Defund or Abolish Police? Then What?
The movement to defund police or abolish police departments altogether, issues generally ignored prior to the killing of George Floyd, have gained visibility and momentum with the massive protests against police brutality. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti called for a reduction in the city police budget. In Minneapolis, the site of Floyd’s death, nine city […]
Will Independent Voters Support Defunding Police?
Plentiful signs and a theme throughout the weekend was “Defund the police.” The same message was painted next to the “BLACK LIVES MATTER” on 16th St. NW leading to The White House. Unlike the latter, the “defund” message was not city-approved and it sounds like city crews will be removing it. My question is what […]
Employees and Businesses Agree—It’s Time to Get Back to Work in California
Under lockdown for the past three months, millions of small businesses have fallen victim to COVID-19-induced bankruptcy, and millions more Californians have lost their jobs or been furloughed. Sustainable for a time, the cost of the necessary health precautions is now beginning to outweigh the benefits, especially as individuals become acclimated with how to responsibly […]
Is There a Pandemic of Pollution?
Senator Tom Carper (D-Delaware) believes there is “A Pandemic of Pollution,” corresponding to a U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee report he requested from Senate staffers. Carper, and other activist Democrats contend coronavirus, climate change, and air pollution will grow worse as a result of existing EPA rules set during the Obama administration. The […]
Proposal to prohibit police unions from funding district attorney campaigns doesn’t go far enough
One response to the protests over police treatment of black communities is a proposal by some current and former California district attorneys to prohibit candidates running for prosecutor positions from receiving police unions’ donations and endorsements. The Los Angeles Times editorially backed the idea arguing, “These unions’ power to raise and dispense large amounts of […]
Stop California’s Cops—From Looting City Hall
Don’t doubt California cops when they report looting. They’re experts. Indeed, our state’s most successful looters are the police themselves. California’s nearly 80,000 sworn officers have spent decades sacking the treasuries of local governments that employ them. Their escalating salaries, benefits, and pensions are swallowing up municipal budgets—and crowding out the other services, from libraries […]
California’s Debt Folly –Unnecessary spending on retiree health care is crushing the Golden State.
California has asked Washington for $14 billion in Covid-related support, in addition to the $8 billion already provided by the CARES Act. But because the state, with an annual General Fund of $150 billion, incurs more than $24 billion of annual expenses for pensions and other post-employment benefits (OPEB) — including post-employment subsidies for health […]
Whither California after crises abate?
Someday, the COVID-19 pandemic will have subsided, probably when effective biologic treatments and vaccines emerge. Someday, California’s economy will begin recovery from the sudden and very painful recession that followed business shutdown and stay-at-home orders to fight the pandemic. Someday, too, the tumultuous reaction to a Minneapolis policeman’s brutal suffocation of George Floyd, a black […]
The Big Gamble at the State Capitol Casino
Sometimes following action on a bill in the California legislature feels like you are watching a high stakes poker game. This week such a hand was played in which the gambling house (think the ruling majority) risked $269 million hoping to cash in a much larger prize in a few months. But if the gamble […]
Newsom: Police And Firefighters Will Be Laid Off But We’ll Spend Millions To Enforce AB5
Gov. Gavin Newsom is leveraging the state’s $54.3 billion budget deficit. Give us what we want, he demands, or public safety programs will be cut. At the same time, he wants $20 million to enforce Assembly Bill 5, maybe the most damaging piece of legislation that ever became law in California. Appearing on CNN, Newsom […]