VOTE NO on Tri-City Proposition A

Once again, and for the third time, Tri-City Medical Center is pressing the North County residents to accept a new tax to fund hospital improvements and modernization. That sounds all well and good, except it wouldn't be needed if the hospital administration ran the place like a business instead of a charity, while making huge salaries and perks and failing to competently run the hospital!

Each time this has come up for a vote, Tri-City has put a different spin on the concept. The first two times it was to build the "Taj Mahal" of all hospitals while making the requisite earthquake improvements, and those propositions were soundly defeated by the voters. Now, Tri-City has hit on a mail-only ballot and telling everyone it's only for improvements and not for the original showplace. And that none of the money will go to administration. Hmm, I think my cat even wouldn't hit the yes button if it were filled with catnip on that ploy!

We all know there is a supposed budget and if you place the money that was supposed to go to building maintenance and other physical plant activity in abeyance as it's now being handled by a bond passage, that money will be diverted somewhere else. So, in reality the facts are that they could really not be using the bond money for administrative issues, but can divert other monies that would normally be used for the buildings to that purpose anyway. In short, the voters get screwed in any case.

There is no question an expansion of TCMC is long overdue, perhaps if only to shore up the earthquake solidity of the building, and serve the burgeoning illegal population that overruns the ER daily, but that's not the question. TCMC should be building and funding with its own money. The last I noted it is not a institution or hospital owned by the state, county or any municipal entity, nor is it a military or VA facility. It's a private not-for-profit hospital that seems, for some reason, to forget that balancing a budget does not happen while loading the pockets of it's top heavy administration. They keep getting huge salaries, voting themselves even more while crying about the needs of the hospital. Add to that the questionable practices of handling the massive pass-thru ER masses, and the unreimbursed free care to illegals and uninsureds and you can see where this is headed. No amount of money is going to fix their problems if they don't fix their internal problems first!

You've seen all the TV advertising and, the paid advertising in the North County Times of course. Guess why? Rather than face the people of North County in a Proposition on the ballot, like is usually done, Tri-City is sneaking a $589 million dollar bond measure mail ballot into your mailbox surreptitiously in the hope you'll:

• a. vote for it because you're tired of hearing about it
• b. toss the vote away and only those in favor will vote for it
• c. vote for it based on all the hype you'll hear over the media

Better still would be:

• e. Dump the bond measure, dump the current board, TCMC sells to a private not-for profit health care consortium and grows as the hospitals in Orange County have with no tax dollars involved.

Unless you have money to throw away and like being taxed over and over again, VOTE NO on this Proposition A. Don't be fooled into thinking your healthcare will suffer if you don't give Tri-City your money. The proponents try and make you think you'll be dying on the sidewalk without this tax increase, but that's not the case. There are other hospitals and frankly, when Tri-City's ER is jammed, often other ER's are almost empty. That's because of the type people using the ER there as their family doctor and clinic. A recent article says they're trying to push the people to use the community clinics for follow-ups, but that doesn't work for the first visit, nor does it work when there's nobody to drive the patient until after working hours. TCMC will still be jammed. Funny how some other hospitals don't have the same problem.....

Finally, TCMC is NOT a bad hospital in any sense of the word. There are great people there doing great work. The problem is simply the administration, from the top down! In my humble opinion, they hire based on level of incompetency in many areas, and that inspires lackadaisical attitudes and incompetency which is supervised by more of the same. The "worker bees" who do the great job at TCMC are on the short end of the stick every day, and many grow tired of feeling beat up by the system and eventually leave, taking with them expertise, experience and abilities that just are not easily replaced. Thus the revolving door policy that has become the norm in so many areas, making for low morale and people having to double up and do the work of others who either cannot or just will not work. Unfortunately, management either turns a blind eye to these problems, or just doesn't care in some cases I guess. Poor management is a trickle down disease and contaminates as surely as any biohazard in the healthcare setting, or any other for that matter. It's contagious and very difficult to eliminate once it takes hold. It must be eliminated at the source before any regimen of control becomes effective.

Why Not Just Tax US to Death, California!

