An anonymous wit declared: “Capital punishment is when the government taxes you to get capital so that it can go into business in competition with you and then taxes the profit on your business in order to pay its losses.”
Commentary – Quentin Kopp
Commentary – Quentin Kopp
Winston Churchill exclaimed: “I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.” That surely applies to the latest information emanating from a so-called Bay Area transportation working group.
Commentary – Quentin Kopp
There are now four choices: the two best with genuine experience in criminal law and belief in law enforcement are Leif Dautch and Nancy Tang. The two worst are Deputy Public Defender Chesa Boudin, a champion of illegal immigration which results in more work for public defenders at taxpayer expense and Suzy Loftus, the City Hall establishment favorite, weaned on the public trough as the sheriff’s attorney, who doesn’t prosecute crimes.
Commentary – Quentin Kopp
In 1931, San Francisco voters approved a new charter which reduced Board of Supervisors membership from 16 to 11, elected citywide, and paid $2,400 per year, without membership in the retirement system, but with membership in the publicly-funded health system.
Commentary – Quentin Kopp
The Cow Palace is engaged in negotiations with an adjoining private property owner and Daly City to develop jointly approximately 25 acres west of the Geneva Avenue entrance for housing and a supermarket.
Commentary – Quentin Kopp
I don’t know the author, but someone claimed: “There is one fixed rule in government: the less it’s worth, the more it costs.”
Commentary – Quentin Kopp
I Pledge Allegiance Often repeated is Justice Louis D. Brandeis’ observation in the Dec. 20, 1913 edition of Harper’s Weekly: “Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. […]
Commentary – Quentin Kopp
It’s time to record genuine history rather than historical debasement books like “Season of the Witch.” San Francisco’s first experiment with district election of supervisors was voter-enacted in November 1976, resulting in election of Harvey Milk in the so-called Castro Street area (he had run unsuccessfully citywide) and Dan White in the Portola in 1977.
Commentary – Quentin Kopp
Once upon a time, presidential campaigns were relatively short. Not now in the era of Trump, especially for Democrats, like an unknown congressman from Texas who was vanquished two months ago for U.S. Senate or another similar type unknown except in Alameda County and the SF Chronicle, and rookie U.S. senate members, including one from San Francisco.
Commentary – Quentin Kopp
As observed by a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Constitution Day this year, Thomas Jefferson in 1789 wrote: “Wherever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.”
Commentary – Quentin Kopp
As a lawyer and retired judge, I was keenly attentive to last month’s confirmation proceedings respecting U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Neither his opponents nor Kavanaugh demonstrated good judgment and appropriate conduct.
Commentary – Quentin Kopp
Last month, I mentioned the self-congratulatory dedication of the Transbay Terminal, another San Francisco project years behind schedule and tens of millions of dollars more expensive than represented to taxpayers for more than a decade.
Commentary – Quentin Kopp
San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin correctly notes that without high speed rail and Caltrain, the Transbay Terminal “will go down as the most expensive bus terminal in the history of humankind.”
Commentary – Quentin L. Kopp
Wordsmithing government employees with “public service” conveys the notion of lower pay and lower benefits. That’s untrue, but the cliche is so engrained in news coverage that elimination of such a misplaced notion is impossible.
Commentary – Quentin Kopp
Supervisors are limited to two four-year terms. The policy theory was that such a system would encourage everyday citizens, not aspiring politicians, to lead San Francisco legislatively. That’s a fallacy.
