http;//www.Californiacontrarian.com

As many of us who live in San Diego are aware the city has a substantial budget deficit of $252 million. Of course the city politicians are blaming this on the fact that the voters recently rejected a sales tax increase, but do not comment on the real reasons for this deficit. The major cause for this deficit is easy to ascertain … bloated spending and very generous pension benefits.
For instance, the city of San Diego spent about $230 million last year on homelessness (the 2024/2025 budget year), and
since 2015, the City of San Diego has invested $55 million on bike lane projects, some of which will be built out through next year. Very very few use these bike lanes, and even fewer want them.
According to recent reports, San Diego currently spends around half a billion dollars annually on pension costs, with the city’s yearly pension payment recently exceeding $500 million.

After reading about how much financial difficulty the city of San Diego finds itself in, the question must be asked if the city of San Diego is unusual in this regard.
From Just the News:
A large majority of the 75 largest cities in the U.S. are in financial trouble, according to a new report.
Truth in Accounting released the report, which evaluated the 75 largest cities in the country, arguing that the majority of cities have financial problems and owe thousands of dollars in debt per taxpayer.
“This means that to claim their budgets were balanced – as is required by law in the 75 cities – elected officials have not included the full cost of the government in their budget calculations and have pushed costs onto future taxpayers,” the report said.
According to the report, retiree health benefits and pensions are a major weight around the necks of many city budgets, dragging them into debt.
“The 75 cities had $321 billion worth of assets available to pay bills; their debt, including unfunded retirement benefit promises, amounted to $621.7 billion,” the report added. “Pension debt totaled $192.1 billion, and other postemployment benefits (OPEB), mainly retiree health care, totaled $136.4 billion.
The report evaluated the cities as of fiscal year 2023. It found New York City as the worst city fiscally, followed by Chicago, Portland, New Orleans and Honolulu. The best city came in as Washington, D.C., followed by Lincoln, Irvine, Tampa and Cleveland.

I guess these stats across the U.S. just prove the feelings of many politicians … it’s easy to spend other people’s money!
3/7/25

Obviously the Congressional Dems made fools of themselves in a multitude of ways during President Trump’s speech on Tuesday, March 4th. As has been pointed out by many their actions were juvenile at best, and I see no need to focus on them. As to why they decided to act like spoiled brats is anybody’s guess.
Perhaps they could a take a look at DJ Daniel and learn something about what character looks like. Almost all, but apparently one of them, refused to look at DJ Daniel during Trump’s State of the Union Address when he was cited by the President.
For those of you who may not be familiar with DJ Daniel, the following is from PJMedia:
“Devarjaye, ‘DJ’ is a 13-year-old boy who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2018 and given just a few months to live. However, after 13 brain surgeries, he’s survived the odds and, while he still suffers from some health issues, like advanced cataracts, and has dealt with terrible bullying in the past, he is thriving and enjoying life.
This young man has always wanted to become a police officer when he grows up, and he is a big supporter of law enforcement. As a matter of fact, he and his father have traveled around the country to various law enforcement agencies over the last few years, and he’s become an honorary member of over 900 of them.
Because of this, the president and first lady invited DJ and his father, Theodis, a Navy veteran, to be guests at the president’s address to a joint session of Congress on last Tuesday, but Trump took it a step further and honored DJ as an honorary Secret Service agent. Secret Service Director Sean Curran himself presented DH with a badge.”