I just received a notice of the proposed water, and sewer fee increases for the Carlsbad CA Municipal Water District. While I recognize costs have increased, this seems to be an annual event with the last increase on October 1, 2007 according to the the city's own web site.

Here we are, in what the politicians hate to call a recession (hurts the economy I guess or maybe it hurts to tell the truth that we're headed on the death spiral toward a real depression) primarily due to the idiocy of the free spenders in our governmental agencies, no matter which level they be affiliated with; state, federal or municipal.

Yet in the interim, Carlsbad has managed to complete what is stated to be the most expensive municipal golf course in the nation, over 70 million dollars to build, yet it won't make a profit for many years. In the interim, guess who's going to pay for it? You got it, the taxpayers! Yes, Carlsbad generally has a budget surplus; too bad it's not put to use for the good of the general residents rather than a few who might be able to play golf and afford the fees! What about those on a fixed income, retirees and the disabled whom the increases in water rates will impact most. Our city father's obviously never gave any thought to the potential for a troubled economy when they spent the tons of cash on this one, did they?

And someone in out City Government even has the audacity, the unmitigated gall, to put forth the idea to pay the State of California hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps even a half-million, annually to provide free parking at Tamarack Beach, so the State won't put up pay parking sites. Hey, city fathers, get a grip. Use that money and put it toward the water bills! I even note you used our tax money to sue the state to stop them collecting the eight bucks. Maybe THAT could have gone toward the water bills? You're not doing Carlsbad residents a big service here. That parking serves the residents of the entire coastal communities and the tourists too, and most of the time locals can't find a parking spot, so it turns out we're paying for everyone in the county to park free at our local beaches while we have to pay to park at theirs, like Oceanside and La Costa and everywhere else? If beach goers are that fervent about using the beaches all year round, let them buy an annual pass and they can avail themselves of most of the beach parking in the State as often as they wish for a single price. (There are some exceptions, like Moonlight and Leucadia, so check the list http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/737/files/dpr335.pdf )

These are tough times and we're being taxed and fee'd to death. The water increase comes at a time when we're being hammered by Tri-City who wants us to vote on a bond issue that will cost us tax dollars for 40 years, and the County wants us to pay $52 more per parcel for fire protection that we already have, to assist those who built in areas where they should have made developers pay for ADEQUATE fire protection. Now they want everyone in the county to pay for what the county failed to do when they allowed unbridled building to occur, and failed to require contractors to pay for fire protection that would serve those areas into the foreseeable future. The wildfires came, unfortunately destroyed homes, and now the county wants residents of cities who have paid for their fire departments and fire protection improvements, to pay for improvements for far flung parts of the county, because people choose to build in the back woods or on the urban wildfire interface. Bottom line is if you choose to live in those areas, you should bear the burden of paying for improved fire protection. We're already paying for law enforcement for the rural areas in the form of the Sheriff's Department!

Every time I look at the newspaper, some politician trying to figure out how to squeeze us a bit more and tax us again. Enough is enough. As for the beach, let the people who use the parking lot pay for the parking. These are the same people who think nothing of a four buck Starbucks, or an 8 dollar six pack of beer or a few cold drinks at a local watering hole or a meal at a restaurant that will cost lots more. Surely you don't think the cost of parking will keep them from enjoying themselves?

Finally, to loosen up parking spaces, how about restricting the motor homes, campers and vehicles with trailers from the road adjacent to the beach? Some of these take up three, four or more parking places that could be utilized for free parking. One "toy box" with the ramp open attached to a Suburban took enough space for at least 4 vehicles to park free. Some motor homes have vehicles in tow! And, tighten the hours on these vehicles if you're going to allow them to park there at all. Some come at 6 AM and stay until after dark, hogging those 3 or 4 parking spots all day. No wonder there is insufficient parking!

In this economy, let those who want to play, pay. Those who want to golf pay the higher fees to pay for the golf course. Those who want to park at the beach pay the parking fees. And give the taxpayer a break for a change. For one day there will be another taxpayer revolt in California and the people will say absolutely no more...and it will make Proposition 13 look like childs play. The stirrings and rumbling seem to be heard in too many circles to be ignored.

