California politics and education update

Education Secretary Arne Duncan says California's cuts are often the wrong ones

Trips, tickets and golf for California lawmakers highlight laxity of ethics rules

Trips to Spain and Argentina, choice Lakers tickets, gourmet meals and rounds of golf are among the $637,000 in gifts that elected state officials accepted last year, many from companies and groups that lobby in Sacramento. 

The gifts, disclosed in statements of economic interest released by the state Thursday, reflect how loose ethics rules are in California compared with some other states. Acceptance of many of the gifts common in California is strictly forbidden in New York and Arizona, for example. 

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reported the most gifts, worth $125,000. Much of it was trade-related travel to Russia, England and Asia, paid for by a nonprofit group that raised money from corporations that supported him as governor.

Celebrating Ronald Reagan the centrist

"He was always looking for a conservative solution, but when one wasn't available he would go with what was necessary," recalls Kirk West, a top official in Gov. Reagan's administration. West, who later became president of the California State Chamber of Commerce, sat in on Reagan cabinet meetings. 

"He had a big-tent philosophy that moderates in the party were not to be expelled. He was able to bring in all the party elements and work together. I'd classify him as a conservative, but to me the word conservative means to conserve — to conserve the institutions." 

Contrast this with today's California GOP that tries to purge any Republican politician who dares to cast a vote to raise taxes. 

Reagan knew it was his duty as chief executive to conserve the institution of government, even as he constantly talked about shrinking it but never could. 

Sacramento definitely could benefit today from Reagan's pragmatism and politics. He'd solve the $25-billion budget deficit and not lose a minute's sleep. He would cut spending, but also raise taxes without hesitation. 

That's what he did his first year as governor in 1967. Faced with red ink left by Democratic Gov. Pat Brown, Reagan raised taxes by nearly $1 billion, equal to roughly 30% of the state general fund, still a modern record. 

During Reagan's tour in Sacramento, the maximum income tax rate increased from 7% to 11% and more people were shoved into higher brackets. Corporation taxes nearly doubled. The sales tax climbed. So did the tax on banks. Some of this paid for property tax relief.

State controller finds more big public employee salaries, including $875,000 for hospital chief

State Controller John Chiang has released a new round of compensation figures for public sector employees, including a Bay Area hospital executive who made about $875,000 in 2009, and a San Gabriel Valley water official who was paid close to $600,000. 

Chiang updated his government employee salary database this week, adding data from 539 special districts across the state.