Kerry Jackson
Blog
Would A Vacancy Tax Reduce State’s Housing Shortage? History Says No.
While it might seem impossible given the state’s perpetual housing shortage, there are empty homes in California. Some policymakers believe that forcing the owners to put tenants in their properties will help solve an unaffordability problem that has priced so many out of the market. Sounds simple. Of course it’s ...
Blog
The Latest (Useless) Addition To Municipal C-Suites
Never heard of a chief heat officer? Safe to say most people haven’t. Safer to say scarcely anyone has. Yet here they come, the latest in politicians’ mad dash to do something – anything – that looks like an effort to “fight climate change.” “As global temperatures continue to ...
Business & Economics
The Biden Administration’s Push to Take One of California’s Worst Ideas Nationwide
The Biden administration has effectively declared war on gig work, with its Department of Labor proposing a new federal regulation inspired by California’s controversial AB 5 law that would limit people’s ability to be classified as independent contractors and work as they choose. As Bloomberg Law reports, “The US Labor Department’s new ...
Blog
The Prohibitions Will Continue … Until There’s Nothing Left To Ban
In both cases, the unelected members of the California Air Resources Board are making decisions that kill consumer choice. CARB’s unanimous Sept. 22 vote phases out sales of natural gas and water heaters by 2030, pending a final board approval in 2025 of the rules that are to be ...
California
Another Government Program Won’t Ease The Burden Of High Gas Prices
Further confirmation that California is on the wrong side of the rabbit hole came on the last day of September, when Gov. Gavin Newsom called for a new tax on oil companies in response to the high cost of gasoline. “Oil companies are ripping you off,” he tweeted. “Their record ...
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: The ‘Nuclear Option’ To Get Rid of Cars
There are some things in California that never change. It’s almost always sunny in the southern part of the state, and there’s no reason to expect a cease-fire in the war on cars.
Blog
The California Climate Quandary
Actually, there’s no predicament at all. One of these concerns is truly alarming, the other not worth worrying about at all. OC voters, in fact voters over the entire state, need not be concerned with the climate. There is no crisis now nor on the horizon. Fuel prices, however, ...
California
Git along little dogies
The flight from California is not limited to only those who walk upright. Four-legged residents are leaving as well, voting with cloven hooves in protest of public policies that have hurt the beef and dairy industries. Of course the fleeing cattle aren’t choosing to leave on their own. Those ...
Blackouts
Are Europe’s Energy Problems A Preview of Things to Come in California?
As Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of climate bills that supercharge the rush to renewable energy, much of Europe was preparing for a winter shivering in the dark. Why does California think that the problems created by a reckless commitment to green energy elsewhere will bypass this state? ...
Agriculture
Life Is Too Short To Drink Subsidized Wine
Can the quality of California wine taste better than it already does? Apparently there’s a way to grow grapes that will do just that. A farming experiment at Robert Hall Winery in Paso Robles has produced grapes that, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, are “noticeably tastier” than grapes from ...
Would A Vacancy Tax Reduce State’s Housing Shortage? History Says No.
While it might seem impossible given the state’s perpetual housing shortage, there are empty homes in California. Some policymakers believe that forcing the owners to put tenants in their properties will help solve an unaffordability problem that has priced so many out of the market. Sounds simple. Of course it’s ...
The Latest (Useless) Addition To Municipal C-Suites
Never heard of a chief heat officer? Safe to say most people haven’t. Safer to say scarcely anyone has. Yet here they come, the latest in politicians’ mad dash to do something – anything – that looks like an effort to “fight climate change.” “As global temperatures continue to ...
The Biden Administration’s Push to Take One of California’s Worst Ideas Nationwide
The Biden administration has effectively declared war on gig work, with its Department of Labor proposing a new federal regulation inspired by California’s controversial AB 5 law that would limit people’s ability to be classified as independent contractors and work as they choose. As Bloomberg Law reports, “The US Labor Department’s new ...
The Prohibitions Will Continue … Until There’s Nothing Left To Ban
In both cases, the unelected members of the California Air Resources Board are making decisions that kill consumer choice. CARB’s unanimous Sept. 22 vote phases out sales of natural gas and water heaters by 2030, pending a final board approval in 2025 of the rules that are to be ...
Another Government Program Won’t Ease The Burden Of High Gas Prices
Further confirmation that California is on the wrong side of the rabbit hole came on the last day of September, when Gov. Gavin Newsom called for a new tax on oil companies in response to the high cost of gasoline. “Oil companies are ripping you off,” he tweeted. “Their record ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: The ‘Nuclear Option’ To Get Rid of Cars
There are some things in California that never change. It’s almost always sunny in the southern part of the state, and there’s no reason to expect a cease-fire in the war on cars.
The California Climate Quandary
Actually, there’s no predicament at all. One of these concerns is truly alarming, the other not worth worrying about at all. OC voters, in fact voters over the entire state, need not be concerned with the climate. There is no crisis now nor on the horizon. Fuel prices, however, ...
Git along little dogies
The flight from California is not limited to only those who walk upright. Four-legged residents are leaving as well, voting with cloven hooves in protest of public policies that have hurt the beef and dairy industries. Of course the fleeing cattle aren’t choosing to leave on their own. Those ...
Are Europe’s Energy Problems A Preview of Things to Come in California?
As Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of climate bills that supercharge the rush to renewable energy, much of Europe was preparing for a winter shivering in the dark. Why does California think that the problems created by a reckless commitment to green energy elsewhere will bypass this state? ...
Life Is Too Short To Drink Subsidized Wine
Can the quality of California wine taste better than it already does? Apparently there’s a way to grow grapes that will do just that. A farming experiment at Robert Hall Winery in Paso Robles has produced grapes that, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, are “noticeably tastier” than grapes from ...