Foreclosures, Forestalling and Just Foreplay by the Lenders

Wait a damn minute! Tonight on the television, I watched an eager couple at a government sponsored foreclosure loan seminar, or whatever they called it, working to get their home loan refinanced from a 7% loan to a 3% loan at a fixed rate. At the government's expense! WTF? A 3% loan? While all of us out here are paying anywhere from 5 to 8% on our loans and people are bitchin' about their loan being at 7% and the government is going to help them get 3% loans?

Something is patently wrong if this is anywhere near correct. Simply because people have loans on their homes and can't pay the mortgage is no reason to bail them out with taxpayers dollars. Sorry, but that's the cold, hard facts. People who overbought what they could afford, or who took "teaser" rates without having the brains to figure the rates would be headed up at certain time lines in the future, don't deserve to get special consideration for being stupid or greedy. There are exceptions, which I spelled out in earlier blog entries on this subject, so read those before you think I'm suggesting we throw crippled children out in the cold with the Alaskan bears to feed upon.

On the other side, IF the banks are being pushed to lower the interest rates, and the government isn't paying a cent toward the reduced interest rates, then why not go for the whole enchilada? Shouldn't everyone then be heading to their loan institution to plead their case and ask for a reduced loan rate? Especially the elderly and retired who live on a fixed income? How about disabled people and others who can't work, but make it by by scrimping and saving, yet somehow manage to get that mortgage payment in the mail every month, even if it means eating less or poorer quality meals? Reminds me of the lady who ate cat food because tuna was too expensive and she had to save somehow. Yet she didn't ask for a mortgage reduction.

Where does this end? Who is eligible for a mortgage reduction. If you don't pay your mortgage for a few months and plead poverty to the bank, can you get your mortgage reduced by hundreds of dollars? What about the people who are out of work and can't pay the mortgage no matter how low the interest rate goes. Won't they lose their home anyway? They are the ones I'd be more concerned about in this crisis, the ones who will be homeless or have to lose everything they worked for due to the housing crunch; those who should have had some relief from their lender long before it came to this.

If you read online, you'll see where the big banks want you to believe what a good job they're doing in helping out their customers working through the foreclosures. If that were true, you'd see many less foreclosure statistics on the maps and in front of homes, wouldn't you? While it's true that foreclosure is the last thing the banks and the homeowners want, unfortunately neither usually does anything substantive and positive about the situation until it's far too late. And, honestly, banks being what they are, are not all that people oriented. They're just bean-counters who want your money, and you're a faceless entity that forks it over every month. When the money stops, you cease to exist in their system.

Underinsured or Overconfident? The Next Fire Will Tell!

It's been about ten months since the last huge wildfires in Southern California, and the winds of change haven't blown all that much sense into many citizens, in either insurance savvy or fire prevention.

Some still have not prepared a defensible space around their homes by clearing brush, dead grass and debris to at least the property line or 100 feet minimum, and many still have those old wood shingle roofs when they could have replaced them by now, considering the 2003 and 2007 fire seasons and the warnings from fire officials for many years before and since that homes with those type roofs just are not defensible against wildfires.

As for insurance, it's the same old game. How can I get the insurance coverage and make the bank happy, while not actually covering the appreciated or real value of my home. In that way I can save some premium dollars and be really insurance smart. After all, my insurance agent is okay with that and has been all along... You could be right, but who is on the hook for the loss when the embers die down and the smoke clears. YOU! You with the under insured home and who cannot replace it for the values you stated were correct when you took out the coverage. Did you think you could have even committed fraud when you signed those documents indicating everything you stated was true to the best of your knowledge? If that were pursued, my friend, you'd be left with no coverage, and just a scorched piece of concrete slab you used to call home with no insurance money to rebuild anything! Think about that for a moment!

Let's think about depreciation, appreciation and all the things that happen during the good and bad economy that we're seeing right now. You bought that house for $500K and it's value, including improvements like the swimming pool and interior work helped it soar to $900K over six years. Then the market plunged over the past two years and now it's worth $400K, less than you paid for it, much less than you have invested in it, and maybe less than you owe based on the mortgage and home equity lines, etc. If you didn't keep the insurance-to-value up on your home as you made improvements, you would likely be woefully under insured should a loss occur.

