Rowena Itchon
Blog
China Cuts Taxes, U.S. and California Want to Raise Them
Tax cuts are the “fertilizer applied to the roots of the economy.” That’s not Arthur Laffer talking, but China Premier Li Keqiang. Last month, China’s Finance Ministry announced that it would cut income taxes for small companies from 25 percent to 20 percent to boost the communist country’s slowing economy. ...
Blog
There’s No Such Thing as Free Public Transportation Either
Whether it’s suspending the gas tax, $400 gift cards, or $200 refund checks – these proposals to help Californians cope with high gas prices all have varying degrees of merit. But free public transportation? That was a real head scratcher. Gov. Newsom, in his $11 billion relief package for Californians, ...
Blog
Rent Control Can’t Stop Soaring Housing Rents
California’s “Been There, Done That” California’s sky-high rental housing rates are now being felt by the rest of the country. Apartment List’s most recent report in February showed that rents grew 17.6 percent annually for all housing types and increased 0.6 percent over the month. This tracks the Bureau of ...
Blog
Biden’s Non-Plan for Fighting Inflation
In a recent survey, Americans ranked inflation as the most urgent issue facing the country. So, our ears perked up when Pres. Biden began laying out his plan to bring down inflation in his State of the Union address. After listening to his speech, you can’t help but think that ...
Blog
Measure HHH: LA’s Homelessness Reduction Bond
A Case Study of What’s Wrong with California Government In 2016, generous Angelenos approved Measure HHH, the $1.2 billion Homelessness Reduction and Prevention, Housing and Facilities Bond aimed at combatting Los Angeles’ homeless crisis. At the time, there were more than 30,000 people living on city streets or in shelters. ...
Blog
The Recall Heard ‘Round the Country
It was William F. Buckley who defined a conservative as someone who stands athwart history, yelling Stop! But earlier this month, San Francisco residents — a city where Democrats number nearly two-thirds of the voters — decided that it was their turn to yell, Enough! Residents of the City by ...
Blog
Can Newsom’s Project Homekey End Homelessness?
In 2001 due to a job change, I moved from Baltimore to San Francisco. It was the Dot.com Boom, and like everyone else who was moving to the City by the Bay, I was desperately hunting for an apartment. Back then, it was common for two dozen people to be ...
Blog
No More Games – Return the Surplus to CA Taxpayers
Last year, I got a kick out of playing CalMatters’ Spend the Surplus Game. This year, not so much. CalMatters created a clever online game that lets you decide how California should spend its surplus. This year, it’s projected to be $45.7 billion. Of that amount however, I only get ...
Blog
Biden’s Second Chance to Put a Black Woman on SCOTUS
In his bid for the White House, Pres. Biden promised to appoint the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. As a senator, however, he did everything possible to prevent it from happening. In 2003, then-Senator Biden used the filibuster (what progressives are now calling racist) to block the ...
Blog
What Naomi Schaefer Riley Would Do as California’s Child Welfare Czar
Each year, more than 800,000 children are abused or neglected by their caretakers and 440,000 children are removed from their families and placed into foster care. President Biden in his failed “Build Back Better” legislation and Gov. Newsom in his proposed 2022-23 budget are attempting to address the failures of ...
China Cuts Taxes, U.S. and California Want to Raise Them
Tax cuts are the “fertilizer applied to the roots of the economy.” That’s not Arthur Laffer talking, but China Premier Li Keqiang. Last month, China’s Finance Ministry announced that it would cut income taxes for small companies from 25 percent to 20 percent to boost the communist country’s slowing economy. ...
There’s No Such Thing as Free Public Transportation Either
Whether it’s suspending the gas tax, $400 gift cards, or $200 refund checks – these proposals to help Californians cope with high gas prices all have varying degrees of merit. But free public transportation? That was a real head scratcher. Gov. Newsom, in his $11 billion relief package for Californians, ...
Rent Control Can’t Stop Soaring Housing Rents
California’s “Been There, Done That” California’s sky-high rental housing rates are now being felt by the rest of the country. Apartment List’s most recent report in February showed that rents grew 17.6 percent annually for all housing types and increased 0.6 percent over the month. This tracks the Bureau of ...
Biden’s Non-Plan for Fighting Inflation
In a recent survey, Americans ranked inflation as the most urgent issue facing the country. So, our ears perked up when Pres. Biden began laying out his plan to bring down inflation in his State of the Union address. After listening to his speech, you can’t help but think that ...
Measure HHH: LA’s Homelessness Reduction Bond
A Case Study of What’s Wrong with California Government In 2016, generous Angelenos approved Measure HHH, the $1.2 billion Homelessness Reduction and Prevention, Housing and Facilities Bond aimed at combatting Los Angeles’ homeless crisis. At the time, there were more than 30,000 people living on city streets or in shelters. ...
The Recall Heard ‘Round the Country
It was William F. Buckley who defined a conservative as someone who stands athwart history, yelling Stop! But earlier this month, San Francisco residents — a city where Democrats number nearly two-thirds of the voters — decided that it was their turn to yell, Enough! Residents of the City by ...
Can Newsom’s Project Homekey End Homelessness?
In 2001 due to a job change, I moved from Baltimore to San Francisco. It was the Dot.com Boom, and like everyone else who was moving to the City by the Bay, I was desperately hunting for an apartment. Back then, it was common for two dozen people to be ...
No More Games – Return the Surplus to CA Taxpayers
Last year, I got a kick out of playing CalMatters’ Spend the Surplus Game. This year, not so much. CalMatters created a clever online game that lets you decide how California should spend its surplus. This year, it’s projected to be $45.7 billion. Of that amount however, I only get ...
Biden’s Second Chance to Put a Black Woman on SCOTUS
In his bid for the White House, Pres. Biden promised to appoint the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. As a senator, however, he did everything possible to prevent it from happening. In 2003, then-Senator Biden used the filibuster (what progressives are now calling racist) to block the ...
What Naomi Schaefer Riley Would Do as California’s Child Welfare Czar
Each year, more than 800,000 children are abused or neglected by their caretakers and 440,000 children are removed from their families and placed into foster care. President Biden in his failed “Build Back Better” legislation and Gov. Newsom in his proposed 2022-23 budget are attempting to address the failures of ...
