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Back to homepageL.A. Times Goes Tax Berserk
John Seiler: The L.A. Times’ tax obsession goes back decades. I remember back when George Deukmejian was governor (1982-1990), the Times was especially fanatical about increasing taxes. So one of the governor’s advisers sent the Times management an unofficial bill
Read MoreLatinos Identify as Conservative
John Seiler: One of the curious findings of the weekend’s L.A. Times/USC poll was that Latinos call themselves “conservative” by 40 percent, “moderate” percent 32 and “liberal” 23 percent. See Question 74. That means Latinos are more conservative that whites,
Read MoreHelmut Hair No More
Katy Grimes: Five different attempts at repealing California’s motorcycle helmet law have been defeated by the Legislature, but that isn’t stopping Republican Assemblyman Chris Norby (Fullerton), who is making one more attempt to exempt motorcycle riders over the age of 21,
Read MoreMansoor Changes His Lame Story
Steven Greenhut: Assemblyman Allan Mansoor, R-Costa Mesa, told me and others that he decided to vote to save the state’s noxious redevelopment agencies because he saw some poison pill language in the governor’s RDA-elimination bill. That was always a crock
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California Divorce Invades World
John Seiler: Another California plague is invading the world: our absurd divorce laws. You probably know comedian John Cleese from Monty Python’s Flying Circus and numerous movies. Here’s a report on his plight: Ms [Alyce Faye] Eichelberger received more than £12
Read MoreCapitol Card Check Tricks
Katy Grimes: This column first appeared in the April 24, 2011 edition of the San Francisco Examiner. Last week Assembly Speaker John Perez suspended the public notice rule for legislative hearings, allowing an Assembly committee to conduct a surprise hearing
Read MoreFree Lindsay Lohan!
John Seiler: California’s state and city budgets are broke. Its prisons and jails are jammed to overcrowding. But Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner just sentenced actress Lindsay Lohan to 120 days in jail for violating her drunk-driving probation.
Read MoreHappy Easter!
John Seiler: We at CalWatchDog.com wish all of you a Happy Easter. Celebration with Easter Egg hunts and bunny rabbits expresses the underlying belief, for Christians, in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter is a time of renewal. It is
Read MoreKey Graph Shows Housing Boom-Bust
John Seiler: Except for Nevada, California was hardest hit by the boom-bust of the housing market during the previous decade. Most explanations show how prices doubled or even tripled in many places — then crashed back down to earth, in
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Property Rights Victory in CA
Steven Greenhut: Just off the press from the Institute for Justice: National City, Calif.—A California gym that mentors at-risk kids scored a knockout legal blow against eminent domain abuse in California. Yesterday, April 21, Judge Steven R. Denton of the
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