Budget and Finance
Back to homepageWill Assembly education chair heed own words on bond abuses?
June 29, 2013 By Chris Reed A bill that would prevent expedient, irresponsible school districts from issuing insane “capital appreciation bonds” that can’t be paid off early and that cost, over the long term, 10 to 20 times as much
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Video: Gov. Brown’s funny money and why California still could go bust
June 28, 2013 By Brian Calle Alexis Garcia interviews me about the California budget, Gov. Jerry Brown’s funny money and why the state still could go broke.
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Video: Common core, coming to a classroom near you…
June 28, 2013 By Brian Calle Alexis Garcia interviews me about the centralizing federal Common Core curriculum.
Read MoreBillionaire Texas Democrat seeks to reform CA pensions
June 26, 2013 By Wayne Lusvardi California’s pension problems are so massive that any help should be welcomed, even from outside the state. Enter Texas billionaire Democrat John Arnold, who announced an effort to reform unsustainable public pensions across the United
Read MoreCollege loans gouging graduates
June 24, 2013 By Steven Greenhut SACRAMENTO — Americans are still focused on the bubble in housing prices, which, after inflating and bursting in the 2000s, is inflating again. But the wreckage that collapse caused in real estate and financial
Read MoreBills take aim at Prop. 13 tax limitations
June 21, 2013 By Dave Roberts If you think taxes are already high in California, to paraphrase Ronald Reagan, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Winding through the Legislature have been a gaggle of constitutional amendments that would make it easier
Read MoreL.A. Times: 30-year borrowing to buy short-lived iPads? Ho hum.
June 19, 2013 By Chris Reed All over California, school districts are doing illogical, unethical, unseemly things with their finances. Unconstitutional attempts to make parents pay for basic educational materials. Siphoning funds from federal school lunch programs for the operating
Read MoreDueling economists debate if CA is ‘back’
June 19, 2013 By Wayne Lusvardi Was it conservative budget austerity or liberal tax hikes that have brought about a “California comeback,” as proclaimed by Gov. Jerry Brown and others? The common view is that tax hikes have brought the recovery and
Read MoreComic-book villainy on display in San Diego Unified
June 16, 2013 By Chris Reed It’s time for a tale of comic-book villainy from San Diego Unified, the state’s second-largest school district and one in which voracious unions so dominate decision-making that a stunning 92 percent of the operating
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