Does Prison Decision Violate States' Rights?
MAY 25, 2011 By JOHN SEILER Tuesday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, effectively putting the federal courts in charge of California prisons, directly involved the question of states’ rights. The decision, Brown vs. Plata, mandated that from 38,000 to 46,000
Read MoreCalifornia Enviro Policy Goes Schizo
MAY 19, 2011 By DAVE ROBERTS California’s energy utilities have been ordered by state officials to provide one third of their energy from renewable sources — solar, wind and geothermal — by 2020. But in a green Catch 22, California’s
Read MoreState Threatens Parks Closures
MAY 18, 2011 It was an unseasonably cool and rainy Sunday afternoon, and there were about two dozen of us standing under the entry porch of the Governor’s Mansion on Sunday. Usually just two or three tourists show up these
Read MoreHealthy Families Budget Cancer Cut
John Seiler: Good news: Due to the state budget crunch of recent years, spending has been cut on the so-called “Healthy Families” state program. Healthy Families was imposed on the state during the regime of “moderate” Republican Gov. Pete Wilson
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Protests Pour Gas on Budget Fires
John Seiler: Today firemen and teachers in Los Angeles staged protests against proposed budget cuts. The L.A. Times reports: Dozens of firefighters in matching white T-shirts packed City Hall on Friday to protest a budget proposal that would cut 18 fire
Read MoreTax 'Brown Out' from Cap-and-Trade?
MAY 13, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI Will working class opposition to California’s cap-and-trade program lead to a tax “Brown Out”? The usual meaning of “brown out” means a lowering of power voltage for a period of time, as in “rolling
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LAO Rings Death Knell for High-Speed Rail
APRIL 11, 2011 By JOHN SEILER The high-speed choo-choo is dead. A new report by the Legislative Analyst effectively drives a silver railroad spike through its heart. In 2008, voters passed Proposition 1A, the grandiloquently named Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train
Read MoreCalifornia Water Cold War Heats Up
MAY 10, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI Long gone are the hot wars of the 1920’s when Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s William Mulholland took over Mono County and Owens Lake with his own shotgun militia. And local farmers resisted the taking
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