What’s on the menu for Pechanga Resort Casino’s Sushi and Sake Festival

• April 5, 2023

The Sushi and Sake festival is headed back to Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula on Saturday, April 8.

Guests can expect to sample more than 40 kinds of sake including daiginjo, ginjo, junmai and sparkling varieties, as well as eight different types of Japanese beer.

Ray Jalili, manager at Umi Sushi and Oyster Bar on the property, has previously worked on pairing wine and food for other events, but said that pairing sushi with sake provides a unique experience.

“It’s more about trying to pair it with the different rolls because you have more flavor combinations,” Jalili said. “Sake is a wonderful medium because you have a citrusy and flowery tone that goes with most fish.”

Jalili said some fresh-cut fish dishes include sashimi tuna, yellow tail and Hamachi Crudo. Attendees will also witness a 100-pound tuna fish cut and sliced into sushi rolls by Kiyo Ikeda, head chef of Umi Sushi & Oyster Bar.

“Guests should come hungry and ready to enjoy lots of sushi, sake and Japanese beer together and see what appeals to them,” Jalili said.

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The event also includes live music from a traditional Japanese Taiko drummer, a Japanese guitarist and a harpist, as well as a silent auction that will benefit Habitat For Humanity Inland Valley. Items up for auction include travel packages, designer handbags and sports memorabilia.

Tickets for the 21-and-older only, single-day event held at the Pechanga Summit include a sampling of sushi, sake, beer and desserts and are $120 for general admission; $160 for VIP; and $75 for those sampling food only.

Here’s a list of the different stations and food options offered at the Sushi and Sake Festival.

Yasai Station (Vegetables):

Asparagus gomaae served with sesame dressing; Kinoko oroshi with wild mushrooms served with grated daikon, ponzu and truffle oil; and Nasu agebitash, a crispy eggplant marinated in dashi soy with ginger, green onion and sesame oil.

Zensai Station (Appetizers):

Buta shabu shabu pork with cucumber, celery, shiso and ginger vinegar; Takoyaki (octopus ball) with green onion, itoyori bonito & okonomi sauce; Yakitori chicken with spinach; and Crispy wakasagi with kaiware, smoked paprika and sansho pepper and salt.

Hibachi Station:

Scallops with pea shoots, bean sprouts and ginger sauce; Shrimp with pea shoots, bean sprouts and ginger sauce; Wagyu striploin with Napa cabbage, ponzu and yakiniku sauce.

Shokuji Station (Hearty Snacks):

Soy ramen with pork, fish cake, green onion, garlic & green onion oil; Salmon teriyaki rice with micro chive and shiroteriyaki takuan; and Gyudon served with rice and beef.

Sushi Station:

Sashimi plate served with toro, tuna, salmon & yellow tail; Spicy tuna rolls; California rolls; and vegetable rolls.

Sushi and Sake Festival

When: 11 a.m. for VIP and 1 p.m. for general admission Saturday, April 8

Where: Pechanga Summit, 45000 Pechanga Parkway, Temecula

Tickets: $120 general admission; $160 VIP; $75 food-only (no alcohol) tickets are available at pechanga.com.

​ Orange County Register 

Passover and freedom from oppression

• April 5, 2023

“Why is this night different from all other nights?” Thus, at sunset begins the ritual of questions during the Seder meal with which observant Jews start the celebration of Passover, or Pesach, which commemorates the deliverance of the Israelite slaves from bondage in Egypt. The youngest child at the table is expected to answer the questions, fulfilling the commandment, “And thou shalt tell thy son.”

According to tradition, as related in the book of Exodus, the Israelites were made slaves in ancient Egypt. But Yahweh, the Hebrew God, instructed Moses to demand of the ruling Pharaoh that His people be released. Pharaoh refused, and Yahweh brought 10 plagues down upon Egypt. The final plague was the death of the firstborn son in every household. The Jews were instructed to sacrifice a lamb or kid and smear its blood on the house’s lintel or doorpost. Seeing the blood, the Angel of Death would pass over that house. After this plague Pharaoh relented and allowed the Jews to leave.

Why do we eat only unleavened bread, or matzoh, on Pesach? To remember that when the Jews left Egypt there was not time to allow the bread to rise, so the dough was baked into hard crackers.

