a much better job of protection the memory and the celebration than the state and her regulations, which too much of the time delve into overreach and inaccuracy. The court system already faces immense backlogs, yet lawsuits from the ACLU over this contentious issue would draw attention away from the pomp and circumstance, which must be focused on commemorating those who fought and died for our country.

On Paying Rent On-Line

Senator Lieu has passed another piece of boutique legislation, one which would prevent landlords from forcing tenants to pay their rent online only. The South Bay legislator is responding to a number of complaints from citizens who did not have easy access to computers in order to pay their rent electronically.

The legislation is certainly a sop to the elderly, many of whom vote in greater number than other cohorts in his district. Once again, Senator Lieu is stepping into a business which he has no knowledge of.

Granted, I would find it both frustrating and difficult if I had to pay my rent every month on-line. I would find it very difficult, indeed. Still, the prerogative of landlords permits them to gather their rents as they see fit. Individuals who find the methods difficult of taxing should consider moving to another complex altogether.

However, the state legislature insists on stepping into a matter best resolved at the local level. The elder have plenty of advocates, if not family members, who can assist them in providing timely payments for their apartments.

Perhaps Senate Lieu would like to consider how to assist individuals who currently cannot pay their rent at all? It would be better if Lieu initiated much-needed deregulation of the housing markets and doing away with rent control in Santa Monica, which has led owners and developers to create housing that is overpriced and unavailable.

The housing crises which afflict every age group in the state of California cannot be solved by making it more difficult for landlords to collect the money that is owed to them. The zoning laws which stifle real estate investment and discourage construction do not assist in easing the burden of individuals looking for a permanent residence.

The state legislature could do so much more for the citizens in this state if they would insist on doing much less.

Why Strike if No Work?

A recent administrative decision undermined a worker’s fundamental rights to strike. This decision found that an employer could be entitled to damages even when no actual strike occurred. SB 857 restores this administrative over-reach and helps ensure that workers have the right to strike for better working conditions and fair pay. -- From Sen. Lieu's Website

Workers have a right to organize. The First Amendment protects the citizens' basic right to assemble peaceably.

However, public sector works are paid with taxpayer money, and they serve everyone. As  President Reagan commented when the federal air-traffic controllers reneged on their agreement and went on strike, government cannot stop the assembly line. Public sector unions must find another way to address serious grievances instead of staging a strike. Every public employee must be well-versed in his responsibility to the state and the citizen, regardless of the merits of his complaints.

Besides, strike protections actually discourage future employment and investment. Businesses want to protect their bottom line. The very notion of "fair pay" exposes the long-standing ignorance of the political class in Sacramento, which seeks a headline rather than a meaningful policies to stimulate economic growth.

Senator Lieu, when will you press for California to become a right-to-work state like Indiana? The Hoosier state is witnessing a significant increase in entrepreneurial investment and employment. Every employee should enjoy the freedom to join or decline membership in a union, and to do so without having a portion of their paycheck automatically deducted.

Bullied by Big Government

"After sad reports that a lost mountain lion was shot near the Santa Monica Promenade this morning to protect public safety, it was welcomed news that the California Senate passed an animal-protection bill that would ban bear and bobcat bullying." From LA List, May 22, 2012

As if bears and bobcats had to worry about being picked on!

So, who has been trying to take Winnie the Pooh's lunch money? Who has been taunting the local mountain lions with felonious -- or rather, felinious -- epithets like "Big Ears", or "Hill-Billy Kitty"?

If there is one bully that needs to be disciplined, it is Big Government, and overwhelming brute of a force which feels justified in telling people what to eat, where to work, and how much businesses must contribute in order to subsidize everyone else, including state employees.

Senator Lieu, when will you stand up to the bully of Big Government? The voters in your district and the state are tired of getting picked on. We are tired of our leaders looking the other  way while massive debt and annual budget deficits erode consumer confidence in the Golden state while downgrading our bond-rating to the point where no one will want to invest in this state.

Cats, dogs, and bears are naturally skilled to defend themselves. You are supposed to be helping us make the most of our freedom in this wonderful state. Stand up to Big Government, draw the line against the overbearing brute that takes, spends, then leaves us to fend for ourselves and deal with the consequences.

Lieu on the Select Committee on Restoring California's Middle Class

If the state senators in the Sacramento legislature want to restore the Golden State's middle class, they could start by eliminating this ridiculous, innocuous, and unfocused ad-hoc committees which furnish fancy titles for political resumes, but contribute absolutely nothing to the welfare or the well-being of the state of California.

The middle class is in danger to the extent that the government wants to "do something" in order to make it better. Because of the dysfunction and gridlock which is blocking meaningful legislation -- like tort reform, deregulation, lower taxes -- Sacramento politician still need to look busy, so they throw together these meaningless committees which have no other purpose than to give the impression that our politicians are "doing something".

