Inside Government

De Leon ‘green jobs’ vow didn’t pan out for Obama, Brown

New Senate President Kevin De Leon’s announcement Friday that creating a broad swath of “green jobs” would be a priority will be greeted with applause by greens in West L.A. and the Bay Area and on campus, but it will

You’re far more likely to be impoverished in CA than Mississippi

Chris Reed October 19, 2014

For decades, economists have complained about the stupidity of the Census Bureau’s annual report on poverty in the U.S. because it didn’t include cost of living in its rankings of the 50 states. An example of the old stats can

Ruling that CA high court upheld hardly favorable to bullet train

Chris Reed October 17, 2014

I talked to a couple of insider types Thursday who asked me to explain my take on Wednesday’s California Supreme Court announcement on the bullet train. After all that’s gone down, they couldn’t believe that the justices would clear the

AG doesn’t write slanted ballot language for plastic bag measure

Chris Reed October 12, 2014

The Attorney General’s Office of the state of California has a long, ugly history under Kamala Harris, Jerry Brown and Bill Lockyer of writing ballot language that pushes voters one way or the other — always to the benefit of

Will the NFL return to L.A.?

John Seiler October 12, 2014

Are you ready for some football in Southern California? Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti Thursday said NFL football is “highly likely” to return to Los Angeles 20 years after the Raiders scampered back to Oakland and the Rams defected from Anaheim

VIDEO: Will battle tanks replace think tanks?

CalWatchdog Staff October 11, 2014

Politics is a contact sport, so is it time for think tanks to transition from academic institutions to partisan brawlers? Stephen Moore, chief economist and the Heritage Foundation and Orange County Register columnist, shares his views with CalWatchdog.com’s James Poulos.

In San Diego, how low will foes of gay GOP candidate go?

Chris Reed October 10, 2014

The 2008 election of gay libertarian firebrand Carl DeMaio to the San Diego City Council absolutely drove the city’s Democratic machine insane. When it came to tearing DeMaio down, it was anything goes. No one of any Dem stature ever

Post-Stockton, Democrat job-retention myth certain to be exposed

Chris Reed October 3, 2014

Both parties have bogus canards that they trot out when convenient. The worst example of this among Republicans is the idea that tax cuts always pay for themselves — that they lead to higher revenue. It could well be true

Stockton ruling, like Vergara ruling, shakes CA status quo

Chris Reed October 2, 2014

Californians who think the state status quo is nuts and that public employees amount to a protected class of citizens have gotten unexpected help this year from the state and federal courts. First came Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rolf

VIDEO: Pete Peterson — Empowering entrepreneurs to transform California

CalWatchdog Staff September 29, 2014

You can’t register your business online in California and the state has a long history of punishing business owners and entrepreneurs in other ways as well. Pete Peterson, the Republican candidate for Secretary of State, plans to use the entrepreneurial