Politics and Elections
Back to homepageThe union assault — covert and overt — on direct democracy
Nov. 30, 2012 By Chris Reed For decades, signature-gathering to win placement of measures on the local or state ballot in California has followed a basic script. Once proponents gathered some 30 percent more signatures than the minimum threshold necessary,
Read MoreL.A. Times’ analysis on crazy school borrowing omits why it’s done
Nov. 29, 2012 By Chris Reed The Los Angeles Times has printed an analysis piece on the insane borrowing by dozens of California school districts using “capital appreciation bonds” (CABs), which delay any repayment for 20 years and often cost
Read MoreWell, lookie here: Jerry Brown serves as voice of reason
Nov. 28, 2012 By Chris Reed I think Gov. Jerry Brown’s good image in the media is driven much more by how competent/effective he seems in contrast to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gray Davis than by actual success in making California
Read MoreWhat’s good for the goose is good for fraud victims
Nov. 26, 2012 Katy Grimes: Former Democratic campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee is facing only an 8-year sentence, even after she was arrested on charges of mail fraud and defrauding Democratic campaigns of millions of dollars. The Sacramento Bee reported Monday that Federal prosecutors
Read MoreDo the math: 55% taxes loom for $300K-plus earners in California
Nov. 25, 2012 By Chris Reed Matt Miller, a quirky and interesting writer-thinker for a lefty think tank (the Center for American Progress), has a warning for Gov. Jerry Brown. Writing in the Washington Post, Miller does the math and
Read MoreState pot votes spark freedom
Nov. 25, 2012 By Steven Greenhut SACRAMENTO — When it comes to real political change, the people almost always are light years ahead of the politicians, most of whom are so worried about re-election they take only carefully crafted positions
Read MoreHow to break up California
Nov. 24, 2012 By John Seiler California obviously is a preposterously large state. Its 38 million population is greater than the population of 209 of the 242 countries listed by Wikipedia. It’s greater than Algeria, Canada, Uganda, Iraq, Peru, Venezuela,
Read MoreSac Bee story on worker pay fails to mention ‘step’ auto-raises
Nov. 23, 2012 By Chris Reed Many California government workers — and more than half of all teachers — get “step” pay raises every year just for accumulating seniority. Teachers and some other workers can also get “column” pay raises
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Video: How can libertarians reach more people
Nov. 22, 2012 By Brian Calle Here’s an upbeat message on selling liberty from Judd Weiss, a libertarian activist. We mention pies. Happy Thanksgiving!
Read MoreFossil-fuel-phobic Brown, Nichols pine for world that will never be
Nov. 21 By Chris Reed The California media’s never-is-heard-a-discouraging word coverage of AB 32 and the recent cap-and-trade auction continues. But what’s astounding is that just a week ago, the International Energy Association declared that fracking had the U.S. on
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