It’s election season and we are hearing a lot of happy talk from the Sacramento politicians. After all, they want to be reelected so they are painting a rosy picture of their stewardship of our state. But happy is not a word that describes the outlook of millions of Californians who continue to be burdened by high taxes, high unemployment and low expectations for the future.

Howard Jarvis, the father of the 1978 tax revolt that passed Proposition 13, used to tell folks, “If there is… Read More

Known as the “California Senate’s Top Gun Control Advocate.” Democratic State Sen. Leland Yee was indicted Friday by a federal Grand Jury on seven federal felonies including bribery, andarms trafficking in illegal firearms and weapons. Yee wasn’t just trafficking in tiny pearl handle pea shooters – he was indicted for being involved in trafficking shoulder-mounted rocket launchers.

Now, in addition to being known as one of California’s leading proponents of gun control, Yee is accused of working with Chinatown gangsters and brokering arms deals with a Muslim rebel group based in the Philippines.

Politics makes strange… Read More

Nearly 8.0% of Californians are currently unemployed compared to the national average of 6.7%. Using an alternative method of looking at poverty, which includes factors such as cost of living and public benefits, the official rate released by the U.S. Census Bureau this past September determined that over a three year period, California has more people living in poverty than any other state in the nation. Nearly one in four California residents is considered to be impoverished.

In addition, the Golden State is one of only two states in the nation where one-fifth of its labor force is underemployed, a situation which occurs when skilled and educated workers are forced to accept employment for which they are overqualified and/or accept fewer hours due to a lack of opportunities within the current job market. California has the second highest rate of underemployment at 17.8%. This state of affairs creates a domino effect that reduces economic opportunity as higher skilled workers edge out those with fewer skills as they compete over entry-level positions.

Understanding the barriers and hurdles that businesses experience while trying to operate within… Read More

Yesterday, California Common Sense (CACS) released the most extensive analysis to date of unfunded retiree healthcare liabilities associated with California’s state and local governments, as well as its public education institutions. The report, “Surveying California’s Unfunded Retiree Healthcare Obligations,” assessed the financials of 690 “Other Post-Employment Benefit” (OPEB) plans statewide. It studied those for the State of California, 53 counties, 352 cities, the state trial court system, 282 school districts, and the University of California system. This survey found that the state of California and its constituents have $157.7… Read More

“The AFT [American Federation of Teachers] will be looking more closely at those who are supporting the dismantling of defined benefit plans at the state and municipal level.” – Ranking Asset Managers, A Retirement Security Report on Money Managers for Pension Fund Trustees, March 5, 2014

As reported in aWashington Examiner editorialon April 4th, the American Federation of Teachers – that’s “teachers union” in plain English – has circulated a pamphlet that:

“Calls on pension fund trustees to drop any investment managers that are tainted by connection to free-market nonprofits. They also want those same trustees to force any potential new managers to have to disclose any donations they may have made to the groups on AFT’s blacklist.”

That the AFT can circulate a document like this without generating an uproar in the media reflects a monstrous and tragic double-standard. Money supporting… Read More

This spring thousands of business owners throughout California are receiving a welcome surprise in their mailbox. Rather than a notice of a new tax, fee or audit, they’re getting a check from the State Board of Equalization.

No, we’re not talking about annual income tax refunds from the Franchise Tax Board. These checks are marked “SECURITY REFUND” and represent a dramatic shift in how California’s elected tax board welcomes new businesses to our state.

Previously new corporations and LLCs were forced by the BOE to turn over anywhere from $2000 to $50,000 of their own money as security before they could make a single legal taxable sale. This “security” was held just in case a business might default on its taxes during its first three years of operation.

It was a uniquely California-style shake down. Rather than encourage new business start-ups, the government robbed them of the capital they needed to be successful, only to sit on it for three years before returning it.

I took a close look at the program and found it didn’t make sense for taxpayers or the state. Security was rarely applied, and staff time and energy were needlessly… Read More

In my first two stories about Dr. James Enstrom, Ph. D., The firing of James Enstrom: the dangers of bucking fashionable science, and Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned,I explained about the attempt to muzzle scientific debate at UCLA, and the ultimate wrongful termination lawsuit of Enstrom, a scientist and professor at the university for more than 35 years.

Enstrom challenged the scientific research that the California Legislature and California Air Resources Board used to enact clean air policies including regulating diesel fuel emissions. And then he was fired.

Enstrom exposed the cover-up of “junk environmental science,” and exposed a phony… Read More

Liberals and good government advocates (“googoos”) frequently decry citizens’ mistrust in government, especially in California. Over the last decade and a half, numerous surveys have confirmed that voters distrust government on several levels including waste, corruption and lack of responsiveness to legitimate public needs.

The recent criminal exploits – both actual and alleged – of three California state senators are going to add fuel to the fire of outrage on the part of voters… Read More