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Tom Gray -- City Journal -- New York -- April 13, 2012  Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is in a race against the clock. Two years ago, he declared at a press conference that city finances were sound and would stay that way: "The fact of the matter is this city will never go bankrupt." Then he hedged a bit, adding, "It will never go bankrupt under my watch." Villaraigosa's watch --- his second mayoral term, after which the law obliges him to leave office... |
StratRisks.com -- April 2, 2012  Stockton, Calif. is quite at home on lists of dubious distinctions. -- This Northern California city has been variously listed as the city with the second-highest home-foreclosure rate of a major U.S. metropolis, the second-highest violent crime rate in California, and two times the frontrunner of Forbesmagazine's "America's Most Miserable Cities." -- Now Stockton is hoping to avoid its next bleak title... |
Michael J. Boskin -- Wall Street Journal -- March 15, 2012  Long a harbinger of national trends and an incubator of innovation, cash-strapped California eagerly awaits a temporary revenue surge from Facebook IPO stock options and capital gains. Meanwhile, Stockton may soon become the state's largest city to go bust. Call it the agony and ecstasy of contemporary California. -- California's rising standards of living and outstanding public schools and universities... |
Los Angeles Times -- March 12, 2012  Stockton, Calif. -- The name painted in the plate-glass window, "Bradley's," has a martini glass standing in for the "y." -- The late-afternoon sun has turned the other windows into mirrors. Deep inside, in bar-appropriate shadow, patrons rest their drinks on 100-year-old mahogany and, as in many a neighborhood pub, consider hopes gone astray... |
Heather Mac Donald -- City Journal -- New York -- February 13, 2012  California is in the middle of a far-reaching demographic shift: Hispanics, who already constitute a majority of the state's schoolchildren, will be a majority of its workforce and of its population in a few decades. This is an even more momentous development than it seems. Unless Hispanics' upward mobility improves, the state risks becoming more polarized economically and more reliant on a large government safety net... |
Bloomberg -- February 12, 2012  California collected $528 million less in taxes in January than Governor Jerry Brown estimated in his latest budget, Controller John Chiang said. -- The majority of the shortfall was in income taxes, down $525 million, or 6.3 percent less than projected in the spending plan Brown released Jan. 5, Chiang said. Corporate taxes were down $127.9 million, while sales taxes were up $42.8 million... |
| Sacramento Bee -- January 31, 2012 California will run out of cash by early March if the state does not take swift action to find $3.3 billion through payment delays and borrowing, according to a letter state Controller John Chiang sent to state lawmakers today. -- The announcement is surprising since lawmakers previously believed the state had enough cash to last through the fiscal year that ends in June... |
| WorldNetDaily.com -- January 17, 2012 When Genivive Jones lost her job last year and started bouncing between friends' homes and motels with her toddler daughter, she inadvertently joined one of the fastest-growing groups of state welfare recipients: homeless families who receive aid known as CalWorks. -- Over the last five years, the number of CalWorks families without a permanent place to live has grown by 98%... |
| Mary Ann Milbourn -- Orange County Register -- Santa Ana, Calif. -- December 25, 2011 LeaseTrader.com, the website that helps motorists trade out of their auto leases, reports about 5.9% of Californians who are getting rid of their leased vehicles are moving overseas. -- About three out of four are giving up higher-end luxury cars like BMWs and Mercedes, says LeaseTrader.com. -- The most popular destinations for Californians are Mexico, Brazil, the Pan-Asian countries and the Caribbean... |
| Max Slavo -- SHTFPlan.com -- December 19, 2011 According to a recent study there's an 82% chance that California pensions will run out of money. -- Who didn't see this one coming? -- Well, my fellow Californians, looks like we're all pretty much screwed. -- The evidence: a new study by theStanford Institute for Economic Policy Research finds that California's struggles with giant pension obligations for state workers is getting worse. Much worse... |
| CNN -- December 14, 2011 California Gov. Jerry Brown announced Tuesday almost $1 billion in midyear budget cuts as a result of insufficient state growth. -- The so-called "trigger cuts" will result in reduced spending for universities, schools, prosecutions, and in-home care for the elderly and disabled, Brown said. -- "They're not good," Brown said of the cuts... |
