Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

Germans turn on CA-style green energy push

California may think of itself as the epicenter of the green religion, but even more extreme environmentalism has been playing out in Europe. In Germany, the result is increasingly sharp disillusionment. The Washington Times has the details: “[Germany moved] to

ObamaChoppers to cost $20 billion

John Seiler May 10, 2014

You would think America didn’t have any economic troubles, and the government could waste whatever money it wanted to on anything. President Obama’s has ordered a fleet of 23 presidential helicopters — ObamaChoppers — that will cost taxpayers an incredible $20

Attempted $1B cover-up can’t even crack Top 5 of bullet-train outrages

Chris Reed May 9, 2014

With any big public works project, a report that an independent consultant had been pressured by the responsible government agency to hide a nearly $1 billion increase in project cost is absolutely outrageous. Pathetically enough, when it comes to the

Longevity breakthroughs make gov pensions even more of a gold mine

Chris Reed May 5, 2014

On Sunday the Drudge Report sent Twitter abuzz with the report of a hugely significant breakthrough on aging and longevity: “It may seem the stuff of gothic horror novels, but transfusions of young blood could reverse the ageing process and

Alleged CA budget renaissance: Yet another hole in narrative

Chris Reed April 30, 2014

The readiness of the Sacramento and East Coast media to accept the narrative that Gov. Jerry Brown is a genius who has solved California’s previously immense budget problems is everywhere. An accountant — as opposed to a journalist or a

Ethics lesson

John Seiler April 28, 2014

Trash train fiasco illustrates private vs. public double standard

Chris Reed April 21, 2014

This story in the Orange County Register illustrates a common CalWatchdog theme: In the private sector, incompetence leads to companies failing and people getting fired. But in government, all too often incompetence comes without consequence: “The Sanitation Districts of Los

Al Gore: Global warm doubters ‘immoral, unethical and skeptical’

John Seiler April 20, 2014

Whenever you read about Al Gore, keep in mind that he frolics in a compound in Montecito valued in 2010 at $8.875 million. Now it’s probably worth at least $12 million. Reported the Huffington Post at the time: “Records show

Rizzo heads to slammer

James Poulos April 19, 2014

Robert Rizzo is going to jail. Facing over 100 counts of corruption and associated wrongdoing, he will spend 12 years in state prison. The ex-city manager will also serve 33 months of a federal sentence for income tax evasion. The

86 million private-sector workers support 148 million benefit takers

John Seiler April 18, 2014

U.S. Census numbers tell why America’s economy is sluggish and likely headed downward again: There are just 86 million full-time private-sector workers supporting 148 million benefit-takers. So if you’re a full-time worker in the private sector, such as yours truly,