• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for June 18th on 17:28

    These are my links for June 18th from 17:28 to 17:34:

    • High-ranking LAX exec and former chief of staff for Janice Hahn quits over sexually explicit texts – A high-ranking executive at Los Angeles International Airport voluntarily resigned his position for allegedly sending sexually explicit text messages on a city-issued cell phone, officials confirmed Thursday.

      Michael Molina stepped down last week as the airport's deputy executive director of external affairs after he was directly asked about sending the graphic messages, said Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of LAX.

      "It's an incredibly sad situation and I honestly believe Mike used some bad judgment by mixing professional and personal comments," Lindsey said. "We are very sorry to see him go under these circumstances because he's a talented guy and a very valuable member of the team."

      The nature of the explicit messages was not immediately disclosed. It was also unclear who received the messages and how many were sent by Molina, who earned more than $192,000 annually.

      Molina, 48, did not return four phone calls placed to his Harbor City home seeking comment.

      Lindsey said she had not viewed the text messages, but was alerted to the matter June 3 by a city employee.

      Molina voluntarily resigned June 7 after he was asked about the messages, Lindsey said. He will not receive a severance for his three-year tenure at LAX, but will be paid for an undisclosed number of unused vacation days.

    • Janice Hahn’s milking of ‘Homeboyz’ – It's been four days since the release of the inflammatory web video depicting Janice Hahn as a stripper who let killer gang members go free in Los Angeles.

      But the California Democratic congressional candidate appears to be the only one still talking about it.

      On Saturday, Hahn released a press release asking Republican Craig Huey to formally demand the video be taken down.

      On Friday, her campaign put out an e-mail trying to fundraise off the ad.

      But even with Huey's denunciation of the spot released by a reclusive third party right-wing PAC, Hahn's camp continues to fan the flames. Could this be their way to rally the base that appears less than motivated to turn out in a mid-July special election?

      Huey's team sure thinks so. After all, he didn't release the ad. He denounced the ad. He's basically powerless in trying to get the ad down and it's not running anywhere but the web.
      "We officially demand that Hahn and her supporters take it down. They are the only ones circulating it on the Internet or anywhere," Huey spokesman Dave Gilliard told POLITICO Saturday. "The only reason this racist video has received any exposure is because Janice Hahn has attempted to profit from it. Her shameful actions are a testimony to the shallowness of her candidacy."

      ======

      Of course, Hahn is milking this ad.

      She has a poor record to run on and she is scared Craig Huey may beat her.

      She is right to be scared.

    • Illegal immigration: Government alters Secure Communities deportations – The Obama administration is changing the Secure Communities fingerprint-sharing program and says it will concentrate more on illegal immigrants who are serious offenders.

      Facing a barrage of criticism from some Democratic governors, members of Congress and local officials, the Obama administration is altering a controversial federal program in which law enforcement agencies share fingerprints of suspects held in local jails with U.S. immigration authorities.

      The Secure Communities program, which was intended to identify and deport convicted felons, wound up also ensnaring minor offenders, victims of domestic abuse and other crimes, as well as witnesses to crimes and people who were arrested but not convicted of offenses.

      In response, U.S. Homeland Security officials announced Friday that the department had issued new guidelines in an effort to stop immigration officers from deporting people who were arrested while reporting a crime, or who were witnesses in a potential criminal investigation or trial. The guidelines also give prosecutors more discretion on whom to deport.

      =======

      Read it all….

      The Democrats want lax enforcement so that they can capture the votes of Hispanics.

      Pandering in the worst form here.

      This will likely become a Presidential campaign issue.

  • Craig Huey,  Janice Hahn

    CA-36: Janice Hahn Files Federal Elections Commission Complaint Against Craig Huey

    For a video, Craig Huey did not produce and has denounced as racist and sexist. I mean how stupid is this?

    Democratic congressional candidate Janice Hahn has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over a widely criticized hip-hop-themed video that links her to street-gang members.

    That ad, which makes rampant use of stereotypical hip-hop video imagery and features Hahn’s face superimposed onto the body of a stripper, was produced by a new third-party political action committee called Turn Right USA.

