INSTAWHINE
6:22 a.m., May 18: Is it possible that all the reporting and politician squawking about the Facebook co-founder ducking hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes by renouncing his U.S. citizenship were flat-out wrong about how the tax system works? If his explanation is right, that's an amazing indictment of the laziness of reporters and lawmakers. But in a nation where the largest newspaper in the largest state has a reporter this dumb writing about important issues, nothing is surprising. The L.A. Times' Tiffany Hsu wrote Thursday that California has among the nation's highest number of workplace discrimination complaints -- 7.2 percent of the U.S. total -- without mentioning that since the state has 12 percent of the nation's population, this means California actually has far fewer complaints than what is seen per-capita in the average state. Last week, Hsu wrote a story implying that consumer loan terms are driven by racism, not colorblind mathematical formulas. Please, L.A. Times, find this woman an editor. She's embarrassing herself on a consistent basis.
8:03 a.m., May 17: Another day, another display of stupid partisan obliviousness from George Skelton. What's wrong with the state government? Here's his answer:
The real blame rests with the recession, an outdated roller-coaster tax system, the two-thirds legislative vote requirement for tax increases, an outmoded Proposition 13 property tax system that has shifted power and responsibility from local governments to Sacramento, legislative term limits that stunt lawmakers' growth — and political polarization.
The unions have NOTHING to do with the state's dysfunction, you see, nothing at all. George Skelton's descent into self-parody and hackdom was completed long ago, but fresh reminders like this of his tunnel vision and myopia still amaze.
8:11 a.m., May 16: I like the Calbuzz guys and think they are far sharper and more observant than George Skelton. But it is in the literal sense of the word incredible that they could write a long essay about California's dysfunction without using the word "union." It reminds me of when the N.Y. Times wrote 8,000 words about dysfunction in the Golden State and never mentioned unions. Talk about ignoring the T. Rex in the corner.
7:29 a.m., May 15: On Prop. 29, it's the editorial page of the L.A. Times going head to head with its lead Sacramento columnist, George Skelton, and demolishing him. This is from last month on the edit page:
Proposition 29 is well intentioned, but it just doesn't make sense for the state to get into the medical research business to the tune of half a billion dollars a year when it has so many other important unmet needs. California can't afford to retain its K-12 teachers, keep all its parks open, give public college students the courses they need to earn a degree or provide adequate home health aides for the infirm or medical care for the poor. If the state is going to raise a new $735 million, it should put the money in the general fund rather than dedicating it to an already well-funded research effort. Funding priorities shouldn't be set at the ballot box.
Skelton has now responded, and he won't address the thoughtful point his editorial page made. Instead, he effectively says it doesn't matter how dumb Prop. 29 is because ... because ... because ... its ads are so misleading:
One could argue that [tobacco companies'] sordid history does not necessarily mean they're distorting and deceiving in their current campaign ads attacking Proposition 29, the California ballot measure that would raise cigarette taxes $1 per pack to finance cancer research ...
Maybe tobacco companies can kick the habit of prevarication. Maybe a leopard can change its spots.
Groan. Yo, George, is it smart public policy or not? That should be the key to voters' decision -- not your contempt for tobacco companies.
6:22 a.m., May 14: Newsweek and Time have gone around the bend with their ludicrously over-the-top covers. First was last week's Time cover shot of a boy, said to be 3 but looking older, breastfeeding from his sexy 30ish mom. Now it's Newsweek with the mag using President Obama's declaration of support for gay marriage as a rationale to label him "Thes First Gay President" with its cover headline. I think one Newsweek gambit here is that it's trying to see if it can introduce the headline, literally read, as a new fake theme of the Obama haters on the Internet -- a 2012 version of the continuing birther insanity. We'll see.
