Subject: Economic Issues

• Blow a Rack

  January 22, 2009

• SpongeTodd: Mr. Spitzer masters the freebie

  Proving once again that the driest of bureaucratic documents often contain the most interesting things, Judy Lin of the Sacramento Bee digs through the disclosure forms that state lawmakers are required to file and discovers: ... from January 2005 to June 30, 2006, groups with business at the Capitol gave lawmakers and their staff at least $218,000 in free passes to 85 assorted sporting events, concerts and shows at an assortment of venues. Often, the free passes were accompanied by access to l

  August 8, 2006

• Prop 90: Enriching the Rich, Making Us Their Bitch

  Congressman John Campbell (R-Irvine Company) has signed on to support Proposition 90, the Taxpayer Trap Initiative (or Save our Homes, if you're gullible). This is no surprise; back in September 2005, Prop 90's main backers poured $120,000 into Campbell for Congress, the campaign committee formed to help Campbell seize the seat left vacant by Christopher Cox's appointment to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Campbell's cash windfall came in a matter of days from over 850 separate donations

  October 13, 2006

• You've Been Warned: Pacific Legal Foundation, CATO Institute come to Chapman

  Someone from the Chapman U Federalist Society asked that we notify our readers about the event we're going to notify you about in a couple secs. But, as we explained to the chap/chapette, we will not be able to notify readers in the print edition about this event because we got the notice from the Federalists a few minutes ago--and the hard copy this would appear in was printed the night before due to the early Best of OC deadlines. Of course, getting it to us Wednesday afternoon would be too la

  October 18, 2006

• Ya Gotta Hang On

  February 26, 2009

• The Bono - Jesse Helms connection

  From our good friends at Rock & Rap Confidential: "Jesse Helms died yesterday, the Fourth of July. The LA Times front page described Helms as 'the former U.S. Senator from North Carolina who for half a century infuriated liberals with his race-baiting campaign tactics.' President Bush described Helms as 'a kind, decent, and humble man. So it is fitting that this great patriot left us on the Fourth of July.' "Bono agrees with Bush. Bono called Helms a 'good friend' and took him out to dinner

  July 7, 2008

• J Flynn Gallery Goes Bye-Bye

  Weekly art critic Greg Stacy writes: "It is my sorry duty to report that we recently lost yet another fine local gallery, the J Flynn of Costa Mesa. Recent months have seen far too many local galleries close up for good, as the art world continues to suffer the effects of the ailing economy. In a time of recession, fine art becomes a luxury too few can afford. And if nobody buys the stuff, the galleries go away and the world becomes just a little bit more ugly every day."

  September 4, 2008

• Virtual Tax

  November 4, 1999

• Stealth Wealth

  November 22, 2001

• When Prison Guards Attack!

  August 22, 2002

• Dollars and No Sense

  March 27, 2003

• OC GOP Goes Back to Its Mexican-Bashing Roots in Fullerton City Council Race

  In my latest book, I devote a chapter to the many sins of the Orange County Republican Party but also hinted that they were finally evolving from the slimeball campaigns of the past when it came to scoring easy points off of demonizing Mexicans. Specifically, I pointed to the 2006 Tan Nguyen affair, where GOP chair Scott Baugh fully repudiated Nguyen and only the farthest extremes of party activists (i.e., the CCIR crowd) stood by their Tan. So much for that goodwill. As noted by OC Blog, the

  October 24, 2008

• Cash for Chaos

  April 15, 2004

• Out-of-County Experience: Dim Sum at New Capital in Rowland Heights

  If we're in a recession, someone forgot to tell the Chinese. Yesterday, the dim sum crowd at New Capital in Rowland Heights was as crazy as always.  Judging by the number of people milling about outside waiting for a table, this go-to place for dim sum in the eastern part of San Gabriel Valley is as good as recession-proof. The going rate for all dim sum plates on weekends is now $2.39. Two years ago it was just $1.98. But everything is as good as I remembered from my last visit. Dim su

  December 8, 2008

• MUSINK Tattoo & Music Festival: Totally Canceled!

  Curse you, recession! The MUSINK Tattoo & Music Festival, which was birthed from a three-day event this past February at the OC fairgrounds, has been completely scrapped; official word is that it's, unsurprisingly, "due to the current economic climate."The tour was planned for 25 cities, including Anaheim on March 14, and was to be headlined by Social Distortion and Motorhead. Also on the now-nonexistent bill: a bunch of tattoo artists including festival co-promoter/tattoo artist Kat Von D,

  December 8, 2008

• It's Gonna Get Bad, Then Really Bad, Then Really Really Bad ...

  Chapman University's annual economic forecast has been known to be overly sunny, but even this year's had to acknowledge that it'll suck huevos through the end of the next year. However, as they faced a crowd of 1,200 huddled in the Orange County Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, Esmael Adibi and James "I'm Not Just an Economist, I'm Chapman U's President" Doti did offer this glimmer of hope: the economic recovery will begin near the end of '09 and start in Orange County and California before

  December 11, 2008

• Koo's Now Booking Shows at Santa Ana's Yost Theater

  Chris Ziegler reported for us back in October about Koo's returning to Santa Ana and taking over programming at the long-dormant Yost Theater, and now shows are beginning to pop up on the venue's schedule. It's a move that generated some degree of grousing--particularly around November's SoundDowntown festival, which was organized by Koo's founder Dennis Lluy and used the Yost among other venues--namely, that it marks gentrification of downtown Santa Ana. (One commenter in the above linked story

