Buried in our California water bills are the inflated salaries and benefits of our public water works “public servants.” The examples in the article below are instructive — and not that unusual.

It includes a chart that compares the pay of water department employees with the average pay for such work. BTW, included in that average are our government workers, which thus skews the figure higher than the true private sector average.

The superiority of government pay can be breathtaking, contrary to what the public employee labor unions tell the press. And this example doesn’t plumb the depths of the benefits disparity, which is much greater.

One of the worst disparities in this comparison is “garage attendant.” The average private sector pay is $29,175 for this unskilled position. This water department pays their attendants $68,130. Not mentioned is the difference in pensions — most private sector garage attendants get only social security — with MAYBE a modest 401k plan. A lowly 30 year government attendant will get an annual pension of $47,000 to $63,000 — after a career that included rock-solid… Read More

Democrat legislators killed a request by California Republican Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez for an official state audit of Planned Parenthood affiliates in the state, in a Joint Legislative Audit Committee hearing Tuesday.

There have been recent independent investigations which found that Planned Parenthood, in violation of federal law, has engaged in the sale of human tissue (dead baby body parts) taken from abortions at Planned Parenthood.

“The illegal profits made off of human tissue from abortion procedures represents a clear financial motive, and violates federal law:

“The sale or purchase of human fetal tissue is a federal felony punishable by up… Read More

By Katy Grimes and Tom Tanton

False claims about the success of California’s green economy have been front-page headlines for several years. Green tech groups, green energy investors, stakeholders and even green tech media claim California has a “thriving clean energy economy.”

What’s missing from the news is The Rest of the Story. The political and economic impact of California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32), the greenhouse gas reduction mandate foisted on Californians by the Democrat-dominated Legislature, and signed into law by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, hasn’t been good for the economy.

While recent newsreports show unemployment has slightly dropped, the facts show otherwise. The U.S. unemployment rate cannot possibly be 5.3 percent, nor can California’s be 6.3 percent. The only way it can be reported this way is by excluding those Americans who have given up finding a job, and are no longer participating in the workforce.

But this Legislature and governor would much rather talk about a warming climate, than the business climate or… Read More

The state Senate is expected to vote soon on AB 775, the so-called Reproductive FACT (Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care and Transparency) Act. The legislation would force faith-based, pro-life pregnancy resource centers that offer alternatives to abortion, to advertise access to “immediate free or low-cost” abortion. The bill is co-sponsored by California Attorney General Kamala Harris, Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice California and others.

Pregnancy resource centers offer services such as pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, prenatal care, referrals to health care services and information on adoption. They also often offer resources such as clothing, baby supplies and other assistance to help women who choose to keep their child. Some of the approximately 170 centers in California include licensed medical clinics, others offer resources only.

AB 775 would in effect mandate pro-life pregnancy centers to provide referrals for abortion in violation of their moral beliefs, or be faced with heavy fines.

Not only does this bill “strike at the heart” of “free association, free political and religious speech and practice,” as Assemblyman Jim… Read More

With the dozens of stories I’ve written about the bold fight of farm workers at Gerawan Farming against unionization by the United Farm Workers labor union, and the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, a couple of recent letters synopsized the shocking series of events.

The attorney for the workers, Paul Bauer, penned two letters to ALRB Regional Director Silas Shawver, outlining events, and laying out a clear case for conflicts of interest by the attorneys at the ALRB.

I’ve reported on the Gerawan workers since Spring 2013, including the November 5, 2013 decertification election. Because the Gerawan workers likely voted to decertify the UFW, Shawver and Sylvia Torres Guillen, both attorneys with the ALRB, locked up the ballots and refused to count them, claiming there was some… Read More

A decade ago, former CBS News correspondent Bernard Goldberg authored a book titled 100 People Who are Screwing Up America. If Goldberg were writing today about Californians, he would, no doubt include billionaire Tom Steyer near the top of the list.

Steyer achieved his extreme wealth as a hedge fund manager, an uber capitalist whose profitable investments have included oil, gas and coal.

In 2012, he separated from the management of his company – he still owns shares – and committed to a “green” agenda. He became the leading sponsor and financial backer of Proposition 39 on the 2012 ballot, which was sold as pro-environmental reform measure virtually guaranteeing its passage by Californians understandably concerned about the environment. Proposition 39 increased taxes on businesses — those evil companies that provide so many Americans their jobs — and directed the money be put into something called The Clean Jobs Energy Fund. Steyer promised it would bring in $550 million and create 11,000 jobs per year. But a recent investigation by the Associated Press reveals that it has raised less than 60 percent of that amount over three years, and… Read More

Rather than waiting for proposed assisted suicide legislation to work through the legislative committee process earlier this year, a lawsuit asked the California Superior Court to find that patients facing the end of life have a “civil right” under the California State Constitution “to make their own decisions about their bodies.”

But a Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuit saying that physician-assisted suicide should be addressed in the Legislature.

Yet that’s exactly what the lawsuit was trying to avoid. When the latest assisted suicide bill, the “End of Life Option Act” was shelved in July because Democrats could not get enough Democrat votes, many insiders thought that the bill, and issue, was dead on arrival – particularly after the… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: As part of an ongoing effort to bring original, thoughtful commentary to you here at the FlashReport, we are pleased to present this column from Assemblyman Bill Brough.] On June 6, 1978, a political earthquake rumbled through California in the form of Proposition 13 – officially named the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation” and enshrined in our constitution as – what else? – Article 13A.

It came 34 years to the day Allied forces stormed the beaches at Normandy, but for California… Read More