Posts From Anthony Pignataro

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Anthony Pignataro

Anthony Pignataro

Rail Program In Deep Doo-Doo

MAY 24, 2011 You know a massive government program is in trouble when even its hand-picked “working group” of insiders starts crying foul. This is exactly what happened to the increasingly troubled California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHRSA) earlier this month.

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State Threatens Parks Closures

MAY 18, 2011 It was an unseasonably cool and rainy Sunday afternoon, and there were about two dozen of us standing under the entry porch of the Governor’s Mansion on Sunday. Usually just two or three tourists show up these

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LAO Blows Up Bullet Train

MAY 11, 2011 There’s something truly exhausting — no, dispiriting — about reading the latest state Legislative Analysts Office (LAO) report on California’s immense high-speed rail undertaking. Released at noon on May 10, the document runs just 28 pages but

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LAO Says Zero Out AB 32 Funding

MAY 4, 2011 California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 is in every sense of the word a landmark piece of legislation. Known by its legislative moniker AB 32, the law is, by far, the most sweeping and hard-hitting experiment

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Free the Rail Ridership Committee!

APRIL 27, 2011 You’d think that an agency spending millions of dollars on public relations would know to discuss one of its most controversial issues in public, where outside experts and members of the public can steadily review any and

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Boondoggle Train Already Obsolete

APRIL 21, 2011 The debate over whether to build an 800-mile network of bullet trains crisscrossing the state at speeds approaching 220 miles per hour is one of the most contentious we have today. Its projected cost of $45 billion

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CA Jobless Fund Goes Broke

APRIL 15, 2011 Because of California’s disastrous unemployment rate — 12.2 percent at last count — the State Unemployment Fund is in a precarious position. It actually went insolvent two years ago, and pays out benefits today only because of

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Did Political Heroes Save Us?

APRIL 6, 2011 The April 5 edition of Capitol Morning Report included an intriguing entry. In honor of the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth (Feb. 6, 1911), Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills, is holding an essay contest. It’s quite

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Will High-Speed Rail Kill All Rail?

MARCH 30, 2011 The promise of California’s proposed high-speed rail network is unambiguous: the 800 miles of bullet trains across the state will run clean, make money, put people to work and get people out of their cars. “California’s high-speed

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Will High-Speed Rail Kill All Rail?

MARCH 30, 2011 The promise of California’s proposed high-speed rail network is unambiguous: the 800 miles of bullet trains across the state will run clean, make money, put people to work and get people out of their cars. “California’s high-speed

Read More