Since the house has depreciated, some people think that it will cost less to rebuild. Not so. The cost of building materials, fixtures and labor will be significantly higher than they were when your home was built, so even though the value placed on the home as a "real estate sales price" might have tumbled, the actual cost of rebuilding will be lots higher than it was for the original dwelling. Another factor lots of people fail to recognize is the "economy of scale" when a builder completes a development. If you own a tract home, the builder has the benefit of contracting for or purchasing materials at a good savings to build dozens, or even hundreds of homes at one time. That economy is lost when a builder must "spot build" one home. In addition, should the new home have to be rebuilt between existing dwellings that have survived a fire, there are extra costs as restrictions in movement, the cost of cranes or specialized equipment to move equipment and materials over or around adjacent structures to reach back yard areas, have to be included in the costs of rebuilding.

The bottom line is to sit down before the time of loss and pore over your insurance policies and see if you have enough coverage. If you have a replacement value policy, does it cover enough of the replacement value to actually make you whole again, or will it leave you partially rebuilt. Increasing your coverage is as easy as sitting down with your agent or broker, or a phone call to your insurance company, and discussing your needs and what is realistic coverage for your home, business and contents. Once the flames come calling at your door, it's too late to wish you had made the call earlier, because by then, it's too late.

Which reminds me of one of my favorite sayings:

"After you jump, it's too late to wish you bought the better parachute!"

Your Bank or Credit Union May be Lying to You

Did you roll your retirement account over from your workplace to your favorite bank or credit union to a retirement account? Do you have an IRA or Keough account at your bank or credit union? Is the amount in excess of $250,000? If so, did you know that the amount over $250,000 is not insured by either the FDIC or, in the case of credit unions, the NCUA?

No, it does NOT matter if you have your spouses name on the account as community property or with right of survivorship, nor how many beneficiaries are named on the account. According to the Federal insurers of these institutions, all retirement accounts have one thing in common and that is they have a $250,000 insured limit per person per institution. Period. End of story. You also have a limit of $100,000 per account you might have in the institution, so savings can be insured separately as can be checking, etc, but NOT retirement accounts. However, you can have a retirement account into which you contributed separately, as can your spouse and each will be insured separately up to the $250K amount, providing each is a fully separate account.

So, if you, personally, have three retirement accounts, and each has $150,000 in it, you stand to lose $200,000 if your bank or credit union folds. If you have one account and it has $500,000 in it you stand to lose $250,000 in one fell swoop in the same scenario. Not likely, but given the present economy, who wants to take that chance. My suggestion is to diversify and move money to credit unions or banks where the money will be insured. You might not make as much interest at another bank, but losing a few dollars in interest isn't nearly as bad as losing your lifes' savings!

I'm writing this because I have been misinformed, and I believe downright deceived, by people who are not the brightest bulbs on the tree at the San Diego County Credit Union. As late as yesterday, I was informed that accounts were covered fully and that the number of beneficiaries on the account increased the insurance on the account, so if you have four beneficiaries, you would automatically increase the insurance by $400K plus the amount already available to husband and spouse of $100K each for a total of $600K. HUH? None of that applies to anything, but it sure must have sounded good coming out of the storyteller at SDCCU so she went on to tell me more amazing stories to try and convince me all was fine in credit union land.

When I told her she was wrong and needed to get her facts straight, she finally went to ask a supervisor and returned agreeing reluctantly that I was correct; $250K is the limit. But then went on to tell me even though the money is uninsured and I could potentially lose it, the credit union is doing so well and has never had financial troubles. Wait a minute...this is MY Money and it's uninsured! People at Indymac bank might have heard the same thing and they're sitting without a bunch of their life's savings now!

Just as a side note, this same institution has been telling me for two years that the limit didn't apply to IRA's. It's a shame you have to get on the Internet, and research and print out materials to take to the bank to educate them about their job, to avoid being sacrificed in the event of a meltdown. What the hell happened to professionalism and knowledge in the banking industry where you could get a straight answer? Remember the saying "You can take that to the bank"? or "You can bank on it"? Better not use that one any more.

