Nothing about the current VA scandal is new. Not the wait times, not the abuse of scheduling procedures, not even the deaths of veterans waiting for appointments. All of this has been previously reported as far back as 2001 in
It wouldn’t make much sense to cite Enron’s annual reports after word broke that the books were being cooked. Similarly, it doesn’t make much sense to cite VA wait times when the veracity of that data is (and has been)
The First Lady’s plan to rejuvenate school lunches hasn’t been going very well, so naturally the solution is a column suggesting Republicans are child-hating extremists for wanting to fix it. In Tomasky’s columns (there really is only one, a Platonic
Today Venezuela announced an agreement under which they would begin to pay off some of the $4 billion they owe carriers. But dozens of other major corporations are also getting stung by Venezuelan inflation. The deal with air carriers comes
As I write this more than 131k people have shared Adam Gopnik’s story directly blaming the Santa Barbara murders on the NRA. Gopnik gives himself leeway to cast blame in this direct way because the father of one of the
In an email to Bloomberg News, French economist Thomas Piketty called the criticism of his work “just ridiculous.” Piketty had earlier offered a longer but somewhat nebulous response to Financial Times. The gist of it was that his argument was
In a piece published today, the Washington Post editorial board says the problem at the VA is the same problem experienced within other parts of the government: a stagnant bureaucracy protected by political favoritism. As the editorial board notes, the
About 60,000 immigrants, many facing deportation, worked at the nation’s system of 250 detention centers last year for $1 a day. The cheap labor, which the government says is legal, saves taxpayers millions of dollars every year. Private companies, which
Elliot Roger’s shooting spree was almost prevented by police who confronted him about threatening You Tube videos several weeks prior to the attack. But police never searched his home and so never found his guns or written details of his
A professional surfer who was arrested for attempted murder in Hawaii last week spent part of her surfing career in southern California. Local surfers remember her surfing regularly in the Newport Beach area. Surf photographer Tom Cozad told the Orange Country
Senator Dianne Feinstein won Senate approval of a 16-page drought bill late Thursday night, despite objections from some environmentalist groups. The quick passage, without debate, was the result of weeks of negotiations with Senate leaders. Sen. Feinstein’s bill, SB2198, is
The Financial Times takedown of Thomas Piketty’s inequality data demonstrates a range of errors from the trivial all the way up to errors which seem inexplicable apart from their importance in bolstering his thesis. As Business Insider pointed out late
Prior to this week, estimates suggested there were over 13 billion barrels of recoverable oil in California’s Monterey formation. Now a new report, being seized on by environmentalists hoping to see a fracking moratorium in the state, suggests the true
Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” has been widely praised by the left for its conclusion that capitalism is driving wealth inequality to levels not seen in over 100 years. Financial Times did some checking on the underlying data
The majority of LA area health clinics are not fully prepared for the influx of new patients expected under Obamacare. That’s the conclusion of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research which issued a brief on the topic this month.
