Posts Tagged ‘Stockton’
Monday, August 25th, 2014
Another look at how Texas stacks up to the no-longer-so-Golden state:
Problem: Those lousy taxpayers get pension reform passed. Solution: CalPERS uses “99 categories of ‘special pay'” to go on a pension spiking orgy.
What are some of those 99 categories? “Clerks who type well. Cops who shoot straight. Librarians who are “assigned to provide direction or resources to library patrons.” I’m too scared to check if “Teachers who don’t rape their students” is an actual category or not…
Governor Jerry Brown is sending mixed signals on the pension spiking issue.
Who actually owns the CalPERS gap between actual funding and what they’ll need to pay out? “CalPERS can be risky (and it has been) with no consequences. The taxpayers have all the responsibility, but none of the control.”
So how much payroll and pension did Stockton trim in their bankruptcy? Zero.
There is no California comeback. “Personal income-tax revenues fell by 11 percent in the first quarter of this year and more than 6 percent through June.”
California cities are among the slowest to recover from the recession.
The only way California can get pensions under control is through a constitutional amendment.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is asking for more money. They’re also asking Angelinos to overlook their high salaries and lack of accountability.
City leaders are battling with DWP’s union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18, to release financial records of a nonprofit trust, run jointly by labor- and management-appointed trustees, that has run through $40 million in ratepayer money. Brian D’Arcy, IBEW Local 18’s business manager, has refused to turn over the trust’s financial records, and DWP executives have said they don’t know how the money was spent.
California voters get to weigh in on a 7.5 billion water bill in November, which seems to have considerably less pork than a previously delayed $11 billion bill.
So how does bankrupt San Bernardino plan to climb into the black? Cutting back on outrageous pensions? Ha, you must be high! “Help us, weed, you’re our only hope!”
I know this is a shock, but California’s High Speed Rail Authority is behind schedule on buying land for it’s doomed boondoggle.
Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz opposes ride share programs like Uber and Lyft. Strangely enough, he’s also received $11,000 in campaign contributions from the taxi industry. Quid pro, meet quo.
YTexas helps companies relocating to Texas connect with local businesses.
Tags:California, CalPERs, fraud, Jerry Brown, Los Angeles, marijuana, San Bernardino, Stockton, Texas, unions, Welfare State
Posted in Budget, Texas, unions, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »
Friday, June 20th, 2014
Believe it or not, there seem to be a few actual glimmers of sanity in California in the latest roundup:
Texas: Not just leading the nation in jobs, but doing it more equitably as well.
“The income gap between rich and poor tends to be wider in blue states than in red states.” More: “Texas has a lower Gini coefficient (.477) and a lower poverty rate (20.5%) than California (Gini coefficient .482, poverty rate 25.8%).” (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
Perhaps the biggest crack in the “Blue State” model this month was a state superior court judge ruling that California’s teacher protection laws were illegal, because they violated the equal protection clause for students. How the Vergara vs. California decision plays out on appeal is anyone’s guess, but just recognizing that union contracts that keep crummy teachers employed harms students is a huge step forward.
New California payroll and pensions numbers are now available. “The data shows that public compensation in California is growing more out of control, threatening the solvency of the state and local governments.” Let’s take a look at a few locales, shall we?
Will wonders never cease: CalWatchdog calls the just-passed California budget “fairly prudent.”
The legislature also passed a law almost doubling the amount of money school districts pay into CalSTARS.
But don’t let that fool you: California’s legislature is still crazy.
Especially since California Democrats just elected a new Senate leader guaranteed to pull them to the left.
But Republicans are poised to torpedo California Democrat’s Senate supermajority.
Desert Hot Springs is contemplating dissolving it’s police force to avoid bankruptcy. (By my count, 21 Desert Hot Springs police officers make more than $100,000 a year in total compensation. Including five officers who make more than the Police Chief…)
San Bernardino has evidently reached agreement with CalPERS in it’s ongoing bankruptcy case, but no details have been reported.
They also closed a gap in a yearly budget thanks to some union concessions. But one union is balking, and its members are threatening to join the SEIU instead.
