Let the People Decide on Drought
Does Jerry Brown even care about the will of the people?
Example: he just went and declared
the state’s drought over. No consultation with legislative Republicans. No vote
of the people. Yes, it’s been raining more the past couple years. But what
makes him an expert in weather? It’s hard to believe the arrogance of
politicians thinking that they have special knowledge about the seasons and the
rain patterns.
Declaring
whether the state is in drought, or not, is the sort of momentous decision that
the people of California must make themselves.
The people of California know better than the politicians
when it’s raining. And the people of California know better than the
politicians when it’s not raining. The people of California can see with their
own eyes what the water levels are in our lakes, rivers and reservoirs.
It’s time
to stop politicians like Brown from meddling in meteorology. What Californians
need is a special election that offers them a real choice.
CalPERS should be Required to Invest in California Based Companies
With all the discussion regarding out of control state and
local government pension liabilities, many are struggling with how to balance
committed retirement obligations with projected revenues. The numbers are dizzying. Lost in much of this discussion is who owns
the risk? Right now, it is just the
taxpayers, acting as a backstop, who will shoulder much of the future
burden. But is that where the discussion
should end? How responsible are the
employees themselves?
Relating to the News
On this "casual" Friday, thought I’d just relate to some of
the items in the news.
TAX DEBATE
Calbuzz thinks I missed the point (to put it mildly) in critiquing
their support for certain tax measures — increasing income taxes for the rich
and property taxes on business. They say I didn’t deal with the concern of the
rich getting richer.
I offered a plan to give fairness to all in the tax system:
a well-constructed flat tax which picks a point on the income scale in which
the tax kicks in and gets rid of most write-offs and loopholes, which I noted
most often benefit the rich.
But, I think I hit the target on the tax proposals they
advocated, which will not solve California’s problems.
Does It Really Matter Who Is the Next LA Mayor?
Radio talk show host Kevin James — the lone outsider and dark horse in the mayor’s race — announced today he has $500,000 in pledges for this campaign.
On Monday, LA Times columnist Jim Newton offered his thumbnail appraisal of the seven insider candidates, ranking County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a former Councilman, as the “front-runner” if “he jumps in — really and truly in,” a leap of faith he has shied away from repeatedly over the last couple of decades.
The LA Weekly is polling political observers for how they rate the candidates.
It’s kind of funny when you think about it.