Finance | California Policy Center

Structural Problems in Greece Compared to US

Many countries have restrictions and requirements on doctors, nurses, lawyers etc. Greece carries the idea to extreme. According to Keep Talking Greece “closed professions” include beauticians, drama and dance school instructors, bakers, antiques dealers, insurance agents, insurance consultants, employment consultants, diagnostics centre staff, translators, divers, cameramen, driving school instructors, cab drivers, tourist bus drivers, newspaper...

By Mike Shedlock

Why Real Rates of Return Will Fall

Earlier this month the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “Private Accounts Can Save Social Security,” authored by Martin Feldstein, former chairman of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisors and a member of the Wall Street Journal’s board of contributors. In this article, Feldstein made the following assertion: “With a 3% payroll deduction, someone...

By Editor

Unionized Lifeguards Making Over $200K per Year

Those looking for more public union insanity can find it in Orange County California. The Orange County Register reports Lifeguarding in OC is totally lucrative; some make over $200k. When thinking about career options with high salaries, lifeguarding is probably not one of the first jobs to come to mind. But it apparently should. In...

By Mike Shedlock

Illinois Raises Taxes to Subsidize Corporations and Overpay Government Workers

As proof of the misguided, counterproductive policies of Illinois, Governor Quinn hiked corporate incomes taxes to bail out a state deep in fiscal trouble, (it did not and will not work), now grants corporations hefty incentives to not move to Texas. The Chicago Tribune reports $100 million keeps Motorola Mobility in Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn...

By Mike Shedlock

Public Servants Lack Accountability

Union arguments in favor of their members’ lush pensions are falling by the wayside as the public examines the facts. For instance, union officials argue that the average public-sector pension benefit in California is “only” $30,000 a year, while neglecting to mention that the number, according to the state’s watchdog Little Hoover Commission, rises to...

By Steven Greenhut

California Pension Restructuring Proposal

According to the CalPERS website, in their California Investments section, “as of January 31, 2011, approximately 10.3 percent of CalPERS total assets are invested in California.” This means that out of the $233.5 billion in assets under management by CalPERS (ref. Current Investment Fund Values), $24 billion is invested in California. Apparently CalPERS would have us...

By Editor

Brown Begins Campaign for Tax Hikes

California Governor Jerry Brown is annoyed at Republicans who have blocked his plan for massive tax hikes to balance the budget. In response, the governor plans to take his case straight to the voters. Please consider Brown Plans California Drive to Keep Taxes as New Cuts Loom California Governor Jerry Brown said he’ll propose a...

By Mike Shedlock

Union Power Destroys Working Families

A great irony of American politics is that the agenda of the left, especially big labor, causes more economic harm than good to the average American worker. Explaining this irony is not easy, but a contributor to the Washington Times, Doug Ross, did a pretty good job yesterday in his guest column entitled “Union members...

By Editor

Unions Ignore Pension Realities

There’s no getting away from the pension issue these days or from the fact that the state’s pension system is on the brink of disaster unless pensions for state and local workers are pared back dramatically. The only people in denial these days are the Brown administration and the state’s legislative leaders, as their response...

By Steven Greenhut

How Much Do Government Pensions Really Cost?

Earlier this week the Sacramento Bee hosted a chat on the topic “Should States Rethink Collective Bargaining.” In addition to journalists from the Bee, participants included Steve Greenhut, editor of CalWatchdog.org, and Art Pulaski, the chief officer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. During the hour-long discussion, the topic of public sector pensions came up...

By Editor

Richard Trumka’s False Choice

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But when the imitator inverts the meaning of the phrase they’re imitating, clarification is called for. Such is the case with the esteemed Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, who has penned an essay in today’s Wall Street Journal entitled “Scott Walker’s False Choice.” According to Trumka, Wisconsin’s...

By Editor

Union Worker Calls for Reforming Unions

According to a Chicago Tribune story, the International Association of Machinists (IAM), has filed suit in federal district court in Charleston, South Carolina, seeking an injunction requiring Republican governor Nikki Haley and her State Director of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, Catherine Templeton, to remain neutral on labor-management affairs, particularly with regard to the unionization of...

By Paul Hollrah

When Will Voters Connect the Dots?

Dick Morris, who was President Clinton’s pollster for 20 years, and has done polling for 30 Senators and Governors and 14 presidents or prime ministers in foreign countries, has just released polling data examining Wisconsin voter attitudes towards public sector unions and public sector employee compensation in that state. His findings underscore what appears to...

By Editor

The Left’s Belated Defense of Public Sector Unions

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed limits on public employee collective bargaining—and Republican election victories in November more generally—have uncorked a backlog of opposition from the left to criticisms against public sector unions. More complete responses to that opposition will follow this post (though Ezra Klein has already kicked out the legs from under his own...

By Tim Kowal