  January 30, 2009

• [Summer Guide] What Not to Do When You're Desperate and Hungry for Money

  June 4, 2009

• [Summer Guide] Proposed Theme Park Celebrates OC's Part in Bringing the Global Economy to Its Knees

  June 4, 2009

• Believe the Investment Advice From the Man With No Mustache

  In mock congressional testimony, Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer of Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO), said today the U.S. should only nationalize banks as a last resort, that focus should instead be placed on shoring up lending and staving off foreclosures and, most importantly, that he shaved off his mustache at the urging of his mother.In "Hairy Lips Sink Ships," his March Investment Outlook posted on the PIMCO website, Gross explains, "One thing I've

  February 24, 2009

• Moyers Picks Brain of Last Socialist (and Weekly Pal)

  Saturday Night Live had this skit years ago where they presented a Fugitivesque TV show called The Last Liberal. With all the talk on Fox News and conservative talk radio about the rise of Socialism in Obamerica, Bill Moyers decided to go out and find The Last Socialist to get the other side of the story. It turns out the subject of the host's recent Bill Moyers Journal interview is an old pal of the Weekly to boot!Moyers jokes that when it came to locating a socialist, his show "consulted the E

  March 23, 2009

• [Trendzilla] Necklush Life

  January 15, 2009

• Mike Pace

  December 25, 2008

• [Moxley Confidential] Chris Cox Says He's a Tough Wall Street Regulator, SEC Record Proves Otherwise

  October 2, 2008

• Is Irvine Industrial Launderer Prudential Overall Supply Cheating Workers Out of a Living Wage?

  June 26, 2008

• Space Case

  February 7, 2002

• Dying Another Day

  ‘Spy-Fi’

  August 16, 2007

• German Healthcare, Santa Ana Politics

  December 18, 2003

• It's Your Money

  May 31, 2007

• Decadence

  Web Exclusive! The result of an art conference, Catalyst 18s Wonder-Room has a little of everything

  March 8, 2007

• The CPCs Hidden Empire

  June 8, 2006

• Burning Bush: The Issue

  A year in Dubya-dumping by his conservative critics . . . and Howard Stern

  October 7, 2004

• Empire Falls

  March 18, 2004

• Burning Bush

  March 11, 2004

• German Healthcare, Santa Ana Politics

  December 25, 2003

• Whered My Beach Go?

  July 3, 2003

• Kooshian Coup?

  July 4, 2002

• Yes, In My Back Yard

  June 6, 2002

• Human Rights and Wrongs

  May 16, 2002

• Out In the Cold

  March 15, 2001

• Get soft on Crime

  June 29, 2000

• Shut Em Down!

  April 20, 2000

• Highway Robbery - Toll Roads

  January 20, 2000

• It's Official: This Recession May Make You Fat

  Today is Mardi Gras (aka Fat Tuesday), so it's fitting that I'm writing about how unhealthy we're becoming as a nation - indeed, as a planet. According to the Guardian, the number of new cases of diabetes being diagnosed in the UK is growing at a faster rate than in the US. Now that is depressing. And when I read the headline in the LA Times yesterday--"Fast food restaurants and stroke--a link?"--I was so bummed I nearly reached for a second tub of Ben & Jerry's.We could soon see more panic-

  February 24, 2009

• Running Dry in the Cove

  July 23, 2009

• Downtown Santa Ana Loncheros Find an Ally Against Renaissance Plan

   Taco Man appreciates those who help his preparers...​ My cover story on Orange County loncheros sparked an outraged letter from Sean Mill, longtime SanTana activist, sometimes-blogger for the wonderfully libelous Orange Juice!, and current SanTana planning commissioner. What got his attention was this part of the piece:But the taco-truck battle in Santa Ana isn't over. Santa Ana officials have created the Renaissance Specific Plan (RSP), an ambitious redevelopment project for the city's

  July 30, 2009

• Tale of 2 Police Forces: While Irvine's Fumes, La Habra's Bites the Bullet

  To protect and serve . . . for less.​While their counterparts in "Safest City in America" Irvine fume over an employer-proposed wage freeze, officers who belong to the La Habra Police Association seem to have gladly accepted a deal that imposes what is essentially a 5 percent pay cut. "Although difficult, we commend our members, and other city labor groups, for agreeing to tighten our collective belts in order to help the city through our national recession," says La Habra association presiden

  August 19, 2009

• How to Save Time, Money and Get Wall Street Journal Coverage for Cutting Your Own Hair

  How do you get yourself written on Wall Street Journal online? If the nation is gripped by an economic recession whose bad ju-ju has spread even to the usually immune hair salon industry, and you're Dana Point's George Trimm, you start a Facebook group called "I Cut My Own Hair."

  September 2, 2009

• Not Another Crappy Orange County Teen Reality Show . . . Oh, Wait, Yes It Is

  Poor? What you talking about, Seth?​Can you smell that?No, not the smoke from the inland wildfire of the week. That other, more ghastly odor. Go ahead, take a big whiff.SNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNORT!That, dear friends, is the smell of another lame TV show focusing on Orange County teens."WEALTHY TEENS: Has the recession affected your lavish lifestyle?" is the title of a Craigslist ad from Cast Iron Productions, and if you think Clockwork is making up the questions after the jump, well, you should

  October 7, 2009

• Grapes of Wrath

  November 12, 2009