Pension reform boot camp heads to Orange County this Thursday
Today is the last day to register for the “Pension Boot Camp” aimed at arming elected officials with specific ways to address California’s unfunded pension obligations facing the state and local...
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Public employee unions needed? Or harmful?
The hubbub in Wisconsin may end up visiting California soon, considering that we have lots of powerful public unions and fiscal calamity. (Notice how those go hand in hand?) Back in the sweatshop...
View ArticleA union problem or a public worker union problem?
The annual budgets that most states and the federal government are having so much trouble balancing are a drop in the bucket compared to the problems posed by unfunded long-term debts, especially...
View ArticleAre Wisconsin’s unionized public school teachers worth it?
This special condition Americans have allowed for public employees – unionization along with civil service protection – was bound to crash and burn eventually. They can tell you that now in Wisconsin....
View ArticlePension reform suggestions by Little Hoover. Not bad, either
The Little Hoover Commission urged the governor and the Legislature to establish legal authority for the state and local governments to freeze pension benefits for current workers. That’s a good...
View ArticleWhat’s not to like about these government employees? 200 more groups...
About the only thing that makes those living off the government (which is to say, off of your money) more greedy than they already are is to announce that you’re considering cutting back what they...
View ArticleBell rings for the new reformers in town of same name
We couldn’t resist the corny headline, but imagine living in a small town where police scoured the landscape for cars to confiscate on the slimmest excuse to help pay for the fat, make that...
View ArticleWhy, oh why has Bill Campbell endorsed Todd Spitzer?
Todd Spitzer, yesterday, announced that his candidacy for the Orange County Board of Supervisors- 3rd District had been endorsed by the man he aims to replace, Supervisor Bill Campbell. The text of...
View Article“Modest” pension benefits and “attacks on teachers?”
I just read a press release from the California Federation of Teachers (a union) about their 2011 conference which is being held (of course) at the beach, Manhattan Beach to be exact, today through...
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DeVore versus Spitzer is heating up
Chuck DeVore sent out an email blast to his list today announcing his candidacy for the Orange County Board of Supervisors. I am assuming Chuck’s list is pretty massive given his run for the...
View ArticleUnion bosses still denying pension crisis
Public union leaders have consistently denied there is a problem with the current government employee pension system. They defend the high benefit levels and consistently argue that pension funds are...
View ArticleLifeguards: Lifestyles of the rich and publicly employed (video)
Following up on my blog post about lifeguard salaries in Newport Beach on Friday, here is a fun video that explains the situation in with Newport Beach lifeguards. Click here to view the embedded...
View ArticleLifeguarding in OC is totally lucrative; some make over $200k
High pay and benefits for lifeguards in Newport Beach is the latest example of frustrating levels of compensation for public employees. More than half the city’s full-time lifeguards are paid a salary...
View ArticleBaywatch Boondoggle? Life’s a Beach in California Where Some Lifeguards Make...
Friday, I was a guest on Allen Barton’s PJTV show, Front Page, to discuss compensation of lifeguards in Orange County and throughout the state of California. The compensation boondoggle continues!...
View ArticleHow did Newport lifeguards strike a sweet pension deal?
One of the lingering questions about the recent scandal over disturbingly high lifeguard pay and benefits in Newport Beach is how did it happen? In particular, how did lifeguards score pension...
View ArticleTax vote budget deal in exchange for “reforms”?
Legislative Republicans may be ready to allow voters to decide whether to tax themselves more in exchange for some “reforms,” the Los Angeles Times reports. Here’s the finer print: the reforms include...
View ArticleBallot prop could force pension fund investment solely in CA
A proposed ballot initiative would force state pension funds to invest fund monies solely in California-based business. The proposed ballot initiative which was submitted to the California Attorney...
View ArticleCut postal worker jobs, pull out of federal health care?
It certainly sounds like a long-shot, but the U.S. Postal Service wants to cut its workforce 20 percent. That sounds like a lot of private companies, doesn’t it? And the USPS also wants to pull its...
View ArticlePension reform down, taxes up
Two sweeping public employee pension reform measures won’t be placed on the November ballot, as their backers couldn’t raise the $2 million or so to mount petition drives for either, it was announced...
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More taxes for schools? Not exactly…
What’s the old adage? How can you can tell when a politician is lying? His lips move. Gov. Jerry Brown, who in an earlier incarnation insisted he detested the idea of more taxes, now says Californians...
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