Why do we eat bitter herbs? To remind us of the cruelty the Jews suffered.

Why do we dip our foods? We dip bitter herbs into Charoset made of apples and nuts, which resemble clay for bricks, to remind us how hard the slaves had to work. Parsley is dipped into salt water; the parsley symbolizes that spring is here, and new life will grow. The saltwater reminds us of the tears of the Jewish slaves.

Why do we lean on a pillow? To be comfortable and to remind us that once we were slaves, and now we are free.

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Passover is typically celebrated for seven days in Israel and among Reform Jews, and for eight days among diaspora Conservative and Orthodox Jews. It recalls the birth of a Jewish nation, freed of Egyptian oppression and able to serve Yahweh, or God, alone. The first and last days are full festivals, marked by abstention from work, special prayer services and holiday meals. Jews eat only unleavened bread during the entire observance.

Passover commemorates the birth of a Jewish nation consecrated to serve Yahweh, or God, not the Pharaoh. It is a time to be humble and to remember what it was like to be a slave. Most of all it is a celebration of freedom, of the joys and opportunities available when we are not forced to serve others.

The story of the Jewish Exodus from Egypt has inspired countless peoples suffering in slavery or oppression, notably black slaves in America during a shameful part of our history. It is a reminder to all of us that freedom is invaluable, that God wants us to be free of human oppression. You don’t have to be Jewish to appreciate that blessing.

This editorial was originally published April 4, 2007 in the Orange County Register.

​ Orange County Register 

I rode in an IndyCar around downtown Long Beach — at 180 mph

• April 5, 2023

All I could do was smile — as I felt the speed and brute force of traveling up to 180 mph on the streets of downtown Long Beach.

I have to admit, I was slightly nervous when I put on my firesuit and a brave face for the camera as I documented my walk to pit row.

My final thoughts as I walked to pit row before my first time ever riding in an INDYCAR through the streets of downtown Long Beach. (Can you tell I’m nervous or did I hide it well for the camera?) #AGPLB #200mphBeachParty pic.twitter.com/VCSB6tMkbH

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) April 4, 2023

But it wasn’t until about 30 minutes later, when I put on the racing helmet, that I became truly anxious.

I had accepted the pole position as the first ride-along in a two-seat IndyCar during the Tuesday, April 4, media day for the 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The city’s biggest annual party will take place from April 14 to 16.

I am familiar with the 1.97-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit that circles the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center and the Aquarium of the Pacific — but not like this.

Exiting pit row at media day at the 48th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. pic.twitter.com/EVNxZVWMjp

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) April 4, 2023

To my surprise, the first ride of the day came with a bonus warmup lap. As my professional driver, Davey Hamilton, took off from the pit row along Shoreline Drive, he purposely weaved back and forth to warm up the Firestone racing tires.

I could tell Hamilton was holding back and I’m glad he was. It was a reassuring feeling to get what I considered a practice lap before the real thing. If I did not go any faster than we did on the first lap, I would have been more than satisfied, because I honestly had no expectations.

In retrospect, the slow lap was still quick. I could feel the hairpin turns the first time around.

But that lap ended up feeling like a 50% effort compared to what followed. The best way I can describe the second lap, is that it was fast — like, really fast.

I was expecting to top out at 150 mph but as we accelerated along the Shoreline Drive straightaway, for real this time, all I could do was smile, keep my head back, and marvel at the fact I was now truly just along for the ride. Hamilton briefly hit the brakes to navigate a chicane-style tight turn near The Pike Outlets before taking off again at triple-digit speeds along Ocean Boulevard.

A few seconds later, we were back on pit row and my ride-along was complete.

Arriving back on pit row after a special ride-along in a two-seater INDYCAR in downtown Long Beach. pic.twitter.com/0V1nFobFbM

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) April 4, 2023

As the crew unbuckled my harnessed seat, I stepped out of the IndyCar triumphant — but I was in for one more hair-raising surprise.

“I’m not exactly sure how fast I going,” I said aloud while recording a video to recap the moment.

“180,” chimed a knowledgeable public relations professional who overheard my question.

“180,” I repeated to myself and the video camera with an unsuspecting tone and a sizeable grin that you could see through my balaclava, which covered the top of my head down to the collar around my neck, but left my eyes and the crown of my nose exposed.