The California town of Guadalupe considers bankruptcy. One problem is that the town has been illegally transfering money from dedicated funds (like water bills) to general funds. “If voters do not pass three new taxes in November, Guadalupe is expected to disband its police and fire departments, enter bankruptcy or disincorporate, meaning it would cease to exist as a city.”
Ventura County residents collection enough signatures to force a ballot measure on pension reform. Response? A lawsuit to keep it off the ballot.
Los Angeles 2020 Commission goes over what changes the city needs to avoid a future where “40% of the population lives in ‘what only can be called misery,’ ‘strangled by traffic’ and hamstrung by a ‘failing’ school system.” Response? “Meh.”
Sickout among San Francisco municipal bus drivers. Good thing poor people don’t depend on buses for transportation…
Huge growth in Texas apartment complexes.
California’s prison system illegally sterilizes female inmates against their will.
The Obama Administration Department of Education is driving the California-based Corinthian for-profit college chain out of business.
A Californian discusses why relocation to Texas might be attractive, and hears the pitch for Frisco, Texas.
“‘Building a business is tough. But I hear building a business in California is next to impossible,’ Perry says.”
California regulators can’t be arsed to come out and check flaming tap water.
California bill to add warning labels to soft drinks fails.
California-based nutritional supplement maker Natrol files for bankruptcy, mainly due to class action suits. I note this because I’ve found their 3mg Melatonin to be really effective as a sleep aid.
Tags:Border Controls, Budget, California, CalPERs, CalSTARS, Desert Hot Springs, education, Frisco, Guadalupe (California), Los Angeles, pension crisis, Regulation, San Bernardino, SEIU, Stockton, Texas, unions, Vallejo, Ventura County, Vergara vs. California, Welfare State
Posted in Border Control, Budget, Regulation, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, May 14th, 2014
Time for another Texas vs. California roundup:
Chief Executive ranks the states for business friendliness. Once again, Texas is ranked the best state for doing business in. And once again, California is ranked the worst.
“Texas is the best state for business and I don’t see anything to slow TX down. The education and quality of eligible employees is excellent right now. Business is booming and growing quicker and more rapidly in 2014 than any other year. It’s an exciting time in Texas.”
“California goes out of its way to be anti-business and particularly where one might put manufacturing and/or distribution operations.”
“California continues to lead in disincentives for growth businesses to stay.”
“California’s attitude toward business makes you question why anyone would build a business there.”
“California could hardly do more to discourage business if that was the goal. The regulatory, tax and political environment are crushing.”
California Governor Jerry Brown unveils a budget that takes baby steps toward actual pension and budget reform. Naturally Brown’s fellow Democrats in the state legislature are fighting him every step of the way.
Texas vs. California? Try Houston vs. California:
California state rep thinks the minimum wage in the state should be $26 an hour. I agree, especially if they call it the “Let’s Drive All Remaining Business to Texas Act”…
When he was a San Diego City Councilman, California Democrat Congressman Scott Peters not only underfunded the city’s pension plan while hiking benefits, he indemnified the pension board for doing so.
More on Peters, via an attack ad:
“A new analysis of California’s independent public retirement systems suggests they are more woefully underfunded than they appear, and that Los Angeles County is among the worst of all.”
Bankrupt Stockton’s last remaining big creditor refuses to take 1¢ on the dollar for debts the city owes. (Remember: State pension fund CalPERS didn’t take any haircut at all.)
In bankrupt San Bernardino, talks between the city and CalPERS are making the federal judge overseeing the case impatient.
Chuck DeVore on why Texans trust their state government more than most:
Then factors that appear to explain from 13 percent to 30 percent of the differences in trust among the states: rate of union membership,with more trust in states with lower union membership; state’s level of soft tyranny, a measure of the power of state government over its people; percentage of state and local taxes as a share of income, with lower taxes leading to more trust; the right to keep and bear arms, with citizens trusting a government that trusts them to defend themselves; a business-friendly lawsuit climate; the days the legislature is in session, with less trust as the legislature approaches full-time; and the average commute time, with less time spent in traffic leading to more trust.
Lastly, a combination of from two to four of the previous factors correlates to 34 to 41 percent of the trust in each state with a mix of four: taxes, gun rights, lawsuit reform and commute time, showing the highest link to trust. Comparatively speaking, Texas lawmakers have done well in these four areas of public policy.
