California drivers know the sting of filling up at the pump, where prices often hover $1.50 to $2 above the national average—$4.65 per gallon versus $3.15 nationally as of April 2025. While crude oil and refining costs play a role, the real culprit behind these sky-high prices is a web of state taxes, fees, and regulations that inflate costs far beyond what’s necessary. Add to that the elevated operational costs for gas stations in California’s pricey real estate and regulatory environment, and it’s clear why motorists are squeezed. Worse, the state’s aggressive climate policies, like cap-and-trade and low carbon fuel standards, promise global environmental gains but deliver negligible impact, raising questions about their prudence.

Let’s break down the numbers. According to the California Energy Commission, taxes and fees account for roughly $1.35 per gallon of gasoline in 2024. The state excise tax, the highest in the nation, stands at 59.6 cents per gallon, up from 27.8 cents in 2017, with annual increases tied to inflation. The federal excise tax adds 18.4 cents, unchanged since 1993. State and local sales taxes, averaging 2.25% but varying by region,… Read More

California’s Roster of Handguns Certified for Sale is a cunning gun control scheme dressed up as public safety, designed to erode the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Californians. This restrictive list, managed by the California Department of Justice, dictates which handguns can be sold in the state, imposing arcane requirements like microstamping, chamber load indicators, and magazine disconnect mechanisms. The state limits the handguns that Californians can legally purchase to about 750 models, many of them variations of the same model. That’s a fraction of the variety available to Americans who do not reside in California – and it ironically bans the saleof newer firearms with cutting-edge safety features. Far from protecting citizens, the roster blocks access to modern firearms with cutting-edge safety features, reflecting the liberal elite’s agenda to disarm Californians through bureaucratic overreach. Legal challenges, including those led by the California Rifle and Pistol Association, are exposing this policy as an unconstitutional attack on fundamental rights. The roster stems from California’s Unsafe… Read More

A recent encounter left me conflicted as to whether or not someone’s comments were racially based. I thought the person’s assertion that the comments were racially based were over the top. I told the person that is because he lives in a race-based world, and I live in a post racial world. Forces on the Left have driven us backwards to a race-based world. Black Lives Matter (BLM), a group led by self-identified communists, were able to take advantage of a man’s death in Minneapolis. This led to destructive riots causing billions in damage, not to mention lives lost, without any repercussions. Corporate America, which sometimes sways with the winds, poured $90 million into an organization that misused the funds, bought at least one personal residence for a founder, and was never held to account for their malfeasance. That is because the people in charge of our government want to take us back to a race-based world. These supposed “leaders” want to act as if America exists the same as it did in the 1950’s. While America is not a perfect place for blacks (or anyone else for that matter), it is the single best place to be in a multi-racial… Read More

For a conservative like me, The New York Times is a paradox, a daily tug-of-war between delight and dismay. On one hand, its games—Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, and the rest—are a daily ritual I cherish, a mental workout that sparks joy and sharpens my wits. On the other, its news and opinion pages often feel like a lecture hall for far-left ideology, leaving me questioning whether the subscription is worth it. It’s the best of times and the worst of times, all in one app.

Let’s start with the good. Wordle is a daily gem, a five-letter puzzle that demands precision and patience. I savor the moment when the tiles flip green, signaling victory in mostly three or four guesses (but I’ve gotten it in two a few times!). Connections, with its grid of 16 words, is a test of lateral thinking, grouping terms by obscure themes that make me feel like a detective cracking a code. Spelling Bee is my personal Everest—chasing “Queen Bee” status by finding every possible word from seven letters is a thrill that rivals any crossword. These games are apolitical, elegant, and addictive. They’re a sanctuary where I can engage my brain without being preached to, a… Read More

The Huntington Beach City Council’s unanimous appointment of celebrity chef Andrew Gruel last month, to fill the vacancy left by Tony Strickland’s election to the State Senate is a triumph for Surf City. Gruel, a leading conservative voice with a commanding social media presence and regular Fox News appearances, brings a bold, principled perspective to an all-Republican council that has revitalized the city since seizing the majority in 2022. His selection strengthens the council’s commitment to local control, fiscal discipline, and community values, ensuring Huntington Beach remains a conservative bastion in California. With Gruel’s business acumen and unapologetic advocacy, he’s poised to elevate the city’s governance to new heights.

Gruel is no ordinary appointee. Beyond his culinary fame as the owner of Calico Fish House and former founder of Slapfish, he’s a vocal defender of individual liberty and economic freedom. With over 200,000 followers on platforms like X, Gruel has used his YouTube cooking channel and media appearances to champion causes close to Huntington Beach’s heart. He’s lambasted Sacramento’s overreach, calling out COVID-19… Read More

There has been much angst for years over the continuation of minting some American coins. Usage of the penny has gradually evaporated, and it has been years since a nickel buys anything. Someone finally said enough is enough, let’s stop minting pennies, but the nickel should follow as well. All one needs to see for examples of financial irresponsibility is to look at the cost of producing these coins to determine we have had people asleep at the mint. Each penny currently costs 3.4 cents to manufacture, and nickels cost between 13 and 14 cents each. Imagine opening a store and selling things for two bucks that cost you five dollars each. No one benefits from this, unlike the person getting the item you sell for under your cost. Here it is just another unfunded expense piled on to the national debt. I could understand if these coins had some useful function other than to occupy a change drawer slot in a cash register or someone’s piggy bank. It used to be stores would have a little bowl out where people would leave pennies for the next person if they were paying cash for something and didn’t have that extra penny. That quaint custom has… Read More

A recent court ordered audit of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) is emblematic of the problems we face at a federal level and how our governments waste our money with little to no accountability. LAHSA was formed in 1993 as a joint authority of the city and county of Los Angeles to address the issue of homelessness in Los Angeles County. The vast majority of the problems exist within the city limits of Los Angeles. We could probably stop there. Billions of dollars have been spent since then, and the problem of homelessness has only soared. Arguably the Authority’s biggest accomplishment is the renaming of “homeless” to “unhoused.” Symbolic of the Left and the services they provide, they are more successful in changing the nomenclature than solving the problem. The audit was ordered by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, a Bill Clinton appointee, and performed by global advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal. A lawsuit was filed in 2020 by the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, a group representing business owners, residents, and property owners. It asserted that the LAHSA was not doing their job to provide shelter and services… Read More

We are often treated to hallucinatory storylines by the legacy media and their allies the Democrats. This one I have not understood at all. We have been told for years by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that our federal government has experienced immense fraud annually of $300 billion or more. That was accelerated by the money flushed out by COVID packages and the trillions of dollars handed out by the Biden Administration. We have a $2 trillion annual deficit yet the attempts to stop the hemorrhaging are perceived as dangerous or authoritarian. President Trump asked this generation’s premier business leader to aid in the fight. Elon Musk was branded the evilest person on the planet. Stories were told of Musk using 20-year-old shock troops to terrify our wonderful public employees and cut programs that were causing death and destruction around the planet. That narrative changed completely on March 27th. Bret Baier, who anchors Fox News’ nightly news show, Special Report, interviewed Elon Musk and seven of his DOGE team leaders. Each leader has a proven track record in business and left significant positions in private industry to help in… Read More