I would like to see Senator Lieu spend more time earning his keep, promoting vouchers, welfare-to-work programs, entitlement reform. Governor Jerry Brown has proposed a number of meaningful initiatives, including his 12-point pension reform plan, which only the Republicans have endorsed, thus taking the high ground in a fractious political debate.

Senator Lieu, if you really want to help the middle class in this state, please get government out of the way. Direct funds to protecting our rights, securing our borders, and discharging the massive debt weighing on this state.

Ted Lieu Belongs in a Zoo

Our youth are suffering in substandard schools in crowded classrooms with overwhelmed or incompetent teachers.

Businesses are fleeing the state of California in growing numbers because of excessive regulation, taxation, and government infiltration.

California boasts one of the largest welfare system in the country, with few signs of significant reform to train recipients to get off the dole and find a role to fulfill in society.

Last but not least, the state legislature has not passed a balanced budget in years without resorting to rosy revenue projects, jumbled accounted, or projected tax increases which never materialize.

Sacramento faces a number of compelling problems which deserve immediate attention, yet State Senator Ted Lieu (D-Redondo Beach) is more worried about the plight of bears pursued by hunting dogs.

"It's been likened to shooting a bear at a zoo," Lieu said. "It's simply not fair."

In reality, what is not fair or responsible or even believable is that the South Bay's state Senator is pursuing the well-being of animals instead of the voters who brought him into office.

If he cared about animals so much, Lieu should have run for state dog-catcher, which would have allowed him to pursue the inane policies of microchipping animals and preventing the private sale of domestic animals.

If anyone belongs in a zoo, it's Senator Ted Lieu who, whether out of cruel indifference or crude self-aggrandizement, refuses to take legislative action to deal with the debt, dysfunction, and the doom-day scenario of state default.

Opposition to Gay Therapy Bill

"Senate Bill 1127, which was introduced by State Senator Ted Lieu in February, would ban conversion therapy for anyone under the age of 18 and require adults to sign an informed consent form before entering treatment." -- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2879007/posts

Ted Lieu knows no end to the micromanaging pursuit of the state into our private lives.

If it's not the meat we eat, it's the partners that consenting adults choose to meet.

Who will stop this insanity? I do not need legislators who push boutique bills to buff up their resumes. If there is any sanity left in our state government, why not at least frustrate the passage of these inane and unnecessary bills which are doing nothing but cluttering up our law books while strangling businesses and scaring away investment?

The state is rocked by multi-billion ("B") dollar deficits. We have schools that cannot employ enough teachers, which seem incapable of educating our kids or even keeping them safe. Police and fire are facing unprecedented cuts. The governor has offered a decent twelve-point plan to reform pensions in the state without alienating the current crop of public workers.

The questions that youth are facing right now are nothing compared the deeper problems which will be afflicting them in the near future if the state legislator does not get out of the business of regulating economies, higher education, and tax rates.

Will our youth have job opportunities available to them in the future, should they wish to get married and want to support a family?

There is no point to exchanging vows if the two partners are so poor, that the have nothing but their bated breath and thread-bare clothes to bring to the wedding.
Our youth are confused enough as it is when they read about how government is supposed to work in their civics textbooks, only to discover that the liberal hegemony that produces those textbooks is so far removed from reality.

Ted Lieu on Tanning Salons

Melanoma is a serious condition, a malignant yet subtle invasion of a person's integumentary system, which may then infiltrate the blood stream and spread cancer throughout a person's body. President Ronald Reagan succeeded his daughter Maureen in death because of her failure to detect a growth behind her leg.

Patricia Krenctil of Nutley has been burned across the front page of tabloids and major newspapers along the East Coast. Granted, the allegation that the browned-out mother had her daughter forced under tanning should concern us, the regulation of tanning salons should be the least of our concerns.

Yet the cancer today which Californians, including our legislators, must pay closer attention to is the malignant yet oppressive expansion of government and debt.

Senator Lieu, please shine some light, burn through the deficit spending which is wearing away the golden gleam of the Golden State. You owe it to the voters, to your constituents, to your children.

Students First Files Law Suit Against Tenure

Senator Lieu has been pursuing empty, feckless legislation for the greater part of his career in Sacramento.

While he poses for benign photos with his family and constituents, he is also passing bills which are hurting businesses, adding more unnecessary layers to the regulatory nanny state in California, and still ignore the controversial yet impending problems in our state.

We have a pension problem that is pressuring our financial future with greater probity. Governor Brown has gone out of his way, alienating his own party and constituents to deal with the looming budget issues that entitlements run amok have done to the Golden state.

