Buy My Mystery Novel – Please
If you like mystery and suspense, I think you’ll enjoy Lincoln’s Hand.
Take a break from California politics and business when you read Lincoln’s Hand. There is not a word about California politics in it.
Echelon Press published my first mystery/suspense novel. This column is a shameless self-promotion. While the "official" launch is this Saturday, Aug. 7 with a book signing at the Mystery Bookstore in Los Angeles, the book is now available in paperback and e-book formats, which you can link to from the book’s website www.lincolnshand.com.
Setting the Record Straight
Some public pension funds like to blame the 2008 stock market crash for the pension cost crisis but as the chart below shows, pension costs started rising well before the 2008 stock market crash.
In fact, those pension costs increased sharply through the decade even though CalPERS and other public pension funds earned money for the period including the 2008 crash. This is because public pension costs rise whenever public pension funds earn less than they expect to earn. Put another way, when it comes to pension costs, what matters is the "spread" between expected returns and actual returns.
When pension promises are made, employers and employees make contributions into pension funds. The size of those contributions is based upon an expected return from investment of those contributions so that, together, the contributions and investment earnings on those contributions are supposed to be enough to pay the pension when it’s due. The higher the expected investment return, the lower the contributions when the promises are made. But if the actual investment return falls short of the expected return, the employer must make up all the difference.
More Attacks on the Two-Thirds Vote
Nearly one month into the new fiscal year that began on July 1, there
is growing concern that Democrat leaders will attempt an end-run around
the Proposition 13 requirement that tax increases must be approved with
a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.
The state faces a $19 billion budget deficit, but instead of cutting
waste and out-of-control spending, Democrats are looking for schemes to
increase taxes with a simple majority vote.
This wouldn’t be the first time the Democrats have tried an end-run
around the state Constitution. In January 2009, they tried to pass
billions in tax increases with a majority vote. The Howard Jarvis
Taxpayers Association filed a lawsuit against these unconstitutional
tax increases, and almost immediately the Governor announced he would
veto the plan.
Another Flawed Bill Racing Through Legislature
Once
again a flawed bill is racing through California’s legislature with
little concern over its dangerous consequences. In this case the stakes
are higher than simply adding more bureaucracy, toothless regulations
or self-inflating decrees – there are significant public safety impacts
that have gone completely unheeded.
SB 346
(Kehoe) aims to reduce the copper content in urban waterways – a noble
goal – but does so by targeting the chemical formulation of brake pads
in our vehicles. Unfortunately, there is no current substitute for
copper in brake pads that carries the same performance quality. So as
our legislators start cramming through bills at the end of session and
playing games with our state’s budget, it’s critical that they don’t
lose sight of the potential safety and brake performance ramifications
of SB 346. As it is currently written, Kehoe’s
bill fails to ensure the availability of safe, commercially viable
brakes for all vehicles on California’s roads.
New technological advances and anti lock brake systems have made brake
failure a rare event among today’s cars and vehicles. The motor vehicle
industry is constantly working to maximize brake safety and ensure the
highest performance standards are upheld. The use of copper in brake
pads is for a specific reason – it is a critical component that reduces
heat and friction, thereby increasing durability and safety and
reducing vibration and noise.