Republican Club

By Brian Harmon

LW contributor

The LW Republican club has announced its recommendations for the coming Nov. 3 elections.

• President: Donald Trump

• Congress: Michelle Steel

• Assembly: Janet Nguyen

• SB City Council: Thomas Moore As if voting on propositions were not difficult enough, even the titles of ballot measures and the descriptions are often misleading. The LW Republican Club has looked over each proposition in the upcoming election and created a list of recommendations that line up with Republican values and beliefs. Below are some of the following propositions that will show up on LWer’s ballots along with the club’s opinion on each.

Proposition 14- NO. State funding of stem cell research began with a $3.3 billion in 2004, after federal funding was terminated. Federal was restored in 2009. This measure will cost $7.8 Billion, including interest. The state is still paying $327 million per year on the money that was borrowed in 2004. The Republican believes this is unaffordable.

Proposition 15- NO. This proposition will repeal Proposition 13 as it applies to industrial and commercial property, with some exceptions. Proposition 13, passed overwhelmingly by voters in 1978, sets property tax assessments at 1 percent of sales price plus a maximum 2 percent increase per year. The Republican Club believes that Prop 15 will raise property taxes on business properties, raise prices, increase unemployment and drive businesses from the state.

Proposition 17- NO. This initiative will allow the 40,000 people who are on parole to vote in all elections. Since these individuals are still paying for their crimes against society. The Republican Club belieeves that voting privilege should start when parole ends, not when it begins.

Proposition 18- NO. Since brain scientists are in agreement that the decision-making part of the brain (the pre-frontal cortex) is not fully developed until about age 25, why do we want to provide voting rights to 17-year-olds?

Proposition 20- YES. Supported by police officer associations, this measure would undo some of the damage done by Proposition 47, approved in 2014, which allowed many people who committed non-violent crimes to be released.

Proposition 21- NO. Rent control is one of the very few issues on which virtually all economists agree. Most believe that rent control tends to decrease the supply of housing by discouraging the building of new housing and maintenance of existing units.

Proposition 22- YES. In spite of its title, this proposition increases benefits to ride share drivers as well as allowing them to remain as independent contractors. The business model of app-driven ride share companies requires that drivers be independent contractors, rather than regular employees. As such, they are difficult, if not impossible, to unionize. This makes them logical targets for powerful Sacramento lawmakers. The Republican believes that the failure of this measure to pass will increase unemployment and make it much more difficult for those who must, or want to, use ride share services.

Proposition 24- NO. While we all agree that personal privacy rights should be protected, this proposition will add new restrictions that will hurt small businesses and benefit large corporations that can afford to meet its requirements.

Proposition 25- NO. This measure is an attempt to remedy the problem of poor people having to go to jail because they cannot afford to post bail. A sliding scale based on income would be more fair. Instead, this law would eliminate bail for low income people. Unfortunately, that will result in many lawbreakers never showing up for trial and not having to pay for their crimes. •••• Voter registration has reached a new milestone as President David Harlow announced that 202 people have registered to vote this year at the Republican Club booth. Sales at the Monday booth are way up, averaging about $700 per day. Sale of merchandise is planned to end the last day of September.

The club is also raffling off a wall-size, framed picture of a jailhouse built in 1878 in Bodie, California, a gold mining ghost town near the Nevada border. The unique photograph was donated by Jim Yoshioka, who was born in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. His auto-biography titled “I am the Clay, He is the Potter,” is available on Amazon. All profits will go to the LW Republican club.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at noon, volunteers at the GOP club booth continue to give away face masks donated by Chairwoman of the OC Board of Supervisors and Congressional candidate Michelle Steel, as well as campaign signs for Republican candidates including Michelle Steel and Seal Beach City Councilman Tom Moore, who represents most of LW.

The booth is located in the parking lot near Clubhouse 6, where the food trucks can be found later in the day.