Steven Greenhut
Business & Economics
More pension abuses, not enough reform ideas
Nearly every day, the public learns of new tales of pension-abusing public employees. Yet reform efforts are still miles away despite new state and federal proposals that attempt to rein in the problem. For instance, the Los Angeles Times reported recently that “More than 100 lawyers and auditors working for ...
Commentary
WikiLeaks no threat to free society
SACRAMENTO – The response by pundits to the latest WikiLeaks classified-document dump has reminded me of a preacher who decries pornography, but who also insists on reading the dirty magazines page by page so that he can better understand the depth of the world’s depravity. If WikiLeaks’ actions were so ...
Business & Economics
California ignores the truth
Anyone who has dealt with a loved one deeply involved in some destructive behavior understands that there is only so much you can do until the person hits whatever low point is necessary to spark a commitment to turn around their life. I think of my beloved California in the ...
Business & Economics
Groping our way toward tyranny
The Transportation Security Administration obviously knows with 100 percent certainty that John Tyner, the 31-year-old Oceanside man who refused to submit to one of those embarrassing body scans or be searched by TSA groin-checkers during his recent attempt to fly from San Diego to South Dakota, poses no security threat ...
Business & Economics
Economies of Scale Don’t Apply to Government
SACRAMENTO – As government costs soar, and revenue remains low because of the poor economy, some politicians and academics are trotting out an old idea that promises to increase efficiency and save money. It’s called municipal consolidation. In their view, combining multiple cities or agencies into a smaller number of ...
Business & Economics
State GOP verging on irrelevant
Republicans have been amused by President Barack Obama’s thick-headed response to the Democratic Party’s electoral defeat. Despite near-historic gains for the GOP in the House of Representatives and significant GOP gains in the Senate and statehouses, Obama refused in his news conference Wednesday to pin the blame on his agenda, ...
Business & Economics
GOP gets undeserved second chance
SACRAMENTO – President Barack Obama saved the Republican Party from itself. In a two-party system, when one party makes a mess of things, the only choice is to reward the other party and hope that, eventually, one of the parties learns the right lessons. The Democrats received a well-deserved comeuppance, ...
Business & Economics
Scariest things on the ballot
While the rest of the nation is about to enjoy a much-needed corrective to President Barack Obama’s big-government fright fest, Californians can expect election results that range from disappointing to depressing. Perhaps it’s fitting that pre-election hysteria peaks right at Halloween. There are scary candidates on the ballot. We’ve got ...
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. ...
More pension abuses, not enough reform ideas
Nearly every day, the public learns of new tales of pension-abusing public employees. Yet reform efforts are still miles away despite new state and federal proposals that attempt to rein in the problem. For instance, the Los Angeles Times reported recently that “More than 100 lawyers and auditors working for ...
WikiLeaks no threat to free society
SACRAMENTO – The response by pundits to the latest WikiLeaks classified-document dump has reminded me of a preacher who decries pornography, but who also insists on reading the dirty magazines page by page so that he can better understand the depth of the world’s depravity. If WikiLeaks’ actions were so ...
California ignores the truth
Anyone who has dealt with a loved one deeply involved in some destructive behavior understands that there is only so much you can do until the person hits whatever low point is necessary to spark a commitment to turn around their life. I think of my beloved California in the ...
Groping our way toward tyranny
The Transportation Security Administration obviously knows with 100 percent certainty that John Tyner, the 31-year-old Oceanside man who refused to submit to one of those embarrassing body scans or be searched by TSA groin-checkers during his recent attempt to fly from San Diego to South Dakota, poses no security threat ...
Economies of Scale Don’t Apply to Government
SACRAMENTO – As government costs soar, and revenue remains low because of the poor economy, some politicians and academics are trotting out an old idea that promises to increase efficiency and save money. It’s called municipal consolidation. In their view, combining multiple cities or agencies into a smaller number of ...
State GOP verging on irrelevant
Republicans have been amused by President Barack Obama’s thick-headed response to the Democratic Party’s electoral defeat. Despite near-historic gains for the GOP in the House of Representatives and significant GOP gains in the Senate and statehouses, Obama refused in his news conference Wednesday to pin the blame on his agenda, ...
GOP gets undeserved second chance
SACRAMENTO – President Barack Obama saved the Republican Party from itself. In a two-party system, when one party makes a mess of things, the only choice is to reward the other party and hope that, eventually, one of the parties learns the right lessons. The Democrats received a well-deserved comeuppance, ...
Scariest things on the ballot
While the rest of the nation is about to enjoy a much-needed corrective to President Barack Obama’s big-government fright fest, Californians can expect election results that range from disappointing to depressing. Perhaps it’s fitting that pre-election hysteria peaks right at Halloween. There are scary candidates on the ballot. We’ve got ...
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. ...
