[Publisher’s Note: We are pleased to offer this column from longtime FR friend Clay Russell. A Los Angeles based writer, Russell served as Special Assistant to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from 2003-2010 – Flash]

“Pension reform” and “unfunded liability” are hardly phrases that turn up in most people’s dinner-table conversations. On the contrary – these are topics that, if examined closely, would more likely ruin a person’s appetite.

I was a political appointee in the Schwarzenegger administration for almost seven years. When I left that job I had a state pension coming to me…for life. Based on rough estimates, I would receive, starting as early as age 55, something in the neighborhood of $800-1000 per month, even more if I waited a few years to start collecting. This isn’t enough to live on but it’s significant when you consider that it’s for life.

It’s perfectly possible for an individual to buy an annuity that will pay a guaranteed amount after a certain age. A financial planner did some quick math recently and told me, based on my age and a target monthly… Read More

The San Francisco Bay Area is probably the most liberal in America. Democrats are typically favored over Republicans in elections by an 40 to 50 percent margins. The SF Bay is also perhaps the wealthiest region in America, with a GDP of over $500 billion, and more than 10% of the nation’s billionaires. Not least, as the global center of information technology, attracting top talent from around the world, the SF Bay region probably has one of the smartest populations in America.

So when are they going to take on their public sector unions?

One of the Silicon Valley’s newest billionaires is Mark Zuckerberg, who burnished his liberal credentials a few years ago by hosting President Obama at a town-hall meeting at Facebook headquarters. But earlier this year Zuckerberg committed to raising funds for embattled New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has vaulted to the national stage because of his refusal to bow to the demands of public sector unions.

Could it be that public sector union reform is a bipartisan issue? A lot of Democrats agree with that thought, mostly in private, but they aren’t billionaires, and they aren’t raising funds for Gov.… Read More

In my last post on the subject of gay marriage, David Salaverry leveled a criticism of my discussion, particularly my position on life and liberty, regarding the origins of government. In response to my statement on the purpose of government, where I state:

“Government is created to protect the weaker members of society from the involuntary intrusions on their personal security or property interests by the more powerful.”

Salaverry responds:

“We don’t know who created government. Somewhere in the mists of history governments began, evolved and now exist in complex forms that are difficult to penetrate.”

I realized I had been unclear when I made my statement. My comments on liberty began with certain assumptions to be sure, and I did not explain all of those assumptions in each of my writings, because I wanted the writing to be a blog, not a treatise, but Mr. Salaverry’s comments cannot go unanswered, because understanding my assumption is critical to understanding the positions I state on liberty, property, life and marriage.

It is true that somewhere in the mists of history governments began, and there is little… Read More

Is anyone still buying the idea that government workers are “public servants,” and so valuable they must be paid so much more than their counterparts in the private sector? Or are some just better scammers?

Alameda County Administrator Susan Muranishi is currently paid more than $420,000 in pay and benefits… and she will receive more than $420,000 annually for the rest of her life.

“The County Administrator is responsible for the implementation of policies and decisions of the Board of Supervisors,” the Alameda County website says. She’s the top secretary. It’s what we used to call today’s ‘administrators.’ Her office is responsible for managing the clerical support work for the County Supervisors.

ABC News in the East Bay reported Susan Muranishi is paid a base salary of nearly $302,000. And Muranishi is allowed to pile on more than $121,000 in other… Read More

Here is our ninth installment of this popular feature on our site. This is yet another “double edition” as we are playing catch up – it should be the “Idiot of the Week and a Half” award…

TheFlashReport Idiot Of The Week Awardis bestowed upon that pubic official (or high profile person engaged in politics or public policy) who does something completely idiotic. With a state as large as Californian, which seems to have a higher-than-average amount of folks who either don’t think about what they do — or even worse, they think about what they do and still act like idiots — we suffer from no shortage of potential award… Read More

On Monday, March 18, the board of the California High-Speed Rail Authority and an obscure entity known as the California High-Speed Passenger Train Finance Committee passed resolutions authorizing California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer to borrow $8.6 billion through bond sales to fund construction of the California High-Speed Rail.

This $8.6 billion adds to $480 million in bond sales authorized in 2009 and another $670 million in bond sales authorized in 2011. Some of this money will be used to build the first segment of the rail from Madera to Fresno.

Why is this happening? The people of California approved it.

In November 2008, 52.7% of voters (including 78% of voters in San Francisco) approved Proposition 1A, the “Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century.” Proposition 1A authorized the state to borrow $9.95 billion for design, environmental review, land acquisition, and construction by selling bonds to investors.

These bonds are “general obligation bonds” like the ones sold for school construction in California. This means the state can repay the bonds from any revenue source. They are not “revenue… Read More

There is no doubt that Americans owe a great deal to ancient Greek civilization that once dominated the Eastern Mediterranean, including the island of Cyprus. It is to them and their experiment with democracy that we can trace the roots of our own democratic institutions.

Of course, a lot can change in 2,500 years and, today, we fear that our leaders may be tempted to follow the modern Greek example of governance and taxation. Greece, itself has become the poster child for overpaying underperforming government workers and for creating an unsustainable entitlement-based society. Sound familiar?

When the government attempted to rein in spending and limit benefits to remain solvent, the result was rioting in the streets. Greece is classified as one of the PIIGS that constitute Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain, all mismanaged nations teetering on the brink of economic collapse and threatening to bring down the viability of the European Union.

The Republic of Cyprus has now joined the PIIGS. The government – under pressure from the European Union – has proposed to immediately tax all bank deposits to qualify the nation for a bailout.… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: I am very pleased to publish this column from my longtime friend Dan Schnur. When I launched this website in 2005, Dan was one of our inaugural bloggers, penning his first piece on our third day as website. In his column below, Dan makes a couple of significant announcements. The first I will opine upon in coming days. The second, well, I don’t want to steal his thunder. So let’s just say that my friendship and respect for Dan are as strong as they have ever been. Anyway, please enjoy Dan’s latest… — Flash]

During the almost three decades that I have been involved in politics, first as partisan advocate and in recent years as an analyst and observer, I have seen many unusual things. I watched a Democratic presidential candidate don a military helmet and climb into a tank to prove his national security credentials. I watched a movie star steal the show at a Republican National Convention by carrying on… Read More