Inside Government
Back to homepageJohn Chiang Blazes Future of CA Politics
JUNE 27, 2011 By JOHN SEILER As they said in old-school physics, nature abhors a vacuum. Passed last November, Proposition 25 marginalized California Republicans by dropping from two-thirds to a majority the threshold for passing a state budget. That left the
Read MoreVictims Program Needs Major Overhaul
JUNE 27, 2011 By RICHARD TRAINOR The California State Victims of Crime Program (VCP) is a neat little boutique agency designed to assist crime victims. It’s officially known as the Victims Compensation and Government Claims Board, or colloquially as the
Read MoreCoastal Commission Holds Sacto Lovefest
JUNE 24, 2011 California Coastal Commission boss, and supporters, lobby for more money and power By LLOYD BILLINGSLEY A conference on the California Coastal Commission here Thursday, sponsored by Capitol Weekly, provided a forum for longtime CCC boss Peter Douglas.
Read MoreReally, CA legislators are brain trusts!
JUNE 24, 2011 By ALI MEYER California legislators can’t seem to get a balanced budget passed or fix the state government’s ongoing problems. They are known for passing ridiculous legislation and taxing things you didn’t even know existed, so you
Read MoreAnaheim Gives Pass To Pervert Cop
Steven Greenhut: Increasingly, we have become a two-tier society where those who enforce the laws are held to a much lower standard than the rest of us, which is the marking of an authoritarian society rather than a democratic one.
Read MoreHow to Save $$ Executing Killers
JUNE 22, 2011 State Sen. Lori Hancock, D-Berkeley, said this week that she plans to introduce legislation that would shutter California’s death row. She argues that capital punishment has proven “an expensive failure” and proposes that the sentences of inmates
Read MoreBudget Battle Poisons Pesticide Rules
JUNE 22, 2011 By WAYNE LUSVARDI Politicized environmental regulation is becoming a protection racket to collect votes. To pass Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget, farmers along the Central Coast of California are having overkill pesticide runoff regulations imposed on them to
Read MoreStem Cell Boondoggle Seeks New Boss
JUNE 20, 2011 By K. LLOYD BILLINGSLEY The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state stem-cell agency, is looking for a new boss. The quest for a new leader, and possibly more public money, has shifted attention from CIRM’s
Read MoreUnions Shirk Blame for Killing Jobs
John Seiler: Although public-sector unions are the worst at turning California into a toxic jobs climate, private-sector workers aren’t much better. Union workers now are protesting in Ontario because, according to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, “Officials from the Teamsters
Read MoreRedevelopment Makeover
Katy Grimes: When Gov. Jerry Brown first called for eliminating the state’s 425 redevelopment agencies, on the surface it appeared a sincere effort. But his proposal was surprisingly not supported by Republicans. And since it was proposed by Brown, a Democrat,
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