Here’s my 180 mph recap after taking two laps around the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach course in downtown Long Beach. I was able to take a bonus warm up lap because I volunteered to go first to help warm up the racing tires. pic.twitter.com/4T1wRL0T9T

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) April 4, 2023

After I made it to the other side of the safety barrier, I took a few minutes to capture another perspective and fully process what I experienced. I watched as the next ride-along participants took off for their one fast lap, seemingly appearing again less than two minutes later back on pit row.

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I thought to myself, “Wow.”

I’m glad I accepted the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and assignment to experience and report on what it’s like to race at the 48th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Would I ride-along along again in an IndyCar that routinely exceeds more than 200 mph?

Absolutely.

And I might just request the special assignment next year.

​ Orange County Register 

Fact check: Donald Trump delivers barrage of false claims in first post-indictment address

• April 5, 2023

By Daniel Dale

Former President Donald Trump made a speech at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Tuesday night after he was arraigned in Manhattan on felony charges of falsifying business records — and delivered a barrage of false claims that have been previously debunked.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all the charges Tuesday.

The former president was repeatedly inaccurate when he pivoted to the subject of the federal investigation into his handling of official documents. He also repeated some of his favorite falsehoods on a variety of other subjects.

Here is a fact check of some of Trump’s claims.

Presidential Records Act

Trump, denouncing the August federal search of Mar-a-Lago, claimed that the Presidential Records Act requires prolonged negotiations over the return of documents.

He said: “Just so everyone knows, I come under what’s known as the Presidential Records Act, which was designed and approved by Congress long ago just for this reason. Under the act, I’m supposed to negotiate with NARA, the National Archives and Records Administration.” He went on to disparage NARA.

Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. The Presidential Records Act says that, the moment a president leaves office, the National Archives and Records Administration gets custody and control of all presidential records from his administration. Nothing in the law says there should be a negotiation between a former president and NARA over a former president’s return of presidential documents — much less that there should have been a monthslong battle after NARA first contacted Trump’s team in 2021 to try to get some of the records that had not been handed over at the end of his presidency.

Jason R. Baron, former director of litigation at NARA, told CNN in an email last week (when we fact-checked a similar false claim by Trump): “The former President is simply wrong as a matter of law. As of noon on January 20, 2021, when President Biden took office, all presidential records of the Trump Administration came into the legal custody of the Archivist of the United States. Full stop. That means no presidential records ever should have been transferred to Mar-a-Lago, and there was no further talking or negotiating to be had.”

Timothy Naftali, a CNN presidential historian, New York University professor and former director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, described Trump’s claim as “nonsense” and said the former president’s description of the Presidential Records Act is “a matter of fantasy,” concocted to allow Trump to “pretend that he’s a victim.”

The law, Naftali said in an interview last week, makes clear that documents Trump had at Mar-a-Lago are presidential records that legally belong to the public and are legally required to be in NARA’s custody. The law provides “no room for debates and discussions between presidential advisers and the National Archives at the end a presidency” about such records, Naftali said.

You can read a longer fact check here.

George Soros and the district attorney

As he has on social media in the last month, former President Donald Trump invoked liberal billionaire donor George Soros while criticizing District Attorney Alvin Bragg in his speech — claiming that Bragg is a “radical left, George Soros-backed prosecutor.”

Facts First: This needs context. Soros did not make any donations to Bragg’s 2021 election campaign, and a Soros spokesperson, Michael Vachon, told CNN that the two men have never once communicated in any way; there is no evidence that Soros had any role in Bragg’s decision to prosecute Trump. However, Soros, a longtime supporter of Democratic district attorney candidates who favor criminal justice reform, did support Bragg’s election campaign indirectly: he was a major donor to a liberal political action committee, Color of Change PAC, that says it spent just over $500,000 on an independent expenditure effort in support of Bragg’s candidacy.

Vachon told CNN: “Between 2016 and 2022, George Soros personally and Democracy PAC (a PAC to which Mr. Soros has contributed funds) have together contributed roughly $4 million to Color of Change’s PAC, including $1 million in May 2021. None of those funds were earmarked for Alvin Bragg’s campaign. George Soros and Alvin Bragg have never meet in person or spoken by telephone, email, Zoom etc. There has been no contact between the two.”

