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The Thermostat Nanny
Jan. 18, 2010 By JOHN SEILER On Feb. 2, 1977, two weeks after his inauguration, President Jimmy Carter gave a national address wearing a cardigan sweater. It was a winter of record cold across America and the country was suffering
Read MoreGov. Susan Kennedy
In 2003, voters shouted Hasta la vista, baby! to Gov. Gray Davis and his whole staff, including Cabinet Secretary Susan Kennedy, recalling the lot of them. At the same time, voters elected as governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on his promises to
Read MorePer Diem Pay For Senate… Today?
When senate pay is at stake, illness apparently is no excuse for absence. Senate leadership made Senator Sam Aanestad drive the distance from his hometown to be the magic number twenty-one for “check in” today. If there are not twenty-one
Read MoreBill Language To Change
After reading my story about AB 978, the bill proposing to streamline the business permitting process only for California businesses contracting with the state, the office of Assemblyman V. Manual Perez, the author of the bill, called me. Amy Wilson
Read MoreFlat Tax idea revived
Jan. 15, 2010 By JOHN SEILER Challenging times demand innovative answers to problems. This is such a time for the California state budget, which has been chronically out of whack for a decade. The governor’s January budget proposal doesn’t make
Read MoreLAO’s budget reality check
Jan. 13, 2009 By JOHN SEILER Time for a reality check on the budget. That comes from the state Legislative Analyst’s Office, a non-partisan oasis in the middle of the partisan desert of state government. The LAO’s January 12 analysis
Read MoreOfficial state records are disappearing
Jan. 13, 2010 By ANTHONY PIGNATARO If there’s one thing our state government does exceptionally well, it’s the production of records. Every month, dozens of state agencies and departments — to say nothing of the Legislature itself — churns out
Read MoreCampbell shift helps DeVore
Tom Campbell is shifting his ambitions from the governor’s throne to the U.S. Senate. This obviously helps conservative Chuck DeVore in the race, as the third major person running is Carly Fiorina, another moderate. This analysis notes that. But the
Read MoreVoter ID bill disenfranchised
Jan. 12, 2010 By KATY GRIMES A bill designed to combat voter fraud was disenfranchised in the state Senate’s elections committee after a close vote and plenty of testimony in opposition. The committee heard testimony of the bill proposed by
Read MoreIs FI$Cal doomed?
And now it’s time to talk about the Financial Information System for California, which is known colloquially by the obscenely cutesy acronym FI$Cal. It doesn’t get a lot of press, but this project—conceived back in 2007 as an “historic partnership” between
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