Columns-June, 2011Cal Biz Climate Ranks Pathetic 32ndThursday, June 30th, 2011 JUNE 30, 2011 By JOSEPH PERKINS The Legislature passed a budget this week that assumes $10.6 billion in higher tax revenues flowing into the state’s coffers next year. That sum includes not only the $6.6 billion Gov. Jerry Brown projected in the budget proposal he submitted last month, bu... California’s Mess Not Texas’ FaultMonday, June 27th, 2011 June 27, 2011 As California's budget battle continues, Republicans and Democrats have engaged in a rhetorical battle regarding the relative merits and demerits of our lovely state and one of the nation's other megastates, Texas. This debate started after a legislative delegation made up mostly of... CA Overdue For Part-Time LegislatureMonday, June 27th, 2011 JUNE 27, 2011 The latest budget drama shows how California needs a part-time Legislature. It hasn't had one since the late 1960s. Since then, few budgets have been balanced while meeting the June 15 constitutional deadline. In the past 24 years, only one budget met both criteria, the 1999-2000 bu... How to Save $$ Executing KillersWednesday, June 22nd, 2011 JUNE 22, 2011 State Sen. Lori Hancock, D-Berkeley, said this week that she plans to introduce legislation that would shutter California’s death row. She argues that capital punishment has proven “an expensive failure” and proposes that the sentences of inmates currently facing a date with t... Redevelopment Agencies on the BrinkMonday, June 20th, 2011 JUNE 20, 2011 By STEVEN GREENHUT Hours before the midnight Wednesday deadline for passing a state budget, legislative Democrats rammed through a ridiculous, gimmick-laden, majority-vote spending plan that failed to reform anything and failed to impress Gov. Jerry Brown, who wisely vetoed it... The Paycheck Protection BudgetFriday, June 17th, 2011 JUNE 17, 2011 The California Legislature just passed a budget. Less than 24 hours later, the governor vetoed it, leaving many political wonks scratching their heads in wonderment at why Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a budget from his own party. Could this have been the plan all along, so that legisl... CA GOP Shouldn’t ‘Go Wobbly’ on TaxesWednesday, June 15th, 2011 JUNE 16, 2011 I met Margaret Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister, back in 1993 on a visit she made to California to promote her memoir. I remember her talking about the first Gulf War and how she overcame the reluctance of George H.W. Bush to use military force to drive Saddam Hussein ou... Higher Taxes Don’t Make Us BetterMonday, June 13th, 2011 JUNE 13, 2011 Gov. Jerry Brown's recent talk to the California State Association of Counties was more meandering and disjointed than usual, but the governor stuck to his talking points: Unless California voters approve tax extensions, they must get used to greatly diminished public services. With... ‘Consumer’ Group Reaps Big SalariesFriday, June 10th, 2011 JUNE 10, 2011 Last week, the Assembly passed AB 52, which would require health insurance companies to seek permission from a state regulatory board before increasing premiums. In essence, AB 52 would give the state’s elected insurance commissioner and the Department of Managed Health Care the p... Bureaucrats Don’t Come to the RescueSunday, June 5th, 2011JUNE 6, 2011 As a tragic San Francisco fire that claimed the life of at least one firefighter Thursday has shown, public safety jobs at times can be very dangerous. But an incident from earlier in the week across the bay in Alameda has also shown, public safety agencies also can be so mired in bu... |