Yesterday Ezra Klein wrote a short response to a column by David Brooks which deserves a mention. As usual with Klein it’s not what he says so much as what he omits that requires comment. Daydreaming about the virtues of
Death panels, it turns out, gave the government far too much credit. That phrase evokes the image of gathered experts making educated if potentially callous decisions about someone’s medical care. At the Phoenix VA, people were cut off and left
The number of Medi-Cal patients has grown sharply, thanks to Obamacare, but the number of doctors willing to see them has not. In fact, the number of doctors in California willing to take Medi-Cal patients could drop once planned cuts
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the NSA at a conference held Wednesday in Silicon Valley. She also called Edward Snowden a “traitor” and said it was “suspicious” he ended up in Russia. Rice, who is now a professor
The NY Times could have taken advice from its own editorial board on how to handle an embarrassing gender pay gap issue. Instead they tried to downplay the issue, exactly as they had criticized the White House for doing a
When it came to selling Obamacare, President Obama frequently made the claim that if people liked their doctor, they could keep their doctor. However, the incentives built into Obamacare mean that is not true for a lot of people, even those
Despite Democrats’ apparent outrage over Republicans mentioning Benghazi in connection to fundraising appeals, it turns out the DNC did the same thing. Democrats were shocked last week that some Republican leadership organizations including the RNC would mentioned the Benghazi scandal
State Senator Kevin de León was elected in 2010 to represent California’s 22nd senatorial district. Recently he sent out fliers to promote his re-election which state, incorrectly, that he is running for State Assembly. De León’s staff sent corrected versions
Chris Christie appeared at the Petersen Foundation’s 2014 Fiscal Summit today. He was asked during an on-stage interview with Bob Schieffer whether Bridgegate would have any impact on his career. Christie responded “As far as the impact on my political
New evidence suggests most Obamacare enrollees were previously insured. Once again it seems we didn’t get much bang for our Obamacare buck. A McKinsey and Company survey of nearly 3,000 Americans who were eligible to buy insurance on the Obamacare
The severe drought in California has created a problem for cattle ranchers, many of whom are selling their herds across state lines. Reuters reports that as many as 100,000 cattle have left the state in the past four months alone.
Last week the California Senate passed a resolution calling on President Obama to stop the deportation of “undocumented immigrants” with no criminal history. The resolution calls on President Obama to suspend deportations by executive order. It passed with bipartisan support
In the midst of one of the worst droughts in decades, California is seeing unseasonably warm temperatures for mid-May. The U.S. drought monitor says most of California is currently experiencing either extreme or exceptional drought, the worst possible ratings on
The left is outraged by comments Karl Rove reportedly made last week questioning Hillary Clinton’s health. They have all conveniently forgotten how progressives stoked fears about John McCain’s skin cancer in 2008. According to a report in the NY Post,
What do Kermit Gosnell, George Zimmerman and the Benghazi Committee all have in common? Only one thing really but it’s an important thing. All three stories were heavily filtered through a progressive-friendly media. Kermit Gosnell was an abortionist who ran
California gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly unveiled a newcampaign-related billboard in the state of Georgia. The billboard isintended to send the message that California wants to bring filmmakerswho have fled the state back to Hollywood. The billboard isintended to highlight AB
A black bear named “Heavenly” has become too accustomed to humans tosurvive in the wild. The bear will now have to be placed in a zoo oranimal sanctuary. The one-year-old bear first found its way to the Heavenly MountainSki Resort
The Clippers currently share space in Staples Center with the LosAngeles Lakers. But a candidate for the California Assembly thinks nowwould be a good time for the team to move south into Orange County. KarinaOnofre is running to represent the
The kidnapping of 300 young girls in Nigeria by the terrorist group Boko Haram has once again brought the issue of radical Islam to the forefront of public debate. The group repsonsible, Boko Haram, unambiguously declared war on Western Civilization
Environmentalists and members of the California Energy Commission turned against a major solar power project in Riverside County when preliminary evidence suggested the type of solar power generation planned for the site is a hazard to birds. The Palen solar project
Human Rights Watch has published a new report titled “Punished for Protesting” which offers detailed descriptions of abuses carried out by Venezuelan authorities. HRW found 45 cases where there was strong evidence of human rights abuses including “violations of the
A survey by the Indiana University School of Journalism found that self-described Democrats outnumber Republicans by a ratio of four to one, 28 percent to 7 percent. The survey (pdf), which has been conducted every 10-11 years since 1971, found
Democrat Amanda Renteria is challenging incumbent Republican David Valadao for the right to represent California’s 21st Congressional District. Democrats are hoping her victory will be a bright spot in what is shaping up to be a tough year. Valadao, who
The California High-Speed Rail Authority has two meetings scheduled this week. These are the last procedural steps before the Board will decide whether to approve a 114-mile segment of line connecting Fresno and Bakersfield. The Authority released the final draft
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health has fined Tesla motors a total of $89,000 for seven safety violations at the Fremont production facility. Though a final report on the decision may not be available for weeks, the outcome
