Inside Government

EDD computers must be fixed by Dec. 31

This is Part 2 of a series on the EDD. Part 1, an interview with Spokesman Dan Stephens, is here. Just after the Labor Day weekend, the California Employment Development Department released a $100 million computer upgrade. It crashed. Without

George Skelton finally turns on bullet train. Now will Dan Morain?

Chris Reed December 9, 2013

So it’s been clear for years that when it comes to the bullet train, Gov. Jerry Brown has lost Sac Bee news columnist Dan Walters. This weekend’s column makes it clear that the LAT’s George Skelton is about to jump

EDD responds to questions on computer glitches

Katy Grimes December 6, 2013

This is Part 1 of a series. Obamacare’s computers aren’t the only government systems struck by major glitches. Two months after a California Employment Development Department computer crash cut off tens of thousands of Californians from their unemployment benefits, the EDD

Background on ALRB Chair Shiroma

Katy Grimes December 6, 2013

This is part 2 of a series on the ALRB. Part 1 is here. Genevieve Shiroma, chair of California’s Agricultural Labor Relations Board, which oversees the relationship between farms and farm workers, grew up the daughter of a farm worker in

Morro Bay Power Plant shutdown saves fish, kills birds

Wayne Lusvardi December 5, 2013

Power plants keep closing in California. Earlier this year, Southern California Edison announced it permanently would shut down its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Then Dynergy Energy announced last month it would decommission the Morro Bay Power Plant whose three tall smokestacks

CA SEIU poised to break new ground on political thuggery

Chris Reed December 5, 2013

The California SEIU’s thuggishness is a matter of record. SEIU leaders think nothing of openly discussing their plans to monkey-wrench a pension reform measure in Los Angeles. Or about bullying and lying to their own members. The California SEIU’s upper

Chart shows stock market NOT setting records

John Seiler December 4, 2013

The following chart plots the Dow Jones Industrial Average against gold since 1978. This is important because gold is the only real money. Paper currencies are manipulated by central banks and governments. Remember what happened to the Zimbabwean dollar? How

State finances: LAO’s own report on CalSTRS demolishes LAO’s happy talk

Chris Reed December 4, 2013

I’m still struggling to make sense of Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor’s bizarrely upbeat report last month on state finances that predicted budget surpluses for years to come — but barely mentioned the state’s huge unfunded liabilities for retiree pensions and

Thanks, Dan: Cal Watchdog themes now Walters’ favorite talking points

Chris Reed December 2, 2013

For a year, Cal Watchdog contributors and staffers (and a Cal Watchdog alum) have been pretty much alone in pointing out two extremely relevant statistics that demolish Gov. Jerry Brown’s and the media’s narrative of the Golden State bouncing back

Lobbyist organizes second legislative junket to Cuba

John December 1, 2013

An influential Sacramento lobbyist — who paid out a $500,000 settlement for allegedly engaging in “pay-to-play” behavior — has organized a second junket to Cuba for California lawmakers. This week, Darius Anderson, the founder and president of Sacramento-based lobbying firm Platinum