As we noted in 2013, politicians seemed intent on buying 280 more M-1 Abrams tanks the U.S. military didn’t want or need. The M-1 Abrams is a formidable machine but not really suited for counterinsurgency operations, and the tanks run $8 million each. Last year we alerted taxpayers to the new fleet of presidential…
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As we recently noted, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) pays 3,500 full-time employees to sit around at their desks, as one legislator put it. According to Investigations of Improper Activities by State Agencies and Employees, a new report by state auditor Elaine Howle, they were doing much more than that. One Caltrans engineer,…
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California borders the Pacific Ocean, the largest body of water in the world, so desalination is a no-brainer for the Golden State. But as Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee shows, government is not exactly eager to slake the parched state’s thirst. The San Diego County Water Authority is building a desalination plant near…
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As we have noted, Emily Bazar of the California Health Care Foundation’s Center for Health Reporting has been working three shifts documenting the abuses of Covered California, a wholly owned subsidiary of Obamacare. These abuses include a dysfunctional computer system that cost nearly $500 million, cancellation of health insurance without notice when people report…
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In recent years California has raised per-pupil education spending about 50 percent, to $13,000 a year. As Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee shows, despite this increase, “national academic testing has found that California’s students rank near the bottom in achievement.” The response of the state’s education establishment is to attack the tests. As…
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Lingering debt of $1 billion and beyond tends to be associated with federal, state or municipal governments. Taxpayers should not be surprised, however, when a school district incurs a debt of more than $1 billion. In 2008, voters in the Poway Unified School District (PUSD) in San Diego County approved $179 million in bonds…
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Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen has noticed that the California Department of Transportation, also known as Caltrans, is paying “3,500 people to just be sitting around at a desk.” As Andrew Holzman notes in the Sacramento Bee, Olsen wants to cut those 3,500 full-time positions, for a saving of $500 million, half a billion dollars. As…
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California is not exactly a hot spot for jobs, but as Dan Walter explains in the Sacramento Bee, it’s not for lack of government spending. California has, count ‘em, at least 30 “workforce development” programs in, count ‘em, nine state agencies. And these programs spend “an estimated $5.6 billion each year, $3.1 billion from…
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California taxpayers, the most embattled in the nation, have good reason to wonder how much their government is spending. According to Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee, a veteran observer, government is spending a lot more than people think. The 2015 state budget has been reported as $115.4 billion, for the general fund, and…
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As we recently noted, on July 1 the Twin Rivers Unified School District in the Sacramento area boosted the pay of superintendent Steven Martinez by $20,000, an 8.3 percent increase that raised his pay to $260,000. The district also double his retirement payment and allowed Martinez to convert a $10,000 car allowance into salary….
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