Budget and Finance
Back to homepageIn California, the Dream Is an Act
JULY 26, 2011 The California dream of an affordable, top-notch state-sponsored education for all is nothing to dream about for legal California students. Just signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown was AB 130, the “California Dream Act of 2011,”
Read MoreU.S.-Calif. Stuck in Stagnation Spiral
JULY 26, 2011 BY JOHN SEILER Welcome to the desert of economic and jobs growth. I keep reminding people that California actually still is part of the United States of America. That we are not the “eighth largest world economy,”
Read MoreBrown Signs Una Parte of Dream Act
Ali Meyer: This afternoon Gov. Jerry Brown signed the “Dream Act” bill AB 130. By Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, the bill will “allow undocumented immigrants who live in California to apply for scholarships funded with private donations,” according to the
Read MoreRutten's Amazon Attack Ignores Reality
JULY 25, 2011 By JOHN SEILER L.A. Times columnist Tim Rutten continues his tax obsession in “Amazon’s shameful California tax dodge.” He just has it in for Amazon.com. He makes a weird comparison: At the turn of the last century,
Read MoreDespite Gain, CalPERS Still Underfunded
JULY 22, 2100 By LANNY EBENSTEIN The recent announcement that the investment return of CalPERS for the 2010-11 fiscal year was 20.7 percent does not indicate that it, or other public sector pension funds, are now financially solvent. Indeed, the
Read MoreZombie Recovery: CA Jobless Rate Jumps
JULY 22, 2011 By JOHN SEILER California is suffering what I call a “Zombie Recovery.” The state economy is walking, but dead. Today the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new numbers for June 2011 showing that California’s unemployment rose
Read MoreFeds Wasted Most of $17 Bil. CA Stimulus
JULY 20, 2011 By JOHN SEILER How did the federal government actually spend the 2009 stimulus money in California? In March 2009 the California Legislative Analyst made a study of proposed spending on the officially named American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. But
Read MoreCalPERS Needs Bailout Despite 21% Gain
JULY 19, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI CalPERS made an anemic 3.41 percent return over the last five years and only 0.98 percent over the last three years, falling far short of the 7.75 percent annual target return it needs to
Read MoreBankruptcy Bill Hijacked By Senate
JULY 15, 2011 By KATY GRIMES An Assembly bill requiring cities and counties to go through a mediation process before filing for bankruptcy has been hijacked by the Senate Rules Committee, but the reason why is fuzzy. In February, freshman
Read MoreDeadbeat California Needs a Payday Loan
JULY 15, 2011 By CHRISS STREET For the State of California and its counties and cities, tax collections tend to be lumpy during the year due to half of all income, corporate and other taxes being collected in the two months
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