Budget and Finance
Back to homepageInflation Means California Default
APRIL 29, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI A March 24 Los Angeles Times-USC opinion poll indicated that 80 percent of likely California voters favored putting a cap on state spending. That is a remarkable statistic that didn’t make the original headline
Read MoreBrutal Tax Assault on Internet Sales
APRIL 28, 2011 By JOHN SEILER California’s tax-increase cult is lobbying to grab every last dollar it can tax — the future of the state be damned. The drumbeat is daily. I wrote yesterday how all three top Los Angeles
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Greenhut-Berardino Debate on Pensions
APRIL 27, 2011 By JOHN SEILER It was the Great Pension Debate. Yesterday Steven Greenhut, editor-in-chief of CalWatchDog.com, debated Nick Berardino, general manager of the Orange County Employees Association, a government union. It was held at the Pacific Club in
Read MoreThe Return of Bilingual Ed Plague?
APRIL 26, 2011 By JOHN SEILER Bilingual education may be creeping back in California. Yesterday’s Los Angeles Times included an op-ed by Ruben Martinez, a professor of literature and writing at Loyola Marymount University, about a new bilingual ed program at the
Read MoreCA Legislators Hustle More Tax Bills
APRIL 25, 2011 By KATY GRIMES With another poll out today saying that voters want to vote on Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax extension increases, the media are mum about the many other tax bills slithering through the Legislature which would greatly
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Why Republicans Hate Tax Increases
APRIL 22, 2011 By JOHN SEILER Republicans are ridiculing President Obama’s call to increase taxes on the rich. And in California, so far Republicans in the Legislature have resisted siren calls to join Gov. Jerry Brown and the Democratic legislators
Read MoreRedevelopment Blights The Golden State
This article was first printed in the Spring 2011 issue of City Journal. APRIL 22, 2011 By STEVEN GREENHUT In Sacramento, Governor Jerry Brown is planning to close California’s $26.6 billion structural deficit through spending cuts and tax extensions. Opposition
Read MoreGuards' 'Sweetheart Deal' Hits Taxpayers
APRIL 21, 2011 By JOHN SEILER In the midst of trying to convince Californians to boost their own taxes by $12 billion, Gov. Jerry Brown showed where his true priorities lie. As the Los Angeles Times reported on the deal
Read MoreCA’s Bond Rating Equals F-Minus Grade
APRIL 21, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI Why is there such a large discrepancy between California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer’s assurances that the state is not broke and has plenty of money to pay off its bonds and the state’s effective
Read MoreWill Gov. Brown Suspend AB 32?
APRIL 20, 2011 By JOHN SEILER In negotiating, each party are expected at some point to put forth a “good-faith effort” to show that it is serious — that it will give something in return for gaining something. So far
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