Soros has been a frequent target of antisemitic conspiracy theories painting the Jewish philanthropist as a puppetmaster behind various US and international events. Color of Change president Rashad Robinson called Trump and his allies’ latest invocations of Soros both “antisemitic” and “anti-Black” he told CNN that the attacks are an overstatement of both Soros’ role in the PAC’s decision-making and the PAC’s role in Bragg’s election victory.

You can read a longer fact check here.

Former presidents’ handling of documents after leaving the White House

Defending his handling of government documents, which is the subject of an ongoing federal investigation, Trump repeated his false claim that that several other former presidents took documents with them upon leaving the White House.

Trump claimed that “openly taking boxes of documents and mostly clothing and other things to my home” is something “which President Obama has done.” He continued, “The Bushes have done. Jimmy Carter’s done. Ronald Reagan is done. Everybody’s done.”

Facts First: This is false, as the National Archives and Records Administration itself pointed out in a statement last year; there is no evidence that previous presidents did anything like what Trump did after the Presidential Records Act took effect in 1981 (beginning with the Reagan administration). In reality, NARA was granted custody of the presidential records of former Presidents Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama and both George Bushes as soon as these presidents left office, as required by the Presidential Records Act, and it was NARA, not those presidents, that moved those documents to temporary archival facilities — facilities managed by NARA.

NARA said in an October statement that it gained physical and legal custody of Obama, Reagan, H.W. Bush and W. Bush’s records, as well of those of President Bill Clinton, “when those presidents left office.” It said of the temporary facilities to which the documents were moved: “All such temporary facilities met strict archival and security standards, and have been managed and staffed exclusively by NARA employees. Reports that indicate or imply that those Presidential records were in the possession of the former Presidents or their representatives, after they left office, or that the records were housed in substandard conditions, are false and misleading.”

In other words, there is no equivalence between Trump’s handling of presidential documents and those previous presidents’. In those other cases, the presidential documents were in NARA’s possession and stored securely and professionally. In Trump’s case, the presidential documents found in haphazard amateur storage at Mar-a-Lago, including documents marked classified, were in Trump’s possession despite numerous attempts by both NARA and the Justice Department to get them back.

You can read a longer fact check here.

Reaction to Trump’s call to Georgia’s secretary of state

Trump claimed, as he has in the past, that he is being investigated by Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis over a “perfect” phone call — which he made clear was his January 2, 2021, phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump unsuccessfully urged his fellow Republican to somehow “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election in the state.

Then Trump said, “Nobody found anything wrong with that perfect call until a book promotion tour many months later. All of a sudden, they said, ‘You know, I remember Trump making a call. Let’s look at that.’”

Facts First: The claim that “nobody” found anything wrong with Trump’s call until months later is not even close to true. The Washington Post broke the story of the call the day after it happened, and there was an immediate uproar; on the day the story broke, Kamala Harris, then vice president-elect, called Trump’s comments a “bald-faced, bold abuse of power.” The day after that, some Democratic members of Congress asked the FBI to open an investigation — and Willis issued a statement calling reports about the call “disturbing” and indicated a willingness to investigate. Three days after the call, CNN ran a story headlined “Trump’s call could put the President in jeopardy, legal experts say.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what book tour Trump was talking about, but it’s possible he was referring to Raffensperger’s fall 2021 promotion of his book, “Integrity Counts,” in which he discussed the Trump call at length in interviews with various media outlets. By then, it had been clear for more than eight months that Willis was investigating Trump’s attempts to meddle with the 2020 election in the state.

Biden won Georgia by 11,779 votes; on the call, Trump expressed a desire to “find 11,780 votes.”

Inflation

Trump claimed that the United States has “an economy that has been crippled by the biggest inflation we have seen in more than 60 years.”

Facts First: Trump’s “60 years” claim is an exaggeration, though the inflation rate does remain high by historical standards.

Last June, the year-over-year inflation rate hit its highest level since late 1981, 9.1%. But about 41 years does not round to “60 years,” much less “more than 60 years”. The actual highest year-over-year inflation rate for the last 60 years is 14.8% (in early 1980), far higher than mid-2022 levels. More importantly, year-over-year inflation has now declined for eight straight months, hitting 6% in February 2023 — not even close to the 60-year high.

