February 2013 | CalWatchdog.com

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Gasp! Oscar host offends lawmakers

Feb. 27, 2013 By Katy Grimes Alert the media! The Assembly Women’s Caucus is offended. Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, and a successful entertainer, actor, and writer, hosted Sunday’s Oscar awards show, with his usual snarky, brazen, naughty

Prediction: CTA, CFT will kill Brown push to help English learners

CalWatchdog Staff February 27, 2013

Feb. 27, 2013 By Chris Reed On the Fox & Hounds website, veteran Sacramento watcher John Wildermuth has a sharp piece about how Gov. Jerry Brown’s push to give more money to school districts with students with higher numbers of

Voters can dry up ‘inevitable’ tax on rain

CalWatchdog Staff February 25, 2013

Feb. 25, 2013 By Wayne Lusvardi The lyrics to Celine Dion song, “Rain Tax (It’s Inevitable),” suggested that some day government was bound to levy a tax on natural rainfall. By 2009, the California legislature voted to impose just such a

L.A. Times finally admits L.A. facing broad decline

CalWatchdog Staff February 25, 2013

Feb. 24, 2013 By Chris Reed As someone who’s lived in Southern California since 1990, it’s been pretty obvious to me that Los Angeles and Los Angeles County have been in a broad decline that began when the end of

‘Preschool for all’: Obama adopts Meathead goal, spin

CalWatchdog Staff February 24, 2013

Feb. 24, 2013 By Chris Reed Lance Izumi does a great job in the Orange County Register of documenting how President Obama’s push for universal preschool is a retread of actor-director Rob Reiner’s failed, scandal-scarred push in California — right

New San Diego Mayor Bob Filner displays anger management problem

CalWatchdog Staff February 22, 2013

Feb. 22, 2013 By Chris Reed What happens when a veteran congressman with a history of anger management issues and an apparent disinterest in understanding how city government works becomes mayor of California’s second-largest city? San Diegans are finding out

Republican lawmaker touts bill pushed by labor bullies

CalWatchdog Staff February 21, 2013

Feb. 21, 2013 By Chris Reed You don’t have to be a union hater to be amazed at all the different ways labor decides to make its Sacramento puppets jump through hoops. The latest example is legislation that would require

Gov. Antoinette-Brown: Let the unemployed eat cake

CalWatchdog Staff February 19, 2013

Feb. 19, 2013 By Chris Reed Over the weekend, the U-T San Diego had a story about the Texas vs. California business-climate debate. It featured an astounding claim from Gov. Jerry Brown’s top economics adviser: “California provides a higher level

Will Blue-State California become Detroit on the Pacific?

Robert J. Cristiano, Ph.D. February 18, 2013

Environmentalists have used the allusion of the canary in the mineshaft when describing the importance of protecting the endangered Desert Sand Fly, Stephens Kangaroo Rat or the infamous Delta Smelt. By placing these insignificant creatures on the Endangered Species List,

Bond scandal now has villain; prosecutor, come on down

CalWatchdog Staff February 18, 2013

Feb. 18, 2013 By Chris Reed The steadily building scandal involving school districts and capital appreciation bonds now has a specific villain — and the potential for a criminal investigation by Orange County’s district attorney or the state attorney general.