| Kimberly Dvorak -- The Examiner -- November 21, 2011 The latest victim of the California budget crisis will leave Californians besieged with criminals and fewer law enforcement agents. -- California's Democrat Governor Jerry Brown approved a budget earlier this year that calls for reduced DOJ funding. The cuts leave many drug-related investigations in the lurch and force local law enforcement agencies to reorganize manpower and funds... |
Sacramento Bee -- November 17, 2011  The state's nonpartisan budget analyst on Wednesday said California will fall $3.7 billion short this fiscal year, likely resulting in fewer public school days, cuts to libraries and further reductions in developmentally disabled services. -- Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic lawmakers counted on that money – to be generated by projected tax revenues – in a fit of summer optimism when they drafted the state budget... |
| Kimberly Dvorak -- The Examiner -- November 15, 2011 Once famous for the "gold rush," California's fertile land drew anybody who wanted to strike it rich, sadly those days are long gone and have been replaced with tax and spend policies that have ended in massive deficits. -- California's financials offer proof that the month of October painted serious accounting problems for the state... |
| Kimberly Dvorak -- The Examiner -- October 29, 2011 A new PEW study puts California at the top of the pension debt crisis with at least $612 billion in obligations followed by New Jersey at $183 Billion and Illinois with a $150 billion. -- The shocking new PEW study projected the country is on the hook for approximately $2 trillion dollars for all states, says Capoliticalnews. -- "Using the higher pension gap number, State Budget Solutions said California is..." |
| Reuters -- October 25, 2011 The total of U.S. state debt, including pension liabilities, could surpass $4 trillion, with California owing the most and Vermont owing the least, a new analysis says. --The nonprofit State Budget Solutions combined states' major debt and future liabilities, primarily for pensions and employee healthcare, unemployment insurance loans, outstanding bonds and projected fiscal 2011 budget gaps... |
Brenda Walker -- VDare.com -- October 25, 2011  A recent Census report (Poverty: 2009 and 2010) found that the Golden State had nearly six million persons in poverty, an extraordinary number for a place that was thought not long ago to be inexhaustibly wealthy. -- Still, California is only in the mid-range of states for poverty when considering percentages. Mississippi ranks at the top of the worst with 22.4 percent while California scores an atrocious 15.8 percent... |
| Los Angeles Times -- October 8, 2011 The lawmaker who authored the California Dream Act said Saturday that Gov. Jerry Brown has signed the bill allowing Illegal [aliens] attending California universities to receive state financial aid. -- Brown's office declined comment, and an announcement on the legislation has not yet been made. -- But Assemblyman Gil Cedillo said he was notified Saturday morning... |
| John Howard -- September 7, 2011 Crisis clarifies. Our vast economic disaster is the historically predictable culmination of a century of public policy experimentation ungrounded in empirical reference. It is the result of an hubristic idealism translated into policy prescription; a process founded in Platonist thought and prefigured by the repeated failure of communal idylls. -- The flow of growth is a constant in enterprise.... |
| Los Angeles Times -- September 7, 2011 California voters are increasingly downcast about the direction of the country, but --- like their leaders in Washington --- many would rather adhere to party orthodoxy than compromise to address the current economic problems, a new USC Dornsife / Los Angeles Times poll shows. -- The findings offer little guidance for President Obama, who will unveil a jobs package this week... |
| Bloomberg -- September 4, 2011 The percentage of working-age Californians with jobs has fallen to a record low, and employment may not return to pre-recession levels until the second half of the decade, according to a research group. -- Just 55.4 percent of working-age Californians, defined as those 16 or older, had a job in July, down from 56.2 percent a year earlier and the lowest level since 1976... [See Obama Watch] |
| Inland Valley Daily Bulletin -- Ontario, Calif. -- August 28, 2011 A bill allowing [illegal alien] students in California to use public funds to help pay for college is quickly moving through Sacramento, but cost may be an issue if and when it crosses Gov. Jerry Brown's desk next month. -- A Brown spokeswoman said the administration supports the general principal behind AB 131, but it will take a long hard look at the bill considering the deep fiscal challenge of a $26 billion budget gap... |
