How many times have you gotten one of those e-mails asking you to send vast sums of your money to someone in a far off country letting you know that they have a deal you just can’t pass up?

Well over a year ago on this page I penned a pretty extensive column after I got more than a little incensed that a some cyber-thieves from the Ukraine were able to send information to Fresno-based United Security Bank [italics added for emphasis] which caused the bank to literally wire close to $3.5 million of funds TRC Operating Company without the knowledge of TRC, to a bank account in the Ukraine. Apparently three separate wires (with many more pending) were complete before someone with a heartbeat at United Security Bank thought to intervene.

After some sort of… Read More

Nearly every news outlet in California has been gleefully reporting that the state economy is bouncing back. While recent newsreports show unemployment has slightly dropped, the facts show otherwise — particularly telling is how the Legislature is so focused on increasing the minimum wage, rather than improving the business climate.

Unemployment in the state, and across the country, is worse than is being reported. And, it is far more complicated than a slight economic uptick, or slight “drop” in unemployment.

We’re creating jobs at a slower pace now than at the same time last year. And with the supposed drop in unemployment, the underemployed and those “no longer in the labor force” are issues rarely reported. There is no coincidence between… Read More

The Sacramento arena deal has prompted questions over the lack of public debate about key details, dubious financial numbers from the city and the public subsidy the project requires. And, last-minute legislation last year by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, is allowing the arena’s construction proceed without a credible environmental impact review.

Last week, the city of Sacramento announced it expects to spend up to $750,000 to defend a lawsuit related to the planned downtown arena. The lawsuit accuses city officials of making a secret deal to provide an extra $80 million of public money to help the investors’ group beef up its offer against a well-funded Seattle group that wanted to buy the Kings and move them to Seattle.

I have… Read More

Californians don’t trust state government. A recent survey by the Public Policy Institute of California reveals that only 6 percent of voters believe that government does not waste much money. Your read correctly – only 6 percent have confidence that tax revenue is being spent wisely.

Of course the entrenched political class based in Sacramento would have you believe that state government always operates with integrity — even though currently three state Senators are on leave… Read More

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Neel Kashkari, GOP candidate for California governor against incumbent Jerry Brown, faces an uphill climb with the media. His day-to-day comments and speeches are not reported, so that when important state issues come up, like the ruling in Vergara V. State of California concerning teacher tenure and seniority, the vast majority of the electorate does not know where Kashkari stands. He should pay particular attention to being heard when arguing teacher tenure and seniority because Brown is beholden to the teachers unions on these subjects and is not in a position to sound convincing.

Vergara was brought by a group called Students Matter (which plans campaigns in a number of states against teacher tenure and seniority rules) on behalf of nine students from five school districts, charging that five statutes in the California Education Code regarding tenure, seniority and dismissal procedures violate the equal protection clause of the state’s Constitution, resulting in grossly ineffective teachers obtaining and retaining employment. Moreover the suit claims that these ineffective teachers are disproportionately assigned to schools serving predominately low-income and… Read More

When the feds ran their “cash-for-clunkers” program in the last decade, the pathetic results and attendant ridicule should have put an end to this madness. I wrote a column on this federal folly in 2012. Here’s the link — and I’ve included the column at the bottom of this post.

http://open.salon.com/blog/richard_rider/2012/02/24/lets_recall_obamas_cash_for_clunkers_brain_fart

The federal madness ended with the Obama administration lamely claiming “mission accomplished,” and the results have largely been forgotten. But in Left Coast California, no lesson was learned. Our state-grown version of this boondoggle lurches on. Not surprisingly, the results arefarworse than the disastrous federal program!

BOTTOM LINE: The rough cost of carbon dioxide “pollution” (CO2 is NOT a pollutant, but let’s move on) is about $40 a ton (or less).… Read More

If you haven’t read my two lengthy columns earlier this week about the recent Senate committee hearing about how to spend the Air Resource Board’s cap and trade auction revenues, take the time to do so – Part l is HERE, and Part ll is HERE.

They exemplify what takes place inside the State Capitol every day, and show how policy is made.

I transcribed exactly what was said at the four-hour hearing on climate change policies, with Senators deciding how to spend the anticipated $3 to $5 billion a year taxed on California businesses who have been deemed polluters by the California Air Resources Board.

The billions of dollars expected from the CaliforniaAir Resources Board’scap and trade auctions areexpected to pay for the anticipated transition from a market economy to a centrally planned one. Yetnothing in… Read More

Nearly 100 municipalities in California have banned the distribution of lightweight plastic shopping bags and imposed mandatory fees on the distribution of recycled paper bags. A bill before the legislature, Senate Bill 270, would impose similar restrictions statewide and could cost California’s consumers over $2 billion per year without providing any environmental benefits.

Proponents of SB 270 and other bag bans claim they will reduce litter and protect the marine environment, diminish our consumption of resources and emissions of greenhouse gases, reduce waste and save taxpayers’ money. As we show in a new Reason Foundation study, all of these claims are false.

Plastic bag litter is not an environmental menace. According to the most authoritative study, it constitutes only 0.6 percent of visible litter across the United States. So, even banning all plastic bags would have little impact on overall litter. And, contrary to claims made by ban proponents, it… Read More