California
Business & Economics
To cut state prison budget, start with perks for guards
California’s voters will soon consider two ballot initiatives that aim to reduce the state’s unsustainable spending on prisons. The cost of jail is punishing and not just for the prisoners. Incarcerating an inmate runs an average of $47,000 a year. That figure certainly is not chump change, but the ...
Business & Economics
California’s politicians failing taxpayers
California’s state and local politicians are failing their fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers. As the taxpayers’ agents, California’s politicians should be establishing compensation policies that are generous enough to attract and retain the right people, but not so generous that government workers earn a substantial premium compared to their private ...
California
Is The Fix In Higher Taxes And Less School Accountability
Supporters of Gov. Jerry Browns tax-hike ballot measure, Proposition 30, argue that the added tax revenues are needed so schools can, among other things, turn out high-achieving students. The head of the San Diego teachers union claims that without revenues to pay for programs and personnel, our schools are struggling ...
Business & Economics
More taxes won’t fix state debt
The Golden State continues to lead the nation in accumulating public debt, a race where being in first place isn’t the same thing as winning. “California again trumped other states with a $617 billion debt,” reported State Budget Solutions, a nonpartisan organization advocating “fundamental reforms” for state budgets. For the ...
California
Implementing AB 32 will increase unemployment, household expenses
With the passage of California’s Assembly Bill 32, the Golden State has embarked upon an experiment in energy policy that has no modern parallel. Several recent studies have shown that the consequences to the state could be dire, and that California faces a choice between continuing on its current trajectory ...
California
Lessons for California from Chicago teachers strike
WITH teachers in Chicago on strike, it’s tempting for Californians to view it as a phenomenon of the rough-and-tumble politics of the Windy City with little application to the Golden State. True, some issues, such as the high wage demands of the teachers union, are Chicago-specific. But in many other ...
Business & Economics
FOR STATE BUDGET, NOTHING TO ‘LIKE’ ABOUT FACEBOOK IPO
Facebooks stock price is currently hovering just above its all-time low. Shares have lost nearly half their value since they hit the market in May. The social networks executives, employees and investors arent the only ones disappointed by the stocks underperformance. The state of California was hoping for roughly $2 ...
California
Calif. governor hoping to keep ObamaCare
The head of a California research organization says Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is planning to keep ObamaCare intact in his state, even if it is reversed under Mitt Romney’s leadership. Brown plans to hold a special legislative session in December on issues related to ObamaCare to give him and state ...
California
Repeal or not, California’s stuck with Obamacare
Even if Mitt Romney is elected president and gets rid of Obamacare, we might be stuck with some variation of it here in California. That’s what’s behind Gov. Jerry Brown this week calling a special session of the California Legislature to deal with health care in December or January. The ...
California
Jerry Brown using kids as bait, again
It’s become a cliché that whenever governments want more money from taxpayers, officials insist the added burden must be borne “for the children.” With 50 years in the game, Gov. Jerry Brown knows that clichés work. So, Thursday he kicked of his campaign for Proposition 30, which would increase state ...
To cut state prison budget, start with perks for guards
California’s voters will soon consider two ballot initiatives that aim to reduce the state’s unsustainable spending on prisons. The cost of jail is punishing and not just for the prisoners. Incarcerating an inmate runs an average of $47,000 a year. That figure certainly is not chump change, but the ...
California’s politicians failing taxpayers
California’s state and local politicians are failing their fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers. As the taxpayers’ agents, California’s politicians should be establishing compensation policies that are generous enough to attract and retain the right people, but not so generous that government workers earn a substantial premium compared to their private ...
Is The Fix In Higher Taxes And Less School Accountability
Supporters of Gov. Jerry Browns tax-hike ballot measure, Proposition 30, argue that the added tax revenues are needed so schools can, among other things, turn out high-achieving students. The head of the San Diego teachers union claims that without revenues to pay for programs and personnel, our schools are struggling ...
More taxes won’t fix state debt
The Golden State continues to lead the nation in accumulating public debt, a race where being in first place isn’t the same thing as winning. “California again trumped other states with a $617 billion debt,” reported State Budget Solutions, a nonpartisan organization advocating “fundamental reforms” for state budgets. For the ...
Implementing AB 32 will increase unemployment, household expenses
With the passage of California’s Assembly Bill 32, the Golden State has embarked upon an experiment in energy policy that has no modern parallel. Several recent studies have shown that the consequences to the state could be dire, and that California faces a choice between continuing on its current trajectory ...
Lessons for California from Chicago teachers strike
WITH teachers in Chicago on strike, it’s tempting for Californians to view it as a phenomenon of the rough-and-tumble politics of the Windy City with little application to the Golden State. True, some issues, such as the high wage demands of the teachers union, are Chicago-specific. But in many other ...
FOR STATE BUDGET, NOTHING TO ‘LIKE’ ABOUT FACEBOOK IPO
Facebooks stock price is currently hovering just above its all-time low. Shares have lost nearly half their value since they hit the market in May. The social networks executives, employees and investors arent the only ones disappointed by the stocks underperformance. The state of California was hoping for roughly $2 ...
Calif. governor hoping to keep ObamaCare
The head of a California research organization says Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is planning to keep ObamaCare intact in his state, even if it is reversed under Mitt Romney’s leadership. Brown plans to hold a special legislative session in December on issues related to ObamaCare to give him and state ...
Repeal or not, California’s stuck with Obamacare
Even if Mitt Romney is elected president and gets rid of Obamacare, we might be stuck with some variation of it here in California. That’s what’s behind Gov. Jerry Brown this week calling a special session of the California Legislature to deal with health care in December or January. The ...
Jerry Brown using kids as bait, again
It’s become a cliché that whenever governments want more money from taxpayers, officials insist the added burden must be borne “for the children.” With 50 years in the game, Gov. Jerry Brown knows that clichés work. So, Thursday he kicked of his campaign for Proposition 30, which would increase state ...