When building trust in state government, enacting liberty-minded legislation is a good place to start.
But it isn’t all sunshine in Texas Local debt continues to rise, though Eanes School District voters finally decide that they’ve had enough and defeat a bond proposal.
Tags:Budget, California, CalPERs, Chuck DeVore, Democrats, Jerry Brown, pension crisis, Regulation, San Bernardino, Scott Peters, Stockton, Texas, unions, video
Posted in Budget, Democrats, Regulation, Texas, unions, video, Waste and Fraud | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 11th, 2014
Meant to put this up at lunch, but Stuff. And Things.
How California overprotects public employee union contracts. If the paper from Volokh the Younger is too heavy-sledding for non-lawyers, here’s a nice summary.
CalPERS is demographically doomed.
The people of San Bernardino vote all the bums out. “After Tuesday night, six of seven council members are now on record as saying they want to explore reducing San Bernardino’s pensions, along with [Carey] Davis, the new mayor, and a new city attorney, Gary Saenz.”
Another California city, Placentia, drifts toward bakruptcy. “Placentia has been papering over a structural $1.5 million deficit in its $30 million budget for at least five years, plugging the hole with lucky money (more soberly called ‘one-time revenues’).”
Stockton: Hey, we’re in bankruptcy! I guess that means we can just kill our shelter animals willy nilly. Federal judge: Not so fast.
Los Angeles firefighter compensation averages $218,000 an employee. (Hat tip: Pension Tsunami.).
Are even California’s Democratic legislators waking up to the problem?
California university workers plan a strike. See, no matter how broke you are, unions still want wage hikes…
Unions want to ensure that Bob Filner’s closest ally is elected Mayor of San Diego to keep their gravy train coming…
Union membership in California is down to 16.4% of the workforce.
Jerry Brown: Hey, Supreme Court, reverse that high speed rail decision! High Speed Rail Contractor: Thanks, Jer! Here’s $27,000.
Websense is relocating from San Diego to Austin. Dropbox is also moving additional jobs to Austin.
Charles Schuab is relocating jobs from San Francisco to Texas.
California industrial brush company relocates to Utah.
The Texas labor force keeps growing.
Tags:Austin, Bob Filner, California, fraud, Jerry Brown, Los Angeles, Placentia, San Bernardino, San Diego, Stockton, Texas, unions, waste, Welfare State
Posted in Austin, Regulation, Texas, unions, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »
Monday, November 11th, 2013
Time for another roundup of Texas vs. California:
California’s high tax, high regulation government, and its resultant high cost of living, has given the state the nation’s worst poverty rate. How’s that blue State model working out for you?
Fresno is completely broke. “Now the city doesn’t even have a day’s worth of cash in its general fund.”
Given the tough economy, CalPERS cuts back on staff bonuses. Ha, just kidding! They doubled them.
Desert Hot Springs is the next California city eyeing bankruptcy.
Stockton’s Lavish pensions contributed to it’s bankruptcy. But guess who doesn’t have to take a haircut?
The message Stockton’s bankruptcy has for other California cities is obvious: Just screw taxpayers.
Bankrupt San Bernardino throws the bums out. And the new team looks like they’re willing to take on CalPERS. A case of mixed messages.
Covered California, California’s ObamaCare agency, is hair plugs and fat camp.
There’s a magazine called Time that says that Texas is the nation’s future. (There’s a longter story, but I don’t feel compelled to obtain a login to read it.) I’m sure Texas has a much brighter future than Time…
Your tears, Lakers fans! Let me taste them! (Missing from that piece: Dwight Howard will no longer give 10.3% of his income to the state of California, and Texas has no state income tax.)
Tags:bankruptcy, basketball, Bell, California, Desert Hot Springs, fraud, Fresno, San Bernardino, Stockton, Texas, unions, waste, Welfare State
Posted in Budget, Crime, Texas, unions, Waste and Fraud | No Comments »
Monday, June 17th, 2013
Time for another Texas vs. California roundup!
California’s mullet budget: conservative in the front, but with a long greasy, tangled mane of liberal spending and debt in the back.