6:25 a.m., May 12: I'm sorry, this state is just incredible. In the other mega-states -- Texas, New York and Florida -- there are tons of Democratic politicians eager to help home-state industries. Where are these people in California? Don't they understand that it's, yunno, significant that CEOs rate Cali as the least-business-friendly of any state? Instead, we see stories like this:
An array of business and other leaders put into high gear an ambitious effort Friday, hoping to succeed where the state's politicians have failed -- implement strategies to help remedy California's moribund economy.
Good luck to them. Good luck to us all.
8 a.m., May 10: How odd that it is Steve Lopez, not one of the L.A. Times' columnists who focus on politics, who makes the obvious point about wealthy "Hollywood hypocrites" posing as good progressives by attending an Obama fundraiser at George Clooney's mansion without knowing about or caring about the lives and plights on working-class Democrats? But expecting George Skelton or Michael Hiltzik to point this out is too much, I guess. Skelton has spent decades ignoring that state Democratic lawmakers are close to automatons programmed to do as their union masters please. Hiltzik is a reflexive lefty ideologue whose columns are inexplicably in the Business section and whose next surprising column will be his first. Lopez, whom I almost always enjoy, is still capable of surprise.
7:13 a.m., May 9: Once again, the L.A. Times carries an article about alleged anti-minority bias in mortgage lending that doesn't include the key fact that the terms of loan offers are based on formulas involving credit history and wealth that have nothing to do with race. The last time the reckless LAT reporter was Tiffany Hsu. This time it's E. Scott Reckard.To Reckard's credit, his story update includes context that suggests that what really upsets authorities is that whites are more likely to try to bargain and succeed in getting a better rate. Isn't this worth exploring, this race gap between who fights for a better deal and who doesn't? Isn't it a much smarter and better story than pretending that math formulas and multinational banks are racist? Sheesh.
7:33 a.m., May 8: When is the L.A. Times going to get around to framing Los Angeles' desperate finances in the stark terms they deserve? Why isn't this the focus of the mayor's race, or at least the mainstream media coverage of it? Good questions all.
... none of the five candidates for Mayor have presented any specific details on how they would balance the budget, finance the maintenance and repair of our lunar cratered streets and the rest of our deteriorating infrastructure, and fund the City’s two pension plans that are underwater to the tune of $10 billion, and that is based on overly optimistic rates of return.
The Mayor’s Proposed Budget attempts to cure the structural deficit of $238 million that is the result of huge increases in salaries, benefits, and pension contributions. But that budget gap is more than $1 billion when adjusted for overly optimistic revenue projections, understated employee related expenses, and the failure to adequately fund our crumbling infrastructure and massively underfunded pension plans.
And over the following four years, the City is forecasting a cumulative deficit of over $1 billion, and that overly optimistic projection is based on the same set of bogus assumptions as the Mayor’s Proposed Budget.
However, if the wannabe mayors detailed their specific solutions, the City’s special interest groups would go ballistic if they were the target of any budget reductions.
Read the whole thing here. I can't be the only one who sees apocalyptic things happening in California in coming years. But most of the media look at the pension/budget crisis of local governments on an a la carte basis instead of noticing the breadth of the problem.
8:16 a.m., May 7: Marcia Fritz has a very sharp take on pension reform here. Her key point:
California’s fiscal issues are as complex as they are plentiful. Solutions are elusive and often painful. But there is a fix that will make resources available at every level of state and local government. The Governor put it together, and Republicans said they wouldn’t change a word.
The most impactful provision of the Governor’s pension reform plan would require state and local government employees to pay half the cost of their retirement plans – not unlike those who are fortunate to work for private companies that match their employees’ 401(k) contributions. If public employees agree to pay half, the savings will begin immediately and support services and jobs that would otherwise be cut.
It would also make new employees very interested in opting out of costly defined-benefit pensions for cheaper plans seen in the private sector -- if the Obama administration ever stopped its stalling and gave local governments and local government workers this option.
7:03 a.m., May 4: Bay Area Dem congressman Pete Stark has been so obnoxious and strange over the years that maybe he doesn't deserve any sympathy or slack. But after his latest interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, does anyone have much doubt he's got serious mental problems? I wouldn't want him to make my lunch, much less be my House representative. On the other hand, Stark is keeping up with Bay Area tradition.