This presentation was follow by standing, staccato clapping, and chants of “DJ, DJ, DJ!” by those on one side of the aisle. Most on the opposite side of the aisle silently sat of their hands, although admittedly some could not sit on their hands as they were using them while looking at their cell-phones … perhaps answering important emails!
Quite a classy group wouldn’t you say!
That night a striking dichotomy that was clearly brought out between real character (DJ Daniel) and no character (Congressional Dems)!
3/6/25

Note: … Next the Dems in the Senate will be trying to figure out way to escape the deep hole that they have drug for themselves as a consequence of every Senate Democrat voting against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which is a piece of legislation that passed the U.S. House in a 218-206 vote in January. It would have prohibited federally funded school athletic programs from allowing men to participate in programs intended for women or girls, effectively codifying an executive order President Donald Trump issued last month.
From the Blaze.com:
“To overcome a Democratic filibuster of the legislation, 60 votes were needed. Every single Democratic senator voted “no.”
Democrats led by Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) blocked the corresponding bill in the U.S. Senate on Monday, March. 3, demonstrating both their apparent indifference to opportunistic cross-dressers’ brutalization of female athletes and to the supermajority of Americans’ desire to see athletes compete in sports teams that conform to their sex.

According to a survey conducted last month by the Pew Research Center, 66% of respondents support policies requiring transvestites to compete on teams that match their actual sex. A January New York Times/Ipsos poll found that 79% of Americans — 94% of Republicans, 67% of Democrats, and 64% of Independents or “something else” — said that male transvestites should not compete against women.”

Occasionally I listen to Megyn Kelly’s podcast, and I have never seen her so angry. Note that Megyn Kelly has three teenage daughters. After she individually named the Dem Senators from red/purple states that voted against this bill, the PG version of what Megyn Kelly said is, “They disgust me.”
The White House suggested the Democratic senators responsible for killing the bill were cowards and noted, “Never let them forget it.”

From my perspective, if this is the hill on which the Democrats wish to die, so be it! I will be more than happy to help bury them! … note that I have seven grand-daughters!
3/5/25

From the title, you are probably assuming that something not-good is on the horizon, and you would be correct. According to the latest data Americans are becoming more and more in debt, and this cannot be a good thing.

The steady rise in household debt reflects ongoing economic pressures, including high interest rates and elevated living costs.
Meanwhile, inflation data released earlier this week showed that U.S. consumer prices rose at their fastest annual pace since June 2024.
From the Epoch Times:
Americans piled up debt at the end of 2024, with credit card balances reaching a record $1.21 trillion in December, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest report on household debt and credit.
Debt levels increased across several categories, with auto loan balances climbing by $11 billion to $1.66 trillion, while total household debt grew by $93 billion to reach $18.04 trillion, according to the report.
The report highlights an uptick in delinquency transition rates for auto loans and credit cards, signaling that more Americans are struggling to keep up with payments.
The share of credit card debt transitioning into serious delinquency—defined as 90 or more days past due—rose from 6.36 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 7.18 percent at the end of 2024. Auto loan serious delinquencies also increased, rising from 2.66 percent to 2.96 percent over the same period, the New York Fed said.

So to me, this combination of economic data portends a potential train wreck. When is it coming? … Hard to say, but, for sure, when it comes the Main Stream Media will blame it on Trump, even though common sense would dictate that years of Bidenomics is what has fueled the train!
3/4/25

Everyone who watched the interaction between Ukraine’s Zelenskyy and President Trump and VP Vance realizes that any immediate peace deal between Ukraine and Russia is all but dead.
So who is to blame? Personally, I blame Biden or rather whoever was calling the shots while J.B. occupied the White House. Whose idea was it to have Zelenskyy go to Scranton, Pennsylvania to campaign for Biden? Most likely it was those who were making the decisions for J.B. at that time. Someone apparently thought that having Zelenskyy in Scranton with Biden would somehow ensure that Biden would win Pennsylvania. (Zelenskyy had no option but to accept the invite as Biden was giving tons of money and weaponry to Ukraine.)
Or perhaps the thinking from those behind Biden went something like this … if Biden lost, Trump would not forget what Zelenskyy did, and thus it would be much more difficult for Trump and Zelenskyy to come to a peace deal. If Trump were to get a peace deal within a month of assuming office it would be quite a feather in his hat, and the Biden backed Dems could allow that to happen.
I realize that some of you are thinking that what I just wrote is nonsensical. However consider this from Richard Grenell, Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions of United States:
“Richard Grenell
This is very serious.
@RichardGrenell – 2h@amuse
@amuse 9h UKRAINE: Obama’s team including Anthony Blinken, Victoria Nuland, Susan Rice, and Alexander Vindman advised Zelensky to reject Trump’s deal in violation of the Logan Act.”
From a second source …
Before meeting Trump, Zelensky met with anti-Trump Democrats who advised him to reject the terms of the mineral deal the president was offering, according to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).

