Steven Greenhut
Agriculture
State’s silly laws, sillier candidates
SACRAMENTO – Every legislator could have skipped out of the country for the entire legislative session, and it would not have mattered one iota to anyone outside of their staff members. That’s not cynicism, so much as a fair and balanced assessment of the last legislative session. I’m reminded of ...
Business & Economics
More ‘fixes’ won’t fix California
It’s easy to conclude that California may become, as former state librarian Kevin Starr put it, a “failed state.” It’s just too big, unruly and diverse to be effectively governed, commentators frequently say. SACRAMENTO – It’s easy to conclude that California may become, as former state librarian Kevin Starr put ...
Business & Economics
Where Are the Angry California Voters?
The G.O.P. in California has had to rely on candidates who can finance themselves. NO MONEY, NO MOVEMENT California is home to a large and energetic Tea Party movement but the state’s activists have not had much effect on the current election cycle. Timing, the size of California and the ...
Business & Economics
More on the right up for a fight
SACRAMENTO – For years, Republican establishmentarians have taken their grass-roots supporters for granted, knowing that, come Election Day, activists will vote for the lesser of two evils – i.e., that even a bad Republican is better than a Democrat. In the primaries, Republican leaders often back unprincipled candidates who are ...
Business & Economics
Some fight the good fight for freedom
I, as a nattering nabob, see negativism everywhere. The Legislature manages to do just about everything wrong. The Obama administration – like the Bush administration – is an embarrassment bordering on a disaster. Debt is rising, freedom is receding, and our governments keep getting bigger and more wasteful. I, as ...
Business & Economics
Progressives for Pension Reform?
With California facing a structural $19 billion budget hole, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has argued that the state will need to tap its general fund for billions to prop up faltering public-employee pension funds. With California facing a structural $19 billion budget hole, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has argued that the state ...
Business & Economics
State budget mess a comedy, or tragedy?
SACRAMENTO – As entertainment goes, the final regular-season episode of the Budget Show in the Capitol was shoddy. The actors – the Assembly members and senators – are B-rate. The speeches, despite their strained attempts to sound Kennedy-esque, were pretentious. Those of us in the audience sometimes rolled our eyes ...
Business & Economics
Pension escape routes being cut
I’ve frequently argued that, as the state faces an unfunded pension liability that’s as high as $500 billion, legislators are not doing anything about a problem that is depleting public services and imposing additional debt and tax burdens on Californians. In fact, the state’s legislators are doing something: They are ...
Business & Economics
Prop. 22 protects corporate welfare
SACRAMENTO – It’s always entertaining watching various tax consumers fight with one another over a shrinking revenue pie, which makes the Proposition 22 campaign a spectacle. Despite the chatter from supporters about “saving local services” and stopping Sacramento from “raiding” local treasuries, this November initiative simply pits different government groups ...
Business & Economics
Corruption in America
ANNONCER: Welcome to a special edition of “Money Rocks: Corruption in America, the Bolling Files with Eric Bolling.” Jerry Brown’s investigating the corrupt town of Bell, California, but a law firm connected with that city’s attorney forked over thousands to Brown’s election campaign. This bell is cracked. When are the ...
State’s silly laws, sillier candidates
SACRAMENTO – Every legislator could have skipped out of the country for the entire legislative session, and it would not have mattered one iota to anyone outside of their staff members. That’s not cynicism, so much as a fair and balanced assessment of the last legislative session. I’m reminded of ...
More ‘fixes’ won’t fix California
It’s easy to conclude that California may become, as former state librarian Kevin Starr put it, a “failed state.” It’s just too big, unruly and diverse to be effectively governed, commentators frequently say. SACRAMENTO – It’s easy to conclude that California may become, as former state librarian Kevin Starr put ...
Where Are the Angry California Voters?
The G.O.P. in California has had to rely on candidates who can finance themselves. NO MONEY, NO MOVEMENT California is home to a large and energetic Tea Party movement but the state’s activists have not had much effect on the current election cycle. Timing, the size of California and the ...
More on the right up for a fight
SACRAMENTO – For years, Republican establishmentarians have taken their grass-roots supporters for granted, knowing that, come Election Day, activists will vote for the lesser of two evils – i.e., that even a bad Republican is better than a Democrat. In the primaries, Republican leaders often back unprincipled candidates who are ...
Some fight the good fight for freedom
I, as a nattering nabob, see negativism everywhere. The Legislature manages to do just about everything wrong. The Obama administration – like the Bush administration – is an embarrassment bordering on a disaster. Debt is rising, freedom is receding, and our governments keep getting bigger and more wasteful. I, as ...
Progressives for Pension Reform?
With California facing a structural $19 billion budget hole, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has argued that the state will need to tap its general fund for billions to prop up faltering public-employee pension funds. With California facing a structural $19 billion budget hole, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has argued that the state ...
State budget mess a comedy, or tragedy?
SACRAMENTO – As entertainment goes, the final regular-season episode of the Budget Show in the Capitol was shoddy. The actors – the Assembly members and senators – are B-rate. The speeches, despite their strained attempts to sound Kennedy-esque, were pretentious. Those of us in the audience sometimes rolled our eyes ...
Pension escape routes being cut
I’ve frequently argued that, as the state faces an unfunded pension liability that’s as high as $500 billion, legislators are not doing anything about a problem that is depleting public services and imposing additional debt and tax burdens on Californians. In fact, the state’s legislators are doing something: They are ...
Prop. 22 protects corporate welfare
SACRAMENTO – It’s always entertaining watching various tax consumers fight with one another over a shrinking revenue pie, which makes the Proposition 22 campaign a spectacle. Despite the chatter from supporters about “saving local services” and stopping Sacramento from “raiding” local treasuries, this November initiative simply pits different government groups ...
Corruption in America
ANNONCER: Welcome to a special edition of “Money Rocks: Corruption in America, the Bolling Files with Eric Bolling.” Jerry Brown’s investigating the corrupt town of Bell, California, but a law firm connected with that city’s attorney forked over thousands to Brown’s election campaign. This bell is cracked. When are the ...
