Budget and Finance

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Look for 5 Things in May Revise

MAY 13, 20211 By JOHN SEILER Next Monday, Gov. Jerry Brown will release his “May Revise” to his January budget proposal for fiscal year 2011-12, which begins on July 1. Looking beyond the hoopla and spin, here are the top

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Tax 'Brown Out' from Cap-and-Trade?

MAY 13, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI Will working class opposition to California’s cap-and-trade program lead to a tax “Brown Out”? The usual meaning of “brown out” means a lowering of power voltage for a period of time, as in “rolling

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LAO Rings Death Knell for High-Speed Rail

APRIL 11, 2011 By JOHN SEILER The high-speed choo-choo is dead. A new report by the Legislative Analyst effectively drives a silver railroad spike through its heart. In 2008, voters passed Proposition 1A, the grandiloquently named Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train

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Bill Would Worsen CA High-Tax Status

Editor’s Note: This is an open letter from San Diego Tax Fighters President Richard Rider regarding a new bill making its way through the state Capitol: MAY 11, 2011 By RICHARD RIDER We oppose SB653 – and for good reason.

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Democrats Pushing More CA Food Stamps

MAY 10, 2011 By DAVE ROBERTS “I’ve never forgotten Jack Kemp saying the way we define compassion is not by adding up how many people receive government benefits, but rather tallying the numbers of those who no longer need them.

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California on the Peso Standard?

MAY 9, 2011 By JOHN SEILER Californians keep looking for ways to boost our economy, which also would bring in more revenue to the state government. The Legislature still is struggling with a budget deficit of about $15 billion, after

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Prop. 13 Still Left's Bogeyman

MAY 9, 2011 California has become such a basket case that outsiders are starting to parachute in and report on the tales of woe from our deficit-racked, economically stagnant and politically dysfunctional state. It makes for good reading for a

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Unions Greet Facts With Emotionalism

MAY 6, 2011 By STEVEN GREENHUT Yet another report released this week confirms the enormous liabilities that California taxpayers must endure to pay for pensions for public employees. The study, released at a Pension Boot Camp for elected officials held

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CEOs Rank CA Worst State for Business

MAY 5, 2011 By JOHN SEILER Once again, California garners the booby prize for business climate: For the seventh year in a row, CEOs rate Texas as the #1 state in which to do business and California as the worst. North Carolina maintained its #2 rank,

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CA Bond Payments Crowd Other Spending

MAY 5, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI A recent Internet headline read: “California bond sold for 9 percent – NOT a Typo!” The inference was that this could be the harbinger of much prophesized skyrocketing bond interest rates and municipal bond

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