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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...  (More)

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Toting up the damage the Legislature wrought

Uploaded: Sep 1, 2022
As we start our day this fine Thursday morning, check out your favorite website and/or publication to see what damage the Legislature has wrought on its final day the current session that was scheduled to end at midnight.
The Democrats dominate both houses with super-majorities so if the leadership can “herd the cats” they can pass almost any legislation they desire.
Among the absurd bills this year is one passed Monday to establish a commission to oversee and set wages paid by fast-food franchises. Like most legislation, it’s rippled with favoritism for those with juice—restaurants are exempted if they bake bread and they must be national franchises. A successful entrepreneur who builds an independent chain of 20 restaurants with the same brand is not effected.
Smells, doesn’t it.
Underlying it is the effort to make it easier to organize workers in that industry sector—underlying that is more dues and more political clout for the unions backing it. You could ask just what’s the state’s business in regulating wages of a specific sector of one industry and that would be an apt question. The state already has a minimum wage law so why this one?
Should it become law, there will be at least two predictable outcomes:
1. Costs of your favorite burger from a franchise will go up immediately once it takes effect.
2. Jobs will be harder to come by for entry level, low-skilled workers who often are the majority of the employees—check out the faces of the teams at In-and-Out or Chick fil A. And automating the restaurants will accelerate—think how much fast-food restaurants are incentivizing using their app to order in advance or to order from a kiosk. Pilot projects already are in place testing robots that can cook and prepare sandwiches.
These facts don’t matter to the proponents who only see more members at younger ages and more dues.
At this writing, what Gov. Newsom will do, given his unstated but obvious national ambitions, remains to be seen.
Another bill dealing with the housing crisis also is headed for Newsom’s desk. It will make it easier to redevelopment under-utilized retail space into housing. You’re already seen this happening in San Ramon where an old shopping center is targeted for development into apartments. As the retail market continues to change and shrink, many centers are no longer economically viable and owners will be looking for alternatives.
This bill has a common sense approach that make it unlikely to spark much opposition, unlike the zoning bills that pitted state lawmakers against local elected officials who have responded to their constituents by limiting housing growth.
Democracy.
What is it worth to you?

Comments

Posted by Dena, a resident of Walnut Hills,
on Sep 2, 2022 at 2:22 pm

Dena is a registered user.

The Democrats dominate both houses with super-majorities so if the leadership can “herd the cats" they can pass almost any legislation they desire.

Yes, they can because of a little word called "Elections" - we the voters have spoken and yes we are in the majority. I do realize that is tough for you to hear, but ask yourself if it was the other way around wouldn't you be doing the very same thing??


Posted by Jake Waters, a resident of Birdland,
on Sep 2, 2022 at 2:59 pm

Jake Waters is a registered user.

Oh, elections are what did it? Or perhaps the rules of elections did it: ballot harvesting; mail-in ballots; giving illegals driver's licenses so they end up voting, failure to purge voting roles built on illegals, dead citizens, and those that left the state; and the voting machines. Keep those rules and you keep your power.

Oh, by the way, did you Democrats watch Brandon's speech last night with a backdrop behind him that resembled speeches in Nazi Germany of the 1930's? You all ok with his words? Not the unifier he claimed to be perhaps? Of course, it's Trump's fault you'll all say.

Don't forget the bill Gavin is going to sign that threatens our doctors [portion removed because the meaning was unclear].


Posted by SHale99, a resident of Village High School,
on Sep 3, 2022 at 4:20 pm

SHale99 is a registered user.

what should a deep red person do in a deep blue state? hum. decisions, decisions.


Posted by Michael Austin , a resident of Pleasanton Meadows,
on Sep 3, 2022 at 6:33 pm

Michael Austin is a registered user.

Democratic Party Progressive Liberals - Mob Mentality

Mob mentality, herd mentality or crowd psychology - These all boil down to the same idea: Individuals are influenced by a large group, regardless of whether that group includes people in your class, your neighborhood, or an entire nation, you may experience mob mentality.

In the 1950's, researchers conducted a famous conformity experiment that showed how readily people conform or change their behavior to match social norms. It involved:

- A single participant was put in a room with seven undercover accomplices.
- Asch presented the group with four lines, and the goal was to determine which two
lines were the same length.
- Even though the answer was obvious, the undercover accomplices purposefully gave
an incorrect answer.
- The real participant answered last.
- The intent of the experiment was to see if the real participant would give false
answer - conforming with the accomplices - even if the correct answer was clear.

