Posts From John Seiler
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Brown readies 2015-16 budget
Budget time again. According to the Sacramento Bee, Gov. Jerry Brown is working on his budget, for fiscal year 2015-16, which begins next July 1. He will reveal his budget a couple weeks into the new year. The Bee looked
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Tax credit could cost taxpayers $1 billion
California now is considering a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit. That comes just in time for Jan. 27, the IRS’ EITC Awareness Day. (I am not making this up.) According to a study by the Legislative Analyst, requested by the
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Drought mostly over, govt. water takeover isn’t
It looks like the drought is receding, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported on Thursday: In summary, a wet December (to date) has provided California a foothold for drought recovery, but 3 straight winters of subnormal precipitation will take time (possibly
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CA data does not compute
California remains the global epicenter of computers and the Internet. Then why do so many of its state-government systems not compute? The latest critique comes in a new report, “Data Reliability,” by State Auditor Elaine M. Howle. Subtitle: “State Agencies’
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Coal ban would boost tax cost of pensions
California public pensions already have a big problem with adequate funding. The nonpartisan state Legislative Analyst pegs the pensions’ unfunded liabilities at $340 billion. It should be obvious what the investment strategy should be for the California Public Employees System,
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Tesla facing tough competition
No question that Tesla, in addition to getting a lot of public subsidies and tax breaks, has come with some great cars based on incredible technology. But does that justify its $27 billion market capitalization? Now the Big Boys are getting
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CA firefighter makes $508,893
The problem of absurdly high compensation for government workers in California never seems to get better. The latest from the Orange County Register’s Watchdog: Several California firefighters managed to triple their base salaries by working tons of overtime last year,
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Dems bring back fundraising party
When the going gets tough — the tough party. A series of scandals involving three California state senators forced the cancellation of the Pro Tem Golf fundraiser earlier this year. But it’s hard to keep party animals down. The party
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Dismal election turnout
The California Secretary of State’s office just released figures showing the Nov. 4 election suffered the worst turnout rate ever. According to the Capitol Weekly summary: Less than a third of California’s eligible voters cast ballots on Nov. 4…. Of
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