Tag "John Seiler"

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Tax credit could cost taxpayers $1 billion

California now is considering a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit. That comes just in time for Jan. 27, the IRS’ EITC Awareness Day. (I am not making this up.) According to a study by the Legislative Analyst, requested by the

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Drought mostly over, govt. water takeover isn’t

It looks like the drought is receding, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported on Thursday: In summary, a wet December (to date) has provided California a foothold for drought recovery, but 3 straight winters of subnormal precipitation will take time (possibly

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CA data does not compute

California remains the global epicenter of computers and the Internet. Then why do so many of its state-government systems not compute? The latest critique comes in a new report, “Data Reliability,” by State Auditor Elaine M. Howle. Subtitle: “State Agencies’

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CA firefighter makes $508,893

The problem of absurdly high compensation for government workers in California never seems to get better. The latest from the Orange County Register’s Watchdog: Several California firefighters managed to triple their base salaries by working tons of overtime last year,

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Dems bring back fundraising party

When the going gets tough — the tough party. A series of scandals involving three California state senators forced the cancellation of the Pro Tem Golf fundraiser earlier this year. But it’s hard to keep party animals down. The party

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Dismal election turnout

The California Secretary of State’s office just released figures showing the Nov. 4 election suffered the worst turnout rate ever. According to the Capitol Weekly summary: Less than a third of California’s eligible voters cast ballots on Nov. 4…. Of

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High-speed rail incompatible with current tracks

One reason the American South lost the Civil War was it had numerous incompatible railroad track systems, requiring supplies to be unloaded, then loaded again, for each different segment. By contrast, the Northern rail networks were more uniform, although not

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Low taxes bring CA high tech to Luxembourg

Luxembourg is a small, low-tax duchy that’s attracting European centers for high-tech firms from California and elsewhere.  FT reported: In short order Apple’s iTunes division set up its European home in Luxembourg and was then joined by Microsoft, Cisco and

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Should U.C. be ‘independent’?

As I’ve noted in two recent posts, here and here, 50 years after the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, there’s no more academic freedom or free speech at California universities. Only politically correct repression. Meanwhile, costs are soaring for students and

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High cost of living sours holiday spirit

The drop in gas prices certainly is welcome. Especially during this holiday season. But seemingly everything else is going up in price — as you probably noticed at the grocery store or when shopping for housing. And health care? My

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