President’s News
by CCR | Oct 30, 2019 | President's News
Kalifornia Krazy:
California’s Most Recent Assault on the Second Amendment
The craziness keeps coming in Krazy Kalifornia. Newsom’s Proposition 63 and SB-1235 passed, further restricting ammunition sales; the continued assault on Second Amendment rights in California is a real peach; now, a consumer pays $19 for a background check (if you haven’t purchased a gun recently) for a $46.99 single box of ammunition[i], not including state and local sales tax. The result: making the ownership and regular use of firearms in the state a luxury for the privileged wealthy.
With the California Democratic Party often throwing out the accusatory phrase of “white privilege,” it would seem they disenfranchise low-income Californians of a basic Constitutional right. As if these laws weren’t class and racially divisive enough, you’ll be asked three questions: your place of birth, your phone number and your RACE/ETHNICITY. That’s right, I’m not making this up. You thought the issue of one’s race or ethnicity is a relic of the past? It’s not. Apparently California Democratic Lawmakers believe one’s race and ethnicity is an important data point when deciding to provide Californians access to a Constitutional right. Additionally, be prepared to wait a few weeks to find out if they will allow you to partake in the privilege.
Of course, the website provided by the California Department of Justice (“Bureau of Firearms”) is obscure, so best of luck determining whether you’ve been approved. Want to check on your status with the retailer? You’ll need to speak specifically with the “approved” clerk who can help with ammunition sales and who attended to you initially. He’s not in or on vacation? So sorry. Would you please re-book your hunting trip and call back at another time?
For more information:
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=30370.
https://www.cagunrights.org/
https://crpa.org/
https://home.nra.org/
https://www.gunownersca.com/2019/05/29/ready-not-need-know-cas-new-ammo-registration-scheme/
[i] https://www.big5sportinggoods.com/store/details/Winchester+.38-Special-Ammo/0320133080058/_/A-4151320
by CCR | Oct 30, 2019 | President's News
(Photo credit: Peter Verbica)
The Follies of Gavin Newsom
By Peter Verbica
President, CA Congress of Republicans
Merriam-Webster defines “folly” as “lack of good sense or normal prudence and foresight” and “criminally or tragically foolish actions or conduct.” It’s a word which comes to mind when one examines the antics of hapless Governor Gavin Newsom (the reported darling of nest-featherers Pelosi, Feinstein, Brown and Getty[i]).
Lately, he has been busier than an arsonist with a fresh pack of matches. To wit:
- signing over 1,000 new bills[ii], ensuring businesses and taxpayers will continue to leave California in droves,
- shoe-horning statewide rent control into law, despite clear-eyed economists who warn that such wrong-headed policies will drive up costs to renters and lower supply[iii],
- blaming utility companies for turning off electricity rather than looking at the foolhardy policies of radical environmentalists[iv],
- raising taxes and fees on the backs of the poor and the Middle Class (including helping California to outstrip Hawaii for highest gas prices in the country[v]),
- frittering away precious time while not advocating for much-needed dramatic pension reform[vi], and
- fighting two recall petitions which seek to dethrone him.
You know that you have to be despised to attract not one, but TWO recall initiatives! (Go to https://recallnewsom.us/ and https://ranaf.org/full-recall-info-page for more information.)
Will the California taxpayer finally wake up and throw these Sacramento bums out? Only time will tell, as our state devolves into Venezuela II.
Let’s hope that Gavin has a cousin who owns a truck who can help him and his new wife Jennifer (an expert on “toxic” masculinity[vii]) pack their bags.
[i] https://calmatters.org/commentary/gavin-newsoms-keeping-it-all-in-the-family/
[ii] https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/In-acting-on-1-000-new-bills-Newsom-shows-he-s-14521572.php
[iii] https://reason.com/2019/09/12/california-passes-statewide-rent-control-despite-a-massive-housing-shortage/
[iv] https://dailycaller.com/2018/11/12/california-wildfires/
[v] https://gustancho.com/california-gas-prices
[vi] https://www.hoover.org/research/real-pension-reform-california-design
[vii] https://fox40.com/2019/10/01/patterson-parent-says-daughter-was-shown-pornographic-images-in-classroom/
by CCR | Aug 15, 2019 | President's News
“No entity is singularly better equipped or robustly funded to efficiently administer terror than an unchecked government. Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Castro, Maduro, Amin, Hussein, Jong-il, Ceaușescu. The list is a lengthy one.
Please think long and hard before running into the arms of those who promise you security in exchange for your personal liberties. It is political opportunism of the ugliest variety and insults those who’ve fought for your freedom.”
