The reported instances of waste, fraud and abuse of our taxpayer dollars are so common now, it takes a lot to shock us. And regular readers of this column know that a pet peeve of those of us at HJTA is when government spends taxpayer dollars to either directly engage in political advocacy or to spend money on a bloated public relations budget.  Read more >>

When the Cheshire Cat told Alice, "We're all mad here," he could have been expressing how two of California's most prominent officials view voters.

In a recent San Francisco speech, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a group of educators that the term limits law -- Proposition 140 approved by voters in 1990 -- was "crazy."  Read more >>

When you start to see jack-o'-lanterns around the neighborhood, you know that something scary is about to arrive at your house. That's right, it's property tax season.

Fortunately, as a direct result of Proposition 13, which limits increases in a property's assessed value to two percent annually, most property owners have a good idea what their bill will be even before opening the envelope. Still, every year at this time, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association recommends that taxpayers carefully examine their latest property tax bill. Although not common, assessors do make mistakes.  Read more >>

When Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen remarked a half-century ago, "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money," it was said with a sense of irony. I offer this clarification because a billion dollars no longer has the impact that it once had. Now with a former senator from Illinois occupying the White House, the federal government is throwing trillions of dollars around as if it were nickels.  Read more >>

Last week, The Sacramento Bee published a three part series entitled "Going Broke." It was an earnest attempt by reporters Steve Wiegand and Phillip Reese to determine the genesis of California's financial crisis. But like so many other discussions about the demise of California's exceptionality, it began its review with the enactment of Proposition 13.  Read more >>