John Seiler, Author at CalWatchdog.com

Posts From John Seiler

John Seiler

John Seiler has been writing about California for 25 years. That includes 22 years as an editorial writer for the Orange County Register and two years for CalWatchDog.com, where he is managing editor. He attended the University of Michigan and graduated from Hillsdale College. He was a Russian linguist in U.S. Army military intelligence from 1978 to 1982. He was an editor and writer for Phillips Publishing Company from 1983 to 1986. He has written for Policy Review, Chronicles, LewRockwell.com, Flash Report and numerous other publications. His email: [email protected]

Remember Pearl Harbor — 73 years ago

Most of us remember where we were on 9/11. Older baby boomers remember where they were when JFK was shot. The Greatest Generation, now almost all passed into eternity, remembers where they were on Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese

LAO: No ‘fiscal cliff’ with end of Prop. 30 taxes

John Seiler December 5, 2014

Someone should come up with a T-shirt reading, “STAY CALM AND LET PROP. 30 END.” Maybe sell it and make a few bucks for ya. At least before taxes. California Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor’s recent “The 2015-16 Budget: California’s Fiscal

CalPERS retirees soon to surpass workers

John Seiler December 5, 2014

Outgoing San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, the Democratic pension reformer, has a great joke. He says that, soon, his city will have a single employee; whose only job will be to mail pension checks to retirees. CalPERS is gettin’ there.

BMW runs over Tesla

John Seiler December 4, 2014

Remember how Tesla boasted it was hooking up with German auto giant BMW? Turns out it’s not happening. Digital Trends reported: Well, it turns out the story was a bit of a wash, because BMW officials recently told German magazine

Chapman forecasts continued modest growth

John Seiler December 3, 2014

It’s better than a recession. That’s about all one can say about the current economic “recovery,” which today’s Chapman University 37th annual economic forecast expected to continue over the next year. The forecast was given before about 1,500 local business

50 years after the Berkeley Free Speech Movement

John Seiler December 2, 2014

It’s been 50 years today since Mario Savio gave his “put your bodies upon the gears” speech at the University of California, Berkeley, the best remembered part of the Free Speech Movement. He attacked the university administration for running the school like

Cartoon: Tree lighting

John Seiler December 1, 2014

Congress switches to dynamic scoring

John Seiler December 1, 2014

This should have happened the last time Republicans took over all of Congress, in 1995. The new GOP majority is switching budget calculations to “dynamic scoring.” The L.A. Times reported: For years, leading GOP lawmakers have wanted to change the

Protesters reject UC tuition hike

John Seiler November 30, 2014

California witnessed protests not just against the grand-jury verdict in the Ferguson, Mo. situation. Students here also are protesting the proposed hike in tuition at the University of California advanced by President Janet Napolitano. Reported the Times: In Berkeley, scores of

Why does CA unemployment remain so high?

John Seiler November 28, 2014

Silicon Valley and other areas of coastal California are doing well — assuming you can afford to live there. But the state economy as a whole remains stagnant, with unemployment stuck at 7.3 percent for October, the same as the