Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

Wall Street Journal too nervous about bullet-train ruling

Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page continued its excellent coverage of California issues with an editorial (behind pay wall) about the July 31st appellate court ruling that overturned a trial court ruling essentially blocking concrete steps toward

Super PAC $ floods Peters vs. DeMaio congressional race

Chris Reed September 12, 2014

San Diego residents can’t watch a major sporting event without seeing repeated ads paid for by national super PACs trashing congressman Scott Peters, a moderate Democrat, or his Republican opponent, former City Councilman Carl DeMaio, an outspoken libertarian. The flood

Arnold returns for ‘climate change’ confab

John Seiler September 10, 2014

While restarting his acting career and going through numerous personal crises, Arnold Schwarzenegger has avoided reminding people he was the governor for seven disastrous years. He returned to Sacramento this week to sponsor a confab on what he once called “global

CSU fee addiction shows value of Props 13, 26, 62, 218

Chris Reed September 10, 2014

The newsrooms of California appear to have collectively decided that the state props that make raising taxes and fees more difficult for elected officials — starting with 13, 26, 62 and 218 — are irrational. This is regularly reflected in the

Bill rectifies 9/11 scholarship program

James Poulos September 8, 2014

It took California legislators until this year’s session to restore a scholarship program created in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001. The embarrassing delay came in the wake of years of funding abuses, according to a report finally filed

CA high court asked to review bullet-train ruling

Kathy Hamilton September 4, 2014

Arguing that an appellate court ruling endangers the public’s faith in future bond initiatives, the attorneys for the Tos/Fukuda/Kings County group challenging the state’s bullet-train plans on Tuesday asked the California Supreme Court to review the recent decision reversing trial-court

Legislature should have heeded Brit regulators on plastic bags

Chris Reed September 1, 2014

Dubious bills often get passed on the final night of the state legislative session, and 2014 was no exception: A measure to make California the first state in the nation to ban single-use plastic bags. SB270 passed despite fierce opposition

Brown hits CalPERS on pension spiking

James Poulos August 27, 2014

A bad month for CalPERS has gotten worse. On the heels of unfavorable news surrounding its investment strategy and leadership, the California Public Employee Retirement System provoked the wrath of Gov. Jerry Brown, who heaped scorn on its latest “pension spiking” plan. “Today

Dems stop bills to ease gas price hike

Dave Roberts August 26, 2014

Perhaps the last chance to head off a California gasoline price hike that could exceed 50 cents per gallon by 2020 just was defeated on the state Senate floor. Sen. Andy Vidak, R-Hanford, offered amendments to a bill, AB2492,

Farm workers protest CA labor bureaucrats

John Seiler August 26, 2014

Gerawan’s oppressed workers are protesting today. For a year we have reported on the farm workers for Gerawan putting up with high-handedness, bureaucratic delay and abuse by state labor officials. The workers entered into a contract with the United Farm Workers 20 years