My attention was drawn to a recent Kiplinger study purporting to compare the attractiveness of states for retirees. It took five minutes for me to verify the report constitutes sloppy work. I’m genuinely puzzled how and why a supposedly reputable financial advisory firm would distribute such a slipshod analysis.

But sadly, as I point out below, at least Kiplinger got California right. Yup, we rank as the worst state. Again. That matches the Fidelity retiree study done in 2014.

To check the veracity of the study, I went to their Texas summary, ranked as the 10th worst state to retire in. While there are many factors that affect a state’s attractiveness, some are objective facts that should be easy to glean.… Read More

There is an old expression, “carrying coals to Newcastle,” to describe a useless activity or fool’s errand. Sort of like shipping pineapples to Hawaii or, bringing it closer to home, sending more tax dollars to Sacramento.

The truth is, Sacramento is awash in cash. The Legislature’s budget analyst estimates that this fiscal year will end with $3 billion more than anticipated and, by 2017, state reserves may even top $11 billion.

For the political ruling class, this is an embarrassment. Last summer, the Governor called a special session of the Legislature in an attempt to secure legislative approval of a new health care tax on managed care organizations (MCOs) because the current tax is about to expire. He also called another special session to deal with transportation funding. In both cases, Republicans in the Legislature are making trouble for those backing new taxes by pointing to the obvious: The state already has plenty of money.

To read the entire column click here:… Read More

California’s gun control leftists hold some responsibility for the mounting deaths in Wednesday’s vicious terrorist attack in San Bernardino.

California’s gun laws are some of the strictest in the country, and Gov. Jerry Brown continues to make them even tighter. The bottom line is that citizens aren’t allowed to protect themselves in the Golden State.

The mass shooting took place Wednesday morning in San Bernardino, California at the Inland Regional Center, a facility for developmentally disabled adults, where 14 people were killed and at least 17 injured. Two of the suspects are both Muslim, a husband-and-wife team named Syed Rezwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27. Both were killed by police. Some news reports say there are thought to be more suspects involved.

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The IRS scandal in the headlines for several years revealed the Internal Revenue Service developed a scheme to prosecute conservatives who publicly oppose President Obama’s policies.

California Gov. Jerry Brown and his legislative Democrats have just accomplished a similar scheme with the passage of a bill targeting two large agriculture businesses, which dared to challenge the illegal stranglehold on Brown’s appointed Agriculture Labor Relations Board by the waning United Farm Workers labor union.

Family owned and operatedFowler Packing Company and Gerawan Farming are targets of Assembly Bill 1513, which unfairly carves-out the two employers who have long been targeted for UFW unionizing efforts, from the limited safe harbor provisions in the recently passed and signed bill.

Both large employers and growers, Fowler Packing grows peaches, nectarines, plums and mandarins, and Gerawan grows nectarines, peaches and grapes.

Wag the… Read More

“It’s [private equity investments] generating real returns for our members, which is exactly what it’s supposed to do,” said Joe DeAnda, a CalPERS spokesman. “It’s real value that we don’t feel there’s another way to achieve.” – “Are private equity investments worth the risk?,” Los Angeles Times, November 14, 2015

The alliance between government unions and America’s overbuilt financial sector is one of the most unreported stories of our time. It is a story saturated in greed, drowning in delusion, smothered and marginalized by an avalanche of taxpayer funded propaganda. If this story were known and appreciated by the people most victimized by its effects, it would fundamentally shift the political landscape of the nation. The most obvious example of this alliance are the government worker pension systems, Wall Street’s biggest players, controlled by union operatives.

The problem with public sector defined benefit pensions can be boiled down to two cold facts:… Read More

Twenty-Five years ago on June 26, 1990 in the previous century another Republican President George H.W. Bush signed landmark ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act, which paved the way by opening doors of opportunities for 40 million disabled Americans access to employment, transportation and other services. It was a glorious sunny day on the White House lawn the 41st President of the United States signed national landmark legislation with those looking over were wheelchair bounded, deaf, blind and other disabled leaders of our Republic.

We, as Americans, pride… Read More