| Kimberly Dvorak -- The Examiner -- August 26, 2011 Part two of California's DREAM Act that seeks to provide financial aid for illegal aliens hits the Senate floor. The controversial DREAM Act legislation is expected to pass along party lines that heavily favor Democrats. -- AB 131 is sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) and proposes illegal alien students can compete for the $40 million in public financial aid... |
| Associated Press -- August 23, 2011 The state auditor's office on Thursday added teacher pensions to the list of high-risk issues facing California government. -- The report by State Auditor Elaine Howle added the nation's largest teacher pension fund because it can't meet the costs of retirement benefits beyond the next 30 years. The pension funding problem was added to a list of risks... |
| New America Media -- August 21, 2011 One in four California households with children reported food hardship, according to a new analysis of Gallup data released last Thursday by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). -- "It's disturbing, but not surprising," said Kelly Hardy, director of health policy at Children Now... [See Hope & Change Watch] |
| Associated Press -- August 19, 2011 The city of Los Angeles will no longer hire Standard & Poor's to rate its $7 billion general investment pool because the firm recently downgraded the city's portfolio from AAA to AA. -- Interim Treasurer Steve Ongele says the city has lost faith in S&P's judgment... [See MEChA-Boy Mayor] |
| American Patrol Report Feature -- August 10, 2011 A December to Remember?: California set to collapse California's tax revenues plummeted in July, falling more than 10% below expectations and making it more likely that deeper cuts to public schools built into the state budget in case of a stalled economic recovery will occur. --And-- The stock market's recent slump is reviving bad memories for California's government and raising concerns about revenue estimates for its budget, a perennial concern in the U.S. municipal debt market... |
| Tyler Durden -- Zero Hedge -- August 9, 2011 Even as the Fed continues to pretend that keeping interest rates at zero for what is now becoming apparent will be an infinite amount of time is an appropriate substitute for the absence for the elimination of actual cash flows, we once again get a reminder that life in the real economy, there were people can not just print their way out of trouble... |
| Fox and Hounds Daily -- August 6, 2011 Remember way back five weeks ago when the California budget was declared balanced because $4 billion in higher revenues was expected in the treasury? If the $4 billion didn't appear, an automatic trigger would add additional budget cuts of $2.5 billion... |
| George Skelton -- Los Angeles Times -- August 4, 2011 It's a seldom discussed fact how heavily dependent Sacramento is on Washington's borrowed money. -- The same goes for California schools and local governments. -- They're all huge targets as Congress takes aim at federal debt. -- It's unlikely the Obama administration would have defaulted on U.S. Treasury bonds even if Congress had remained gridlocked on debt ceiling legislation... |
| New York Times -- July 29, 2011 On Wednesday, a helicopter buzzed over the rugged hills of Mendocino National Forest and lowered five narcotics agents dressed in green fatigues and armed with guns, clippers and machetes. Under the bright blue sky, the crew began to cut down thousands of marijuana plants that were flourishing with the help of an irrigation system in a remote section of the forest in Tehama County... |
| Reuters -- July 26, 2011 Los Angeles -- California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law on Monday a bill allowing illegal [aliens] to receive privately funded scholarships to attend the state's public colleges and universities. -- The bill, dubbed the California Dream Act, passed the state Legislature earlier this month and aims at helping illegal [aliens]... |
| Steve Forbes -- July 26, 2011 A big tax battle is erupting in California. The immediate numbers involved are not big -- about $200 million -- but the principle is huge, and the outcome will have an enormous impact on our economy. The battle is over applying sales taxes to products sold on the Internet. If California gets away with its new, unconstitutional tax, consumers nationwide could be hit for billions and the economy will be harmed... |
| San Francisco Chronicle -- July 20, 2011 It will soon take hours to pay a traffic ticket in San Francisco, months to get court records and at least a year and a half to get a divorce. With a few exceptions, only criminal cases will go to trial. -- Two hundred Superior Court employees, more than 40 percent of the staff, are about to be notified that they will be laid off Sept. 30 because of devastating losses of state funding... |
