Tag "Stockton"
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Stockton ruling, like Vergara ruling, shakes CA status quo
Californians who think the state status quo is nuts and that public employees amount to a protected class of citizens have gotten unexpected help this year from the state and federal courts. First came Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rolf
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Pension follies: New Jersey adopts insane San Diego approach
California leads the way when it comes to government pension dysfunction. The first big city to be stricken by pension costs in the U.S. was San Diego, leading to the memorable 2004 New York Times’ description of it as “Enron
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San Jose Mayor Reed folds on pension initiative
In a disappointing indicator of the challenges facing public pension reform, outgoing San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed has shelved his statewide ballot initiative designed to address the problem. The mayor blames a time crunch and unappealing language used in Attorney
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CalPERS rate hike slams cities
Californians are finding out how Gov. Jerry Brown is going to deal with the state’s pension crisis: make the taxpayers pay for it. This from CalPensions: A divided CalPERS board yesterday approved a faster rate hike for the state urged
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Faulconer election won’t stop ‘Los Angelization’ of San Diego politics
On Tuesday, San Diego voters will decide between two City Council members in a special election to fill the remaining 33 months of the mayoral term of disgraced, resigned Bob Filner. The early conventional wisdom was that the clear favorite
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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Why Arnold owes U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars (non-bullet train edition)
Two interesting pieces published recently make a strong case that government can be made far more efficient if we actually tried empirically to evaluate what worked and what didn't. On the Zocalo Public Square website, Pepperdine academic Pete Peterson takes
Read MoreJay Leno on Stockton bankruptcy
April 10, 2013 By John Seiler Here’s Jay Leno Monday night on the Stockton bankruptcy: “Stockton is so broke, the founding father now is demanding a paternity test. “Stockton is so broke, their meth labs just give out Sudafed. They
Read MoreHas California been saved?
April 8, 2013 By Steven Greenhut SACRAMENTO — Ever since California’s voters approved the Prop. 30 sales- and income-tax increase on the November ballot, liberal commentators have been gloating about the resurgence of the Golden State after many years of
Read MoreRush Limbaugh on Stockton bankruptcy
April 5, 2013 By John Seiler Unlike most East Coast commentators, Rush Limbaugh knows something about California. Sacramento, where he launched his radio show in the 1980s, is his adopted home town. What he said on his show about the
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