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California’s budget process has devolved into a bad joke
Let’s face it. California’s budget process has devolved into a bad joke. The record amount of spending coupled with massive expenditures for wasteful, pork-barrel projects is bad enough. But the more insidious problem is the lack of budget transparency. This is not the way it is supposed to be. As usual, Sacramento politicians are patting […]
America’s First Third-World State
“Third World” is now an anachronistic geographical term of the old Cold War. But after 1989, “Third World” was reinvented from a political noun into an adjective to mean more than just Asian, African, and Latin American nations nonaligned with either the West or the Soviet bloc. Rather, the current modifier “Third World” has come […]
The Top Four Reasons California Is Unsustainable
California is a place unlike any other on the Globe. It boasts perhaps the greatest natural resources of any state along with shining high-tech industries. However, like many good economic stories, government policies threaten its future. Indeed, its government has made California unsustainable. Of course, it wasn’t always this way. As the 1960s came to a […]
How Can California Reduce the Costs of Incarceration?
California Governor Gavin Newsom has agreed to give state prison correctional officers a 3 percent raise. According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, there is “no evident justification” for this raise. A recent article in the Sacramento Bee summarizes portions of the LAO report, writing “The last time the state compared state correctional officers’ salaries to their local government counterparts, […]
Proposed Bill Reduces Ballot Measure Transparency
Given their druthers, many government officials would prefer to do their business – our business, actually – behind closed doors and provide sanitized, self-serving versions of their actions after the fact. Journalists and governmental watchdogs struggle constantly to overcome the tendency toward secrecy and obfuscation, sometimes winning and often losing. Two years ago, in a […]
CPR Blog
Could You Pass the Citizenship Test?
Quickly now – name one of the authors of The Federalist Papers, and don’t you dare go to Google. Do you know the pseudonym used by the authors to hide their true identities? Do you know why the Federalist Papers were written? If you have difficulty with any of the above be thankful that you’re not […]
Is Anything Off-Limits for California’s Police Unions?
A few weeks ago the Costa Mesa Police Association (read: Police Union) and their former law firm agreed to pay $607,000 to settle a lawsuit after their scheme against two Costa Mesa city councilmen came to light. As I wrote in my book, this settlement represents a small but important victory in the broader philosophical war between California’s […]
Towards a Grand Bargain on California Water Policy
When it comes to water policy in California, perhaps the people are more savvy than the special interests. Because the people, or more precisely, the voters, by huge majorities, have approved nine water bonds in the past 25 years, totaling $27.1 billion. It is likely they’re going to approve another one this November for another […]
Publisher’s Corner
Half of Americans call Mueller Investigation a “Witch Hunt” – USA Today poll
WASHINGTON – Amid signs that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference may be near its conclusion, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds that trust in Mueller has eroded and half of Americans agree with President Donald Trump’s contention that he has been the victim of a “witch hunt.” Support for the House of Representatives to […]
Cali-Culture
Los Alamitos Show Choir Named National Grand Champions
Los Alamitos’ Sound FX Choir “strives to achieve the highest level of choral excellence” … and recently they did just that by earning 1st place and the title of Grand Champion at Show Choir Nationals. Sound FX is no stranger to success, having been named Grand Champions at over 175 competitions, including nine National Grand Championship […]
Trending News
California State University stashed $1.5 billion in reserves while hiking tuition
The California State University stashed away $1.5 billion in discretionary reserves while raising tuition and lobbying the Legislature for more funds, according to a report released Thursday by California State Auditor Elaine Howle. CSU put the money, which came primarily from student tuition, in outside accounts rather than in the state Treasury, the report said. The investigation […]
California poised to have the highest gas tax in the country
On July 1, the excise tax on gasoline in California will go up 5.6 cents a gallon, enough to push the state’s total taxes and fees past Pennsylvania to become the highest in the nation. The 5.6-cent increase represents the second iteration of Senate Bill 1, commonly called the gas tax, that was passed by […]
More Than 1,000 Small Earthquakes Hit Southern California
Over the past three weeks, more than 1,000 small earthquakes have hit Southern California — mostly in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Some are calling the region’s increased seismic activity “swarmageddon,” but seismologist Lucy Jones told the Los Angeles Times that the small quakes don’t mean the big one is more or less likely. According […]
Amendments end Gov. Newsom’s unease on vaccine bill
Amendments to an emotionally fraught bill designed to crack down on fraudulent vaccine exemptions change the legislation’s focus just two days before a key Assembly committee hearing. The bill’s author, Sen. Richard Pan, negotiated the amendments after Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed reservations about shifting too much power to state bureaucrats. He now says he’ll sign it. Among […]
Gas prices have dropped, but a new California tax will change that soon
Although gasoline prices in Sacramento keep falling, a statewide tax set to take effect next month may change all that. Prices dropped 8 cents in Sacramento last week amid a continued decline, bringing the average cost for a gallon of regular-grade gas to $3.74, according to fuel price tracker GasBuddy. But beginning July 1, drivers […]