This Trump claim is an example of how the former president tends to increase his exaggerated figures over time. At a campaign rally in Texas in late March, he claimed — also incorrectly — that the country had the highest inflation in “50 years.”

The 2020 election

Early in his speech, Trump repeated one of his familiar lies about the 2020 election he lost. Trump claimed that there were “millions of votes illegally stuffed into ballot boxes, and all caught on government cameras.”

Facts First: This is a lie; there is, again, simply no basis for it. Trump’s more specific previous claims about supposed ballot box-stuffing by election workers in Georgia’s Fulton County have been thoroughly debunked; there is no sign that any such illegality occurred on a large scale. While there was a tiny smattering of voter fraud around the country, some of it committed by Trump supporters, numerous former senior officials from Trump’s administration and 2020 campaign, including the attorney general at the time of the election, William Barr, have acknowledged that there was not sufficient fraud to have changed the outcome.

Military equipment left in Afghanistan

Trump claimed, as he has before, that the US left behind “$85 billion worth of the best military equipment in the world” when it withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.

Facts First: Trump’s $85 billion figure is false. While a significant quantity of military equipment that had been provided by the US to Afghan government forces was indeed abandoned to the Taliban upon the US withdrawal, the Defense Department has estimated that this equipment had been worth about $7.1 billion — a chunk of about $18.6 billion worth of equipment provided to Afghan forces between 2005 and 2021. And some of the equipment left behind was rendered inoperable before US forces withdrew.

As other fact-checkers have previously explained, the “$85 billion” is a rounded-up figure (it’s closer to $83 billion) for the total amount of money Congress has appropriated during the war to a fund supporting the Afghan security forces. A minority of this funding was for equipment.

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​ Orange County Register 

John Stossel: Trump is a horrible person, but Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of him is bogus

• April 5, 2023

The Stossel TV Studio is just a block from Trump Tower.

Today, noisy helicopters hover, and sidewalks are pointlessly blocked by the usual politics/media excess: too many barricades manned by too many bored police officers.

The predicted “big demonstration!” and “possible violence” are not visible.

Donald Trump left for the courthouse around 1 p.m. to turn himself in. He was booked and fingerprinted at the courthouse. He then pled not guilty to the 34-count charge of falsifying records to hide hush money payments.

Presidents should not be above the law, but neither should they face politically motivated charges.

Manhattan district attorneys campaigned on opposing Trump, bragging, “I have sued Trump more than a hundred times!” He suggested he would be best choice to get Trump before he even saw the evidence. That’s just wrong. Federal prosecutors did see the evidence and decided against charging Trump.

Using campaign funds to pay someone to keep silent about sex may well violate the rules, but most campaign finance rules are useless, and no serious person thinks this case would ever be brought against anyone other than Trump.

This is a slippery slope to banana republic.

On the other hand, Trump definitely is a horrible person.

In his real estate business, he cheated the little people, cleverly using our slow and expensive justice system to avoid paying what he owed.

As president, he was unpresidential and childish. He’s vain, selfish and mean. He doesn’t read or listen to advice from smart people, and he lies again and again. I hate him.

Yet it would be better for America if he were president today, instead of Joe Biden.

Nothing is more important to more people, especially the poor, than a solid dollar and a growing economy.

Trump’s presidency brought us closer to that than today’s Democrats ever will.

Trump knows how government can kill growth. He criticized “job-crushing regulations,” saying he’d eliminate two of them for every new one passed. He didn’t, but he did repeal some big ones: allowing more oil drilling, reducing the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate waterways that are barely waterways, ending Barack Obama’s regulations forcing automakers to make “greener” cars (Biden reimposed them), and allowing internet service providers to charge different rates for different services (repealing the destructive net neutrality).

His words alone sent a message: “Not everyone needs welfare. You can work!”

Under Obama, people stopped looking for work. Democrats’ message was: Poor people are victims of an unfair system; you need handouts.

Under Trump, people started working again. Six million Americans were hired. Unemployment dropped to a 50-year low.

Trump signed the First Step Act, reducing long prison sentences for drug-related offenses.

He launched Operation Warp Speed, speeding production of Covid vaccines.

