Inside Government

Gordon Tullock, RIP

The great economist Gordon Tullock died recently at age 92. He is most associated with Public Choice Economics. Under it, economists look at government bureaucrats, not as disinterested, omniscient parties trying to keep things going by enforcing the rule of

Modest-seeming CalSTRS pension estimate lacks key context

Chris Reed November 11, 2014

The California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers do a good job of promoting the narrative that state teacher pensions are very modest at best. It’s true that there aren’t the same type of outrageous stories that we see in

Think tank explained CA’s affordable housing debacles long ago

Chris Reed November 10, 2014

A weekend story about the gross failure of affordable housing policies in San Francisco contained plenty of public frustration and official consternation. But it also is one more example of the very shallow way this issue is almost always covered

VIDEO: Would six Californias be better than one?

CalWatchdog Staff November 3, 2014

Is the Six Californias plan good for California? Reason Magazine’s Editor Matt Welch joins Cal Watchdog’s James Poulos and we find out what would be missed.

Mercury-News report on mass CA poverty may change coverage

Chris Reed November 2, 2014

The pack mentality of the Sacramento beat reporters is striking. No one wants to point out that the Obama administration says fracking is safe. No one wants to point out that the Local Control Funding Formula turned out to be

Part of bullet-train legal mystery may be answered

Chris Reed October 31, 2014

For close followers of the bullet-train saga, one of the most basic mysteries of recent years has been what happened after Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny’s tentative ruling in August 2013 that blocked the state from starting construction on

After 13 months on job, UC President Napolitano already seems restless

Chris Reed October 28, 2014

It has been 13 months since Janet Napolitano took over as president of University of California system. The former homeland security chief for the Obama administration has just dropped her second big hint in as many months that she’s ready

Enviros battle over merits of rooftop solar vs. desert solar

Wayne Lusvardi October 27, 2014

Things aren’t working out well for renewable energy advocates who hoped cheaper rooftop solar energy would replace large solar power plants in California’s Mojave Desert and return “economic democracy” to the people with millions of rooftop solar installations. This is

VIDEO: Does California government do anything well (besides grow)?

CalWatchdog Staff October 27, 2014

California is controlled by Democrat politicians, but even they have failed to deliver on a list of progressive promises. Reason Magazine’s Editor Matt Welch joins CalWatchdog’s James Poulos to discuss the shortcomings of liberal utopia.

Hydropower AB 32 scam as bad as one L.A. Times detailed

Chris Reed October 27, 2014

The Los Angeles Times had a good analysis over the weekend of how AB 32 is being gamed in ways that make suspect its claims to be cleaning up the environment. California’s pioneering climate-change law has a long reach, but