We have unsecured borders which have not provided adequate protection for taxpayers and are slowly throttling the American Dream that immigrants are searching for when the come to the United States.

We have a school system which is falling in the ranks, not just for the spending which goes everywhere but toward the classroom, but also for the unworkable worker rules that protect bad teachers, punish good teachers, stall any meaningful reforms.

The public school system is in disarray because of too much government, too much oversight which refuses to see the blatant  failure, and too little freedom for districts, schools,  teachers, parents, and students to choose what they teach, learn, or where they go to school.

We must stop this insanity, Senator Lieu. There is simply no further excuse for paying through the nose for a portion of the public sector which is not longer serving the public.

It is a sad day when students have to mount their own lawsuits in court because their local leaders refuse to stand up to the teachers' unions or school boards. We need to see fewer handouts to the public sector, more power to parents and teachers to run schools in the best interests of the student, and an end to the crass cronyism that is holding the next generation in bondage to a bad education.

Letter to the Argonaut -- May 9, 2012

Senator Ted Lieu is not representing his constituents. His latest batch of boutique bills has buffed his legislative resume, yet has not buffered the voters or the state from the ongoing fiscal and cultural shocks still shaking us.

I do not care about the gender identity of youth. That is a matter for the youth and his parents to deal with.

I do not care what is in my fish or in my meat, as long as it is safe, tasty, and good for me to eat.

I want to be on record for this, too: I do not care about shark fins, private pet sales (or microchips under their fur), or tanning salons.

I do care about the failure of our leaders to protect our borders and properly naturalize our citizens .

I do care about the hostile business climate which is scaring away investment from our state

I do care about the failing public schools which are entrapping our students and harming our teachers. I do care about the unjust frustrations which protect bad charter schools while ignoring or shutting down good ones.

I am certain that the residents from the South Bay to Marina Del Rey care about the issues that I care about.

I wish that Senator Lieu cared, too. If he refuses to care, then perhaps we should show enough care for ourselves and carry Lieu out of office!

Lieu Must Oppose Kehoe's Abortive Abortion Bill

Senator Lieu has no right or reason to be pursuing or supporting legislation that would enable individuals to seek abortions or to receive acces too the procedure from non-physicians.

San Diego's state Senator Christine Kehoe has pulled her ill-advised and immorl abortion bill, which would endanger pregnant mothers for health reasons while pressing nurses and other orderlies into legally murky and perhaps criminally liable waters.

It's time that the state of California spent more time aborting bad legislation instead of dreaming up more inane, insane, and in vain laws which serve no one but a dedicated minority of lobbyists or media-hungry politicians seeking higher office.

The state delegation of San Diego could spend more time investigating more avenues for increasing cargo traffic through the Port of San Diego. Competition with road and rail through the San Diego roadways coudl expand much needed yet still lacking business opportunities.

Crafting legislation to slow the flow of illegal immigration, including legislation to beef up border security while eliminating easy access to state services, would do so much to end the waste and fraud and electioneering that unjustly alienates Hispanic voters.

Open Letter to Ted Lieu

For a growing number of our veterans returning home, they have sought broken and imperfect therapy in destructive behaviors to help cope with painful recollections from combat. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a real problem for our troops, one which I fear does not get adequate attention from our leaders in Washington and in the South Bay.

It is a raving shame that some many of our troops suffer as they do, returning from brutal scenes of guerrilla warfare in far-reaching, alien lands. The enemies which this country is striving against have a diminished respect for humanity, not stopping short of exploding young children or putting mothers and other women in harm's way. The toll of taking on so ruthless a threat as Islamo-fascism resists comprehension for anyone who has only heard, and that obliquely, about the trying geographical and cultural conditions which are troops face in Afghanistan, Iraqi, and in other war-torn areas of the world.

 It's time that the United States brought our troops home and provide them the best care we can afford. This country must stop stationing our veterans where victory is undefined and elusive, where the ideal goal of nation-building has been exploded as a vain hoax, and where this country is sinking precious blood and treasure with little return on this nation's safety and respect in the world.

 I implore assemblywoman Betsy Butler, state senator Ted Lieu, and Congresswoman Janice Hahn to appropriate funds away from warfare and towards long-term care for our veterans.

Letter to Senator Lieu

Senator Lieu:

I would like you to consider legislation which would undo the government monopoly of the public school systems in our state.

Indiana just crafted a voucher reform law, which passed with overwhelming support.
I believe that the education of our youth is of prime importance. It is time that we subjected our schools to the same competition as private businesses. Schools should compete for tax dollars by providing a worthwhile education to attract students.

Please also consider enlarging the number of charter schools and vouchers to private schools, as well.
Let us provide every family, every parent, every student with the opportunity to choose which school they enroll in.

Thank you.