Arizona Decision: Yours Truly Told You So Two Years Ago

The U.S. Supreme Court told you today what I told you over two years ago in the Daily News: the police have had the power, since at least 1968, to stop and interrogate persons whom they reasonably suspect may be breaking our immigration laws.  It's called a "Terry Stop."

I also predicted, at my blog two years ago, that the Courts would uphold the part of the law that lets Arizona enforce federal law, and would strike down the parts where Arizona imposes penalties of its own.  Here's that link.  Plus, I even cited you to the cases showing states can enforce federal immigration laws in another essay.

The moral of the story? Keep reading my blog if you want to find out what's going to happen two years from now.

Game Theory When The Rules Change: Trutanich Failure Shows L.A.'s Unions Should Sit Out Mayoral Primary

Despite standing on a pile of union money and votes, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich failed even to make the run-off. That should be a huge lesson to unions thinking of putting their money and clout on the line in the Mayoral primary: save your cash and endorsements for the run-off.

Garcetti, Greuel and Perry are all essentially the same candidate. One of them will face Kevin James in the run-off, and it doesn't really matter which one because they're all exactly the same.

So if you're running a union, why bother spending your money on one of the three indistinguishable career politicians in the primary, when you've got only a one in three chance of guessing right? You thought Carmen Trutanich would be a shoe-in, remember? But the people of Los Angeles are actually paying attention now. The rules of the game have changed. Your old game theory doesn't work any more.  You union leaders hold therefore let Garcetti, Greuel and Perry duke it out on their own in the primary.

Or you can ignore my sage advice, and instead pick one of the Philosopher Kings to support, fund his or her attacks on the others, and then, when your chosen one loses -- just as Trutanich lost -- you will have helped given Kevin James plenty of ammunition to attack either of the other two who survives the primary.

Game theory's a bitch when the voters refuse to fall for your phony ads, isn't it?

While you're at it, you should also seriously consider the fact that Kevin James is the only candidate who can turn this City around and make it thrive again. Your puppet candidates, if elected, will have to declare bankruptcy, and you can kiss your pensions and you contracts good-bye at that point. You want a really smart move? Back Kevin James in the primary and the run-off. Bankruptcy is not your friend.

L.A.'s "Fiscal Emergency" Is Now Official -- And Wait Till You See How The Philosopher Kings Have Decided To "Cut Costs"

The Philosopher Kings of Spring Street have just officially confirmed their utter failure at managing the City's finances. And I mean "officially."

On June 11, 2012, Mayor Villaraigosa signed a resolution passed by the City Council -- including mayoral wannabes Eric Garcetti and Jan Perry, an wannabe City Controller Dennis Zine -- declaring a "fiscal emergency."  Click here to see it for yourself.

And what will they do to cope with this emergency? Well, naturally, per the resolution, they will refrain from contributing to the matching funds that political challengers need to mount a challenge to career politicians. You could not make this stuff up.  Here's that part of the resolution:

Thanks to Jack Humphreville for noticing this otherwise un-reported declaration of the fiscal emergency, which is an admission of failure. And thanks to me for recognizing the cynical ruse by the career politicians to cut the legs out from under their challengers.

If the voters of Los Angeles are stupid enough to promote or re-elect any of the Philosopher Kings -- including Wendy Greuel, who, having aided and abetted this madness for over a decade, is just as guilty -- then the city really is doomed.

But remember you have alternatives, including in particular Kevin James for Mayor.

Trutanich Trampling First Amendment

Want to read a really disturbing account of a public official abusing his office to squelch legitimate reporting?  Visit Michael Linder's blog, and read about how Carmen Trutanich reacted to less-than-fawning coverage from KABC.

Trutanich summoned management to the office of the City Attorney in City Hall to try to intimidate them.  It that's not an abuse of power, what is? We must not let Trutanich get re-elected.

How CSI Berlin Figured Out "Forest Boy" Was Dutch

Haircut analysis.

