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New category of CA employees tries to sandbag pension fixes
When elected officials participate even very indirectly in a process that improves their compensation, the public goes wild. It’s powerful attack-ad fodder for candidates seeking to unseat such politicians. But when powerful bureaucrats engage in such in a maneuver —
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Report may force CA media to admit Obama backs fracking safety
As Cal Watchdog has repeatedly noted over the past two years, the California print media — with the exception of the U-T San Diego editorial page (my edits) and a San Francisco Chronicle reporter — never note the Obama administration’s
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Will young CA justices use Vergara case to audition for SCOTUS?
The Volokh Conspiracy, the wonderful legal blog founded by UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh, had a provocative post about what might happen now that Gov. Jerry Brown has named three acclaimed youngish scholars to the California Supreme Court. George Washington
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Teacher pay raises gobble up Prop 30, LCFF funds
In 2012, California voters approved Proposition 30, which temporarily raised sales taxes on everyone and income taxes on the wealthy. The measure was sold with the promise it would directly help public education. It was “for the kids.” In 2013,
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Budget fight shows unlikelihood of fed $ for bullet train
Congress’ most intense squabbles over the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending plan that passed Saturday weren’t over the budget details. They were over plans to add provisions in the measure to modify existing laws, most notably language that would weaken some
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Has quirky San Diego Democrat put hold on city’s “Los Angelization”?
Democrats have long had a big voter registration advantage in San Diego — a consistent 70,000-plus edge. Yet until November 2012, this never translated into liberal local governance akin to the aggressive progressivism of other large West Coast cities like
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Beyond MSM, Feinstein report knocked by left and right
The release of the report by the Senate intelligence committee’s majority Democrats that annihilates the CIA for using torture for years even when the agency allegedly knew that it didn’t work has been treated by the mainstream media as a
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Meet the Mother Jones staffer who thinks the bullet train is nuts
There are bullet-train apostates among California Democrats, starting with Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, and bullet-train fans among state GOPers, starting with Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin. But by and large, the bullet-train debate in the Golden State is a partisan affair.
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57% of CA infrastructure $ on mass transit? More, more, more!
In 2008, California enacted SB 375, the most important state law you never heard about. It was Senate leader Darrell Steinberg’s bid for the sort of green reverence that Arnold Schwarzenegger enjoyed because of 2006’s AB 32. SB 375 (Chapter
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Gov. Brown thinks long with young CA high-court picks
Jerry Brown will be 80 when his fourth and final term as governor ends in 2018. But it’s plain that he hopes to leave a mark on California life for 40 years after he’s gone — not with the bullet
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