Politics: January 2008 Archives

Just when you thought being a landlord couldn't possibly get any tougher:

Assembly Bill 976 (law effective January 1st 2008)

SECTION 1. Section 1940.3 is added to the Civil Code, to read: 1940.3. (a) No city, county, or city and county shall, by statute, ordinance, or regulation, or by administrative action implementing any statute, ordinance, or regulation, compel a landlord or any agent of the landlord to make any inquiry, compile, disclose, report, or provide any information, prohibit offering or continuing to offer, accommodations in the property for rent or lease, or otherwise take any action regarding or based on the immigration or citizenship status of a tenant, prospective tenant, occupant, or prospective occupant of residential rental property. (b) No landlord or any agent of the landlord shall do any of the following: (1) Make any inquiry regarding or based on the immigration or citizenship status of a tenant, prospective tenant, occupant, or prospective occupant of residential rental property. (2) Require that any tenant, prospective tenant, occupant, or prospective occupant of the rental property make any statement, representation, or certification concerning his or her immigration or citizenship status. (c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a landlord from either:

(1) Complying with any legal obligation under federal law.
(2) Requesting information or documentation necessary to determine or verify the financial qualifications of a prospective tenant, or to determine or verify the identity of a prospective tenant or
prospective occupant.

Don't you think citizenship and immigration status might somehow effect a prospective tenant's ability to pay future rents? How are they going to pay rent if they cannot legally work in this country?

Contrast this with the brain damaged rules for what happens if a landlord discovers or suspects drug activity, or if law enforcement discovers such activity on the property.

If you're thinking, "have them furnish a large deposit," the law prohibits deposits above the amount of two months rent.

(sarcasm on)
TIP for Drug Lords: make certain your underlings are all illegal aliens, and keep all your "inventory" and "production materials" in their domiciles.
(sarcasm off)

What are the law abiding citizens (of whatever ancestry) who love this country supposed to do?

Roll Call of Shame in the Assembly:

Arambula Bass Beall Berg Brownley Caballero Charles Calderon Carter Coto Davis De La Torre De Leon DeSaulnier Dymally Eng Evans Feuer Hancock Hayashi Hernandez Huffman Jones Karnette Krekorian Laird Leno Levine LieberLieu Ma Mendoza Mullin Nava Parra Portantino Price Richardson Ruskin Salas Saldana Solorio Swanson Torrico Wolk

Those who actually value their country:

Adams Anderson Benoit Blakeslee Cook DeVore Duvall FullerGaines Garrick Houston Huff Jeffries Keene La Malfa MazeNakanishi Niello Plescia Sharon RunnerSmyth Spitzer Strickland Villines Walters

Roll of Shame in the State Senate

Alquist Calderon Cedillo Corbett Correa Ducheny Florez Kehoe Kuehl Lowenthal Machado Migden Negrete McLeod Oropeza Padilla Ridley-Thomas Romero Scott Simitian Steinberg Wiggins Yee

Those who actually value their country:

Aanestad Ackerman Ashburn Battin Cogdill Cox Dutton Harman Maldonado Margett McClintock Runner Wyland

I see both "my" representatives to the legislature in the rolls of shame.

(Yes, I know it's been a while since I did a full article outside my specialty. This one just flowed out)

You know, even as often as the candidates use the word "change", I'd be okay with it if they told us precisely what they want to change in the same breath. If they're really for changes the public wants, they wouldn't have a problem with this. If, on the other hand, the change they want is stuff like more privilege for politicians, more bureaucracy, more government control over individuals, I'd like to find out about these things before I cast my primary ballot on February 5th. I'm not voting for anyone who says they represent change without saying precisely what changes they want to make. There's a lot of things I'm happy with about this country and don't want to see changed. There are many more that, as bad as they are, could be made a lot worse, and are likely to.

When I hear a new program proposed, I want to know how they propose paying for it. Who are they going to tax to pay for this, or what other program are they going to cut? Much as I think the budget is too big, I want to know what cuts the various candidates want to make when they say they want to cut it. Not that I think there's a lot of programs that it's not worthwhile to cut so the people who pay taxes keep more of their own money, but I think it's important information to know. There may be people that don't agree with me on the ideal size of the federal government (small enough to drown in the bathroom sink), and they're entitled to the information. That way, whatever candidate gets elected, there's no crying that he or she didn't campaign on the issue and acknowledge the costs.

So far, precisely two candidates that I'm aware of have gone beyond the cult of personality and given the public some specific plans for what they would do if elected. Rudy Giuliani has done a considerable amount of this, but Fred Thompson is the current front runner in detailing specific plans. No coincidentally, they're the only two who could claim popular support for specific ideas if elected. Not to mention that the voters would have vetted the consequences of those plans as well.

Also not coincidentally, they're at the top of my "likely to get my vote" list on February 5th, and both are lagging their former support in the polls. It isn't surprising to anyone above the age of eight that it's more popular to run a "promise the moon, but don't mention how we're going to pay for it" campaign. Easier to get elected when entrenched interests don't have concrete reasons to oppose you. But by the time you get to voting age, you should be conversant with the fact that government programs don't magically pay for themselves. Before adults tell the salesperson they've got a sale, we want to know and agree upon the price we're going to have to pay.