The Tea Party movement is at a crossroads.  It will either morph into a viable, third party by 2012, or it will fade away as most populist movements do.  It will either develop into a platform of credible fiscal conservatism and constitutional fidelity, or it will be co-opted by GOP bigwigs whose sole agenda lies in bashing President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Senator Reid.

Independent voters crave credibility in the political arena.  But, alas, credibility is hard to find these days.  Whether it's Republicans mocking Democrats for excessive federal spending, after adding $5 trillion of debt themselves, or Democrats castigating Republicans for an overly hawkish foreign policy, then repeatedly voting to continue funding in Iraq and massively escalating the war in Afghanistan, or Tea Party enthusiasts scolding President Obama, when they were nowhere to be found during the Bush debacles, independents recognize grandiose hypocrisy.

 California’s budget crisis has moved from a hemorrhage to a slow implosion, and now desperation is clearly setting in as the state slashes trademark programs. As of November, the state has slashed programs that made the state distinctive; first virtually eliminating the “public” part of its public education system, and now, dealing a blow that may take out one of the state’s most successful l--and cost effective-- recycling programs.

The California Tax Reform Association projects that ten different tax increases will generate over $20 billion for the floundering state.  Tax hikes on business property, oil, tobacco, alcohol, vehicle licenses, businesses, top income brackets and more will allegedly solve the budget crisis without negatively impacting the state's fragile economy.

The recent revelations of Climategate have challenged the scientific veracity of global warming and the reputation of the scientific community as a strictly objective and open-minded group.  What's often lost in the ongoing debate is the fact that a wholly different climate model was making the front page of scientific journals and major media outlets in the 1970s.

Pearl Harbor Day offers a stark constitutional lesson for independent voters in California and across the nation.  Less than twenty-four hours after being bombed by Japan, FDR demanded and received an official declaration of war by the US Congress.  A few days later, Congress would officially declare war on Germany and Italy.

It is past time for the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority Board to be shut down.

The airport authority was established at the urging of then Mayor Dick Murphy as a temporary measure. Its purpose was to put to the voters the fundamental question of whether to move the airport from its current Lindbergh location. Thereafter, the airport would be folded into a streamlined and consolidated Regional Infrastructure and Transportation Authority.

In a recent editorial defending Mike Huckabee's commutation of accused cop killer, Maurice Clemmons, the LA Times stated, "..in Clemmons' case, he seems to have had legitimate grounds for concern about whether justice was being served...It's unreasonable to expect Huckabee to have anticipated the events in Parkland nine years later."