March 23, 2013 By Chris Reed It's not just President Barack Obama and Gov. Jerry Brown who have drank the green Kool-Aid and bought into the idea that "green" jobs and energy can be America's economic salvation. It's also that lumbering, bumbling, scandal-ridden monument to all that is bad ...
Pension ReformCalPERS boss: Losses on ‘cleantech’ bets are ‘noble’Saturday, March 23rd, 2013How to overfill prisons: Have SEC look at CA school districtsWednesday, March 20th, 2013March 20, 2013 By Chris Reed The federal indictments this week of CalPERS' former president and his alleged briber show that the federal government does occasionally notice the outrageous behavior of our state government. But what about the Securities and Exchange Commission? It went after the... CA Dem lawmakers figuring out something rotten in CalPERSTuesday, March 19th, 2013 March 19, 2013 By Chris Reed On Monday, the day that finally saw criminal charges filed over CalPERS' brazen pay-to-play bribery scheme, there were signs that some Democratic state lawmakers finally are figuring out that believing California's pension status quo is ridiculous isn't just partis... De Leon clueless on why people can’t retireThursday, March 14th, 2013 March 14, 2013 By John Seiler A story in Roll Call magazine, which reports on the U.S. Congress, inadvertently explains why Democrats don't get what's going on in California. It reports: "Kevin de León, a California state senator, likes to tell the story of a 74-year-old San Diego woman who ... L.A. Times story on pension reform: Dumb de dumb dumbMonday, March 11th, 2013March 11, 2013 By Chris Reed The Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend that public employee unions are suing to block some of the pension reforms that Gov. Jerry Brown got through the Legislature last fall. "Advocates for the changes said the cuts were necessary to help reduce Californ... Train agency ‘raids’ CalPERS for exec talent: Oy vey!Wednesday, March 6th, 2013 March 6, 2013 By Chris Reed When the press release came out Monday that the California High-Speed Rail Authority had recruited a top executive away from the California Public Employees' Retirement System, a Tweet from former Los Angeles Times journo Joe Mathews asked me if my head had explod... San Diego mayor embraces voter nullificationFriday, March 1st, 2013March 1, 2013 By Chris Reed In 2006, San Diego voters gave a landslide win to a ballot measure that would force groups of city workers to compete against private firms for the right to provide city services in a process known as "managed competition." For four years, union supporters on the... Picking mayors: When will L.A. voters be as smart as N.Y. voters?Friday, February 8th, 2013 Feb. 8, 2013 By Chris Reed Despite some pension reforms and program cuts, the city of Los Angeles remains in difficult financial shape. A Jan. 24 Fitch credit-rating service analysis says the L.A. economy is rebounding, but that city leaders struggle to find the political will to deal with str... This is Zen? Jerry Brown won’t fight for sole real achievementMonday, January 28th, 2013 Jan. 28, 2013 By Chris Reed The Jerry Brown ego trip is still running strong, nearly three months after he sold much of California and nearly all of the media on the idea that raising sales taxes on everyone and income taxes on the rich would make the Golden State a much healthier place. Bu... Firefighter one of nation’s safest jobsWednesday, January 23rd, 2013Jan. 23, 2013 By Steven Greenhut The nation's astoundingly well-paid public firefighters insist that they receive their high salaries and pensions (averaging around $175,000 a year in total compensation in California, with age-50 retirements and schedules that allow them to sleep on the job a... |