I am not assuming Chicken Little's position and screaming that the sky is falling. Far from it; I believe our financial system is secure. However, why would anyone want to keep their money in an institution where it is not insured? That's like buying a car and insuring it for half it's value and after the wreck only having the chassis but no engine because the insurance doesn't cover it all. Or buying a house and then insuring it for only part of it's value, like house insurance that doesn't cover the roof; after the loss you get great walls, carpet and furniture but no roof or ceilings.

In my humble opinion, unless you are willing to lose, you take precautionary steps to secure. Seems to work in combat as in finance. The stakes just are different.

General Wesley Clark lacks credibility

I'd like to quote the following in full, including the writers' name, from the Orange County (CA) Register regarding General Clark's statements about Senator John Mc Cain's leadership potentials. It is a superbly written piece:

Sunday, July 6, 2008

July 6: Gen. Clark's tainted record
Letters to the editor for Sunday, July 6, 2008
The Orange County Register

Resolve is an important quality in a president, a quality that John McCain possesses from his service to our country as a POW. Maybe, as Gen. Wesley Clark points out, riding in a jet and getting shot down does not qualify a person to be president. But the inner resolve to deal with the incredible torturous experience, and maintain one's composure for the five years after the "jet ride" sure does! That experience, resolve, inner calm and ability to meditate over issues is exactly what I want in the person taking the 3 a.m. call at the White House.

As for Clark's opinion, remember that under Clark the United States attacked the Balkans to deflect attention from the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Under Clark's NATO "leadership" the United States bombed the Chinese embassy by mistake, killing three Chinese journalists. Other air strikes he directed mistakenly damaged the Swiss, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian and Hungarian ambassadors' residences. Then Clark's forces bombed a civilian convoy by mistake, killing more than 70 ethnic Albanians, which Clark lied about. Ultimately, Bill Clinton fired him.
Because of his abject inexperience, Sen. Barack Obama surrounds himself with such ineptitude, making the choice for McCain a "no brainer."

Paul Carter
Long Beach

QVC - Informercial that misinforms

Many of us watch QVC on the television. It's a way to waste time when nothing else is on. Of course, some people likely spend hours and hours watching this program and lots of their hard-earned money on the items pandered by the show hosts 24 hours a day, 364 days a year. (They're not selling on Christmas Day)

We used to watch QVC quite a bit and even bought quite a number of items from them, as sometimes the price, including shipping and tax, is right. And, some of the time, the show hosts even know what they're talking about when describing the products. Trouble is, sometimes they don't and when you let them know it, they never change their pitch. Sometimes the information they purvey, or simply avoid telling you, could be downright dangerous.

For example, QVC was selling a set of containers that held ice in the bottom and could be used for keeping things such as potato or macaroni salads cool at a picnic. They showed the item on air and the alleged temperature on an electronic thermometer, showing the foodstuff would be safe to eat for hours. Each time they presented the same item all day, as it was their "Today's Special Value", the temperature was exactly the same, making people believe the item would keep the salad cool all day. Not so. With the amount of ice in the product, it would have melted in a short time even under studio conditions, let alone summer heat, and the food would have started to deteriorate and spoil. But the host touted how long this was keeping the food cold and safe to eat, etc.

I e-mailed the host and explained thermodynamics and the fallacy of the scenario they were showing, as well as the thermometer either being rigged to show one temperature all day, or possibly being used to show minimum temperature or whatever. She did respond, stating she would bring this up to the manufacturer, but next time around, the same story on the same item with the same results. Wonder how many people got sick from eating warm potato or macaroni salad or other food that was supposed to be cold? Maybe if people sued QVC for false advertising they would get a clue?

Many of the hosts don't give the people who are manufacturers representatives time to describe the product, but instead cut them off and rudely interrupt their explanation of the products. David Venable and Dan Wheeler are famous for doing this, as they must think they know more about the product than any other living human being possibly could. And both make fools out of themselves on occasion when they do so. Why even bother having the "experts" when these people think they're so brilliant.

