California Burning – How the Greens Turned the Golden State Brown

The Financial Context of the Imminent California Supreme Court Decision on the “California Rule”

Any day now, the California Supreme Court will rule on what may be one of the most significant cases affecting pension reform in California history. The case, CalFire Local 2881 vs. CalPERS, challenges one of the provisions of PEPRA (Public Employee Pension Reform Act) Governor Brown’s 2013 pension reform legislation. The plaintiffs argue that PEPRA’s abolition...

By Edward Ring

State Audit Exposes High Speed Rail’s Epic Waste of Time and Money

Although the midterm election was held on November 6th, the news media was absorbed for several weeks with undecided close races and the strength of the “blue wave,” especially here in California. Perhaps that is why a report from the Auditor of the State of California on the High Speed Rail Project issued the following...

By Jon Coupal

Organizing those ratty charter schools

The unions’ “If ya can’t kill ’em, organize ’em” mentality is on display in Chicago. In a refreshingly honest video from 2011, Leo Casey, New York City’s United Federation of Teachers Vice President, equates charter schools to Walmart – both being very resistant to unionization. Pounding on the table at a socialist gathering, he says...

By Larry Sand

Week 17 Entries

Week #17’s entries were so good that the judges based their decision primarily on social impact. There were in fact two excellent posts centered around White Castle burgers. Greg Chester’s amusing burger post wins – the judges in particular enjoyed the quip that a trip to Vegas solved the problem – as in only the...

By Renee Olivett

Jamming Janus – The Public Union Empire Strikes Back

In June 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the Janus vs AFSCME case. The result of the decision is that public employees not only have the right to refuse membership in a union, but also the right to refuse to pay so-called “agency fees” to the union. Unions had been preparing for years for...

By Edward Ring

Looming Decision on “California Rule” Will Dramatically Affect Pension Reform Efforts

On its surface, the case heard last Wednesday by the California Supreme Court in CalFire Local 2881 vs. CalPERS doesn’t seem that important. At issue is the so-called “California Rule,” an obscure legal doctrine relating to public employee pensions. But for California’s beleaguered taxpayers, the case is one of extraordinary importance because its outcome will...

By Jon Coupal

The #WeSue movement

The Janus decision in June has opened the door to litigation. Lots of litigation. It has been almost six months since the Janus ruling, which allows government workers to avoid paying a union as a condition of employment. But that was just a beginning. The decision has shone a light on many other union abuses...

By Larry Sand

Week 16 Entries

Shanae Chester wins Week 16 with a seasonal collage that would normally guarantee a smile – a happy baby, a gingerbread house, and the kit to build another house. Included in this heartwarming scene, however is a sinister Christmas message from the State of California. Ho, ho, ho – your Christmas Gingerbread house causes birth...

By Renee Olivett

The Varieties and the Potential Impact of Post-Janus Litigation

The landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court in the Janus vs AFSCME case has given government workers the right to not only refuse union membership, but to refuse to pay any dues or fees to that union. In the wake of this ruling, new lawsuits have been filed on behalf of plaintiffs who allege...

By Edward Ring

Surplus masks deep fiscal problems, especially in school districts

Sacramento As Gov. Jerry Brown heads into the sunset, he leaves California’s general-fund budget in remarkably sound shape, according to an analysis last month from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. “It is difficult to overstate how good the budget’s condition is today,” the LAO reported, pointing to a $14.5 billion reserve by the end of next...

By Steven Greenhut

School choice’s strange bedfellows

The move to educational freedom brings together some unlikely allies. Shortly after the general election, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten was ecstatic. Writing in The New York Times, she insisted that there was a “realignment in the electorate.” She also claimed that “voters responded to a decade of disinvestment in public education and...

By Larry Sand

Week 15 Entries

Contessa Mendoza wins this week’s contest with yet another absurd warning – apparently “furniture products” –the furniture itself? The polish to keep it dust free? The throw pillow accessory? – is very dangerous to your health – as in causes cancer and birth defects. Target’s warning certainly has all of the bases covered. If you...

By Renee Olivett

How Local Governments Can Reform Pensions IF the “California Rule” is Overturned

In December of 2018, the California Supreme Court will hear arguments in what is generally referred to as the Cal Fire pension case. The ruling could potentially overturn what is commonly referred to as the “California Rule.” The current interpretation of the rule is that pension benefits, once increased, cannot be reduced for existing employees...

By Ken Churchill

California Burning – How the Greens Turned the Golden State Brown

In October 2016, in a coordinated act of terrorism that received fleeting attention from the press, environmentalist activists broke into remote flow stations and turned off the valves on pipelines carrying crude oil from Canada into the United States. Working simultaneously in Washington, Montana, Minnesota, and North Dakota, the eco-terrorists disrupted pipelines that together transport 2.8 million...

By Edward Ring