“For the first timein the pension fund’s history, we paid out more in retirementbenefits than we took in contributions.” – Anne Stausboll,Chief Executive Officer, CalPERS,2014-2015 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report

There are few examples of a seemingly innocuous statement with more significance than Stausboll’s admission, buried within her “CEO’s Letter of Transmittal,” summarizing the performance of CalPERS, the largest public employee retirement system in the United States. Because what’s happening at CalPERS – they now pay more in benefits than they collect in contributions – is happening everywhere.

For the first time in history, America’s public employee pension funds, managing well over $4.0 trillion in assets, are becoming net sellers, not buyers. And as any attentivestudent of economics will tell you, when there are more sellers than buyers, prices drop. Behind this mega economic trend is a mega demographic trend – across the developed world, certainly including the… Read More

One of the most rewarding experiences of my career was my participation in the Capital Fellows program, a one year graduate fellowship working in California’s State Capitol. After I graduated from college, I was selected to be part of the 1996-1997 class of fellows. The program was an enriching experience, and I encourage all students interested in shaping the future of California to apply.

Co-sponsored by the California Legislature and California State University, Sacramento, through the Center for California Studies, the program provides opportunities to learn about the State Assembly, the State Senate, the Executive Branch, and California’s judiciary. It is open to college graduates from all political backgrounds and of all ages.

Selected Fellows are placed in the offices of legislators based on their political affiliation. If you are or lean conservative, you will be placed in the office of a Republican Assemblymember or Senator, and will work to develop and promote Republican-authored bills through the legislative process. As a Fellow, you will be mentored by experienced staff who will help you develop the policy and political skills to be… Read More

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley partially granted Gerawan Farming Company’s request for documents in an unfair labor practice complaint filed by the Agricultural Labor Relations Board. Frawley’stentative rulingcame out Thursday, prior to a court hearing Friday.

The tentative ruling is a win for Gerawan Farming and its employees. The court says that all communications between the ALRB and the General Counsel concerning the Temporary Restraining Order application authorization must be… Read More

Gov. Brown’s opening general fund budget gambit of $122.6 billion – total spending including bond and special funds is $170.7 billion – sets a new record for state government spending. That the big increases are coming from the man many regard as one of the more sane of Sacramento’s top politicians does not bode well for taxpayers. After all, this is just a starting point. Now the real fun begins with those less well grounded in economic reality starting the annual ritual of “making it rain” for their favorite projects and special interest employers.

To the governor’s credit, he is paying attention to paying down debt and strengthening the state’s rainy day reserve, a wise move considering that state revenue is highly dependent on top earners and is thus very vulnerable to an economic contraction.

Still, leading Democratic lawmakers want more – a lot more. They are already complaining that that the budget does not spend enough on early childcare programs, grants to families on welfare, or provide more money for affordable housing.

To read the entire column click here… Read More

Hoping to bring back citizen representation, Tony “The Tiger” Lopezis running for Mayor of Sacramento. Lopez, a 3-Time WorldBoxingChampion, is a native of Sacramento, CA. Always a fan favorite in Sacramento, Lopez won the IBF junior lightweight title twice and the WBA lightweight title once.

“During his 16-year career, Lopez faced the gauntlet at 130-135 pounds, squaring off with the likes of Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., Joey Gamache, John John Molina, Jorge Paez, Brian Mitchell, Greg Haugen and Freddie Pendleton,” Ring TV wrote.

Since his retirement from the ring, Lopez has been serving the Northern California community for more than 16 years atTony “The Tiger” Bail Bonds. I sat down with Tony recently at his downtown Sacramento office and talked about his desire to be Mayor, his fighting career, the importance of his bail bonds business, and his philosophy of life and politics.

The History of the World

Lopez is instantly a warm and engaging… Read More

With Bill Clinton climbing back into the public eye, touting his wife Eva Peron (a.k.a. Hillary Clinton) for President, it’s time I finally told the secret story of how I stuck it to him in 1993 — shortly after he was elected Sex Offender in Chief (okay, okay, that’s just a churlish aside — my bad). The best part was that I got to embarrass President Clinton on national TV, and then let another person take all the media backlash (which was monumental) while I remained in the shadows.

Shortly after being elected President, Clinton scheduled a “Town Hall Meeting” with a TV station in San Diego (KGTV-10), allowing the station to gather a small, selected audience. Unlike the heavily scripted propaganda town halls politicians stage today, this one was a bit more open to challenging questions.

A friend of mine, Lorne Fleming, was somehow picked in advance to ask the first question. Recognizing the opportunity, he came to me for guidance before the show — a chance like this comes along once in a lifetime (less often for most).

It didn’t take us long to come up with the appropriate question. At the time… Read More

I like what Donald Trump is saying. He has been blunt, “politically incorrect” and talking about issues that affect people’s lives. He has not been dissuaded by attacks coming from the left or the media. He speaks his mind, and that’s a good thing.

I make these comments with the disclosure that I have endorsed Ted Cruz for President. In fact, had I not been involved as a conservative endorsing Arnold Schwarzenegger for Governor, I probably would have come out for Donald Trump. He has had the guts to say what needs to be said, just as Schwarzenegger said what needed to be said in the recall. Truth is, conservatives started the recall, and we had to win it. We really had no choice but to help Schwarzenegger become Governor. To justify our support, Schwarzenegger said all the right things, and sounded like a conservative when he was in the election mode. The moment he became Governor, however, he started thinking he “had to be effective.” He had to do things, he thought, to “make things happen.” Right off the bat, he sold us out, by proposing a “budget soluti0n.” that didn’t cut spending (as he… Read More

Yesterday, Governor Jerry Brown released his 2016-17 budget proposal to the legislature, and in that budget he anticipates approximately $7.6 billion in new spending over the previous year’s approved budget.

The fact that we have increased revenues to the state should be good news for California taxpayers, as the additional funds should take away any pressure to raise taxes.

But, that’s not how Sacramento logic works.

In addition to incorporating the… Read More