Product pricing on QVC has increased tremendously in the past several years and, in our opinion, quality has dropped. The Chesapeake crab cakes seem to contain much more filler than they ever did before, so we no longer buy them. The ones we get don't have the giant lumps of crab meat like the ones you see them demonstrate; they did once but we must be getting the dregs somehow.

Are you buying Dooney and Bourke handbags on QVC? Ever notice how on TV they never tell you that any product is made in China? Imagine my surprise when I purchased a Dooney & Bourke handbag for my wife and when I received it found it was made in China! Not that it's a bad handbag, mind you, but if I knew it was made in China I likely wouldn't have bought it. Personally, I think that's why they don't tell you where the stuff is made, because if they did it would turn people off and their sales would plummet! Much of what is sold on QVC and other shopping channels is imported, but who would have figured high line purses would be from China? And, they never tell you that! You can find that out on their website, but they will never tell you on their TV programs.

Let's talk about warranties. QVC is very good about returns within a short period of time after you purchase an item. After that, if a item fails and the manufacturer decides not to honor their warranty, you're, well, just plain screwed. QVC is absolutely no help at all. We purchased a solar bird bath from QVC with a two year warranty and within a year it failed to pump water. We contacted the company, Smart Solar, who e-mailed us and said we would receive replacement parts under the warranty within 10 days. Never happened. We contacted Smart Solar again about 30 days later and again received a similar e-mail with the same promise. Again, never happened. Contacted QVC asking for help, and they asked for purchase details. First they couldn't find the purchase, although I provided all the information, purchase date, and explained it was under my wife's name, then QVC responded again stating sorry, nothing QVC can do. Another contact with Smart Solar elicited a response from a "Jason" who personally promised to send the parts out himself, and stated they allegedly sent the parts out much earlier by mail but they must have been lost. Yeah, what a bunch of crap that was. We have never received anything and now have a nice resin dish in the yard, still under warranty by Stupid Solar, sold by QVC who touts their great service.

Bottom line is you're no better off purchasing from QVC than from your local store, unless it's something you can't get locally. In addition to your purchase price, you'll pay tax and shipping through QVC and you have to wonder whether your purchase is really worth the total cost, especially when they won't throw their weight around a bit for you when you have a product problem. At least if you buy the product from Sears, or Target or Wal-Mart, Best Buy or any local merchant you have a place to walk into and complain and some semblance of satisfaction.

August 2008 Update: QVC wants us now to ship the solar fountain back to them and will refund the purchase price if we will repack it in the original packaging (WTF?) and use their label and they will then deduct the $8.95 shipping charge from the refund. Hmm, lets see, pack the resin fountain in the packaging we don't have, and carry it to the UPS Shipping point or UPS Store and ship it to them all at our inconvenience, time and expense, simply because neither they nor the maker will replace the defective parts which would fit in a brown bubble envelope?

More brilliance and more reasoning not to trust QVC or their suppliers.

What Happened to God?

As I look around, I seem to find that for some reason, a small minority of America has put God on the shelf or in a closet somewhere. It seems they, that small minority, don't want to acknowledge that there is a God, regardless of the manifestation of the many creations around them that have emanated from other than simply an evolutionary state.

I'm not getting into the religious issue of who is God to each and every one of us here; simply that each of the majority of people on this earth believe in God, even if their version is somewhat, or even radically, different than what someone else believes in. The point is that they do believe.

Now we come to the small minority of those we'll simply call atheists. That's okay since that's what they call themselves. Do I care if they don't believe in God? Not one iota I don't. Do I care if they spout their vile non-believer rhetoric within their own circle of people? Nope. What I do care about is that somehow, in some inane and idiotic manner, the judiciary of this great country listens to this minority, and allows them to bring legal challenge after challenge, costing us, the taxpayers, tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars, to erase any vestige of God from our nation's soil.

One idiot who doesn't believe in God can challenge the motto "In God We Trust" on our coins, tray and change the Pledge of Allegiance, and want to have all future currency changed as well as have current monies pulled from circulation because it offends him. What about the majority who think that he offends us? Maybe we should be suing him because he is frivolously costing us money by starting these suits?