Peter Coe Verbica
President
The California Congress of Republicans
by CCR | Jun 10, 2019 | President's News
By Peter Coe Verbica, President, CCR
It’s a strange time for Americans of all stripes, especially Republicans. Corporations and churches are flying their multi-colored virtue-signaling flags from every edifice, making sure that the public at large is aware of their cartoonish participation in this month’s cultural cause cé·lè·bre. Posters are proudly plastered in front of pastoral, teacher and administrative offices touting “safe spaces” and distinctions as to which “lives matter.” Who would think that such divisive artifices would gain any traction in a country whose Declaration of Independence reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But, such is the ugly truth of politics and the current charade of seditious shape shifters. Historic warnings of “united we stand and divided we fall,” are cast aside as outdated standards, to the delight of opposing sovereigns. One wonders if their dictators awaken their mistresses as they laugh themselves to sleep each night.
Peter Verbica
Empowerment tutorials are touted on campuses on how to shout and raise fists and brand approved strains of righteousness. In surreal irony, bullies gesticulate from podiums on the evils of bullying – best lampooned by the writers of the South Park television program. The code word of “justice” is repurposed by Leftist theologians, pandering politicians and jaded bureaucrats to determine who deserves the spoils of redistribution. Art, fashion, comedy and music, once the great unifiers, adventurers and innovators are being neutered and circumscribed to a new restrictive code in wholesale perversion of basic liberties. Poets and writers sent to Communist gulags nod with ghostly empathy before the snowdrifts of time cover them yet again. Real controversies are largely ignored, including:
- an epic federal debt,
- the global dimming of democracy,
- the need for comprehensive reform of US healthcare a la the Singaporean model,
- the oppression of defined benefit plans on municipal and state budgets,
- rampant illiteracy in language, history and mathematics,
- the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Draconian zoning laws damning present and future generations to pay rent rather than own, as housing supplies are artificially choked,
- misallocation of critical State infrastructure funds away from reservoir and road-building,
- generations of angry sons who grow up in fatherless households,
- the end of privacy and coterminous success of pervasive monitoring, and
- the systemic challenges and opportunities which AI and robotics present to those employed in the workforce.
Historic threats to Western Civilization, such as those described in The Miracle of Freedom: 7 Tipping Points that Saved the World, are erased and substituted with subversive and obfuscating dogmata. We can breathe a collective sigh of relief knowing that issues of true importance, such as restroom signage and bike lanes for indignant cyclists (many of whom ignore most rules of the road) are being dealt with speed and industry. W. Cleon Skousen and Eric Arthur Blair should take a bow, come to the stage and receive their awards for eerily accurate prophesies.
A Lion in the Summer:
Don Genhart, Republican
Stepping back from the abject inanity of tax-and-spend California politics, where up is down and down is up, it is my unmitigated pleasure to write about a stalwart Republican, none other than that lion in summer, Don Genhart. Don is known by many friends as “the Prince of the Desert,” a worthy moniker for a man who serves as President of the Sun City Palm Desert Republican Club, Regional VP of the California Congress of Republicans and delegate to the California Republican Party. Don was born in Kansas City, MO, home to the Kansas City Royals (winner of the 1985 and 2015 World Series), and to Pony Express founder, Alexander Majors. Don’s family subsequently moved to Ohio and then to Meadville, Pennsylvania – famous, Don jokes, for being in the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Deliver us from Meadville…” Don attended high school in Meadville, home to the Bulldogs, where he participated in both track and swimming. Don then attended Penn State, where he graduated with a BS in Hotel Administration, minored in Political Science and cheered for the Nittany Lions:
“Hail to the Lion, Loyal and True.
Hail Alma Mater, with your White and Blue.
Penn State forever, Molder of men (and women),
Fight for her honor, Fight, and Victory again.”
Don also served in the US Air Force as a Lieutenant where he worked in intelligence in Korea. Anyone who takes the time to read about the initial impact of MIG-15s on the lumbering B-29s knows that Don had his work cut out for him. All hail to the swept-wing North American F-86 Sabre and its brave pilots who could take the fight to the enemy! Don continued to apply his leadership skills in his civilian work, including running a hotel and three restaurants (in Oil City, Titusville and Meadville, PA). He also served as Director of Sales and Marketing for Hilton and Sheraton, and worked in Oahu, Hawaii for six-and-a-half years as a Director of Sales and Marketing for the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Aloha! Don also lived in Santa Barbara where Gauchos somehow study by the beach before he finally move to Palm Desert – heretofore known as “the Old McDonald Ranch.”