He appointed judges who believe in free speech and limited government.

Hooray for President Trump!

But then there’s the evil Trump.

He lies and breaks promises.

Trump promised he would “cut spending, big league” and then increased spending.

Biden’s been worse; this administration’s crazy spending is why inflation is killing your savings. But Trump was little better. He increased spending from an already astounding $4.1 trillion in 2017 to $6.55 trillion in 2020.

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Trump promised to end America’s wars. He didn’t. In fact, he signed a massive $738 billion defense bill, bragging that it was “an all-time record!” At least Trump, unlike his predecessors, didn’t start new wars.

Trump imposed tariffs on China, ignorantly claiming they’d protect American consumers. Instead, the tariffs punished American consumers and businesses. So Trump then gave billions of your dollars to farmers and others hurt by his tariffs.

Finally, Trump refused to accept the results of the election. For 224 years, our democracy has had a peaceful transfer of power. Trump ended that.

He lied about voter fraud. He told his supporters, “Fight like hell.”

On Jan. 6, he did tell them to “peacefully” march to the Capitol, but when things got ugly, he did nothing. Only hours later did he post a video asking protesters to go home.

Today he shows no remorse for any of the nasty things he did.

Because of Trump, Biden will probably be reelected.

Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Stossel posts a new video about the battle between government and freedom.

​ Orange County Register 

California’s controller finally files state audit – for 2021

• April 5, 2023

Hand it to new California Controller Malia M. Cohen. On March 23 her office finally achieved what her predecessor, Betty Yee, failed to do. Cohen filed the Audited Comprehensive Financial Report for California for fiscal year 2020-21, which ended on June 30, 2021. Almost two years ago. Every other state filed its ACFR long ago, as did almost all California cities, counties and school districts. It’s the fifth year in a row California was late.

California’s ACFR for the latest full fiscal year, ending June 30, 2022, still is AWOL. This is especially important because, as state legislators are crafting the budget for 2023-24 fiscal year beginning on July 1, they need an accurate picture of the state’s finances.

All these ACFRs now are online. So check those for your local county, city and school district. The person who showed me how to analyze the ACFRs 20 years ago was John Moorlach, then the Orange County treasurer-tax collector, later supervisor, then a state senator, in which role I worked for him as press secretary. For years, Moorlach has compiled lists and rankings of the ACFRs for the U.S. states and California counties, cities and school districts.

The key is dividing the “Unrestricted net position” (UNP) by the population, to get a per-capita number. For California’s new 2021 ACFR, the UNP was -$174.4 billion; which was better than 2020’s -$208 billion. A $33.6 billion improvement, or 16%.

Divide the new -$174.4 billion number by the state’s population in 2021 of 39.24 million. And we get a per capita tally of -$4,434. That’s the credit card slip Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature signed for you. For a family of four, you owe $17,736.

Moorlach pointed out to me a couple of things he found. As the state’s population declines, the per capita number will increase. Because almost all of it is for public retiree pensions and medical care, which cannot be cut no matter how many people flee.

Second, he fingered this excuse from the ACFR on the tardiness: “The modified opinions are the result of ongoing challenges experienced by one state department in administering California’s unemployment insurance program and preparing its financial statements using the Financial Information System for California (FI$Cal) accounting system.”

That means the highly incompetent Employment Development Department.

The fiscal year ending June 30, 2021 included almost the whole period of Newsom’s excessive COVID-19 lockdowns, forcing millions into unemployment and overloading the EDD’s rickety old computer systems. As I wrote for this newspaper in Dec. 2020, I saw firsthand how Moorlach and his Senate staff worked overtime helping local jobless constituents navigate that broken system.

The new ACFR calculates a $19.8 billion EDD “loan” from the federal government, which Moorlach said is paid down by $147 per year taken from your paycheck today. That number is not included in the ACFR’s $33.6 billion UNP improvement. So the real improvement is only $13.8 billion.

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The person Newsom appointed to oversee EDD during that time was Julie Su, secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency from Jan. 7, 2019 to July 17, 2021, that entire period. She currently is the acting U.S. secretary of labor, and was appointed to hold the post, pending Senate confirmation, by President Biden on Feb. 13. Moorlach called it “failing upward.”

