We have been following the story of the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which came in ten years late, a full $5 billion over budget, and with serious safety concerns. During hearings in Sacramento whistleblowers called for a “criminal investigation,” but California Attorney General Kamala Harris failed to follow up….
Read More »
California’s $3 billion Stem Cell Research and Cures Act, Proposition 71, promised life-saving cures and therapies for a host of afflictions including heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. In 2004 voters approved the measure, which created the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. CIRM drew down the money and spent lavishly, but ten years later…
Read More »
The California Department of Transportation hired Alex Morales III as statewide coordinator for compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As Jim Miller notes in the Sacramento Bee, Mr. Morales III, who was paid a base salary of $74,912, has been arrested for allegedly accepting “at least $100,000 in bribes, including an…
Read More »
Property tax bills, marked OPEN IMMEDIATELY and helpfully timed for the holiday season, may put taxpayers in a mood to calculate what government is costing them. In typical style, government does not make such calculation easy, but Brad Branan of the Sacramento Bee provides some guidance. When calculating the salaries of public officials, for…
Read More »
When confronted with seismic-safety issues on the new span of the Bay Bridge, which came in 10 years late and $5 billion over budget, California governor Jerry Brown famously quipped, “shit happens.” As David Siders of the Sacramento Bee observes, Brown the former seminarian does better with the orthodoxies of statist superstition. “Never underestimate…
Read More »
The California Coastal Commission (CCC) is an unelected body of regulatory zealots that overrides the elected governments of coastal counties and cities on issues of land use and property rights. As we recently noted, the powerful CCC is moving into animal management, trying to leverage SeaWorld into killing off its orca shows. Now the…
Read More »
As we noted, California’s government monopoly K-12 education system pays big bucks to local bosses, heaping on huge raises and boosting benefits without any connection to performance or student achievement. For local bureaucrats, as Diana Lambert explains in the Sacramento Bee, even serious misconduct can pay off big-time. As the reporter notes, “El Dorado…
Read More »
The police are much in the news of late and some activists contend the cops are too severe when dealing with minorities. On the other hand, as Brad Brannan writes in the Sacramento Bee, the California Highway Patrol might be too lenient when they deal with privileged members of the ruling class. On November…
Read More »
The California Coastal Commission (CCC) is an unelected body that overrides the elected governments of coastal counties and cities on issues of land use and property rights. As we recently noted, the powerful CCC is moving into animal management, trying to leverage SeaWorld into killing off its orca shows. As Dan Walters of the…
Read More »
California governor Jerry Brown casts himself as a visionary leader in climate change and likes to demonize the oil and gas industry. When it comes to his own property and his own interests, the governor sings a different tune. As Ellen Knickmeyer of the Associated Press noted, according to state records, “Gov. Jerry Brown…
Read More »
 |
 |
 |