New at Reason.com: Arnold's Last Stand Against the Public Sector Unions, How to Slash the State, Trick Down Surveillance, and More

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Reason.tv: Arnold's Last Stand - How the Lame-Duck Governor Is Fighting for One Last Win Over Government Employee Unions California is facing a half-trillion-dollar shortfall in funding its pension commitments to public employees. But this year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has fought the unions and lost many times, got the momentum on his side. As the public seethes over cuts to public services and excessive compensation to public employees, Schwarzenegger has used the budget negotiation as leverage to wring concessions from the Democrats and their patrons in organized labor. The first steps toward reform have already been taken. Several government employee unions have agreed to less expensive contracts, and the budget deal reportedly includes the repeal of a 1999 law that drastically increased the unfunded pension burden on taxpayers. The termed-out Schwarzenegger won't be back. But the fight to get the state's pension crisis under control will continue. Click here to watch. How to Slash the State: 14 ways to dismantle a monstrous government, one program at a time Like sequels to Saw, the government just keeps coming, growing larger, more expensive, and more appalling each year. For 10 solid years, and especially since September 2008, spending has boomed, the Federal Register has exploded, and Congress altered American life at an accelerating pace. Yet loud critics of big government-especially but not only Republican politicians-are often reduced to an awkward stammer when put on the spot by the all-important question, "So what would you cut?" Well, stammer no more. Consider the following a Halloween-themed cheat sheet for explaining who, what, where, when, and why whole swaths of government need to be cut or euthanized outright. We've asked analysts from the nation's capital and around the world to offer tips and tricks for fighting off the cold, cold monster that is the state. The suggestions below are intended not as a last word but as a starting point: As in any good slasher movie, the savvy viewer will soon see potential victims everywhere. http://reason.com/archives/2010/10/05/how-to-slash-the-state Trickle Down Surveillance: The Pennsylvania spying scandal reveals a deeper problem with homeland security. Last Friday, Pennsylvania Director of Homeland Security James F. Powers resigned in response to the public outcry over the news that his agency had not only been monitoring the activities of law-abiding citizens who oppose natural gas drilling in the state, but passing the information it gathered on to the companies involved in the drilling. What's worse, explains Matthew Harwood, is that this dangerous hostility towards free speech and freedom of association has trickled down from the federal government to the states. http://reason.com/archives/2010/10/05/trickle-down-surveillance Hit & Run, Reason's Staff Blog Is Obama Waiting for Superman to Save the DC Schools? In the WSJ, Bill McGurn raises an interesting question: Why has President Obama, who was happy to intervene in local squabbles in Cambridge (Beer Summit!) and lower Manhattan (Burlington Coat Factory Mosque!) and who appeared on NBC's Education Nation summit pseudo-spectacle last week, gone silent on the question of whether DC school superintendent Michelle Rhee should be stick around despite the ouster of her patron, Mayor Adrian Fenty? Read the rest here. Posted by Nick Gillespie http://reason.com/blog/2010/10/05/is-obama-waiting-for-superman Daily Brickbat All the Young Dudes Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell is obsessed with a young college student. For several months, Shirvell has followed Chris Armstrong around campus and even to his home. He also set up a blog devoted to attacking Armstrong after he was elected president of the University of Michigan student body. Shirvell has called Armstrong, who is openly gay, "Satan's representative," a "pervert," and "Nazi like." After Shirvell's obsession with Armstrong was reported by the national media, he took a leave of absence from the attorney general's office. http://reason.com/brickbat Try Reason's award-winning print edition today! Your first issue is FREE if you are not completely satisfied. http://www.reason.com/subscribe

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