Budget Do’s and Don’t’s
Dear Legislators, Soon you will be addressing the budget. Three suggestions: Permit no cuts, layoffs or borrowings before retirement spending is trimmed. School districts, UC, CSU, community colleges and the state are diverting $25 billion per year to retirement spending that should be reduced before services are cut, employees are laid off, or funds borrowed. […]
Triumph of the Woke Oligarchs
Like the rest of the country, although far less than New York, California is suffering through the Covid-19 crisis. But in California, the pandemic seems likely to give the state’s political and corporate elites a new license to increase their dominion while continuing to keep the middle and working classes down. Perhaps nothing spells the […]
Uber and Lyft Fight over AB 5 will be resolved in November
The lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and three city attorneys aimed at punishing Uber and Lyft for misclassifying workers and getting benefits for drivers will not be the final word on AB 5. That will come in November when the voters of California decide on an initiative that declares Uber and Lyft […]
Garcetti Keeps his Balance on a Tight Rope
Faced with the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has risen to the occasion. He’s taken charge, just as local and state chief executives have done around the country, filling the vacuum left by President Donald Trump. You can check this out yourself. He’s live on local television and on line […]
Pension Reform Kicks Off Before California Supreme Court
For California Supreme Court watchers, this all may sound strangely familiar: A public agency is being sued by its unionized employees for fiddling with their pensions and the state’s highest court is now preparing to weigh in. At stake in the case is more than a single squabble over retirement benefits, but one of the […]
Are California businesses getting a fair share of coronavirus loans?
California businesses have received $66.6 billion in federal Paycheck Protection Program loans so far, about 13% of the nation’s total, according to federal loan data. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state’s businesses didn’t receive a proportional share of the federal money in the first round, but that it is now “punching above its weight” in […]
Universal Basic Income — Just Another Welfare Program That Will Fail
Earlier this year, a universal basic income bill was introduced in the California Assembly. Should it become law, every resident 18 and over would receive $1,000 a month from the public fisc. Now U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is talking about including a guaranteed minimum income in the next round of coronavirus aid legislation. What […]
Misdiagnosing the OC?
LA Times reporter Christopher Goffard and I go back to his days at the Daily Pilot in 1996. He’s enjoyed a great journalistic career since those early days. We spoke for a half-hour last Wednesday, during the noon hour, a day before the Governor’s awkward press conference ordering the closing of Orange County’s beaches. We […]
New Transportation and Housing Plan Needs More Public Review
As residents and businesses find themselves dealing with the impacts of a historic public health and economic crisis, the Southern California Association of Governments is preparing to move forward with a new long-range transportation and housing plan, which will have a substantial impact on Southern California communities over the next 25 years. Governed by an […]