Philosopher Kings Of Spring Street Still Killing Your Property Value

Remember that article in the Los Angeles Times the other day entitled "Southland home sales and prices jump?" The sub-headline summarized the terrific news thus:

Sales increased 21% in May in Southern California, with prices up 5.4%. Factors behind the rebound include very low mortgage rates, an improving economy and a belief that home values are near bottom.

Here's what the cheerleaders who wrote the headlines didn't tell you: while prices are up in "Southern California," they continue to sink in the territory controlled by the Philosopher Kings of Spring Street, namely, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, his wanna-be replacements, Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greuel, and Jan Perry, and let's not forget Dennis Zine, who wants to be City Controller.

Thanks to the sage policies of these learned leaders, prices in Los Angeles County fell further, even as values shot up all around. Take a look at the actual numbers from Data Quick:

The value of the average home in Los Angeles dropped 1.6% at the same time that the value of the average home in Orange County rose 2.4%. Riverside was up 4.1%; San Diego, up 3.2%; and so on.  Ventura dipped .1%, but the average home there is worth $360,000, far north of the $315,000 average for L.A.

How much money are we talking about? Look at the first line of the chart.  You'll see that, on average, the Philosopher Kings' policies cost each of the 7,496 people who sold their homes at least $5,000, which translates into a group loss of $37,480,000, i.e., over $37 million.  And that's just the people who sold, as opposed to the hundreds of thousands of homeowners like you and me, who just saw our net worth sink.

Plus, if those homeowners' values had gone up, say 2.4% instead of down 1.6%, each would have netted an extra $7,680 (= $320,000 per home x .024), which would have been a group gain of $57,569,280  (= 7,496 houses x $7,680).  Thanks so much, City Hall.

Why are home values going down in L.A. while rising in surrounding counties? Hint: it's not something in the soil. Further hint: it's not something in the water, or the air. Rather, it's something in City Hall:  a collection of career politicians who routinely rob Peter (you) to pay Paul (their corporate and union patrons). Crony capitalism drives employers out of this City, and drives down the value of your real estate. That is part of the "tax" you pay for ignoring local politics.

Nor is this the only pain the Philosopher Kings inflict on our local economy. As you know from past posts (e.g., in April 2012), they have consistently "achieved" an unemployment rate far higher than surrounding cities and counties.  If they had done just an average job -- average, mind you, not above average -- then over 98,000 of the unemployed people in this City would have jobs.

If you want your property values to go up, like those of everyone else in Southern California, and you want the unemployment rate to go down, then you have to take action. You have to help replace the Philospher Kings with new people, people who live here in the real world. You can make a very nice start by contributing $25 to the campaign of Kevin James for Mayor.

The Man Who Defeated Carmen Trutanich

You already know that in yesterday's election, Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich lost his bid to become the Los Angeles County District Attorney. But do you know who defeated him?

It wasn't one of his fellow candidates. Rather, the defeat of Carmen Trutanich was the work of one man, a brilliant, articulate, diligent, relentless lawyer, who has a way with words and graphics. His name is David Berger, and he hammered away at the truth, month after month, so loudly and clearly that the local media finally caught on, and realized the truth about Trutanich.

The people of Los Angeles County owe David Berger a huge debt. He single-handedly spared them what would have been a catastrophe, namely, handing over the power of criminal prosecution to a man who has demonstrated, quite dramatically, that he cannot be trusted.

David Berger sounded the warning bell about Trutanich day after day, week after week, month after month at his excellent blog, Los Angeles Dragnet.  He stuck his neck out to save ours. He did it for one reason and only one reason: the public interest.

I have had the privilege and honor of knowing David Berger since 2008, when he asked me what he could do to help me with my mayoral campaign. I told him he could really help me by running for City Attorney, because as Mayor I would need someone honest and competent in that position.  After getting a permission slip from SWMBO -- Google "Rumpole of the Bailey" -- he obliged. Our city would be in so much better shape had he won.

Anyhow, I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  THANK YOU DAVID BERGER!  You made a difference, a huge difference, by throwing a wrench in the machine politics that is ruining Southern California. Trutanich's money could not overcome the truth that you, and you alone, made sure voters learned about.  I owe you a really good cigar, and so does everyone else in this county. I am so proud to be your friend.