Assembly Votes Against Free Competition in Delivering Public Services
Public unions demonstrated once again their hold over the majority Democrats when the Assembly passed a resolution to oppose out-sourcing of public services. The position taken by the Assembly throws out the notion that the goal of government is to deliver services in the most effective way. A secondary goal is to be frugal with […]
Why the New York Times’ Sentencing Commission Won’t Work
The New York Times editorial page gave California some free advice recently, and it was worth every penny: establish a sentencing commission to fix your criminal justice system. The paper’s argument was understandable. Our prison and justice systems are a total mess, with the prisons constitutionally overcrowded and the chief justice of the State Supreme […]
Reforming Campaign Finance-Let the Sunshine in
The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down another campaign limitation—the cumulative amount an individual can give to campaigns. So what else is new? Money and politics go together like the birds and the bees. Despite the almost universal disgust at the way campaign money distorts the democratic process, the reality is that it would be […]
Up For The Count
Among the most-cited statistics by L.A. business leaders is this: We have fewer jobs right now in Los Angeles County than we did in 1990, even though the population has grown by 1 million people since then. But they may not be able to trot out that line at local luncheon speeches much longer. That’s […]