Chris Reed, Author at CalWatchdog.com

Posts From Chris Reed

Chris Reed

Chris Reed is a regular contributor to Cal Watchdog. Reed is an editorial writer for U-T San Diego. Before joining the U-T in July 2005, he was the opinion-page columns editor and wrote the featured weekly Unspin column for The Orange County Register. Reed was on the national board of the Association of Opinion Page Editors from 2003-2005. From 2000 to 2005, Reed made more than 100 appearances as a featured news analyst on Los Angeles-area National Public Radio affiliate KPCC-FM. From 1990 to 1998, Reed was an editor, metro columnist and film critic at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Ontario. Reed has a political science degree from the University of Hawaii (Hilo campus), where he edited the student newspaper, the Vulcan News, his senior year. He is on Twitter: @chrisreed99.

Upbeat LAO report lacks key focus: CalSTRS bailout cost

The Legislative Analyst’s Office released an analysis of state revenue this week that suggests the state won’t suffer when temporary tax hikes expire. This is from AP: SACRAMENTO — A steadily improving economy will buffer California’s budget from a drop

Jerry Brown about to annihilate UC president on tuition hikes

Chris Reed November 20, 2014

Aficionados of California politics are going to be in for a fun exercise over the next month or two. Gov. Jerry Brown is absolutely going to annihilate UC President Janet Napolitano in their fight over her proposal to get UC

2014’s low turnout eases path for 2016 tenure, pension ballot measures

Chris Reed November 18, 2014

Rick Claussen, Ned Wigglesworth, and Aaron McLear of the Redwood Pacific consulting group have released an interesting memo that is good news for those considering taking on public employee unions in 2016 with ballot measures putting limits on government pensions

Will MWD try — again — to sabotage client seeking new water supplies?

Chris Reed November 17, 2014

I’ve been a journalist in Socal since 1990, and I’ve never seen a story about government behavior as strange as the ones about the giant Metropolitan Water District of Southern California trying to sabotage its biggest client’s efforts to broaden

Fracking safety: NYT vs. LAT, yet again

Chris Reed November 16, 2014

The fracking revolution continues to unfold in a half-dozen states around the nation, with enormous benefits to all Americans. A New York Times analysis Friday laid out the particulars: The steepening drop in gasoline prices in recent weeks — spurred by

Will severe school lunch policies eventually cost Dems? Maybe

Chris Reed November 13, 2014

The news this week that UC San Francisco had “unveiled a repository of sugar science, designed to collect the evidence against sweetened foods and disseminate that information to the public — and persuade people to boot fructose and most other

Modest-seeming CalSTRS pension estimate lacks key context

Chris Reed November 11, 2014

The California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers do a good job of promoting the narrative that state teacher pensions are very modest at best. It’s true that there aren’t the same type of outrageous stories that we see in

Think tank explained CA’s affordable housing debacles long ago

Chris Reed November 10, 2014

A weekend story about the gross failure of affordable housing policies in San Francisco contained plenty of public frustration and official consternation. But it also is one more example of the very shallow way this issue is almost always covered

Teachers win Torlakson battle, but does Brown want them to win war?

Chris Reed November 7, 2014

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson’s defeat of reformer and fellow Democrat Marshall Tuck on Tuesday prompted analysis pieces that outlined how California’s union-dominated education establishment had rang up another win. While Tuesday night was grim for liberals, embattled teachers

Silicon Valley firms, Asian voters edging away from Democrats

Chris Reed November 6, 2014

The 2014 midterms have already been dismissed by President Obama as irrelevant because of low turnout. This isn’t entirely self-serving sour grapes. Not just partisans but analysts who have little nice to say about the Obama administration wonder how a