It is no secret that California’s budget is an entity whose existence often gets called into question. Given the powerful political incentives to continually send money from the State’s coffers, through legislative session if possible and ballot initiative if necessary, it’s no exaggeration to say that trying to contain spending in California often looks similar to trying to contain water within a sieve.

Driving around Lake Tahoe communities you see snow piled up everywhere.  Ten, twenty foot high mountains of snow that have been pushed off of streets, parking lots and driveways.  Snow is plentiful this season, which has not been the case for the past three winters when disappointing amounts of powder have led to water shortages throughout the state.

You may not know it, but even after George Washington and the Continental Congress had raised an army to fight against the English Crown, the American Colonists weren't exactly sure what they were fighting for. It was for this reason that Thomas Paine published his famous pamphlet, Common Sense, which was at that time, the top selling work in American history.

Since receiving $3 billion in voter authorized bonds in 2004, the state's publicly-funded stem cell research institute has been beset by one controversy after another.  Wranglings with the legislature, potential conflicts of interest in the grant application process, and key questions regarding taxpayer investment have plagued the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

But, that's not all.

Last week, the United States Supreme Court rendered a historic ruling against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and all laws that seek to limit big corporate money in American politics. The Court affirmed the position argued by Citizens United, a prominent conservative advocacy and lobbying group in Washington DC. The group challenged the legality of an FEC regulation which restricted the ability of corporations and unions to fund political advertisements.

The Associated Press reports that approximately 3/4 of Californians see the state heading the wrong direction. The recent findings are based on a Public Policy Poll conducted of sampling of 2,001 Californians from Jan. 12-19.

Beginning in the early 1990s, the U.S.

Do you think California has reached the point where it’s not only OK to turn a blind eye to drug use, but drug use should be legalized? It’s come to that point:  marijuana may soon be considered legal in California. According to the Los Angeles Times, nearly 700,000 registered voters threw their support behind an initiative to make the possession of marijuana legal.

US Senate candidate, Tom Campbell, issued a list of specific cuts he'd propose to restore fiscal sanity to an out of control the federal budget.  However, the military budget was completely neglected.