Blog Jun 5, 2012
More on inequality
This is an update for my last blog where I provide a brief summary of the state of inequality in American society. Shortly after posting this blog, I accidentally discovered some truly incredible data in Mother Jones magazine. The charts (found here ) do an even better job than Inequality.org. Here’s what the charts say. To begin with, the huge income growth for the top 1% was helped by the fact that from 1992 to 2007 when their income grew by 392%, their tax rate dropped by 37%. Because…
Blog May 31, 2012
The winnowing of California’s Judiciary
California is home to the largest court system in the county. On any given day these courts oversee proceedings that range from very high profile criminal prosecutions to the most mundane of civil litigation. In short, California’s judiciary provides a safeguard for the equitable exercise of political, economic, and civil activity across the state. Yet these same courts are under significant fiscal pressure as a result of ongoing state budget deficits. In the midst of California Governor…
There is currently pressure on the California legislature from law enforcement agencies to reduce or eliminate the Governor’s proposed $24,000 per youth fee structure for the Division of Juvenile Facilities. The state is already spending 20 – 25 times the per capita investment on youth offenders as it is on students in our UC, Cal State, K‑12, and community college systems. With an 80% recidivism rate, the Division of Juvenile Facilities should receive a failing grade yet legislators are being…
Blog May 24, 2012
Who is deciding California’s budget priorities?
This week, both the Senate and Assembly budget subcommittees on pubic safety held hearings on Governor Brown’s revised proposal for the state’s youth correctional facilities, Division of Juvenile Facilities (DJF). Under heavy pressure from law enforcement associations, the Governor backed down from his January proposal to close the front door of the DJF and allow the youth offender population to decrease through attrition. In its place, the Governor has proposed a new annual $24,000 per ward…
Blog May 22, 2012
Inequality in America
As promised in my last blog , I will summarize the current level of inequality in the United States. In a word, it is ugly! By most measures, we are far behind other democratic societies, such as Canada, most European countries and Australia. One of the most common measures of income inequality is known as the Gini Index of Inequality (a value of 0 means perfect equality – everyone earns the same amount; and a value of 100 means perfect inequality – one person earns all), has gone up since…