“Public pension costs are increasing simply because liabilities are growing faster than assets….To meet the rate at which pension liabilities were growing in 1999, Calpers needed the Dow to reach 30,000 by now.”
“California still has a mammoth long-term pension gap. If it used the same pension accounting standards as private companies must, its total debts would be a terrifying $1 trillion.”
What does the future look like in California? Well, take a look at Detroit, another one-party liberal Democrat fiefdom, where decades of chronic overspending and mismanagement are leading to a bankruptcy filing which will screw bond-holders and pensioners alike.
Speaking of bankrupt cities that can’t pay their bills, Stockton is paying out $5.1 million in settlements for retirees who are losing their health benefits due to the bankruptcy.
Some inside baseball news on maneuverings in the Stockton and San Bernardino bankruptcies.
Due the huge looming deficits, California’s public employee unions have had to accept wage cuts. Ha, just kidding! They’re getting raises.
California’s highest court rules that privacy rights don’t apply to you if public employee unions want your money.
Despite high electric rates, California is shuttering one of its nuclear power plants.
Thanks to California’s implementation of ObamaCare, Aetna is exiting the individual insurance market there.
Rick Perry travels to Connecticut to woo gun manufacturers to relocate to Texas.
Why NBA All-Star Dwight Howard might join the Houston Rockets: Texas’ lack of a state income tax.
Tags:Budget, California, Democrats, Detroit, nuclear power, San Bernardino, Stockton, Texas, unions, waste, Welfare State
Posted in Budget, Democrats, Texas, unions, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »
Thursday, April 4th, 2013
Time for another Texas vs. California roundup:
“The real problem With California is math, not politics.”
“The data for the two biggest states, California and Texas, appear to confirm a jobs slowdown in California over the past four months, likely due to a big tax increase passed by the voters in November. Meanwhile, Texas’ job market is accelerating.”
Stockton bankruptcy moves forward. Whether bondholders will be screwed over in preference to outrageous union pensions remains to be seen.
How blatant a money grab is this? “Meanwhile, the city was proposing to slash by 80% the $125 million in principal on pension obligation bonds that it had issued in 2007 to pay an overdue bill to Calpers.” So they intend to renege on a bond to pay CalPERS in order to keep paying CalPERS. That’s some scam they’ve got going on there…
The difference between San Bernadino and Stockton’s bankruptcies.
“The net message is you can’t see a restructuring when the largest creditor isn’t being restructured.”
A site devoted to looking at union pensions in Marin County.
California citizens: So, let’s talk about how AB109 has let violent felons out on the street early. How do you– California Legislature: Gun control gun control gun control!
California legislators of both parties enjoy spring break junkets paid for by special interest groups.
People continue to vote with their feet by moving to Texas.
Tags:bankruptcy, Budget, California, San Bernardino, Stockton, Texas, Welfare State
Posted in Budget, Democrats, Economics, Welfare State | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 20th, 2013
Time for another Texas vs. California roundup! Just imagine how the MSM would crucify Rick Perry if the head of, say, the Texas Teacher’s Retirement System were indicted on multiple counts of felony fraud…
Ex-CalPERS CEO and another board member (who just happens to be Ex-Mayor of Los Angeles) indicted for fraud.
A grand jury in San Francisco charged Federico Buenrostro Jr. and Alfred Villalobos, and they were booked and released on bond Monday after briefly appearing in court.
Buenrostro, 64, served as CEO of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System from late 2002 until June 2008. Villalobos, 69, served on the CalPERS board and is a former vice mayor of Los Angeles.
The indictment alleges the two conspired to fabricate documents that certified to federal regulators that Villalobos’ firm had obtained required “investor disclosure letters” from CalPERS to serve as a “transfer agent.” The indictment charges that the falsified documents allowed Villalobos to reap $14 million in fees for serving as a middleman between CalPERS and a prominent investment firm handling $3 billion in CalPERS’ money.
“The Wall Street public pension trough feeding frenzy has, unbeknownst to taxpayers and government workers participating in these funds, cost the nation trillions and is only getting worse.”
