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Back to homepagePRI report examines bankruptcy as tool for struggling cities
The Pacific Research Institute has released a report that couldn't be more timely. “Going Broke One City at a Time: Municipal Bankruptcies in America” by economist Wayne H. Winegarden. buy a paper One of Winegarden's key conclusions: “If used appropriately, bankruptcy
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San Diego's pension reform model finally inspires copy-cats
In early 2012, when then-San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio was pushing an innovative, unusual, unprecedented pension reform initiative in California's second-largest city, I wrote about it for City Journal. I thought it was a harbinger of what the future would
Read MoreArena lawsuit: Sacramento officials will be deposed
The judge's order in the Sacramento arena lawsuit is in: Sacramento City Councilman Kevin McCarty and Sacramento Economic Development Director Jim Rhinehart will be deposed about undisclosed dealings between city officials and the new Kings ownership group to help it buy
Read MoreGood news for state: Programmers found for antiquated computers
One of the strangest stories out of Sacramento in recent years has to do with state Controller John Chiang's repeated warnings that it would be difficult to implement furloughs of state workers because of the antiquated computer system used to
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LAO questions legality of plan to use cap-and-trade $ on bullet train
The governor’s just-released 2014-15 budget proposes to spend $850 million from cap-and-trade auction revenue on various projects — including the state’s high-speed rail project. That would defy the very purpose of cap-and-trade. In a new report on the spending plan,
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Brown: No teachers' pension fix until after November election
Gov. Jerry Brown has a basic problem when it comes to the California State Teachers' Retirement System: the most powerful forces in state politics oppose the standard fix for an underfunded pension system, even if it is now enshrined in
Read MoreStunning verdict in Fullerton case: Rodney King, the sequel
I was as stunned by a verdict Monday afternoon as I have been my whole life. An Orange County jury cleared police officers of all charges in the beating death of homeless Fullerton resident Kelly Thomas. It's impossible not to see
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Schools chief already wants to extend Prop. 30 taxes
Only one year into Proposition 30’s five-year life, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has already called for an extension of the 2012 ballot initiative. Set to expire in 2018, it was sold to voters as a temporary tax.
Read MoreSacramento’s Russians, Sochi and the homophobia double standard
One of the biggest storylines leading up to next month’s Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, is the Western world’s stern disapproval of Russia’s homophobia and the fear that it could cast a pall over the event and lead to
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U.S. fracking changes global balance of power; can’t CA join fun?
Anti-fracking forces are gearing up in California, aided by our pathetic state media, which never mention that the Obama administration considers hydraulic fracturing to access natural gas and oil reserves to be just another heavy industry that can be made
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