The results:
About one third of the real participants answered incorrectly. They conformed to the wrong answer given by the rest of the group. When the participants heard the incorrect answer, some started to believe the incorrect answer was actually correct. The participants conformed mainly because they wanted to fit in with the rest of the group and thought the rest of the group was more informed than they were.

Clearly, progressive democrats are a crowd mentality party, a herd mentality party. A gathering of failures, misfits, and most generally, was-a-bees.


Posted by Jake Waters, a resident of Birdland,
on Sep 4, 2022 at 8:44 am

Jake Waters is a registered user.

And deep blue people looked the other way as the destruction went on around them. Hmmm, and they claim to be the educated ones.


Posted by Ray Kendall, a resident of another community,
on Sep 4, 2022 at 10:06 am

Ray Kendall is a registered user.

• Costs of your favorite burger from a franchise will go up immediately...

^ Since most fast food is unhealthy, perhaps this will serve as an impetus to consume less of it.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to make one's own lunch at home...they used to call it 'brown bagging' and there are countless ways to go about it.


Posted by Malcolm Hex, a resident of San Ramon,
on Sep 4, 2022 at 1:42 pm

Malcolm Hex is a registered user.

@ Dena,

Issue #1: Southern Boarder. Say, how's are southern border looking these days, Dena? Your guy has yet to visit that part of the country. Instead, he sent down an incompetent vice president, who has done nothing to increase border security. Human trafficking, drugs, and criminals, poor across our borders every day. Proud of that?

Issue #2: Afghanistan. Your president did one hell of a job getting our fellow American's out of that country, didn't he? He botched that up pretty good; including leaving a mass arsenal of weapons behind for the Taliban. Contrast that against the fact that on April 30, 1975, the last few Americans still in South Vietnam were airlifted out of the country as Saigon fell to communist forces. BTW, the last POW was taken out in 1973,before the war ended.

Issue #3: Crime. In 1994, when your president was a senator, he signed off on the Get Tough on Crime Bill. However, in 2020, he said he made a mistake by signing that bill. Gee, I wonder why? Could it be that he did that for political reasons, like maybe to satisfy the BLM and the woke folk crowd? But now, your president is backing the police. What a piece of work.

Issue #4: Politics / Optics. Jake Waters pointed out in his post about the way in which the president attempted to unify Americans in his speech. The so-called unifier in chief didn't do so well, did he, Dena? He went right after Republicans, but then attempted to change his tune later on. What a joke. Your president reminds me of clowns on Twitter, who delete their posts when they get called out. And your president is no different.

Jake was also spot-on about the backdrop during Biden's speech �" all red and black, which slowly lightened, showing Marines in full military dress. I couldn't believe it. I love world war two history, and contrasted color photos of Hitler's September 1, 1939, speech in the Reichstag. The theme was black and red, and Hitler was surrounded by his military.





Posted by Ron Hanson, a resident of Walnut Creek,
on Sep 4, 2022 at 2:19 pm

Ron Hanson is a registered user.

The Biden experiment has failed miserably as our nation is now even more divisive and fragmented than it was during POTUS45's reign.

But we must endure the storm because Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom are not presidential material either.


Posted by Marlon Jeffries, a resident of another community,
on Sep 5, 2022 at 8:41 am

Marlon Jeffries is a registered user.

@Malcom Hex:

President Biden was simply expounding on some basic accusations that both parties have hurled at one another to enhance their prospects for the upcoming midterm and 2024 elections.

POTUS45 also made some preposterous remarks of his own in Pennsylvania the following day.


Posted by Marty Brill, a resident of Walnut Creek,
on Sep 5, 2022 at 9:42 am

Marty Brill is a registered user.

In 2016 Donald Trump stressed the concerns of many disinfranchised white conservative voters and surprisingly won the election over Hillary Clinton.

Like the now-departed Boris Johnson of the UK, Trump is more along the lines of a rabble-rousing entertainer than a true statesman or diplomat.

Perhaps this explains his admiration for the leaders of Russia and North Korea who rule their countries with an iron fist and under a cloak of deception.

The Trump administration with all of its firings was more like an episode of The Apprentice and it appealed to many undereducated supporters.


Posted by MichaelB, a resident of Pleasanton Meadows,
on Sep 5, 2022 at 10:08 am

MichaelB is a registered user.

"You could ask just what's the state's business in regulating wages of a specific sector of one industry and that would be an apt question. The state already has a minimum wage law so why this one?"



Why? So-called progressives are once again trying to legislate prosperity (equality of outcomes) vs. creating opportunities. Income/wealth are "rights". It's not "fair" that some jobs pay less than others - regardless of the position requirements. Employees are "not responsible" for improving their experience/skills to command higher wages.


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