    Hahn’s complaint alleges Turn Right is working with the campaign of Hahn’s challenger in the race in California’s 36th Congressional District, Republican Craig Huey.

    Huey’s camp has denounced the ad, as have other Republicans, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and advocacy groups such as the National Organization for Women.

    Hahn, a Los Angeles City Council member, and Huey are competing to replace retired Rep. Jane Harman in the Southern California coastal district. The election is July 12.

    Her complaint notes that a one-time volunteer for Huey, G. Rick Marshall, is a principal working for Turn Right, a so-called “Super PAC” that can raise unlimited funds from donors whose identities remain private.

    FEC rules prohibit such committees from coordinating their efforts directly with political campaigns.

    The video contains a disclaimer that the PAC isn’t affiliated with the Huey campaign, and the filmmaker behind the ad, Ladd Ehlinger Jr., said there’s no connection. In fact, Ehlinger said Huey was missing an opportunity to use the ad, which ties Hahn to an L.A. County gang intervention program, to his advantage.

    “What they should have done is say ‘We denounce the ad but we think it has a kernel of truth,’” Ehlinger said.

    Ehlinger said the controversy, as well as the FEC complaint, was playing right into his hands—racheting up interest in the video, which has already enjoyed about half a million hits on YouTube.

    It is apparent Janice Hahn is just fanning the flames of this controversy so that no one really will make an investigation into the paying gangsters allegation. Hahn is in a tough race and wants to slime Huey with as much as she can.

    The economy is so poor in this South Bay District and Janice Hahn’s ads so ugly, I continue to think that Craig Huey may surprise with an upset win.

  • Amazon Tax,  Internet Sales Taxes,  Jerry Brown

    California Coalition to Protect Small Business Jobs Urges Governor Jerry Brown to Veto Amazon Internet Sales Tax Legislation – AB 28X

    A new grass roots small business organization, the Coalition to Protect Small Business Jobs has formed to ask California Governor Jerry Brown to veto AB 28 X, the Amazon Tax Internet Sales Tax legislation. I have posted a copy of the bill here.

    From the press release:

    Calling AB 28X’s new tax burdens on Internet sales a direct threat to small business and Internet entrepreneurship, the Coalition to Protect Small Business Jobs urged Governor  Brown to veto the e-taxation bill approved by the California Legislature Wednesday.

    “Without adequate protections for small businesses, this bill and bills like it across the country would make it even harder for us to compete with big retailers on the web, our last frontier for a more level playing field,”  said Terri Hartman, Manager at Liz’s Antique Hardware in Los Angeles.

    The 1992 U.S. Supreme Court Quill decision prohibits states from forcing businesses to collect sales taxes unless the business has a physical presence in that state.  Bills like the one approved Wednesday attempt to get around that ruling by broadening the definition of physical presence to include those without a physical presence in the state.

    “Small businesses create two of every three new jobs, account for more than half of all private sector jobs, hire 43 percent of high tech workers and drive innovation in a host of fields,” said Jessie Womble, State & Local Public Policy Manager at CONNECT – a non-profit organization that links inventors and entrepreneurs with the resources they need to succeed. “Protecting their ability to flourish on the Web should be of paramount concern to everyone.”

    More than 17,000 small businesses in California have written letters to their state legislators in opposition to this legislation.

    “The irony of this bill is that instead of producing more tax revenues, this unfair new tax burden would fall disproportionately on small businesses and result in fewer jobs and fewer state and local tax revenues,” said Bill LaMarr, Executive Director of the California Small Business Alliance.

    The State Board of Equalization has reported that already small revenue estimates for the measure are subject to “considerable uncertainty,” don’t fully represent the likely loss of personal income to Californians and businesses and would be subject to years of delay as a result of expected litigation.

    “The revenue figures for AB 28X are uncertain at best and this bill represents exactly the kind of budget gimmicks that Governor Brown is trying to correct,” said LaMarr.  “We respectfully ask Governor Brown to veto this legislation and request the legislature to adopt real measures that will protect small business entrepreneurs.”

