Waste, Fraud, and Abuse
Back to homepageTaxpayer-funded union programs: Scams and scandals
In a state with normal standards of honesty and transparency, the idea that millions of dollars in public funds could be used without any scrutiny for many years at a time would seem goofy. But that's in a normal government.
Read MorePRI report examines bankruptcy as tool for struggling cities
The Pacific Research Institute has released a report that couldn't be more timely. “Going Broke One City at a Time: Municipal Bankruptcies in America” by economist Wayne H. Winegarden. buy a paper One of Winegarden's key conclusions: “If used appropriately, bankruptcy
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San Diego's pension reform model finally inspires copy-cats
In early 2012, when then-San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio was pushing an innovative, unusual, unprecedented pension reform initiative in California's second-largest city, I wrote about it for City Journal. I thought it was a harbinger of what the future would
Read MoreFresno mayor obstructs initiative process to save water rate hike
Fresno residents could see their water rates double, and in the process, all Californians could see their petition powers diminished, if a state appellate court doesn't act quickly on a lawsuit to stop strong-arm tactics by the city of Fresno. The battle
Read MoreArena lawsuit: Sacramento officials will be deposed
The judge's order in the Sacramento arena lawsuit is in: Sacramento City Councilman Kevin McCarty and Sacramento Economic Development Director Jim Rhinehart will be deposed about undisclosed dealings between city officials and the new Kings ownership group to help it buy
Read MoreGood news for state: Programmers found for antiquated computers
One of the strangest stories out of Sacramento in recent years has to do with state Controller John Chiang's repeated warnings that it would be difficult to implement furloughs of state workers because of the antiquated computer system used to
Read MoreArena lawsuit: Deposition of key officials nears go-ahead
Opponents of the push for a heavily subsidized downtown Sacramento basketball arena are closer to forcing key city insiders to tell what they know about how much taxpayers actually will have to pay for the project. Last week, Sacramento Superior
Read MoreBullet train fans learn CA enviros’ clout trumps building, trades unions
A few years ago, I began to think about how California’s state government operated in terms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a famous 1943 paper about how humans prioritize what’s important in their lives, starting with the basics — the
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Brown still on loony, increasingly lonely bullet-train bandwagon
Cal Watchdog managing editor John Seiler and I were among the pundits who got a telephone budget briefing from Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday afternoon. I was disappointed but unsurprised to hear that the governor is still 1,000 percent on
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