Breaking News
Back to homepageElites and People Divided on Taxes
APRIL 25, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI Only 9 percent of respondents to a new Los Angeles Times-USC Dornsife opinion poll said that they wanted taxes increased to solve the state budget crisis. But that was not what the Times reported in
Read MoreKey Graph Shows Housing Boom-Bust
John Seiler: Except for Nevada, California was hardest hit by the boom-bust of the housing market during the previous decade. Most explanations show how prices doubled or even tripled in many places — then crashed back down to earth, in
Read More
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 MoreCounties Still Ignore Pension Tsunami
APRIL 22, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI The desire for imaginary benefits often involves the loss of present blessings. — Aesop’s Fables. In Kern County, things evaporate. The County once had a 100-square mile seasonal body of water called Buena Vista Lake
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 MoreBad Bill Mill, Part Deux
APRIL 21, 2011 By KATY GRIMES With 79 full-time Assembly members and 40 Senators pumping out more than 2,000 bills each year, the bad bills just keep coming. And as with any group of 120 different persons, there will be
Read MoreUC Davis Fraud Sentencing
K. Lloyd Billingsley: On June 2, former UC Davis official Jennifer Beeman will be sentenced in an embezzlement case. Beeman pleaded no contest in Yolo Superior Court on April 14 to two felony counts of embezzlement and falsifying accounts. Neither
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
Read More