Joseph Perkins, Author at CalWatchdog.com

Posts From Joseph Perkins

Joseph Perkins

Joseph Perkins, now assistant editor of the Orange County Register Opinion Pages, started his career as an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal. After serving on the White House Staff of former Vice President Dan Quayle he wrote for the San Diego Union-Tribune where he authored a nationally-syndicated column. Before writing for CalWatchdog.com, Mr. Perkins was also Business Editor for San Diego Magazine.

Enviros fight over CA Spotted Owl

The California Spotted Owl faces extinction unless logging is banned in forests in which “the small and declining owl population” may be found in California’s Sierra Nevadas and the mountains of Southern California. So warns a petition submitted last

Wage laws killing CA jobs

Joseph Perkins December 29, 2014

On the day before Christmas, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its weekly report on new unemployment claims. While 45 states reported declines, California was one of five states to report an increase. California claims rose by 11,794. To

San Onofre nuke shutdown shocks consumers

Joseph Perkins December 1, 2014

“This is very good news for the people of Southern California.” So said Erich Pica, president of the outspoken environmental group Friends of the Earth, celebrating in June 2013 the announced closure of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. A year

One year later, glitches still plague Covered CA

Joseph Perkins November 3, 2014

“Here we go again with the same nightmare as a year ago. [I’m] truly fed up with Covered California’s technical incompetency.” So complained Igal Koiman, a health insurance broker, in remarks published this week in the Sacramento Business Journal.

Bill would push unionizing franchise workers

Joseph Perkins August 26, 2014

The franchise market in California, a keystone of small business in the state, soon could change radically. The California Legislature last Thursday sent a bill to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk that would effectively supersede the contractual agreements between California-based

Did Caltrans cover up shoddy work on Bay Bridge?

Joseph Perkins August 12, 2014

Douglas Coe, an engineer under the employ of the California Department of Transportation, spent years working on the retrofit of the eastern span of the Bay Bridge between Oakland and San Francisco. When the 25-year Caltrans veteran told his

The myth of California’s underpaid public school employees

Joseph Perkins July 28, 2014

Eduardo Benard, a custodian at San Francisco’s Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School, received $107,912.31 in pay and benefits in 2013. He was one of 31 custodians employed by California public schools that boasted more than $100,000 in compensation last