    More information is available at www.ProtectSmallBusinessJobs.com.

    Opponents of this e-taxation legislation include the California Small Business Alliance, NetChoice, California Business Alliance, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, TechAmerica, eBay, TechNet, Orinda Taxpayers Association, CONNECT and more than 17,000 small businesses throughout California including, Act + Fast Medical, TransTech Systems, 7daysale4u, Hamilton Tools,  MRO Warehouse, Jones Vintage Parts, Electronics Nexus, Transition IT, Hall’s Window Center,  Seabreeze Books and Charts ,  Liz’s Antique Hardware, Mannequin Madness,  Valley Network Solutions and The Sticker Station.

    But, before Governor Brown has a chance to veto this bill, there may be some problems with this legislation which I outlined here.

    It is hard to say since California Proposition 25 language in the bill (tax increases requiring a 2/3?rds super majority) makes for some legal incongruity and the fact that Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the enabling California Budget bill .

    So, it looks like now AB 28X may have to go back to the California Legislature for a re-vote.

    It’s not clear if the bill will become law. It was part of the budget package approved Wednesday by the Legislature. Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the main budget bill Thursday, and on Friday legislative staff members were determining whether the sales tax bill can still be legally sent to the governor separate from the budget, or whether lawmakers will need to vote on it again.

    Brown told reporters in Los Angeles he believes the Internet tax is a “common sense idea.”

    If he does sign the Internet bill, California could be in for a fight. Amazon and Overstock.com have threatened to sever ties with their California “affiliates” – thousands of businesses that earn commissions by referring customers to Amazon.

    Amazon, probably the most aggressive opponent of the legislation, has already fired affiliates in several other states over similar laws, including two last week: Connecticut and Arkansas. It had no comment on this week’s developments in California.

    However, should the legislature re-vote, pass the legislation and it is signed up Governor Brown (which is likely from his comments above), then Amazon and other retailers may sue anyway in either state court (the Proposition 26 requirement of increasing taxes by a 2/3rd’s super majority rule) or in federal court (the Constitutional Nexus issue.)

    With the explosion in e-commerce, lawmakers in California and many other states have tried shifting the tax-collection burden from consumers to retailers – the same way brick-and-mortar transactions are treated.

    Those efforts have been largely thwarted by a landmark 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision involving a mail-order office-supply company. The court said retailers can’t be forced to collect taxes unless it has a “physical presence” in the state.

    Nevertheless, several states have passed laws in the past few years forcing online retailers to collect tax. Lawmakers have attempted to get around the 1992 ruling by expanding the definitions of physical presence.

    In California, with the legislation passed this week, that means subsidiaries doing business in the state. Amazon, for instance, employs 500 Californians at two subsidiaries in Silicon Valley, including one unit that helped design the Kindle electronic book reader.

    California also says the retailer’s in-state affiliates constitute a physical presence. These affiliates are independent businesspeople who post links on their websites to Amazon and other e-tailers. When a customer clicks through and buys something from the e-tailer, they’re paid a commission.

    Amazon and Overstock’s threats to dump their California affiliates, in retaliation for the tax legislation, has some of these affiliates rattled.

    Ken Rockwell of La Jolla, who runs a photography website, said he earns much of his income from links to Amazon and other online sellers of camera equipment. If the bill becomes law, he and thousands of others would get cut off, he said.

    “The only people who would get hurt are the people in the state of California,” Rockwell said.

    Rockwell said he might move out of state as a result.

    Well, I won’t be moving out of California because of the Amazon Tax, but can Californians really afford another costly expenditure of public funds paying lawyers to fight this for years in the courts?

    What will likely happen is the bill will go back to the Legislature and pass. Then, Governor Brown will sign it into law. The law will go into effect on January 1, 2012, when Amazon and others will file their lawsuits. In the meantime, Amazon will close its two small divisions in the Silicon Valley (placing those employees out of work, at least in Califonria) and fire all of its Associates, including me.

    And, the California budget will continue to be in a structural deficit with no increased internet sales tax revenue.

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