Could it be that those who advised Zelenskyy to go to Scranton also advised him how to act when in the Oval Office?
Hmmm!

3/3/25

Just the other day I read about a heroic thing that just occurred, and because Sunday is the day that I write about individuals who deserve our praise and respect because of something they did, what could be more appropriate than to write about Andre “Tre” Howard. What makes today’s story different from my usual Sunday hero stories, is that today’s hero is only ten years old.
From Aleteia:
On January 31, 2025, a medical evacuation plane carrying six people, including a child, crashed near a shopping center in Philadelphia. The accident killed seven people and injured more than 20 others. In the midst of this devastating chaos, Andre Howard, nicknamed Tre, showed remarkable heroism, risking his life to protect his sister’s.
That day, Andre and his brother and sister were with their father, Andre Howard Jr. The family usually had a Friday after-school snack at Dunkin’ Donuts. But the day, usually full of laughter and fun, took a tragic turn when a sudden explosion occurred. A medical plane crashed before their eyes, throwing debris and flames into the streets and onto the surrounding cars, including that of the Howard family. “We heard a boom, a really loud boom, and we saw a fireball that covered the whole entire sky,” the father told CNN.
In that moment of absolute panic, as a rain of debris fell on their vehicle, young Andre threw himself on top of his 4-year-old sister to protect her with his body. When the father turned to his children to make sure they were all right, he discovered that Andre was lying on top of his sister with a piece of metal stuck in his head. His other son, aged 7, was sitting next to them, unharmed.
Andre was quickly taken to the nearest hospital, and was going to be transferred to a pediatric center. However, his situation was too critical, so they operated immediately. The doctors alerted the family to the serious risks, including the possibility that he might never walk again. Fortunately, he made it through the surgery successfully, and is expected to make a full recovery.

As soon as he woke up, he didn’t think about his own suffering, but about his little sister. CNN reports that his first words were, “Did I save her from the crash?”
But more than the media attention, the little boy’s beautiful life-saving gesture, which embodies true brotherly love, will remain forever etched in the memory of his entire family.

A true hero and only ten years old!
3/2/25

Last year my wife and I took a weekend trip to Nashville, Tennessee. Other than being quite warm (98 degrees at 2pm), we both found Nashville to be a delightful city. During our two day stay we used Uber six times, and of the six different Uber drivers only one was American with the others having come from Central America, South America , the Caribbean, and the Mideast. Note that I had no complaints about any of these drivers, but I thought their diverse countries of origin were unusual. Were the five migrant Uber drivers legal or illegal?
“No me importa!” … until I read an article on Shortlysts.com:

“A new report from the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference has uncovered the extent of crimes committed by illegal immigrants in the Music City State.
It revealed nearly 3,000 arrests in just three months.
From October to December 2024, law enforcement officers apprehended thousands of illegal immigrants. These arrests were made on a range of charges, from minor infractions to violent felonies, including 11 homicides.
The highest concentration of arrests occurred in Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. These are three of Tennessee’s largest cities.”

