Posts From Joseph Perkins

Back to homepage
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.

Declare war on lawsuit abuse

Feb. 12, 2013 By Joseph Perkins Inmate lawsuits have become a cottage industry here in California. The Associated Press reports that such litigation has cost the state’s taxpayers more than $200 million over the past 15 years. Gov. Jerry Brown

Read More

Disinvest in higher education

Feb. 5, 2013 By Joseph Perkins College is overrated. That’s the ineluctable conclusion to be drawn from a new study published by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. The study’s co-authors, Richard Vedder, Jonathan Robe and Christopher Denhart, examined

Read More

California, the union state

Jan. 27, 2013 By Joseph Perkins  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this week that the national union membership rate (the percentage of wage and salary workers who are members of a union) fell to 11.3 last year from

Read More

Gov. Brown turns attention to immigration

Jan. 18, 2013 By Joseph Perkins California is home to nearly one-quarter of the nation’s 11 million or so illegal immigrants. So it is understandable, laudable even, that Gov. Jerry Brown intends to be a player in upcoming discussions back

Read More

Real Culprits in CA Housing Crash

Jan. 11, 2013 By Joseph Perkins As the California economy continues slowly to recover from the collapse of its once-thriving housing sector, the banking industry is trying to close its books on the financial disaster. This week, Bank of America

Read More

CA strikes blow for privacy rights

Jan. 5, 2013 By Joseph Perkins Randi Zuckerberg made news recently when a family photo she posted on her Facebook account was reposted on Twitter without her knowledge or consent. The big sis of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was not

Read More

Solar power fries ratepayers

Dec. 29, 2012 By Joseph Perkins Most lawmakers in Sacramento have no idea who Robert K. Merton was. But they almost certainly are familiar with terms the late great American social scientist introduced into the popular lexicon, including “unintended consequences.”

Read More

California encourages business flight

Dec. 21, 2012 By Joseph Perkins Employees at Chevron’s San Ramon corporate headquarters received an unexpected email yesterday. It notified them that a quarter of their jobs are being moved from California to Texas. The oil giant, the Golden State’s

Read More

Much required of Democratic Legislature

Dec. 14, 2012 By Joseph Perkins I met Darrell Steinberg last week. The state Senate president pro tem said that he and his fellow Democrats recognize the awesome responsibility that comes with the supermajorities they now enjoy in both chambers

Read More

The Tobacco Settlement Bait-And-Switch

Dec. 08, 2012 By Joseph Perkins “California’s lawsuit against the tobacco industry has reached a successful conclusion that provides a major victory in the fight against smoking.” So said Bill Lockyer, then the state’s attorney general, back in 1999. The

Read More