| Associated Press -- July 18, 2011 The San Francisco Superior Court announced Monday that it's laying off more than 40 percent of its staff and shuttering 25 courtrooms because of budget cuts. -- Presiding Judge Katherine Feinstein said the actions were necessary to close a $13.75 million budget deficit caused by state budget cuts... [See 'Hope and Change' Watch] |
| Dave Gibson -- The Examiner -- July 15, 2011 On Thursday, the California State Senate approved a measure which will allow illegal aliens attending college to receive financial aid. -- Assembly Bill 130, which passed by a vote of 26-11 lets illegal aliens, paying in-state tuition rates accept privately funded scholarships.... |
| Valley News -- Fallbrook, Calif. -- July 12, 2011 Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone today will detail his reasons for wanting the county and a dozen neighboring counties to break away and form the new state of South California. -- Stone filed a five-page memorandum on the Board of Supervisors' agenda for consideration, enumerating what actions he says should be taken to create America's 51st state... |
| KCBS-TV -- Los Angeles -- July 2, 2011 Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone apparently thinks so, after proposing that the county lead a campaign for as many as 13 Southern California counties to secede from the state. -- Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone apparently thinks so, after proposing that the county lead a campaign for as many as 13 Southern California counties to secede from the state... |
| Daily Caller -- July 1, 2011 California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law Wednesday requiring online businesses to collect state sales tax, calling it "a common sense idea," but Amazon and other large online retailers said they no longer see the business sense in staying in the Golden State... |
| Hispanically Speaking -- June 3, 2011 According to data from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from December 2010, just under 17,000 inmates in the state are on hold for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and in addition, there are just under 4,000 prisoners listed as potential ICE holds. -- At a cost of almost $45,000 a year to house an inmate, that's a cost of nearly $1 billion to house [illegal aliens]... |
| Contra Costa Times -- Walnut Creek, Calif. -- May 27, 2011 In the light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision mandating release of 33,000 criminals in the next two years, two lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are urging the federal government to intervene. -- Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Hesperia, this week sent a "2010 invoice" for $885,039,426 to President Barack Obama asking him to pay up or take custody of 17,000 illegal [aliens] from state prisons... |
| Los Angeles Times -- May 23, 2011 The Supreme Court ordered California on Monday to release tens of thousands of its prisoners to relieve overcrowding, saying that "needless suffering and death" had resulted from putting too many inmates into facilities that cannot hold them in decent conditions... |
| Los Angeles Times -- May 16, 2011 State revenue has rocketed far beyond projections, providing a $6.6 billion windfall that Gov. Jerry Brown wants to use to boost education spending and help repair California's battered finances. -- In the revised budget plan Brown releases Monday morning, education spending would increase by about $3 billion over what he proposed in January... [American Patrol Comment: You can bet these are ObamaBucks] |
| The Sun -- San Bernardino, Calif. -- May 9, 2011 Democrats in California have revived a bill that would create a single-payer health care system that would provide health care for everyone, including illegal [aliens]. -- It would replace President Barack Obama's health care reform legislation with a more comprehensive system - one its advocates say would cost everyone no more than what we already pay... |
| KPCC-FM -- Pasadena, Calif. -- May 6, 2011 California's State Assembly on Thursday approved legislation to let undocumented students apply for college scholarships. But only Democrats voted for the bill. Assembly Republicans say it makes no sense to offer financial aid to students who have no legal right to live and work in California... |
| American Patrol Report Feature -- April 28, 2011 California Collapse Imminent? -- L.A. furloughs thousands as Brown tax faces voters The long anticipated collapse of California's public finance system could finally be at hand as billions in Obama stimulus bucks dry up in the face of a Republican-led House of Representatives. -- Looking at a $457-million shortfall, the mayor of Los Angeles said he would begin furloughing more than 6,000 city employees who refused to go along with a cost-cutting arrangement... |
| Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Editorial -- April 7, 2011 A new Center for Immigration Studies report finds that 57 percent of households headed by an immigrant -- legal or illegal -- that include children younger than 18 use at least one welfare program. But just 39 percent of such native households do so... |
| Kimberly Dvorak -- The Examiner -- March 16, 2011 California's evolving budget crisis continues to meet headwinds with major Internet companies who are lining up to flee the state if Democratic Governor Jerry Brown signs new tax increase legislation into law. -- Overstock.com will join Amazon.com in pulling all affiliate sellers from the state if lawmakers insist on additional taxes... |
| Huffington Post -- March 16, 2011 School districts in California have issued nearly 19,000 layoff notices so far to teachers amid uncertainty over the state budget, the California Teachers Association estimated Tuesday. -- The union announced its estimate of preliminary notices on the day school districts must let employees know they could lose their jobs... [See Obama Watch] |
| San Bernardino County (Calif.) Sun -- March 9, 2011 California isn't expected to shake off its double-digit unemployment rate until 2013, economists say. -- The UCLA Anderson Forecast's first quarterly report of 2011 suggests the state's unemployment numbers, although improving, will continue to exceed national figures for the next couple of years... [See Obama Watch] |
| Rep. Elton Gallegly and Rep. Lamar Smith -- Ventura County (Calif.) Star -- March 7, 2011 California is faced with a monstrous deficit and the real possibility of insolvency. Once the land of new beginnings and the embodiment of the American dream, the Golden State is now expected to have a $25 billion budget shortfall by June 2012. And the state has the second highest unemployment rate in the U.S... |
| Steve Greenhut -- Orange County Register -- Santa Ana, Calif. -- March 7, 2011 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 to a prestigious government report makes clear... |
| Kimberly Dvorak -- The Examiner -- March 1, 2011 Looking for ways to drum up extra revenue in the state of California, legislators are seeking to impose a new state sales tax on Amazon.com Internet sales. However the Internet giant says not so fast and if proposed laws are passed they will sever all ties with affiliate businesses in California. Currently the Golden State has more than 10,000 Internet businesses that earn a living with Amazon.com... |
| Reuters -- February 16, 2010 California Governor Jerry Brown ordered a hiring freeze on Tuesday across the state's government to help cut costs in the face of a budget gap of at least $25 billion. -- The budget deficit of the nation's most populous state is closely tracked in financial markets. California is the biggest issuer of U.S. municipal debt... |
| American Patrol Report Feature -- February 15, 2011 Obama Can't Save California -- New Budget Makes Problems Worse Washington -- Californians would face some familiar-looking budget cuts under the Obama administration $3.7 trillion spending plan that was unveiled to tepid reviews Monday. -- The Fiscal 2012 budget shrinks police grants, slashes reimbursements for imprisoning criminal aliens and puts some farmers on a modest financial diet... |
| Victor Davis Hansen -- Rense.com -- February 16, 2010 The last three weeks I have traveled about, taking the pulse of the more forgotten areas of central California. I wanted to witness, even if superficially, what is happening to a state that has the highest sales and income taxes, the most lavish entitlements, the near-worst public schools, and the largest number of illegal aliens in the nation... |
| London Independent -- February 12, 2010 heel stand A tall, revolving Ferris ws like a beacon of contentment at the end of Santa Monica pier. Surrounded by golden sands and an endless Pacific, the famous landmark represents the end point of the old Route 66, the highway that transported generations of American migrants across the continent in search of a better life... |
| Sacramento Bee -- February 5, 2010 Contentious budget debate in California usually includes ideas for cutting specific costs related to illegal [aliens]. This time, Gov. Jerry Brown hasn't talked about it as he seeks to cut $12.5 billion in state costs. One of the Legislature's new members, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, has stepped up as a vigorous critic of Brown for that omission... |
