Congress and the federal government are notorious for their overuse of closed door negotiations, back door wheeling and last minute bill amendments. This lack of transparency, however, occurs not just inside the DC Beltway but also in Sacramento.  Tragically, California legislators too often leave the public out and present legislation as a fait accompli. This [...]

California government workers cinched their stranglehold on state taxpayers even tighter last Tuesday in defeating a proposition to ban compulsory business and union political contributions while approving a “temporary” tax increase alleged to pay for education. The largest, richest teachers’ union proclaimed the election “A Sweep!” In both cases, the margin of victory fell well below [...]

Albert Einstein famously defined insanity as repeating the same action over and over again and expecting different results. Vague support for the creation of a state-run retirement system for private sector employees as expressed in a recent editorial in the Sacramento Bee “Worker savings plan deserves a close study,” fits this definition nicely. Senate Bill [...]

Do California Legislators know the way to a San Jose styled Pension Reform? California’s public pension system is a complete disaster. Not only does the state have the highest pension deficit in America, three California cities recently filed bankruptcy.  The California legislature did nothing to avoid the escalating fiscal catastrophe and returns now after a [...]

Gov. Brown’s state budget proposal is another failure of his administration to implement a reasonable, rational and responsible budgeting approach. Instead of encouraging fiscal responsibility, his plan utilizes phantom budget cuts, raises taxes on job creators and relies on gimmicks that will only increase California’s already massive deficit. Looking at the entire budget proposal is [...]

Insanity is the one word to describe the news that California is planning to borrow $21.6 billion to cover cash shortfalls that might leave the state without enough money to pay its bills. The legislature’s failure to take action on solving the state’s budget deficit is the reason why California is now the leader in [...]

Governor Jerry Brown frequently touts his record of putting our children’s education first. During his campaign and on his website he boasts about increasing educational funding and establishing charter schools. That is why Californian’s should be appalled by his decision to hold K-12 education hostage in an attempt to fix California’s $9.2 billion budget deficit. [...]