Ethanol: Food vs Fuel?

By Teresa Trujillo | 01/07/09

Have you wondered whether or not it makes sense to turn corn into ethanol? Well it doesn't! Here is an excellent video explanation as to why we cannot turn produce into sustainable energy sources and why our government should abandon an energy policy that demands we do.Click here reason.tv ethanol This seven minute video is great! read more »

D.C. Lobbyist Sues Times over McCain Affair Story

By Teresa Trujillo | 01/05/09

You probably missed this because it appeared in the Long Island Business News last week.Remember the NY Times story that linked a beautiful, blond, Cindy McCain look-a-like lobbyist to John McCain last winter? Well, she is has filed a 36 page lawsuit against the paper!The story was timed to negatively affect the McCain primary campaign. Here is the lead of the story:Washington lobbyist Vicki L. Iseman has filed a $27 million defamation lawsuit... read more »

Global Warming Alarmist Hard at Work

By Teresa Trujillo | 01/03/09

With a little over two weeks between today and the inauguration of our new president, Investors' Business Daily posted an insightful editorial on James Hansen, head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and a letter he sent to Barack and Michelle Obama. Hansen is proposing a carbon tax as a method for re-distributing wealth. I'm sure he's found a willing audienceHansen suggests that the tax be levied "at the well-head or port of entry"... read more »

Illegal Immigration's Massive Budget Drain

By Teresa Trujillo | 12/26/08

I find one budget consideration that has received little or no discussion in the current fiscal debates--the massive cost of illegal immigration on both state and federal budgets. Too many politicians consider illegal immigration to be another third rail in politics. The unwillingness of politicians at the federal, state, and local levels to effectively deal with the social, financial, and political ramifications of a shadow population estimated... read more »

12 Steps to Republican Party Renaissance

By Teresa Trujillo | 12/23/08

While big business and the largess of privileged donors has been the lifeblood of the party--the big lesson from the 2008 election is that it is still the common citizen who makes holding office possible. It takes appealing to people just like me, my neighbors, and friends to hold the White House, statehouse, Congress, and state legislatures. I hope the GOP leaders will listen to the lessons from the 2008 election. If the Republican Party is... read more »

The Only Poll that Matters

By Teresa Trujillo | 10/17/08

I'm sick and tired of being told what my fellow Americans are thinking and how they plan to vote by the electronic mouthpieces employed in the broadcast media. The 2008 presidential election campaign is the longest campaign I can remember. Candidate Obama announced his candidacy in February 2007 to an enormous amount of fanfare in Springfield, Illinois. And from that point forward the voters have been bombarded by polling information... read more »

The End of the Beginning

By Teresa Trujillo | 09/29/08

Our country and our households have arrived at a period of financial reckoning. This didn't occur overnight, but over a thirty year period of time where we collectively decided to see no financial evil, hear no warnings on bad credit, or speak the truth when it came to leveraging our lives. The President's bailout plan failed. This emergency legislation was not the end of this crisis. It is, at best, the end of the beginning of the crisis. The... read more »

Mortgage Crises: An Open Letter to Leaders

By Teresa Trujillo | 09/24/08

There is a way to make the financial crisis benefit taxpayers and many distressed homeowners alike. It is very straightforward. But, I fear that Congress may not be interested in this simple, out-of-the-box solution. Nevertheless, I feel it is necessary to offer this non-political solution for the immediate benefit of our nation.Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) should apply to mortgage debt only.Buy TARP assets from the financial... read more »

CREDIT CRISES: Lessons Lost

By Teresa Trujillo | 09/17/08

The credit crisis is real, and it is visiting the doorsteps of millions of Americans.  The old adage about those who forget history are doomed to repeat it couldn't be truer than in today's economy.  The American history lesson that seems to be lost on our citizens and leaders are the very hard lessons that our country learned as a result of the Great Depression.The frugality of last century's depression era generation has been... read more »

Let's put our Legislators on a Performance Improvement Plan

By Teresa Trujillo | 04/30/08

I've spent a few decades in the private sector. I've been an employee, I've been the manager of a big department, a corporate executive, and a small business owner. I think it is time to review the pay policies for our legislators. California has a citizens' commission that is supposed to review legislative compensation. We voted for the California Citizens Compensation Commission when proposition 112 passed in 1990. The commission seems to... read more »