Finally, some news from California that doesn’t involve radical islamic jihadis killing innocent people…
California lost 9,000 business HQs and expansions, mostly to Texas, 7-year study says. “It’s typical for companies leaving California to experience operating cost savings of 20 up to 35 percent.” (Hat tip: Pension Tsunami.)
Remember those “temporary taxes” that made California’s state income taxes the highest in the country? Well, to the all-devouring maw of a broke welfare state, no tax is temporary.
Los Angeles County: center of American poverty:
The Census Bureau’s 2012 decision to begin releasing an alternative measure of poverty that included cost of living has appeared to have far-reaching effects in California as politicians, community leaders and residents react to the new measure’s depiction of the Golden State as the most impoverished place in America.
The fact that about 23 percent of state residents are barely getting by has helped fuel the push for a much higher minimum wage and prompted renewed interest in affordable housing programs. It’s also put the focus on regional economic disparities, especially the fact that Silicon Valley and San Francisco are the primary engine of state prosperity.
While the tech boom and the vast increase in housing prices it has triggered in the Bay Area are national news, prompting think pieces and thoughtful analyses, the poverty picture in the state’s largest population center isn’t covered nearly as fully. Although the fact is plain in Census Bureau data, it’s not commonly understood that Los Angeles County is the capital of U.S. poverty. A 2013 study by the Public Policy Institute of California and the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality based on 2011 data found 27 percent of the county’s 10 million residents were impoverished, the highest figure in the state and the highest of any large metro area in the U.S.
Why California’s cities are in trouble: “The problems here, as the bankruptcies of San Bernardino and other cities have shown, are mismanagement and high costs incurred as a result of the state’s public-employee unions.” (Hat tip: Pension Tsunami.)
How CalPERS created a ticking time bomb. (Hat tip: Pension Tsunami.)
CalPERS also paid $3.4 billion in private equity firm fees since 1990, despite returns that were not that great. (Hat tip: Pension Tsunami.)
And CalPERS also has a huge problem with self-dealing and conflicts of interest. (Hat tip: Pension Tsunami.)
Texas’ largest employer is Wal-Mart. California’s largest employer is the University of California system.
But I doubt Wal-Mart has 35,065 employees who make more than $100,000 a year…
What good is California’s open meetings law if officials still feel free to ignore it? “Six decades after Brown Act passage, elected leaders still hold illegal meetings.” (Note: The Brown Act is named after Assemblyman Ralph M. Brown, D-Modesto, not either Jerry Brown.) (Hat tip: Pension Tsunami.)
Though Texas is doing much better at fiscal restraint than California, TPPF notes that Texas’ could still use additional spending restraint:
“Though Texas legislators did an excellent job by holding the total budget below population growth plus inflation during the last session, the state’s weak spending limit remains a primary cause of excessive budget growth during the last decade,” said Heflin. “Legislators can strengthen the limit by capping the total budget, basing the growth on the lowest of three metrics, and requiring a supermajority vote to exceed it. These reforms would have helped keep more money in Texans pockets where it belongs.”
“All segments of Texas housing market show strong gains in 2015.”
Mojave solar project operator files for bankruptcy.
“Fresh off of a major expansion, iconic San Francisco craft brewery Magnolia Brewing Co. filed voluntarily for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.” So a brewery that opened in 1997 is “iconic”?
“Fuhu Holdings Inc, a maker of kid-friendly computer tablets, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to a court filing on Monday.” Eh, included for completeness. That sounds like a bad business model for a startup no matter what state it was in…
Fresno Democratic assemblyman resigns to make more money in the private sector. Evidently a year to wait until his term expires was just too long to avoid climbing aboard the revolving door gravy train…
Tags: bankruptcy, California, CalPERs, Democrats, Fresno, Los Angeles, pension crisis, San Francisco, Texas, unions, waste, Welfare State
This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2015 at 12:08 PM and is filed under Democrats, Texas, unions, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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