When asked about current hobbies and interests, Don confesses that he’s finally hung up his surfboard and retired as “granddaddy of the waves” when he used to surf in Hawaii, Santa Barbara and Huntington Beach. Don enjoys yoga and has a three-times-a-week regimen. He enjoys supporting local arts, attending theater and musical productions. He is also active with “Animal Samaritans,” and the organization’s “no kill” shelter. At the 8th Annual “Men of the Desert” Fashion Show, Don was one of the table hosts; together, donors reportedly raised an impressive $135,000. According to a fun article in the Desert Sun newspaper, Don’s red, white and blue cowboy boots caught national attention when he attended a National Republican Convention.
Your CCR President is looking forward to speaking at the Sun City Palm Desert Republican Club and meeting Don’s many friends and fellow Republicans on June 19, 2019. You can follow his Club’s activities by going to: https://www.facebook.com/SunCityRepublicans/
by CCR | Mar 25, 2019 | President's News
(c) 2019 By Peter Verbica
President, California Congress of Republicans
Recently, I had some work done on my ’13 Prius. I’m not virtue-signaling because of the car I drive. I know, for instance, that metals had to be mined and refined for its nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery. I know that it’s built abroad by a foreign company, at the cost of local jobs. I know that it’s safer to park in Santa Cruz County. (Eco-terrorists slash 4×4 tires here, driving up insurance rates.)
Photo Credit: Peter Verbica
My reasons are simply economic — in large part because of the social-engineering by Sacramento politicians. I bought the car used, after it had depreciated to some extent. California collects high fees for vehicle registration taxes — and charges a high sales tax to boot. I drive a Prius for the same reason that I often order tap water with meals: it saves money. We have “reformulated gasoline,” so it’s more expensive than other parts of the country. And, our fuel is taxed and taxed and taxed. In January of 2019, California gas prices even outstripped Hawaii for the highest in the nation.[i] California also has stratespheric income taxes – its maximum rate of 13.3% places it at the head of the pack. And, the Prius has been a reliable car. So, I’m not virtue-signaling. I’m just trying to save a buck.
Back to the work being done on my car; when the workman finished the job, he confessed to going through my glovebox to retrieve my name. There, he came across my California Congress of Republicans’ (“CCR”) business card. And, he ranted for the next 45 minutes. How could I support a racist, thief, and misogynist? How could I support a Party which was against decent health care? Or, a minimum wage? How could I support someone who cheats on his wife? How could I support such a person if I had daughters?
He was completely disinterested in hearing about why I support the Bill of Rights; he definitely didn’t want to discuss what was printed on the back of my CCR card:
“The CCR philosophy is based on core Republican values: individual responsibility, personal freedoms, limited government, a market economy, low taxes and a strong national defense. We don’t play politics with personal and religious social issues, leaving those to the practice of personal freedoms.”
When I tried to respond that I appreciated civility and moral character in elected leaders, he continued with his jack-jawed diatribe. He compared the comportment of the former President to the current. He could have cared less about my talking about how CCR was making an effort to be more inclusive.
To him, policy didn’t matter; character did; they couldn’t be unbound into separate strands. He had no interest in discussing free enterprise versus socialism – despite owning his own business. He wasn’t interested in comparing the failed economic policies of Venezuela to our own, or why so many Californians and businesses are leaving the state. How CEQA and zoning laws affect affordability of housing and lives more than platitudes about minimum wage. The real dangers of following in Venezuela’s path.
He told me that he was part Native American; when I shared with him that I had Native American blood from my grandmother’s side, he was disinterested; I was told that I look white. Of course, I’d been forewarned. A good friend, who is a Republican, has chided that my percentage of Native American blood is too de minimis to mention to anyone. I’d been asked by a fellow Republican to self-censure on the topic, for fear that it would result in controversy. That was in print; but, here, it occurred in person.
So, this business of character matters. Great policies can be advocated and implemented by flawed individuals. Our founding fathers had feet of clay, but freed us from the tyranny of a monarchy. But, if we are going to win hearts and minds in California, do we need great policies brought forth from only those of unquestionable character? Are we to elect only saints and no sinners?
A friend of mine suggested something more reasonable and achievable. “Peter,” she advised, “we need to teach school children what socialism is.” It dawned on me. This business of character must begin within each of us, not externally by electing unassailable saints. This business of character begins with encouraging each individual’s enlightenment. Our sacred duty is to effectively explain what it means to be free and to be an American. We must carry the torch of this epiphany.
