Steven Greenhut
Business & Economics
Public Pay Study Seems Bogus
The media have been providing serious reporting about a “UC Berkeley [2]” study showing that public employees earn a total salary and benefit package that’s about the same as those in the private sector. This counter-intuitive study is being championed by government advocates as a rebuttal to the public upset ...
Business & Economics
Pro-union study twists stats, takes public for saps
California’s public employee unions have taken the public for suckers for years, so it’s understandable they now think they can play us for fools. A study released Monday by a pro-union think tank purports to show that public employees receive less total compensation than their counterparts in the private sector. ...
Business & Economics
Nelson vs. Sidhu a snore this time
Those Orange County political observers who have been awaiting a repeat of the June supervisorial grudge match that pitted pension-reforming Shawn Nelson, then a Fullerton councilman, against union-backed Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu must be sorely disappointed. In June, the unions tried to make an example out of Nelson, who blew ...
Business & Economics
A Bad Word in California
What does voter anger at pension payouts and government spending mean for candidates who rely on the support of public employees? Steven Greenhut is the director of the Pacific Research Institute’s Journalism Center and the author of “Plunder! How Public Employee Unions Are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives And Bankrupting ...
Business & Economics
Broken California
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently warned that if voters approve a November initiative legalizing marijuana, the state will become a national “laughingstock.” The only thing more prevalent than non-Californians poking fun at the state’s enduring political and budget mess these days is Californians who offer counsel on how to save ...
Business & Economics
Is California now an idiocracy?
SACRAMENTO – While trying to get the assembled, clueless staff at a phone store to tell me how to turn off an annoying e-mail alarm on my new smart phone, I was finally greeted by a manager, who declared that the phone is supposed to work that way. “So when ...
Business & Economics
Brown tips his hand on taxes
SACRAMENTO At Jerry Brown’s briefing Wednesday to discuss the dismal condition of the state budget, now plagued by a $25 billion deficit, the incoming governor said, “Everything should be on the table, and everyone should be at the table to talk about it.” Whenever a California Democrat tells you that ...
Business & Economics
More pension horrors, no fixes
SACRAMENTO It has become almost impossible to exaggerate the depth of the state’s pension scandals, as more details emerge not only about the city of Bell, but about common abuses in other burgs. A new report produced by the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, and championed by San Diego Councilman ...
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 ...
Public Pay Study Seems Bogus
The media have been providing serious reporting about a “UC Berkeley [2]” study showing that public employees earn a total salary and benefit package that’s about the same as those in the private sector. This counter-intuitive study is being championed by government advocates as a rebuttal to the public upset ...
Pro-union study twists stats, takes public for saps
California’s public employee unions have taken the public for suckers for years, so it’s understandable they now think they can play us for fools. A study released Monday by a pro-union think tank purports to show that public employees receive less total compensation than their counterparts in the private sector. ...
Nelson vs. Sidhu a snore this time
Those Orange County political observers who have been awaiting a repeat of the June supervisorial grudge match that pitted pension-reforming Shawn Nelson, then a Fullerton councilman, against union-backed Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu must be sorely disappointed. In June, the unions tried to make an example out of Nelson, who blew ...
A Bad Word in California
What does voter anger at pension payouts and government spending mean for candidates who rely on the support of public employees? Steven Greenhut is the director of the Pacific Research Institute’s Journalism Center and the author of “Plunder! How Public Employee Unions Are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives And Bankrupting ...
Broken California
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently warned that if voters approve a November initiative legalizing marijuana, the state will become a national “laughingstock.” The only thing more prevalent than non-Californians poking fun at the state’s enduring political and budget mess these days is Californians who offer counsel on how to save ...
Is California now an idiocracy?
SACRAMENTO – While trying to get the assembled, clueless staff at a phone store to tell me how to turn off an annoying e-mail alarm on my new smart phone, I was finally greeted by a manager, who declared that the phone is supposed to work that way. “So when ...
Brown tips his hand on taxes
SACRAMENTO At Jerry Brown’s briefing Wednesday to discuss the dismal condition of the state budget, now plagued by a $25 billion deficit, the incoming governor said, “Everything should be on the table, and everyone should be at the table to talk about it.” Whenever a California Democrat tells you that ...
More pension horrors, no fixes
SACRAMENTO It has become almost impossible to exaggerate the depth of the state’s pension scandals, as more details emerge not only about the city of Bell, but about common abuses in other burgs. A new report produced by the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, and championed by San Diego Councilman ...
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 ...
