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]

Obama sets agenda in SF speech

As part of President Obama’s high-tech trip to California, before donors in San Francisco he set an ambitious agenda for his remaining two years. It’s significant he did so in California because of its centrality to both his agenda and

Andrew Do victory aids GOP comeback

John Seiler February 16, 2015

Andrew Do’s election as an Orange County supervisor finally is over as a recount confirmed his victory. He beat Lou Correa, a former supervisor, California state senator and assemblyman. It’s also a victory for the California Republican Party’s outreach to

Cartoon: Unclaimed property

John Seiler February 16, 2015

Auditor: State govt. still can’t compute

John Seiler February 15, 2015

As the locus of the global high-tech boom, you would think some of that digital dexterity might rub off on the California state government. Nope. A new report from state Auditor Elaine Howle is on the California Department of Consumer Affairs’ BreEZe

How long will dock strife last?

John Seiler February 14, 2015

Things are different now for West Coast ports because of increased competition from Mexico and the Gulf Coast of the United States. So the ongoing strife over dockyard workers out here is likely to be resolved faster than in the

Obama, tech industry speak at Stanford

John Seiler February 13, 2015

Speaking today at the White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection at Stanford University, President Obama and tech industry leaders outlined different visions of the digital future. While the president called for cooperation between government and industry to increase the security of

Schools signing up families for Covered CA

John Seiler February 13, 2015

Critics of anti-poverty programs long have warned about what’s called the Welfare State or “Cradle-to-Grave” government programs. The late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a liberal Democrat from New York, worked for decades to try to avoid that. He helped craft the 1996

CA’s Tesla challenges other states’ dealership laws

John Seiler February 12, 2015

California’s Tesla Motors Inc. is proving as revolutionary in selling cars as making them. It’s challenging states that mandate new cars be sold only through dealerships by pushing to offer its premium electric vehicles directly through company showrooms. The two sides

Skelton sees Dem vs. Dem

John Seiler February 12, 2015

One of the themes at CalWatchDog.com the past several years has been that, with Republicans still moribund in California, Democrats will turn on one another. One story from last October was, “Democrats divided on big issues in CA.” George Skelton,

Obama heads Stanford Summit on cybersecurity

John Seiler February 11, 2015

On Friday, President Obama travels to Stanford University to give the keynote address on a topic much in the news: cybersecurity. Last week, Anthem Blue Cross was hacked and data stolen. Previous data breaches have hit Target and Home Depot.