November, 2012Lawmakers seek probe of CA refineriesFriday, November 30th, 2012 Nov. 30, 2012 By Joseph Perkins Taking time out from negotiations over the fiscal cliff, a half-dozen U.S. senators asked the Justice Department this week to investigate whether “market manipulation” by California oil refineries led to the run up in gasoline prices the Golden State’s mot... Crazifornia: Three ‘crappy’ regulatory battlesFriday, November 30th, 2012 Nov. 30, 2012 By Laer Pearce For a lot of very good reasons, California’s environmental regulators have earned a reputation for being, well, crappy to the rest of us. Three ongoing California regulatory battles over poop reinforce their already well-deserved reputation. The first battle i... Californians fleeing to MexicoFriday, November 30th, 2012Nov. 30, 2012 By Chriss Street On Tuesday, President Obama met with the newly elected president of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto. While the press focused on the Administration’s talking points for discussions on a wide range of issues from energy to climate change, the real concern is that t... The union assault — covert and overt — on direct democracyThursday, November 29th, 2012 Nov. 30, 2012 By Chris Reed For decades, signature-gathering to win placement of measures on the local or state ballot in California has followed a basic script. Once proponents gathered some 30 percent more signatures than the minimum threshold necessary, they shut down operations, confident ... Disabled agency refuses to cut wasteThursday, November 29th, 2012 Nov. 29, 2012 By Katy Grimes The Department of Developmental Services is a massive state agency that could immediately cut $500 million from its annual budget, according to lobbyists and experts, by getting rid of the antiquated institutions that the developmentally disabled have lived in fo... Chapman Forecast: More sluggish growth for CAThursday, November 29th, 2012 Nov. 29, 2012 By John Seiler Chapman University's 35th annual economic forecast projects more sluggish growth for California in 2013. It was presented Wednesday in Costa Mesa before about 1,500 business and community leaders by Chapman President Jim Doti, also an economist; and Esmael Adibi, d... Business closings bring huge lossesWednesday, November 28th, 2012 Nov. 28, 2012 By Katy Grimes When a business closes it's doors forever, the impacts are far-reaching. The announcement of the upcoming closure of the Campbell's Soup plant in Sacramento will have regional and statewide impact. Econ. 101 I may have been a political science student, but... Will millionaires avoid Prop. 30 tax increase?Wednesday, November 28th, 2012 Analysis Nov. 28, 2012 By John Seiler During the recent campaign, Gov. Jerry Brown insisted that people would not try to avoid his Proposition 30 tax increase by halting investments and "hiding" their money. Prop 30 boosts the top state income tax rate on millionaires to 13.3 percent from 1... PG&E misleads on rate increasesTuesday, November 27th, 2012 Editor's Note: This is Part 2 of two. Part 1 is here. Nov. 27, 2012 By Katy Grimes PG&E has openly misled about rate increases. In February 2011, PG&E announced the utility expected its electric rate to remain steady into 2011. Then it was revealed that PG&E's 2011-2013 Genera... Policy, not shortage, causing water crisisMonday, November 26th, 2012 Nov. 26, 2012 By Wayne Lusvardi There is no apparent drought of journalists with metaphors to define the so-called water crisis in the United States and California. Every month, it seems, another new end-of-the-world water book comes out. Cynthia Barnett is the author of the book, "B... |