8:11 a.m., May 3: The state budget's revenue shortfall and the dire need for reform of costly pensions are so interrelated that they amount to consecutive chapters in a book. But this L.A. Times' analysis of what the Legislature's up to -- headlined "California pension reform may take back seat to budget fix" --won't make that point. It waits until the last paragraph to let a GOPer note the obvious:
"The failure of the Legislature to pass or honestly engage in fixing our pension systems means the state’s debt will rise faster," Sen. Mimi Walters (R-Laguna Niguel) said.
When does the civil war among Democrats finally begin in Sacramento? At the local level, lots of Dem mayors realize sweeping pension reform has to happen. Jerry Brown agrees. Somehow, however, in the Assembly and Senate, there's more concern about the 1 million or so public employees in California than about the other 36 million people in the state. How can the "social justice" Dems go along with this as the safety net frays? You got me.
8:20 a.m., May 1: Dana Milbank, The Washington Post's version of N.Y. Times' snarky, unconventional liberal columnist Maureen Dowd, writes a largely straightforward op-ed depicting Barack Obama as a political huckster relentlessly using government resources to promote his political fortunes. Powerful stuff -- read it here.
7:44 a.m., April 30: So Stockton's City Charter -- its equivalent of a constitution -- says no elected officials shall receive retirement benefits. But three mayors and 14 City Council members have been given pensions since 1991. I repeat the observation I've made since my first month as a columnist writing about California in the summer of 1995: Local government often resembles ongoing looting more than sober governance. The Stockton theft is only the latest example. Ed Mendel has details here.
8:22 a.m., April 26: George Skelton has spent his entire career obscuring the fact that unions and trial lawyers have enormous power in Sacramento. Anyone who looks at the balance of power in state government and doesn't acknowledge the primacy of the CTA, etc., is brain-dead. But now Skelton pretends corporate power holds sway in a column about AT&T's heavy donations. Yes, it makes passing reference to unions. But that's the norm for Skelton -- the Sacramento status quo framed in a way that only vaguely resembles the truth. How liberals like Skelton who allegedly believe in "social justice" got in bed with the people who run Sacramento is understandable -- their spiel sounds like they too believe in "social justice" How they stay in bed with these looters is the eternal mystery.
6:27 a.m., April 23: Wal-Mart did what it had to do to expand in a country in which bribery is as common in local government as sweating is in Vegas in late July. But count on the Wal-Mart haters to use it as a club to beat down the company that does more to help poor people than any other. A single Wal-Mart does more for social justice than any 20 lefty do-gooders combined. That's not going to stop the orgy of Wal-Mart bashing we're likely to see for weeks to come.
8:12 a.m., April 19: Tiffany Hsu and her editors at the L.A. Times are idiots. This story offers as an unchallenged presumption that bias is endemic in consumer lending. Anyone who has ever talked to anyone in the business knows that lenders use formulas pegged to credit scores, personal finances, etc. There is not a racial or gender element to lending. If some groups are poorer or tend to have worse credit scores than other groups, that may be unfortunate. But it is not de facto evidence of bias AT ALL. Sheesh.
8:06 a.m., April 18: Is the egocentricity of attention-craving Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa going to help Mitt Romney get elected? It could happen, say the Calbuzzers, and they make a good argument. Click through -- it has none of the left-is-smart/right-is-racist liberal onanism that sometimes turns up on Calbuzz.
6:11 a.m., April 17: We're habitually encouraged to believe that rich people don't like the poor. But in California, over and over and over again, that narrative is left out when rich communities in liberal areas complain about affordable-housing requirements. Instead, the benefit of the doubt is given, and we're supposed to assume the driving factor is resentment of bureaucratic mandates, etc. -- not the possibility that rich liberals, just like rich conservatives, don't like being bullied in the name of social engineering.
Coming soon: an archive of previous Instawhine
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