A detailed, in-depth look at how financial legerdemain are used to hide the huge pension liabilities in various California counties, and how Moody’s new accounting rules will put an end to it. “Government financial statements for decades have very seriously understated pension expenses and failed to raise the alarm about the massive unfunded pension debt that was the result.”
So how does the city of San Bernadino deal with being bankrupt? By handing out pay raises.
How did Stockton go bankrupt? It might have had something to do with nearly one-quarter of workers on the city’s payroll getting more than $100,000 a year.
“At least some minority politicians are beginning to figure out that a party primarily devoted to preserving the jobs, automatic pay hikes and generous pensions of public employees is a party that’s not necessarily interested in what’s best for minorities.”
California comes up with a great fake justification for using cap-and-trade as a wealth redistribution program. Which, of course, has always been the real purpose of cap-and-trade anyway…
Texas pummels California in job numbers. “California has a civilian labor force of 18,591,111 while Texas has a labor force of 12,680,661. This means that California has a workforce that’s 47 percent larger than Texas’ but Texas created 19 percent more jobs in the past 2 years and 22 percent more jobs in the past year!”
Current proposals in the Texas legislature would outlaw capital appreciation bonds.
A strong majority of Texans surveyed agree that other states should be as awesome as we are. “Sixty percent of respondents agreed that other states should emulate how Texas state government looks and operates. Only 31 percent disagreed.”
We’re awesome, but we still need tax cuts.
Tags:bankruptcy, Blue State, Budget, California, San Bernardino, Stockton, Texas, unions, Welfare State
Posted in Budget, Economics, unions, Welfare State | No Comments »
Thursday, December 13th, 2012
This was supposed to go up last night, but there was a glitch. Ten hours late sounds about right for California…
California leads the nation in outrageous pay and benefits for unionized state employees. Including $822,302 a year for a single prison psychiatrist.
Calpers to taxpayers and bond-holders: DROP DEAD. We’re getting ours, jack.
Since California has hiked tax rates tax revenues have decline. Those unwilling to learn from the Laffer Curve are doomed to live through it.
Living in California means not being able to afford police.
The bankrupt California city of San Bernardino has had 45 murders this year.
Bankrupt Stockton has had 68.
And Los Angeles is shuttering courthouses because they can’t afford them.
The Blue State Suicide Pact.
Movie and TV production is leaving California.
“Why would you leave $25 million on the table?” Oh gee, I don’t know, but maybe because you have to pay back $34 million on your risky $2.5 million loan? Math, liberal! Do you speak it?
California Blue Shield wants to hikes rates as much as 20%. How’s that ObamaCare working out for you?
People are still leaving California…and Texas is the most popular destination.
Texas was once again the destination of choice for more people moving within the United States as a whole, with some 515,000 people moving here in 2012. (Hat tip: Push Junction.)
Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Mario Loyola talks about how unions become sanctioned government cartels.
Speaking of TPPF, they linked to this Dallas Fed report, which shows that the Texas economy continues to hum along. “Texas added 22,900 jobs in October, lowering its unemployment rate in October to 6.6 percent, down from 6.8 percent in September and 1.3 percent below the national average of 7.9 percent.”
Tags:Budget, California, CalPERs, Crime, fraud, Laffer Curve, Los Angeles, ObamaCare, San Bernardino, Stockton, Texas, unions, waste, Welfare State
Posted in Budget, Crime, Economics, ObamaCare, Texas, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »
Thursday, August 16th, 2012
Looks like California has done such a good dog of screwing the pooch that I may have to start doing these roundups weekly:
Although bankrupt, California is about to add another outrageous benefit to its already bloated pension plan.
The Road Warrior‘s future as California’s present.
Creditor demands that Stockton reduce it’s outrageous pension plans.
In deed, CalPERs and state and local governments have combined to screw both taxpayers and bond-holders.
Hermosa Beach meter maids make make nearly $100,000 a year.
Could Fresno be the next California city to declare bankruptcy?
That is, unless the next California city to declare bankruptcy is Los Angeles.
Tags:bankruptcy, Blue State, Budget, California, CalPERs, fraud, Fresno, Hermosa Beach, Los Angeles, Red State, Stockton, Texas, unions, waste, Welfare State
Posted in Budget, Economics, Texas, unions, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »