California Construction Trucking Association (CCTA)

I recently read in the paper that the uber-liberal, green-extraordinaire Senate Leader, our own Sacto-son Darrel Steinberg, wants to review regulations that are a burden to businesses here. The story was titled, Steinberg wants big review to kill regulations.

My first reaction was, “Wow, this is almost unbelievable!” The Dems are now claiming that they are going to look into their own activist legislative efforts that are responsible for killing California businesses and the 12.4% unemployment. Yes, the article confirmed that, California Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said he “will pursue emergency legislation forcing state agencies to review all regulations and recommend a wholesale rewriting of the state's regulatory scheme.” Steinberg also said, “We need to do a whole lot better in providing a friendlier business climate,” adding, “Democrats need to show businesses that they get it.”

So what about the timing? Just as Obama signs his own Executive Order called Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review on January 18, Big Darrel was me-tooing the whole absurdity the next day.

I read that Obama’s Executive Order requires that regulations be written keeping in mind the need to promote economic growth and job creation. It orders a government-wide review of regulations to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make the economy less competitive.
The exact language of the EO relating to this issue was, “Our regulatory system must protect public health, welfare, safety, and our environment while promoting economic growth, innovation, competitiveness, and job creation. It must be based on the best available science. It must allow for public participation and an open exchange of ideas. It must promote predictability and reduce uncertainty. It must identify and use the best, most innovative and least burdensome tools for achieving regulatory ends. It must take into account benefits and costs, both quantitative and qualitative. It must ensure that regulations are accessible, consistent, written in plain language, and easy to understand. It must measure, and seek to improve, the actual results of regulatory requirements.”

It’s my opinion that you can’t do both; a green agenda and economic growth are now mutually exclusive because the public heath science is propaganda as is the green jobs – it is all a lye. The reality is the green movement does not want any job growth in this state because that would encourage growth and they don’t want that at all, period.

I also read that House Republicans had planned to make an extensive review of federal regulations their next major priority after focused efforts to repeal Obama’s healthcare law. And with the November 2nd election results fresh in everyone’s mind, there is national support to do just that.
So who can really believe that any government review BS will ever happen (state or federally) that will result in anything positive for us? And if and when these studies come out, they will be just like Gov. Schwarzenegger’s “I’ll blow up the boxes.” And what did he do? He jumped into the box and turned into the Hulk supporting AB 32 and SB 375. And guess who the author of SB 375 was? Senator Steinberg of course, the same politician who wants regulatory reviews of regulations that are a burden to businesses that he and his party are responsible for. I’m I the only person that sees the unbelievable hypocrisy here?

Some say SB 375 may even be worse than AB 32 for us because AB 32 is closely tied to what the EPA and others around the world decide to do with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, while SB 375 is an all local debacle. It passed into law two years ago, and seeks ridiculous CO2 emission reductions by controlling regional planning policies. As the lead agency, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is charged with working with Regional Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to determine reasonable and achievable CO2 targets to meet the goals of SB 375. The substantial undertaking started out as a collaborative process but it has turned into a disaster for the economy.

The Bay’s MTC concluded that a target of 12% CO2 reduction (let alone 15%) would require gas prices of $9 per gallon to encourage less driving. Similarly, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) evaluated significant new transportation pricing policies to meet the SB 375 targets. These include congestion pricing for the region’s major freeways, with tolls ranging from 10 to 25 cents per mile; a general miles-traveled charge of 1 to 3 cents per mile; increased off-street parking charges at employment centers; and additional subsidies to transit fares. Overall, annual travel costs could skyrocket 460% to meet these standards.

Who really can believe anything in the paper, on CARB’s website, or that comes out of the mouth of any Democratic politician, scientist, academic or media source in this state these days? It’s very clear to me this is all just more smoke and mirror tricks to keep the public confused? Well, we’re not – anymore!

CDTOA was at the CARB meetings in Sacramento in 2009, when at least five legislators (all Republicans) tried to appeal to the CARB Board about the financial cost of these CO2 regulations on businesses, and they were all ignored and politely sent packin’ by Miss Feel-Good herself, CARB Chair Mary Nichols. I thought I saw Nichols use her middle finger when they were leaving the Joe Serna, Jr. Building (CARB’s office building) that day.

Well, Darrel – can I call you Darrel? Just can’t believe you, buddy. So where were you when the CARB hearings were going on? This beast of a state agency called CARB has morphed and is out of control and politicians like you, Perez and Brown are to blame. When are Californians going to get it?

The press release by Steinberg on January 19, drew a cautious response from Sen. Bob Dutton, the minority Republican Senate leader from Rancho Cucamonga, who said, “GOP bills to eliminate regulations have met with defeat for years in the legislature. But I would like to thank Senate pro temp Steinberg for his decision today to introduce urgency legislation to review all of California’s thousands of regulations that have contributed to the loss of private-sector jobs over the past several years.”

