In 1996, then Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian introduced a bill that would give public employees the option of moving from the current "defined benefit" pension system to a "defined contribution" system. The major difference between the two system is that under a defined benefit system, the contributions are made to a fund, managed by someone else (in Californias case, a union elected board, with a couple of Governor appointees and appointees by the Controller and Treasurer, both union controlled Democrats), and the payment that is made to the retiree is defined by the state. A defined contribution system is a 401(k) system. It allows the investments to be controlled by the employee, and the benefit the employee receives depends on how smart the employee was in making the investment.

Kaloogians bill passed the Republican controlled Assembly at the time, and ended up in the Democrat controlled Public Employee Retirement Committee, of which I was the Vice Chair. A whole host of government employee union lobbyists (a group I used to refer to as the "Red Brigade") showed up in the committee to oppose the bill. What was most interesting… Read More

Massive news reports show that CAIR [Council of American Islamic Relations] the notorious terror apologist group, recently invited by Sen. Darrell Steinberg to celebrate theend of Ramadan in the Rotunda of the State Capitol, is in the hot seat again.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/63023-republicans-accuse-muslim-advocacy-group-of-trying-to-plant-spies

… Read More

Despite the best efforts of the California Chamber of Commerce to expose anti-job legislation through their “Job Killer” reports, California legislators continue to author, debate and pass bills that have resulted in record high unemployment in the Golden State. Though legislators may believe they are reigning in large corporations, the data shows that small and medium sized businesses have borne the brunt of the effects of these efforts. According to the Chamber of Commerce, 70-80% of all jobs come from small/medium companies. In order to lower the current unemployment rate, small businesses need to be able to put as much of their money into salaries as possible, and put Californians back to work.

But as the unemployment lines grow longer, the chore of finding the best talent becomes increasingly difficult for employers that are hiring. Taking resumes via mail, email, job boards and every conceivable social… Read More

Longtime Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Weintraub will soon be departing the payroll of the Bee… While he will still have columns there, he is also going to be a regular columnist for the Left Coast edition of the New York Times (well, until they figure out Dan is not a lefty) and he will work on other various projects. We wish Dan well, and hope that much of his focus remains on California policy and politics. When he does, we'll link it on our main page!… Read More

The Wall Street Journal reports today, on page one, about investigations into allegations of a pay-for-play at the Calpers.

"The California Public Employees’ Retirement System said it is launching a "special review" into payments by money managers — including billionaire Leon Black’s Apollo Management LP — to firms including Arvco Financial Ventures LLC. Arvco is headed by Al Villalobos, who served on Calpers’s board from 1993 to 1995."

A link is here. (Subscription may be required)… Read More

Two weeks ago, I had a chance to sit down with Gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman for the better part of an hour. Our interview covered a number of policy areas, including global warming/AB32, eminent domain, gun control, abortion, and overall philosophy about government. Because I brought a digital recorder along, Flash Report readers can enjoy these direct excerpts from the interview.

THIS IS THE THIRD INSTALLMENT OF THIS INTERVIEW. YOU CAN READ PART ONE (ON THE ENVIRONMENT, GLOBAL WARMING, AND AB 32) CLICK HERE. YOU CAN READ PART TWO (ON PROPERTY RIGHTS) … Read More

Two weeks ago I had a chance to sit down with Gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman for the better part of an hour. Our interview covered a number of policy areas including global warming/AB32, eminent domain, gun control, abortion, and philosophy about government. Because I had a digital recorder along, are able to bring you some direct excerpts from the interview. THIS IS THE THIRD INSTALLMENT OF THIS INTERVIEW. YOU CAN READ PART ONE (ON THE ENVIRONMENT, GLOBAL WARMING, AND AB 32) CLICK HERE. YOU CAN READ PART… Read More

Two weeks ago, I had a chance to sit down with Gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman for the better part of an hour. Our interview covered a number of policy areas, including global warming/AB32, eminent domain, gun control, abortion, and overall philosophy about government. Because I brought a digital recorder along, Flash Report readers can enjoy these direct excerpts from the interview. THIS IS THE THIRD INSTALLMENT OF THIS INTERVIEW. YOU CAN READ PART ONE (ON THE ENVIRONMENT, GLOBAL WARMING, AND AB 32) CLICK HERE… Read More