Budget and Finance
Back to homepageCalifornia’s ‘Mullet budget’ – Conservative in front, but liberal in back
June 14, 2013 By Katy Grimes SACRAMENTO – The Assembly and Senate Republicans should have registered their ‘no’ votes on the budget, and packed up and gone home to their districts on Friday, instead of allowing the process to be
Read MoreLavish UC scholarship program again ignored by media
June 15, 2013 By Chris Reed The Sacramento Bee has a long story up on its website about an unpublished Legislative Analyst’s Office analysis that pooh-poohs Assembly Speaker John Perez’s plan to help middle-class families afford college. “A massive middle-class
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Five CA GOP state senators back $2 billion tax increase
June 10, 2013 By John Hrabe With a Democratic supermajority, Republican votes no longer are needed to increase taxes in the California Senate. Yet in a strange development, five GOP senators backed a tax increase anyway. SB 11 is a $2.3 billion
Read MoreNew public funding plan: Seize home mortgages
June 7, 2013 By Wayne Lusvardi With pension costs sapping budgets, governments at all levels are coming up with novel funding methods. The latest comes from the city of Richmond, which must deal with a looming 50 percent increase in pension
Read MoreRebellion: Heroic valedictorian stands up to school regime
June 6, 2013 By John Seiler I love it! Americans finally are standing up to the tyrannical governments that rule, and ruin, our lives. The latest: “A South Carolina valedictorian garnered wild applause after he ripped up his pre-approved speech
Read MoreSan Bernardino facing ‘quick judgment’ on bankruptcy
June 6, 2013 By Wayne Lusvardi At a hearing yesterday in federal bankruptcy court, Judge Meredith Jury sounded like she was ready to rule that the insolvent city of San Bernardino could file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection — despite
Read MoreMeredith Whitney doubts CA recovery
June 5, 2013 By Wayne Lusvardi California comeback? Maybe not. Municipal bond expert Meredith Whitney was interviewed on June 4 by Steve Forbes in Forbes.com about her new book, “The Fate of the States: A New Geography of American Prosperity.”
Read MoreOblivious journos still ignore public employee step raises
June 5, 2013 By Chris Reed One of the worst failings of journalists who cover California government is their failure when writing about budgets to always mention the automatic “step” raises that many public employees get each year, including most
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