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CalWatchdog Staff
CA Liberals Blocking Housing for Poor
MARCH 21, 2012 By WAYNE LUSVARDI We are hearing a lot about how California cannot close a $10 billion budget gap. But California has allowed 400 redevelopment agencies to retain about $2 billion in funds set aside for so-called “affordable
Read MoreCSU Christians Should Thank U.S. Supreme Court
John Seiler: The U.S. Supreme Court did Cal State Christian students a favor by turning down their lawsuit to get school money. This was sparked by Cal State’s “refusal to provide funding and other campus benefits to student groups that
Read MoreSpecial Series: Bond Holders Seek Governmental Transparency
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in a CalWatchDog.com Special Series of 12 in-depth articles on municipal bankruptcy. MARCH 20, 2012 By DAVE ROBERTS Once upon a time buying a municipal bond was considered a safe bet. A decent rate
Read MoreRevving Up Higher Property Taxes
MARCH 20, 2012 By KATY GRIMES Every year the Legislature attempts to rewrite Proposition 13, the 1978 ballot initiative that successfully returned property value assessments to 1975 levels, limited property taxes to 1 percent of assessed valuation and capped annual property
Read More‘Anti-tax Demagogues’ Smashing CA?
John Seiler: Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton is worth reading because he’s almost always wrong. His latest column blames “anti-tax demagogues” for California’s disastrous condition. How about, instead, a string of incompetent governors who refused to discipline the Legislature’s
Read MoreThe Dirty Secrecy of Clean Energy Costs
MARCH 19, 2012 By DAVE ROBERTS “Sunshine is the best disinfectant,” said Supreme Court Justice Lewis Brandeis regarding the need for governmental transparency – but apparently not when it comes to solar power and other renewable energy sources. California has
Read More396,345 Jobs Lost if Property Tax Split
MARCH 19, 2012 By WAYNE LUSVARDI The Davenport School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University is out with a blockbuster new study on the affects of the proposed elimination of caps on commercial property taxes provided for under Proposition 13.
Read MoreProlonged Primary Good For GOP
Katy Grimes: There is much sermonizing and opining in newspapers over Republican politics. Most of it these days is full of mockery and disdain. “GOP inflicts its own wounds” is a common theme, as well as one headline that ran
Read MoreSpecial Series: Local Governments Face Bankruptcy Quandary
Editor’s Note: This is the third in a CalWatchDog.com Special Series of 12 in-depth articles on municipal bankruptcy. MARCH 16, 2012 By JOHN SEILER Bankruptcy is the boogeyman haunting governments across America. It’s not a question of if more cities
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