It was the inclusion of ‘Nashville’ that caught my attention. Granted that while those that drove my different Ubers were unlikely to be have been included in the 3000 Tennessee arrests in the last quarter of 2024, one never knows for sure. 3000 in one quarter seems like quite a lot, and reports like this do provide hard data about its impact of illegal immigration on crime rates and public safety. With a whopping 3,000 arrests in just one quarter, it’s clear that crime involving illegal migrants is becoming a significant factor in Tennessee’s criminal justice system.
It will be interesting to see if any other states dare to report their own stats on illegal immigrant crime.
3/1/25

Back when Joe Biden shut down the Keystone XL pipeline with the loss of 10,000 jobs, I do not recall widespread remorse in the Main Stream Media for those who lost their jobs. Those 10,000 who suddenly were in the unemployment line were supposedly there for the good of mankind as there would consequently be less fossil fuels being used.
Now the shoe is on the other foot as an executive order issued by President Donald Trump last month instructed agencies to immediately pause monetary aid being sent to foreign countries. The administration said it is eliminating more than 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance while thousands of USAID employees continue to clear out their workspaces.
DOGE has discovered that USAID was sending billions of dollars to other countries to promote DEI initiatives, and was funding groups tied to terrorism among other things.
Now, do not get me wrong as I do feel bad for those USAID individuals who are doing to lose their jobs. They are losing their jobs, because the U.S. is slowly going bankrupt with the huge and increasing debt. At present the interest on this debt is more than the U.S. spends every year on the military. Everyone with any common sense knew that this debt was unsustainable, but no one was willing to attempt any solution … until President Trump allied with Elon Musk to form DOGE.
Certainly there will be pain for those individuals who are going to lose their jobs, but unfortunately certain things must be done.
2/28/25

It used to be that one could go out to lunch with friends once a week or so. Going out to lunch was less expensive than going out to dinner, and one would always be home while it was still light outside. It is still cheaper to go out to lunch, but now going out to lunch costs what it used to cost to go out to dinner. What changed? Here in California we have been hit with a double-whammy
First, just as in the rest of the country, Biden’s inflation has raised the cost of everything. In the context of eating out, it is the rise in the cost of the food, as well as the rise in gas prices that has caused the cost of going to lunch to rise significantly (N.B. The food has to get from the supplier to the restaurant, and thus someone has to pay for these increased transportation costs,and the restaurant passes this cost on to the customer.)
However, here in California we are further punished because we have a Democrat legislature and a Democrat governor, we now have a $20 fast food minimum wage law. Anyone with an ounce of common sense could predict that the cost of going out to lunch or dinner would escalate.

For months, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has shown job losses in our state’s fast food sector. Multiple surveys also found that fast food establishments across the state slashed workers’ hours, drastically increased prices, and even shuttered completely. The most recent report from the Berkeley Research Group shows the state lost over 10,000 jobs from June 2023 to June 2024.

So who wins here?
Not the restaurant employees, as the data shows that workers have suffered due to his law. No amount of spin will pull the wool over the eyes of employees who find themselves with less hours or out of work entirely.
Not the restaurants as many common folk can no longer go out to lunch, and certainly not out to dinner, and so many restaurants are being forced to shut down.
Not the hungry consumer who is forced to eat more at home and much less in a restaurant.
2/27/25

As the Ukraine/Russia war appears to be winding down there are two past things that we should remember when considering President Trump’s role in the negotiations.
From Tip’s Newsletter (Rip McIntosh):
“The president is well aware that in 2016 the then-Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., Valeriy Chaly, in an op-ed, inappropriately warned Americans of the dangers of a Trump candidacy and openly sided with Trump’s then-opponent Hillary Clinton, who spread false stories that the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia.

“Trump also likely remembers that in September 2024, the Biden administration foolishly air-dropped Zelensky into the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, where in Scranton, Biden’s iconic hometown, the Ukrainian president did a media tour of an ammunition factory with Democratic officials—to the outrage of many observers. Zelensky seemed to imply to blue-collar workers that their jobs might be predicated on continued Biden administration military support for Ukraine.”

As also alluded to in Rip’s Newsletter, President Trump, as opposed to Joe Biden, has a good memory. Some would say a ‘vindictive’ memory, but I will stick to a “good” memory, and he is not likely to forget what Valeriy Chaly said in 2016 or what Zelenskyy did in 2024.
Just sayin.’
2/26/25