Budget and Finance

Pay soars in the public sector

Oct. 21, 2012 By Steven Greenhut STOCKTON — Workers for the city of Stockton who attended the unveiling Wednesday night of a new report detailing trends in public-employee compensation in California complained about cuts in their compensation packages that are

Lockyer blusters about symptom of union power — but not union power

CalWatchdog Staff October 18, 2012

Oct. 18, 2012 By Chris Reed The recent spate of attention paid to California school districts’ use of capital appreciation bonds — insane borrowing in which districts don’t begin to pay back the principal for decades — has been appropriately

Katy Grimes dissects Prop. 31

CalWatchdog Staff October 16, 2012

Oct. 16, 2012 By Brian Calle CalWatchDog.com’s Capitol reporter, Katy Grimes, describes what’s really going on with Proposition 31, a budget initiative.

Economy, DOW have stagnated for 15 years

CalWatchdog Staff October 12, 2012

Oct. 12, 2012 By John Seiler The evidence keeps rushing in that the U.S. and California economies have stagnated for about 15 years. Obviusly, there are bright spots, such Apple, Google and the other Silicon Valley nerd factories. But for

Video: Election watch: Props. 30 & 38

CalWatchdog Staff October 9, 2012

Oct. 9, 2012 Both California Governor Jerry Brown and the Teacher’s union put a tax hikes on the ballot. What happens if both pass? CalWatchDog.com’s Katy Grimes has the analysis.

Crazifornia: Moneyball time in Sacramento

CalWatchdog Staff October 8, 2012

Oct. 8, 2012 By Laer Pearce Gov. Jerry Brown is no Billy Beane. Coaching a bottom-dwelling state, Brown is continuing to dole out big money for policies that are past their prime and failing to perform. California remains at the bottom

Giveaway almost becomes law

Steven Greenhut October 8, 2012

Oct. 8, 2012 By Steven Greenhut SACRAMENTO — If California voters grant the state government the billions in higher taxes in Proposition 30 that Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative Democrats have been demanding, those same officials might be expected to

Government ‘investing’ in government

CalWatchdog Staff October 5, 2012

Oct. 6, 2012 By Katy Grimes In order to stimulate the inert economy, we now have the government investing in government. The public sector is trading public dollars for public dollars. “How will you spend your future?” the California State

Politics driving CA pension investments

Joseph Perkins October 5, 2012

Oct. 5, 2012 By Joseph Perkins The California State Teachers’ Retirement System announced this week that it is sinking $42.8 million into four infrastructure projects, including a solar power plant near Sacramento. That follows CalSTRS’ previous “investment” in another solar-power

Public employee pensions: Some contracts are more sacred than others

CalWatchdog Staff October 5, 2012

Third in a series on public pensions. The first is here and the second here. Oct. 5, 2012 By Mark Cabaniss On Wednesday, the city of Atwater declared a fiscal emergency, putting it on the path to become the fourth California city