Politics and Elections

CA SEIU poised to break new ground on political thuggery

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

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

Local governments approve numerous tax increases: Part 2

Adam O'Neal December 2, 2013

This is Part 2 of a series of stories about tax increases passed throughout California in the November 5 elections. To read Part 1, click here. Last month, over two dozen tax increases passed in local municipalities throughout California. Voters

‘Paycheck protection’: CA shouldn’t give up hope on checking unions yet

Chris Reed December 1, 2013

After the failure of three ballot attempts in the past 15 years to require unions to give their members veto power over the use of their dues for political purposes, Californians hoping for a better balance of power in local

End game on bullet train: No $, no project — and no prospects for $

Chris Reed November 26, 2013

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny’s issued a double-whammy ruling Monday. He barred the use of bond funds for the state bullet-train project until it had adequate funding and complete environmental reviews for its first 300-mile segment. He also blocked

San Diego mayor’s race: Shape-shifter to ‘leave public life’; GOP candidate favored

Chris Reed November 21, 2013

CalWatchdog has paid close attention to Nathan Fletcher over the past year, detailing the former union-trashing Republican assemblyman’s odyssey across the ideological spectrum. When the local GOP wouldn’t endorse him over libertarian crusader Carl DeMaio in the 2012 San Diego

Prof. Dr. Schwarzenegger totally doesn’t recall his record

John Seiler November 20, 2013

Funding your own Institute entitles you to distort your record. Except with me. Last Friday ex-Gov. and USC Downey Prof. Dr. Arnold Schwarzenegger (USC actually made him both a professor and a doctor) presided over a symposium at his USC

Immigration reform all but dead for 2013 and 2014

Adam O'Neal November 19, 2013

Shocked by their poor showing in the 2012 presidential election, Republicans looked for ways to change their brand. The first idea: Embrace immigration reform. A slew of Republican lawmakers and influential conservative intellectuals came out in favor of granting citizenship

San Diego mayoral election Tuesday; party-switcher Fletcher on ropes

Chris Reed November 17, 2013

San Diego has a special mayoral election Tuesday to fill the seat vacated by serial perv Bob Filner. The conventional wisdom has always been that it would be Republican Councilman Kevin Faulconer versus the versatile Nathan Fletcher, a Republican assemblyman

No Assembly video for Donnelly, but ok for Speaker Perez

Katy Grimes November 15, 2013

Last week gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly was warned he was about to receive a cease and desist notice from Assembly administrator Jon Waldie, telling him he was not allowed to use Assembly video footage in his political campaign. Yet the