Waste, Fraud and AbuseCity Privatization Sabotaged?Sunday, June 26th, 2011 Katy Grimes: When employees who mow grass for the city of Sacramento are paid $60,000 annually, medical benefits and a nice pension, you know that the inmates are running the asylum. Unskilled labor jobs, which in the real world are paid at an hourly wage, have become part of the union-driven entitl... Brown Impounds Cell Phones!Tuesday, January 11th, 2011Anthony Pignataro: Within hours of the news breaking that Verizon will begin selling Apple's iPhones, California Governor Jerry Brown issued Executive Order B-1-11, forcing 48,000 state employees to turn in their work-provided cellular phones. "It is difficult for me to believe that 40 percent... High-Speed Revolving DoorFriday, January 7th, 2011Anthony Pignataro: You don't have to watch politics very long before you see that top people move more or less freely from the public sector -- where they develop much expertise at taxpayer expense -- to the private sector -- whey they cash in on that service, then turn around and start grabbing ... Bill Honig’s Back!Wednesday, January 5th, 2011Anthony Pignataro: That's right, folks: Governor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown has appointed one Louis "Bill" Honig to the California State Board of Education. Honig, for those of you not old enough to remember 1993, spent a decade as state Superintendent of Public Instruction until getting convicted o... The Nunez-Schwarzenegger LegacyTuesday, January 4th, 2011Katy Grimes: Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger might finally have a legacy, but it isn't what he had hoped for and forever links him with nefarious, notorious politicians. Esteban Nunez, the privileged son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, may have received a commutation on his pr... Sale of State Properties On HoldTuesday, December 28th, 2010Katy Grimes: Finally someone is listening -- the sale of the 11 state properties appears to be finally off, at least until Governor Schwarzenegger is out of office. The sale of the 11 state properties was going to be a very good deal for someone, as most of the properties were about to be paid of... More California Prisoners RiotMonday, December 27th, 2010Anthony Pignataro: Looks like more California prison inmates are rioting, this time at a facility in Arizona that only holds prisoners from the Golden State. On Dec. 23, 43 inmates (initial reports said 110) broke out in violence at Red Rock Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona. "Staff respo... Brown Gives Green light To FraudThursday, December 23rd, 2010Steven Greenhut: I love it when government officials try to save money. They always start by cutting the most useful programs or the ones that cause the most pain to the public. California has an enormous budget, one filled with enrichment schemes for well-connected politicos (various commissions th... Death Row Loses Another InmateTuesday, December 21st, 2010Anthony Pignataro: Well, another condemned prisoner has died on California's notorious Death Row. Not by execution -- don't be silly -- but by, well, prison officials don't really know yet. "Condemned inmate John Levae Post, 42, died Monday afternoon, shortly after being found unresponsive in ... NOW Calls Cops On Hooters!Thursday, December 16th, 2010Anthony Pignataro: Thought that would grab you. But seriously, the California chapter of the National Organization of Women (NOW) has filed official criminal complaints with district attorneys across the state against Hooters, the Atlanta-based chain of restaurants that feature really beautiful, ... |