Waste, Fraud, and Abuse
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MSNBC-style media on the bandwagon for bullet-train farce
April 8, 2013 By Chris Reed When a friend urged me to check out the edition of “Dan Rather Reports” on high-speed rail in the U.S. that aired last month on Mark Cuban’s AXS.TV, I figured it would be good
Read MoreNo, Sac Bee, bullet train doesn’t have moral high ground
April 6, 2013 By Chris Reed The Sacramento Bee’s editorial Friday lambasting House Republicans for opposing using borrowed federal money to build California’s bullet train was noteworthy for its tone. The Bee editorial board seems to be under the deluded
Read MoreLegislators take secret trip to Cuba with Sacramento lobbyist
April 5, 2013 By John Hrabe and Katy Grimes At least two California state legislators secretly traveled with Sacramento’s “best connected” lobbyist to Cuba during the legislature’s spring break, an exclusive CalWatchdog.com investigation has revealed. State Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, D-Livingston,
Read MoreCalifornia government as organized looting, chapter 237
April 5, 2013 By Chris Reed The longer I’ve lived in California, the more governance here seems to resemble organized looting of taxpayers. It’s not just the showy and ridiculous things, like the longtime president of the CalPERS governing board
Read MoreSteve Maviglio, pension sage: Why it’s a laughable spectacle
April 2, 2013 By Chris Reed Steve Maviglio, a leading consigliere to top Sacramento Democrats for more than a decade, now regularly pretends to a new role. Even though he’s on Speaker John Perez’s payroll, Maviglio offers himself up on
Read MoreAnother East Coast liberal misjudges CA
April 1, 2013 By John Seiler California is such a complex state that it’s often amusing when East Coast liberals try to explain it to us. The latest is from New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. His article appeared in
Read MoreReuters bests state media at covering San Bernardino’s collapse
April 1, 2013 By Chris Reed If you had to fashion a nut graph to explain why so many local California governments are in deep fiscal trouble, here’s my nominee for an honest generic overview: Over the past 20 years,
Read MoreWhy CA is so screwed up, in a nutshell
March 31, 2013 By Chris Reed So CalPERS’ actuary, in a fit of unusual honesty, says the pension giant’s finances are in bad shape in the long run and need to be firmed up. But Alan Milligan realizes that asking
Read MorePoliticians seek special enviro deal on arena
This is Part One of a two-part series. March 30, 2013 By Katy Grimes SACRAMENTO — The unusually speedy approval of a new NBA arena for the Kings basketball team in the heart of downtown Sacramento leaves many details and
Read MoreWhy is state gov so inefficient? Duh. Job preservation.
March 30, 2013 By Chris Reed The Sacramento Bee’s Jon Ortiz had a piece Thursday about the grotesque mess that is California state government that had lots of interesting details about the extent of the dysfunction: “Last year, Gov. Jerry
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