Ha, Bob – can I call you Bob? Get those cohunes out of the safe at your district office and bring them to Sacramento. You were at the CARB Board meeting in 2009, asking for them to consider the fiscal impact of their diesel and CO2 rules, and were given the finger by Mary Nichols as you left the room. We now need the Republicans to take hard positions with Steinberg, Perez and the Governor – remember – NO TAXES and KILL CARB!

The private-sector Californians who could fuel recovery in this economic train wreck have become collateral damage and can ill afford to wait any longer for this political posturing to evolve. Mary Nichols and her jihadist crowd at CARB have been allowed to wipe out our lives and our futures in their unholy crusade. Maybe she should take some of those millions in oil money she and her husband have made and donate it all to the truck replacement fund if she was serious about cleaning the air.

Jerry Brown, our Wiley Coyote-ish new-yet-old Governor, has big cuts to make in the budget and is attempting to lead us to believe cutting the fat (state employee cars and cell phones) out of the state budget is somehow going to make us come back to life. The news here has been playing out as if nothing is off the table for real cuts – like public employee benifits and pensions, these unions will not give up anything becuase they know only one thing and that is to take, and take, and take! And the Dems can’t get out of their own way to help them do this fast enough.

Jerry – can I call you Jerry? I’m hoping you succeed. California is in a major mess financially, and government needs to be chain-sawed in half. Let’s not forget the systemic problem is the anti-business climate here. Unless you change that we will just kick the can down the road and keep revisiting this financial mess again and again as it spirals into certain doom.

Obama Says We Need More Infrastructure Investment!

I watched the State of the Union speech the other night. President Obama was making a point on how little we spend on infrastructure here in America, less than all other countries by comparison of GDP. Well, don’t we know it! California has some of the worst roads in the nation. It is not that we have not taxed the people enough through gas taxes and VLF fees for roadways; it is that our state budget has stolen these monies to pay for blotted public staffs and even thousands of unused new Caltrans vehicles and equipment that’s collecting dust in storage yards throughout the state. My own County of Sacramento has a yard on Bradshaw Road that is glutted with equipment that is never utilized but secured by unions that have masterfully created and sustained jobs for departments with no accountability for costs or responsibility for maintaining our county’s roads.  
Our state, county, and city workers have not felt the burden of this current economy like the public sector. Union agreements secure their members’ jobs and do nothing to ensure our roads are maintained and safe. We need to return all this work back to the private sector where it belongs. Private contractors are accountable for quality and costs of maintaining our infrastructure. Through the bid process, citizens will get more for what they are now paying for.

These secure kingdoms that the unions are tied to need to be torn down and put back in the hands of the private sector. Get back to basics. Private business has always and will always be the most financially responsible and efficient way to build or rebuild California. Private business has always been able to perform hundreds of times better and be held accountable for quality of their work – not the union controlled kingdoms on the public dole.

CDTOA Will be Moving Forward on its Legal Options
Just to be sure, we here at CDTOA have not stopped in our efforts to Kill CARB. Our goal is to stop Mary Nichols and her band of jihadist thugs in any way possible. We have waited for the diesel rule to become final, and now that that will happen, we are committed to seeking legal relief with the guidance of Brooks Ellison, our legal counsel, and other industry partners. Be prepared: this is going to be a long and costly endeavor. We will be looking for all interested parties to pitch in to the legal fund we have been growing for this exact reason. I also challenge all chapters to make this a priority at your meetings and give to our legal fund.

Call your legislators each and every month at the least, and remind them how mad you are; mad that someone like corrupt UCLA Prof. John Froines was secretly reappointed as the SRP Chairman again – by Assembly Speaker Perez. Yes, he will be serving his 27th year there when it was supposed to be a 3-year appointment. Get mad that a person of integrity like UCLA Prof. James Enstrom is still fighting for his life’s work to voice the truth about junk science and activist-funded research results. Voice your thoughts and tell them how bad it has been on you and the people you care about. Tell them how you are holding them accountable each time you vote.

Partnerships Are Our Future
We’ve had some great results from our partnerships with the overlying carriers to increase our membership, and I would like to extend a special thanks to Dan Ugalde of Ugalde Trucking in Orange Co. for helping to bring to CDTOA the support from the owner-operators that he contracts with through our special membership partner program we created last December.

The Broker Bond has been moving ahead with the help of Dan Bertrand and Armstrong & Associates Insurance. Dan has been working tirelessly on getting the bond out to our members and helping to get the anti-indemnifications laws here straightened out.

Lastly, I want to give a special plug to those who are sick about what’s happening politically and are choosing to be active in their communities as advocates for change. CDTOA affiliate Jay Pocock, President of Superior Trailer in Fontana, is running for City Council in his hometown of Claremont. Lee and I attended his announcement event in late January, and you can bet he has all of our support. I just wish there were more like him trying to do exactly what he is.