How about Mt. Soledad in San Diego? Now that it's a Federal Veteran's Memorial, perhaps the suits to have the cross removed will cease. Who knows. Is the cross that offensive? Was the atheist mission simply that it's not a clear separation of church and state, or would they, if it were ever possible, try and have all religious symbolism removed from all buildings, private or not, because to have to look at it offends them? Hell, it offended me to have to look at Madalyn Murray O'Hair, who managed to have prayer banned in public schools, but I didn't sue to have her face removed! They tried to have the La Mesa city seal changed but that failed, so who knows what will lie in the path of their anti-religious lunacy next?

Many pray to different Gods, or at least some form of the same God, which has somehow become enmeshed within their chosen religious beliefs. Whichever one it is should give them solace, peace and a deep rooted and profound sense of being. In my humble opinion, that's what matters, to have a religion to believe in, whether it's the religion of the earth, of the heavens or wherever it is that brings you joy, and love, and a sense of future. Nobody can tell you that your religion is wrong if you truly believe in your heart that it's right, and right for you.

But to have no belief at all and then to try and stop others from believing by mean, selfish acts is just wrong.

Escondido Police Drivers' License Checkpoints

Kudos to the Escondido California Police Department on their use of Drivers' License checkpoints to curb unlicensed and unregistered, uninsured vehicles on the streets of their city. It appears to be a legal, effective way to help rid the streets of drivers who pay no attention to the law, and who fail to obtain licenses, operate outdated or unregistered vehicles or who have no insurance or insurance that has lapsed. They don't randomly stop vehicles; when they set up a checkpoint, they stop every vehicle passing through.

However, this upsets some of the Hispanic community, including one activist named Bill Flores, who always seems to be able to be a mouthpiece when trouble can be brewed over anything that could remotely be labeled Hispanic, Mexican or Latino, regardless of why or how. Especially if you add the word ILLEGAL in front of any of the above.

It seems that many of the drivers being caught in this "overzealous" dragnet by the Escondido Police are Illegal Alien Mexicans. Those who have entered this country ILLEGALLY, who have no right to be here, who have no right to be driving a car, who have no insurance since they can't legally drive nor register a vehicle and who should not be in America. Yet, their apprehension in these completely legal checkpoints angers Flores to no end, who accuses the police of racism, and of picking on the poor illegal alien Mexicans.

Flores states that all the illegals don't impact healthcare and states that Palomar Hospital was accredited this year. Good God, Flores, get your head out of your butt! Sure it was accredited as all the hospitals are! The standard of care everyone is concerned about is waiting in the ER and halls for help while the staff is overwhelmed providing free services to all the illegals and non-payers who come through the doors every day and night. Your chance of dying while a bed is taken up by an illegal with a non-emergency issue increases with the glut of illegals who use the Emergency Rooms as their own after hours doctors offices, knowing the care is free! This applies to Tri-City and most other hospitals as well. Flores doesn't say anything about the billions in healthcare shortages suffered in California every year as a result of the illegals; he's all for giving them everything free. I'd bet if he had a healthcare emergency and had to wait in the back of a paramedic van, or in the hallway of the ER because it was so crowded, that he might get a better picture. But maybe not. What would he then yell...get all the paying white, black, asian, etc. patients out? Naah, that would be racist!

People who want to give it all away should do just that. Give the illegals their credit cards, wallets, money, bank account, ATM and PIN numbers, cars and houses and have nothing. It should make them feel better that they have done their best to assuage the evil injustices done when people break Federal laws and then somehow get caught and deported.

They remind me of the Hollywood stars and Al Gore who want everyone else to go green, while their houses use more electricity in a week than yours does in a whole year! Flores sends out more hot air than the entire New Mexico balloon races to defend people who have absolutely no right to be here in the first place. Illegal is illegal. Period.

And, if the word illegal is offensive, too damn bad. My answer to that is:

"To call an illegal alien an undocumented worker is tantamount to calling a drug dealer an undocumented pharmacist!"

It just don't cut it!