A real problem here was term-limited former Controller Betty Yee failed to call out Newsom for not putting competent people in charge of the EDD, both to serve the people suffering in jobless lines and to finish her ACFR on time.

A second problem is this is what happens in a one-party state. Republican Lanhee Chen in his run for controller promised to produce timely ACFRs. To Cohen’s 55.3%, he got just 44.7%, actually the best performance of any GOP candidate statewide.

But Cohen’s timely performance in producing this ACFR just three months into her term is promising. Now, could we please have the 2022 numbers before the June 15 constitutional budget deadline? So the governor and legislators – and all Californians – can know what’s really going on in their fiscal house?

John Seiler is on the SCNG Editorial Board.

​ Orange County Register 

California needs an alliance between good government and small government forces

• April 5, 2023

Let’s face it: California has almost zero chance of becoming a small government, red state in the foreseeable future. A large majority of voters prefer extensive government services and the high taxes they require. Many of the conservatives that brought us Proposition 13 have passed away, retired, or moved away.

But within California’s big government majority, many are concerned with public sector inefficiency and dysfunction. If our government can’t even get the small things right, how is it supposed to tackle the big issues?

There are those out there fighting for more efficient government service. Govern for California is an example of  good government group that sometimes breaks with ruling party orthodoxies, as it advocates“actions to increase government performance and accountability” and opposes legislation “detrimental to the public interest.”

Libertarians and free market conservatives often oppose government action because they recognize that spontaneous order outperforms centrally formulated top-down solutions. Sacramento bureaucrats lack detailed knowledge of what’s happening in Calexico or Redding and are thus not in a good position to dictate what their residents should be doing. Even within a town or neighborhood, people working together voluntarily can solve problems better than local officials.

But we should recognize that while government solutions are generally inferior, some governments execute better than others. California often comes up short relative to other states on quality-of-life measures because its government performs poorly relative to its peers.

For example, the state of California has now failed to complete its audited financial statements within the federally established nine-month deadline for the last five years in a row. It is failing to produce financial statements on time despite spending $1 billion on a new financial system. No other state government has been so consistently late.

Late financial statements don’t impact the day-to-day lives of most Californians, but other government failures do. State and local government’s inability to address homelessness and public disorder are driving people away from urban downtowns, and, to an increasing extent, transit.

Despite spending billions on the issue, California’s share of unsheltered homeless far exceeds its share of the US population. And weather is not a sufficient explanation: Florida and Texas have much lower rates of homelessness rates than we do.

Libertarians, reform Democrats, and conservatives apply different lenses to the issue, with the latter groups more focused on the state’s lax enforcement of drug laws. The libertarian critique focuses on state and local policies that drive up the cost of housing. But most would agree that Los Angeles’ response, in the form of Measure HHH, has created very few new units at very high costs despite its $1.2 billion price tag.

Transportation is another clear case of government failure. While the state spends tens of billions on an endless high-speed rail project in the Central Valley, both Northern and Southern California struggle with traffic congestion. While reform Democrats might not agree that the state has underinvested in highways, they often share the belief that transit agencies are inefficiently run and fail to provide a safe, inviting environment to potential riders.

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Small government and good government advocates are also concerned about the low quality of public education across much of the state. In the 2021-22 school year, critics with varying ideological perspectives found common ground in opposition to excessive school closures which most other states avoided.

Now that schools are open, the groups’ approaches may differ as reform Democrats focus on ways to improve traditional public schools, while conservatives and libertarians would like to see more money going to private schools, and, possibly, charters. Perhaps the two groups can agree that some degree of choice is required, even if that choice is sometimes limited to multiple public schools within or across districts.

Whether the issue is homelessness, transportation, or education, all of us critical of the Sacramento establishment should agree on greater accountability. All major California public agencies should have strong auditors or inspectors general. Revelations from independent watchdogs like these could make California government less wasteful, even if it remains bigger than we would like.

Marc Joffe is a federalism and state policy analyst at the Cato Institute.

​ Orange County Register 

Leon Draisaitl propels Oilers past Kings, into 2nd in Pacific Division

• April 5, 2023

LOS ANGELES — For the Kings, a Pacific Division title and even home ice in the first round of the playoffs drifted further into the horizon on Tuesday night when they were stifled for the second time in less than a week by the Edmonton Oilers, who prevailed 3-1 at Crypto.com Arena.

