Budget and Finance
Back to homepageBankruptcy bill stuck in Assembly
May 30, 2012 By Katy Grimes Californians can heave a sigh of relief for the moment; the Assembly did not pass the latest bill preventing cities and municipalities from filing for bankruptcy. But don’t think that this bill is dead
Read More“Debacle:” Obama’s space alien movie made in California
May 29, 2012 By Wayne Lusvardi President Barack Obama’s “stimulus” flying saucer landed in California in February 2009. This isn’t something from Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.” It’s the actual description from Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist.
Read MoreCA debt much larger than reported
May 29, 2012 By Katy Grimes Reports of California’s debt usually just include the $17 billion budget deficit. But California also owes the federal government $14 billion, and public schools $10 billion. While California sputters under the massive debt, legislators
Read MoreGrowing CA’s education welfare system
May 25, 2012 By Katy Grimes SACRAMENTO — Democratic Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, has been pushing unusually hard to get a tax bill passed, but it’s not looking good. There is no getting around the fact that AB 1500,
Read MoreJerry Brown’s deficit teeter-totter game
May 23, 2012 By Wayne Lusvardi Imagine a teeter-totter with a chubby boy on one end and a thin boy on the other. The teeter-totter can be balanced either by two chubby boys or two thin boys. It can be
Read MoreHollywood seeks more taxpayer subsidies
May 23, 2012 By Joseph Perkins The California Film Commission is holding a lottery next week for filmmakers and television producers. The lucky winners will share $100 million worth of taxpayer subsidies. It’s part of the state’s three-year-old Film and
Read MoreState may consider taxing services
May 22, 2012 By Dave Roberts Hold on to your wallet — Sacramento may be hatching yet another way to reach into your pocket: a state sales tax on services. Assemblywoman Alyson Huber, D-El Dorado Hills, has authored AB 1963,
Read MoreFHA subprime defaults hit 9% in California
May 18, 2012 By Chriss Street The American taxpayer is about to be saddled with another multi-billions bailout of subprime mortgage loan losses from the stealth Federal Housing Authority lending program that has been offering ultra-low 3.5 percent down payments since
Read MoreAssembly hearings expose Brown budget gaps
May 17, 2012 By Katy Grimes Like a woman with a shopping addiction, California politicians are going to bankrupt the Golden State. California has a $16 billion deficit, a $4.6 billion budget spending increase since January, a credit rating which
Read MoreJP Morgan fiasco means higher interest rates ahead
May 15, 2012 By Chriss Street If there was an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award for the best acting performance by a CEO, Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan Bank would surely win the Oscar for his dismissal
Read More