K. Lloyd Billingsley
Business & Economics
California Focus: Cautionary tale of 2 Bustamantes
California has recently cemented its reputation as the most politically correct state in the nation, and possibly the most humorless. Those with doubts on that score might compare the cases of Carlos Bustamante and Cruz Bustamante. U.S. Air Force veteran Carlos Bustamante is a city councilman in Santa Ana and ...
Business & Economics
Proposition 13 turns 30
Thirty years last ago Friday, on June 6, 1978, Californians passed Proposition 13, the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation.” It helped California homeowners, but is now blamed for many of the state’s woes. Owning a home has always been part of the American dream. During the latter part of ...
Commentary
Proposition 13 Turns 30: Why it’s still necessary, and why the pillage people still hate it
SACRAMENTO – Thirty years ago Friday, on June 6, 1978, Californians passed Proposition 13, the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation” that helped California homeowners but is now blamed for many state woes. Owning a home has always been part of the American dream. During the latter part of the ...
Business & Economics
Cleaner Environment Not Necessarily in the Bag
Yesterday the Assembly Appropriations Committee was scheduled to consider AB 2058, “Reducing Plastic Bags,” by Lloyd E. Levine, a Sherman Oaks Democrat, which imposes on consumers a recycling “fee” of $.25 per bag. The committee, and all Californians, should also consider some facts about plastic bags and their alternatives. Assemblyman ...
Commentary
Cleaner Environment Not Necessarily in the Bag for California
SACRAMENTO – Tomorrow the Assembly Appropriations Committee considers AB 2058, “Reducing Plastic Bags,” by Lloyd E. Levine, a Sherman Oaks Democrat, which imposes on consumers a recycling “fee” of $.25 per bag. The committee, and all Californians, should also consider some facts about plastic bags and their alternatives. Assemblyman Levine ...
Commentary
Investigate Grand Theft Education
SACRAMENTO – Last month the California Department of Education (CDE) paid out $4.6 million to settle the longstanding case of CDE employee James Lindberg. Though previously addressed in this column, the case remains rich in lessons for legislators, educators, taxpayers, and even law enforcement. Mr. Lindberg got in trouble not ...
Climate Change
Celebrate river’s revival
When I was a child, my father took me fishing on the Detroit River, where we caught plenty of perch and silver bass, but no whitefish. I might catch one in 2008 because whitefish are reproducing in the Detroit River for the first time since 1916, as the U.S. Geological ...
Agriculture
Earth Day lessons for California
The Eureka Reporter, April 24, 2008 SACRAMENTO — Earth Day events here were rather different this year. Car dealers showcased their latest hybrids, hippies were little in evidence, and the crowd was more upscale. There was even, yes, valet parking for bicycles. The baleful note of past events was missing ...
Business & Economics
Commie Dearest
The Sacramento Union, April 17, 2008 SACRAMENTO – The Senate Education Committee held a hearing earlier this month on SB 1322, which allowed members of the Communist Party USA to teach and hold meetings in California’s public schools. This measure, authored by state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, a southern California Democrat, ...
Commentary
We’re No. 8: decoding the Advanced Placement spin
Recently, the College Board released the results of Advanced Placement tests placing California eighth in the nation, with nearly one in five public school students scoring a college-credit-earning three or better on at least one 2007 AP exam. The news came with a positive spin, but there is a lot ...
California Focus: Cautionary tale of 2 Bustamantes
California has recently cemented its reputation as the most politically correct state in the nation, and possibly the most humorless. Those with doubts on that score might compare the cases of Carlos Bustamante and Cruz Bustamante. U.S. Air Force veteran Carlos Bustamante is a city councilman in Santa Ana and ...
Proposition 13 turns 30
Thirty years last ago Friday, on June 6, 1978, Californians passed Proposition 13, the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation.” It helped California homeowners, but is now blamed for many of the state’s woes. Owning a home has always been part of the American dream. During the latter part of ...
Proposition 13 Turns 30: Why it’s still necessary, and why the pillage people still hate it
SACRAMENTO – Thirty years ago Friday, on June 6, 1978, Californians passed Proposition 13, the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation” that helped California homeowners but is now blamed for many state woes. Owning a home has always been part of the American dream. During the latter part of the ...
Cleaner Environment Not Necessarily in the Bag
Yesterday the Assembly Appropriations Committee was scheduled to consider AB 2058, “Reducing Plastic Bags,” by Lloyd E. Levine, a Sherman Oaks Democrat, which imposes on consumers a recycling “fee” of $.25 per bag. The committee, and all Californians, should also consider some facts about plastic bags and their alternatives. Assemblyman ...
Cleaner Environment Not Necessarily in the Bag for California
SACRAMENTO – Tomorrow the Assembly Appropriations Committee considers AB 2058, “Reducing Plastic Bags,” by Lloyd E. Levine, a Sherman Oaks Democrat, which imposes on consumers a recycling “fee” of $.25 per bag. The committee, and all Californians, should also consider some facts about plastic bags and their alternatives. Assemblyman Levine ...
Investigate Grand Theft Education
SACRAMENTO – Last month the California Department of Education (CDE) paid out $4.6 million to settle the longstanding case of CDE employee James Lindberg. Though previously addressed in this column, the case remains rich in lessons for legislators, educators, taxpayers, and even law enforcement. Mr. Lindberg got in trouble not ...
Celebrate river’s revival
When I was a child, my father took me fishing on the Detroit River, where we caught plenty of perch and silver bass, but no whitefish. I might catch one in 2008 because whitefish are reproducing in the Detroit River for the first time since 1916, as the U.S. Geological ...
Earth Day lessons for California
The Eureka Reporter, April 24, 2008 SACRAMENTO — Earth Day events here were rather different this year. Car dealers showcased their latest hybrids, hippies were little in evidence, and the crowd was more upscale. There was even, yes, valet parking for bicycles. The baleful note of past events was missing ...
Commie Dearest
The Sacramento Union, April 17, 2008 SACRAMENTO – The Senate Education Committee held a hearing earlier this month on SB 1322, which allowed members of the Communist Party USA to teach and hold meetings in California’s public schools. This measure, authored by state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, a southern California Democrat, ...
We’re No. 8: decoding the Advanced Placement spin
Recently, the College Board released the results of Advanced Placement tests placing California eighth in the nation, with nearly one in five public school students scoring a college-credit-earning three or better on at least one 2007 AP exam. The news came with a positive spin, but there is a lot ...