These two clubs met on March 30, when the Oilers won, 2-0, in Edmonton. In both instances, the victories moved them ahead of the Kings in the standings. Both teams have four games remaining with Edmonton holding a one-point lead. They have split the season series after Edmonton eliminated the Kings from the 2022 postseason. The Kings also trail the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights, whose overtime loss to the Nashville Predators Tuesday left them four points ahead of the Kings and three up on Edmonton.

Winger Viktor Arvidsson scored the Kings’ only goal. Pheonix Copley snapped his string of nine consecutive decisions with at least one point earned for his team, making 30 saves.

Forwards Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins assisted on each other’s power-play goals before Draisaitl set up defenseman Darnell Nurse’s late empty-netter. Draisaitl’s three points extended his scoring streak to 13 games over which he’s scored 27 points (10 goals) to top the NHL since the surge commenced. Stuart Skinner turned away 20 shots to earn his seventh victory in his past eight appearances.

For Edmonton, the past 11 games have seen them collect 21 of a possible 22 points while wearing the countenance of contenders. For a Kings team that has now allowed two goals or fewer outside of empty-net goals and shootouts in 15 of its past 16 games, the loss was a bitter pill at a moment when the group was ailing for a big win.

“It’s the way it’s going to be against L.A., that’s the way you beat a team like that. We’ve done it twice now and I think it’s good for our group to show to ourselves, and to them, that we can beat them that way,” Edmonton captain Connor McDavid said.

As 96 seconds remained, Nurse’s length-of-the-ice, bank shot off the glass and into an empty net condemned the Kings to defeat.

With 7:20 to play, the Oilers had taken the lead for good with a man-advantage goal. McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer, waited out defenseman Matt Roy to get a shot on net that created a rebound that Draisaitl narrowly stuffed past defenseman Sean Durzi and Copley.

Skinner was impenetrable for more than five-and-a-half periods, as he shut out the Kings on Thursday and up past the midpoint of Tuesday’s third period. A dump-in and forecheck allowed forward Trevor Moore to recover the puck and slip it to Arvidsson for a one-timer from the blue line, Arvidsson’s 25th goal of the season. But no sooner did he breathe life into the Kings with an equalizer did he take a slashing penalty against McDavid, sending Edmonton to the game-winning power play.

“The timing of penalties comes into play a little bit, too. We just get some energy and some traction, and then we go back to the box,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said.

The Kings buzzed late in the second period. Winger Quinton Byfield had his stick broken, by what he suggested to the official was an unnoticed slash, during a sterling chance. Then center Phillip Danault tested Skinner’s glove, yet they trailed 1-0 at the second intermission just the same.

Winger Adrian Kempe’s partial breakaway at the end of a shift just over six minutes into the period might have been the game’s strongest scoring chance to that point. That was until Edmonton’s third power-play opportunity of the night.

Play broke down after Durzi’s blocked shot led to a board battle. Draisaitl came away with the puck and zipped it across the zone to Nugent-Hopkins for a one-timer, his career-best 36th goal of the season with 8:30 showing on the clock.

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“They rely on their power play an awful lot. They won it with their power play tonight,” McLellan said.

The Oilers have the best power-play conversion rate in the NHL, but they had gone 0 for 11 against the Kings before the goal from Nugent-Hopkins. He, Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are the three most prolific man-advantage players in the NHL.

“Credit to them, they did a lot of good things on their kill and they know our group really well,” said McDavid, who played for McLellan for parts of four seasons in Edmonton. “It’s a game of inches and little battles, and we won just enough to put two in.”

Space was at a premium in the first period with the two sides combining for more than twice as many blocks (12) as shots on goal (five). There was a physical bent to the frame as well, with Edmonton doling out 20 hits. A small skirmish broke out in each of the first two periods, though nothing like the three fights during the Oilers’ last visit to Figueroa Street.

“We know how tight it is in the West. Home ice is a big thing,” defenseman Sean Walker said. “Obviously the guys played these guys last year in Round 1, so it’s something that we’re looking at and we’re going to do everything going forward to make sure we get home ice.”

​ Orange County Register