Budget and Finance
Back to homepageCalifornia Now a 'Zombie State'
MAY 23, 2011 By JOHN SEILER In our 18 months online, we at CalWatchDog.com have detailed the massive burden of government that weighs down our state. We’ve also sometimes criticized Dan Walters for backing tax increases. He’s the dean of
Read MoreSen. Lieu And The River Called Denial
Commentary MAY 19, 2011 By STEVEN GREENHUT California’s fiscal problems are only front-page national news thanks to the state’s structural deficit, unfunded pension liabilities and other problems that stem from a Democratic-controlled government that loves nothing more than to tax,
Read MoreTime is Ripe for California Flat Tax
MAY 18, 2011 By JOHN SEILER Now is the time for the innovative Gov. Jerry Brown of the 1970s to step forward and push aside the union hack who has impersonated him in the governor’s office since the January 3
Read MoreWill Spending Cutters Rot in Hell?
MAY 17, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI In my hometown of Pasadena, and I suspect statewide, there is a concerted effort of local religious leaders to bombard local newspapers with letters advocating a state increase in taxes to save public schools.
Read MoreMay Revise Blows $6.6 B Tax Windfall
MAY 16, 2011 By JOHN SEILER Call it Government Math. In his January budget proposal for fiscal 2011-12, Gov. Jerry Brown insisted on $12 billion in yearly tax increases to help close a $25 billion budget deficit. Today, in his
Read MoreSEIU Tax-Increase Ads Blanket State
MAY 16, 2011 By JOHN SEILER The Budget Wars begin in earnest after the release today of Gov. Jerry Brown’s May Revise of his 2011-12 state budget proposal. In preparation, the state’s unions have been blanketing the state with pro-tax
Read MoreUnions Say: 'Shut Up and Pay Us'
MAY 16, 2011 Yet another report confirms the enormous liabilities that California taxpayers must endure to pay for pensions for public employees. The study, released May 5 at a Pension Boot Camp for elected officials held near Sacramento by the
Read MoreBlueprint Shows Budget Can Balance
MAY 14, 2011 This piece first appeared in City Journal’s new California Web site edited by Ben Boychuk. By STEVEN GREENHUT The Republican budget plan proposed on Thursday in the California Assembly wouldn’t fix the fundamental problems with the state’s
Read MoreLife A Beach For OC's $200K Lifeguards
MAY 13, 2011 By BRIAN CALLE Some lifeguards in Orange County are making upwards of $200,000 in total compensation. This revelation gives new meaning to the phrase “Life is a beach!” Tuesday, my story about lifeguard pay in Newport Beach
Read MoreProtest: 'Republicans — Pass The Bucks!'
MAY 13, 2011 by KATY GRIMES More teachers union activists were arrested at the Capitol yesterday, and it wasn’t just for using hackneyed, worn out chants. This time the arrests came when more than two dozen of the activists refused
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