[i] “Leading states based on highest effective gas tax and price as of January 2019 (in U.S. dollars),” statistica, https://www.statista.com/statistics/509649/us-states-with-highest-gas-tax-and-prices/
by CCR | Mar 10, 2019 | President's News
“Join the Rampage™”
President’s Report from the California Congress of Republicans’ (CCR)
Special Convention, 2019 in Sacramento
For those familiar with the saying, “Welcome! Enter as guests; leave as friends,” our 2019 CCR Special Convention on Friday February 22 in Sacramento was a rousing success. The biggest complaint – attesting to the enormous interest in our gathering? Not enough chairs! Hyatt Regency Hotel staff received requests from the CCR team to provide more seats for our CCR officers, delegates, chapter members, CAGOP candidates and guests. Thankfully, the extra chairs were speedily delivered and all was well. Membership Secretary Pam Corradi, SPARC Board Member Dee Buhler and CCR First Lady Tiffany Verbica ensured that attendees were registered, fed, welcomed and seated.
Newly elected CAGOP Vice Chair and former SPARC VP Peter Kuo, CCR President Peter Verbica, SPARC Officer Alex Glew.
Business of the day included the unanimous ratification of two new chapters (East Valley Congress of Republicans (led by Victor San Vincente, Larry and Christina Ciardella) and Central Coast Congress of Republicans (led by John Yost, Lea Reed and Kristen Collishaw), the election of 2019/2020 CCR executive officers, President Peter Coe Verbica, Vice President Mark Hershey, Membership Secretary Pam Corradi, Recording Secretary Sharon Durbin, Treasurer RJ Kelly, Regional Vice Presidents Margaret Dominici, Carl Burton, Larry Ciardella, Steve Brown, Dean Haddock, Rob Bernosky, Katie Varner, Anna Bryson (founding member and President of the Orange County Congress of Republicans), Robin Lowe, and Don Genhart, and the endorsement of the following CAGOP officer candidates: Chair, Jessica Patterson, Vice Chair Corrin Rankin (defeated at the CAGOP Convention on 2/24 by former SPARC Officer Peter Kuo), Secretary Randy Berholtz, Treasurer Kathy Tavoularis (defeated at the CAGOP Convention on 2/24 by Greg Gandrud), Regional Vice Chairs Matt Heath, Deborah E.G. Wilder, Jason Clark, Dr. Dean Haddock (defeated in CAGOP election by Lisa Moreno), Lindsey Stetson. and Chair of County Chairs, Mike Osborn. In addition, CCR unanimously endorsed three resolutions presented by CCR River City (Sacramento) Chapter President Carl Burton: the Vietnamese American Resolution, the Chinese Railroad Workers Resolution, and Assembly Bill No. 387, calling for better labeling of medications. A special shout-out of thanks to SPARC Member Robert Varich who served as Sergeant-at-Arms and time keeper and 2019 CCR Special Convention sponsors Gold: Swenson, Dan and Patricia Bozzuto, and Silver: Peter Kuo, Tracey Enfantino, Carlos and Cecilia Montalvo, and Rick Leisinger.
Certificates and special acknowledgements were bestowed upon former CCR Presidents in attendance, including James Bratt, Carl Burton, Pam Corradi, Robin Lowe (in absentia) and Darrell Connerton. CCR tips its hat to other former Presidents, including Mark Vafiades, Bonnie Shea, Stuart Posselt, Dennis Catron, Robin Lowe and Patty Kelly. Special thanks to Carl Burton and Bob Evans, for setting up and manning the popular CCR Table. Scores stopped by to say “hello,” and peruse the literature and purchase raffle tickets for some cool prizes, including a framed print of the Republican Presidents by Andy Thomas. Carl Burton also displayed a beautiful plaque acknowledging the contributions of out-going CAGOP Chair, Senator Jim Brulte (ret.).
Orange County Congress of Republicans VP of Programming Bill Evers made an announcement to be sure to go to his Chapter’s social media page. Many other chapters, including the South Peninsula Area Republican Coalition (SPARC) (led by President Timur Engin, VPs Jayne Ham, Leslie Mayr, Dee Buhlerand Treasurer Rodney Neils Mayr), the Hemet-San Jacinto California Congress of Republicans (led by President Sharon Durbin and VPs Bonnie Wright, Robin Lowe, Secty. Susan Watson, and Treasurer Charlene Stover) and CCR itself, have a significant social media presence as well. (And, for access to chapter’s newsletters, including the Republican Club at the Villages (led by President Carla Evans, VPs Burt Lancaster, Mary Wagle, Secretaries Sue Herfurth, Gary Hill, and Treasurer Ruth Branch) and the Republican Club of Ocean Hills (led by President Barbara Fleeman Hazlett, VPs Lavonna Young,Michael Richardson, Secretaries Sally Booth, Treasurer Judith Fulop and others) please feel welcome to go to CCR’s Chapters’ Blog. Special thanks to Betsy Mahan and David Nos for ensuring that CCR social media and email communications are well-organized.
**Stay tuned for more information about our 2019 Fall CCR Board Meeting (currently scheduled for September 6, 2019 in Indian Wells, California).**
