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Video: Peter Schiff on the gold standard

Businessman and investment broker Peter Schiff sits down with CalWatchdog’s James Poulos to discuss whether or not the gold standard can save the economy … and what’s China doing with all that gold?

Groundwater war breaks out

Wayne Lusvardi July 27, 2014

Future historians might mark July 20 as the date when a full scale war broke out over California’s groundwater. On July 20 in the Los Angeles Times, George Skelton, the dean of California journalists, said it was unfair to tell him

Buzz builds for Brown ’16

James Poulos July 24, 2014

Is the fourth time the charm for Gov. Jerry Brown’s presidential aspirations? The question may well have more to do with politics at the national level than the state level. Believe it or not, a fresh round of chatter and interest is

Lawsuit could expand state control of groundwater

Wayne Lusvardi July 23, 2014

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Allen Sumner just issued a preliminary ruling that Siskiyou County must regulate groundwater well permits along the Scott River in accordance with “Public Trust Doctrine.” This means the water now mainly used by hay farmers

‘Six Californias’ will go before voters

James Poulos July 23, 2014

Its debut on a California ballot might still be two years away. But this month, supporters successfully verified the quixotic, Silicon Valley-powered Six Californias initiative obtained the necessary signatures to receive an up or down vote. As the Los Angeles Times reported,

Minimum wage activists set sights on L.A.

James Poulos July 22, 2014

The concerted push for higher minimum wages in California has spread from the East Bay to Los Angeles. On the heels of a recently approved $15 minimum wage in Seattle, advocates for dramatically increased hourly wages sensed an opportunity to select

A look at CA’s mixed-bag teacher firing reform

James Poulos July 20, 2014

In some respects, it’s now easier to fire teachers in California. In others, it’s more complicated. That’s the verdict on AB 215, the version of several different firing reform bills that cleared the Legislature and received Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature

CA, feds struggle with — and spar over — pot regulation

James Poulos July 18, 2014

As California muddles ahead with its disorganized decriminalization of marijuana, local and federal lawmakers are adopting distinctly different approaches to the prospect of pot-related crime. City councils are apt to worry about different kinds of drug crime than Congress. But the

Richmond pols continue posturing on underwater mortgages

Wayne Lusvardi July 17, 2014

A majority of the Richmond City Council still wants to use eminent domain powers to to seize “underwater mortgages” even though the bond market refused to sell $34 million in municipal bonds for the city last year due to Richmond

Controller 2014: 7 reasons why John Perez should quit while he’s behind

John July 15, 2014

The “sunk cost fallacy” — a self-destructive quirk of human behavior — explains why we persist in losing. We hold onto loser stocks, attend concerts we’d rather skip and demand recounts of decided elections. The sunk cost fallacy is alive and