| Los Angeles Times -- February 5, 2010 At a special hearing Friday to air concerns about Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to shift responsibilities to the counties, Los Angeles County officials told state lawmakers they wanted to help cut California's deficit but had serious questions about the bottom line... |
| Reuters -- February 4, 2010 If the saying "as goes California, so goes the nation" still rings true, then Americans are facing a depressing future, according to a list of the country's most miserable cities. -- Ravaged by falling house prices, high unemployment, a massive budget deficit, rampant crime and high state taxes, California filled four of the top five spots in the Forbes list of unhappy urban areas... |
| CNBC -- January 21, 2011 Jerry Brown, California's governor, declared a state of fiscal emergency on Thursday for the government of the most populous US state to press lawmakers to tackle its $25.4 billion budget gap. -- Democrat Brown's declaration follows a similar one made last month by his predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger... |
| MSNBC -- January 14, 2011 Carnival Cruise Lines is pulling the last of its ships out of San Diego, and other cruise operators are departing Southern California because of economic woes and fears over traveling to Mexico. -- Carnival announced Thursday that its 2,500-passenger Carnival Spirit is moving to Australia by April 2012, a move the Port of San Diego says will cost the local economy about $54 million... [See Obama Watch] |
| San Jose Mercury News -- January 11, 2011 A bill that would grant [illegal alien] students access to financial aid is being revived in the state Legislature this week. -- The California Dream Act would allow students who are [illegal aliens] to benefit from the same financial aid as other California students attending the state's public colleges and universities... [See Cedillo Watch] |
| Reuters -- January 11, 2011 California Governor Jerry Brown unveiled a budget on Monday that included "painful" cuts to state worker pay and social services and a plan to extend tax increases as the most populous U.S. state struggles to close a $25.4 billion deficit... |
| Kimberly Dvorak -- The Examiner -- January 5, 2011 While the DREAM Act failed on a national stage, California State Democrats would like to skirt federal law and provide a pathway to citizenship for those who are illegally residing in the Golden State. -- State Assembly Bill 78, written by Tony Mendoza (D-Norwalk) seeks to put an advisory measure on the state ballot asking California voters if... [See Amnesty Watch] |
| Kimberly Dvorak -- The Examiner -- January 3, 2011 The avalanche of failing governments in Europe has left many legislators with no choice but to seize European taxpayer savings and pension accounts to cover the governments' bills. The seizure of pension accounts is easily accomplished in Europe as the state organizes and is in charge of said accounts... |
| Orange County Register -- Santa Ana, Calif. -- December 29, 2010 Older laid-off workers have their difficulties finding work, but it's the teens -- particularly those in California -- who are bearing the brunt of the recession. -- Unemployment among California workers ages 16 to 19 was 34.7% in November. That's nearly three times the state average of 12.4%, reports the state Employment Development Department... [See Obama Watch] |
| The Daily Bail -- December 21, 2010 An independent analysis of California's three big pension funds has found a hidden shortfall of more than half a trillion dollars, several times the amount reported by the funds and more than six times the value of the state's outstanding bonds... |
| Associated Press -- December 18, 2010 The scandal-ravaged city of Bell is teetering on the brink of insolvency and drastic cuts in city services likely will be necessary to repair its finances, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. -- The report by the Los Angeles County auditor-controller paints the most dire financial picture yet of the blue-collar suburb... |
| Victor Davis Hanson -- National Review -- December 16, 2010 The last three weeks I have traveled about, taking the pulse of the more forgotten areas of central California. I wanted to witness, even if superficially, what is happening to a state that has the highest sales and income taxes, the most lavish entitlements, the near-worst public schools (based on federal test scores)... |
| KCBS-TV -- Los Angeles -- December 6, 2010 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a fiscal emergency and is asking lawmakers to meet in a special session to save the state $9.9 billion over the next two years. -- Schwarzenegger on Monday unveiled a plan that relies largely on cuts to health care and social services for the poor... |
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