Inside Government

Death, taxes and state incompetence with computer projects

There are fewer sure things in life than the likelihood the California state government will screw up a computer project. We may be home to Silicon Valley and the greatest concentration of information-technology skills in the world, but once a

CA massage law: A case study in regulatory failure

James Poulos February 27, 2014

Residents of Los Angeles know that “medical” marijuana shops are not the only gray-market business that’s experienced a recent boom. In a city with a taste for pleasure and an enterprising working class, “massage” parlors are apt to have

Feds give CA breathing room on bullet-train matching funds

Kathy Hamilton February 26, 2014

There’s been another funding twist for the California bullet-train project. The Federal Railroad Administration has agreed to delay the due date for $180 million in state matching funds for the project from April 1 to July 1, according to a

Why is CalSTRS’ version of corporate skulduggery tolerated?

Chris Reed February 26, 2014

Beginning in the late 1990s and for about a decade afterward, corporate accounting scandals unfolded one after the other. Bipartisan outrage over CEOs and CFOs cooking the books gave way to mostly Democratic initiatives to impose much more sweeping rules

The dog that didn’t bark: More evidence top Dems want bullet train gone

Chris Reed February 26, 2014

The California establishment fights dirty when it comes to direct challenges to its priorities and the people it wants to protect the most. The CTA blocking efforts to make it easier to remove classroom sexual predators and instead passing legislation

Do CA electeds really believe pot is healthier than e-cigarettes?

Chris Reed February 25, 2014

E-cigarettes that are far healthier than the normal kind remain under siege in California. Why? Cigarettes just aren’t OK with the cool kids running the Golden State — unless we’re talking about marijuana cigarettes. How odd. “A Los Angeles City

Judge confirms the ‘California rule’: Pensions can only go up

Chris Reed February 25, 2014

A state judge on Monday did a split-the-baby routine with San Jose’s voter-approved pension-reform law: “SAN JOSE — In a landmark ruling that could help shape city budgets around the state, a judge invalidated key parts of San Jose’s voter-approved

L.A. Times’ undermining of ‘climate change’ claims could affect court fights

Wayne Lusvardi February 24, 2014

It wasn’t the intention of the Los Angeles Times, but the newspaper has provided historical drought data with implications for a U.S. Supreme Court case that was heard Monday, Feb. 24 — “U.S. Chamber of Commerce v. U.S. EPA.”

Welfare, housing: Clinton pragmatism still ignored by CA’s dim paleo Dems

Chris Reed February 24, 2014

In the late 1980s, after three straight Republican presidential wins in which GOP candidates won 133 of 150 states, the Democratic Leadership Council seized prominence in Democratic policy circles with its centrist reform agenda. Founded in 1985 by strategist Al

Calderons indicted in massive bribery, fraud case

Tori Richards February 22, 2014

State Sen. Ron Calderon and his brother Thomas, a former assemblyman, were indicted late Thursday in a massive bribery and insurance fraud case that could send them to prison for the rest of their lives. A 24-count criminal complaint