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Back to homepageHigher Taxes Don't Make Us Better
JUNE 13, 2011 Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent talk to the California State Association of Counties was more meandering and disjointed than usual, but the governor stuck to his talking points: Unless California voters approve tax extensions, they must get used
Read More'Consumer' Group Reaps Big Salaries
JUNE 10, 2011 Last week, the Assembly passed AB 52, which would require health insurance companies to seek permission from a state regulatory board before increasing premiums. In essence, AB 52 would give the state’s elected insurance commissioner and the
Read MoreBureaucrats Don't Come to the Rescue
JUNE 6, 2011 As a tragic San Francisco fire that claimed the life of at least one firefighter Thursday has shown, public safety jobs at times can be very dangerous. But an incident from earlier in the week across the
Read MoreGrads Get Lesson In Leadership
JUNE 1, 2011 Last Friday, after four years of intense university studies and military training, I watched as my son graduated from the United States Naval Academy and received his commission in the U.S. Navy. As the 1,006 Midshipmen tossed
Read MoreHow California Prisons Got So Bad
MAY 30, 2011 In the Assembly last week, legislators praised ethnic studies departments and had long-winded debates before voting to ban the trading of shark fins in California. But while state government becomes ever-more meddlesome in ever-expanding areas of private
Read MoreRail Program In Deep Doo-Doo
MAY 24, 2011 You know a massive government program is in trouble when even its hand-picked “working group” of insiders starts crying foul. This is exactly what happened to the increasingly troubled California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHRSA) earlier this month.
Read MoreArnold Is a Power-Loving Phony
MAY 23, 2011 Last weekend I watched one of my favorite movies, “Total Recall,” a 1990 sci-fi flick based on a Philip K. Dick novel and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Is Schwarzenegger’s character an intergalactic double agent who saves the mutants
Read MoreDunce Cap On Charter Schools
MAY 23, 2011 Most parents of school-aged children who are familiar with charter schools clamor to get their kids into one. In some cities, the waiting list for charters is impossibly long, as demand is far greater than the availability
Read MoreState Threatens Parks Closures
MAY 18, 2011 It was an unseasonably cool and rainy Sunday afternoon, and there were about two dozen of us standing under the entry porch of the Governor’s Mansion on Sunday. Usually just two or three tourists show up these
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
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