Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson

Climate Change

Learn how municipal climate change lawsuits hurt consumers

Bonta’s legal war on energy companies will punish ordinary Californians

Neither are heroic efforts to safeguard the environment. The former will primarily harm families by worsening the nation’s pervasive affordability problems. The second is a clear effort to extract “multiple billions” from ExxonMobil while maximizing political optics in a state where the majority of voters will support anything they are ...
Blog

Spending Watch

The Governor’s Special Session Will Worsen Gasoline Affordability

The Governor’s Special Session Will Worsen Gasoline Affordability Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson September 2024 The special session called by Governor Gavin Newsom is supposed to save Californians from price gasoline spikes. The governor wants to blame the price spikes on greedy corporations. His accusations are merely a diversion from ...
Commentary

Learn why price controls won't reduce inflation

Kamala Harris is wrong. American economic history is replete with failed price control policies

Yet in one of her first policy proposals as the Democratic Party’s White House candidate, Kamala Harris insisted that the country needs “the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries.” She would set “clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit ...
California

Read the latest on Project Homekey

Disregard the spin. Project Roomkey is failing

In a blatant attempt to rewrite history, Gov. Gavin Newsom claims that Project Roomkey was a great success, which provides important lessons for other states. The only lesson other states should take from the governor’s program is what not to do. To facilitate this revision, research firm Abt Global was contracted ...
Commentary

Read the latest on California's approach to homelessness

Prop 1 promises more of the same for California’s homeless

Leading up to the March 5 primary, Gov. Gavin Newsom appealed to voters by insisting that Proposition 1 is a just reward for veterans, who “have given everything for our freedom often at extraordinary cost to themselves.” It’s not an unpersuasive argument. It was, however, a cheap, emotional ploy.  The ...
Business & Economics

Higher minimum wages hurt workers

If only someone had warned lawmakers

Starting on April 1, fast food restaurant chains that have at least 60 locations across the country must pay their workers a minimum of $20 an hour to comply with the minimum wage increase legislation passed and signed last year. But that’s not the end of it. Under Assembly Bill ...
California

Read latest homelessness op-ed in CalMatters

Something is clearly off with California’s homelessness spending

California put aside $7.2 billion to address homelessness in the 2021-22 state budget. Last year, there were an estimated 172,000 homeless statewide, which equates to spending nearly $42,000 per homeless person. Spending of this magnitude – which only accounts for state money – is sufficient if it were applied effectively. The worsening ...
Business & Economics

NEW STUDY FINDS

Americans Pay $1,300 ‘Tort Tax,’ Fixing Legal System Would Grow Economy by 2 Percent

Americans pay a “tort tax” of $1,300 per person thanks to lawsuit abuse, and reforming the legal system could boost the U.S. economy by 2 percent over time, finds a new study released today by California-based, nonpartisan, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. “Frivolous lawsuits reduce economic opportunities, jobs, ...
Commentary

Latest data shows California will fall far short of power needed to fuel all-EV future

The summer of 2023 might be fairly compared to the summer of 1823, if the North American Electric Reliability Corporation has it right about power outages to come. The common ground between the two would be the lack of electricity. According to the NERC, the country’s Western Interconnection, which includes ...
California

NEW PRI REPORT FINDS

State Will Fall 21.1 Percent Short of Power Needed to Meet 2045 EV Mandate

California will fall 21.1 percent short of the electricity required to meet the state’s 100 percent electric vehicle mandates, finds a new report from the nonpartisan California free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute.   Download the study here “California’s green energy mandates will require families and businesses to consume ...
Climate Change

Learn how municipal climate change lawsuits hurt consumers

Bonta’s legal war on energy companies will punish ordinary Californians

Neither are heroic efforts to safeguard the environment. The former will primarily harm families by worsening the nation’s pervasive affordability problems. The second is a clear effort to extract “multiple billions” from ExxonMobil while maximizing political optics in a state where the majority of voters will support anything they are ...
Blog

Spending Watch

The Governor’s Special Session Will Worsen Gasoline Affordability

The Governor’s Special Session Will Worsen Gasoline Affordability Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson September 2024 The special session called by Governor Gavin Newsom is supposed to save Californians from price gasoline spikes. The governor wants to blame the price spikes on greedy corporations. His accusations are merely a diversion from ...
Commentary

Learn why price controls won't reduce inflation

Kamala Harris is wrong. American economic history is replete with failed price control policies

Yet in one of her first policy proposals as the Democratic Party’s White House candidate, Kamala Harris insisted that the country needs “the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries.” She would set “clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit ...
California

Read the latest on Project Homekey

Disregard the spin. Project Roomkey is failing

In a blatant attempt to rewrite history, Gov. Gavin Newsom claims that Project Roomkey was a great success, which provides important lessons for other states. The only lesson other states should take from the governor’s program is what not to do. To facilitate this revision, research firm Abt Global was contracted ...
Commentary

Read the latest on California's approach to homelessness

Prop 1 promises more of the same for California’s homeless

Leading up to the March 5 primary, Gov. Gavin Newsom appealed to voters by insisting that Proposition 1 is a just reward for veterans, who “have given everything for our freedom often at extraordinary cost to themselves.” It’s not an unpersuasive argument. It was, however, a cheap, emotional ploy.  The ...
Business & Economics

Higher minimum wages hurt workers

If only someone had warned lawmakers

Starting on April 1, fast food restaurant chains that have at least 60 locations across the country must pay their workers a minimum of $20 an hour to comply with the minimum wage increase legislation passed and signed last year. But that’s not the end of it. Under Assembly Bill ...
California

Read latest homelessness op-ed in CalMatters

Something is clearly off with California’s homelessness spending

California put aside $7.2 billion to address homelessness in the 2021-22 state budget. Last year, there were an estimated 172,000 homeless statewide, which equates to spending nearly $42,000 per homeless person. Spending of this magnitude – which only accounts for state money – is sufficient if it were applied effectively. The worsening ...
Business & Economics

NEW STUDY FINDS

Americans Pay $1,300 ‘Tort Tax,’ Fixing Legal System Would Grow Economy by 2 Percent

Americans pay a “tort tax” of $1,300 per person thanks to lawsuit abuse, and reforming the legal system could boost the U.S. economy by 2 percent over time, finds a new study released today by California-based, nonpartisan, free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute. “Frivolous lawsuits reduce economic opportunities, jobs, ...
Commentary

Latest data shows California will fall far short of power needed to fuel all-EV future

The summer of 2023 might be fairly compared to the summer of 1823, if the North American Electric Reliability Corporation has it right about power outages to come. The common ground between the two would be the lack of electricity. According to the NERC, the country’s Western Interconnection, which includes ...
California

NEW PRI REPORT FINDS

State Will Fall 21.1 Percent Short of Power Needed to Meet 2045 EV Mandate

California will fall 21.1 percent short of the electricity required to meet the state’s 100 percent electric vehicle mandates, finds a new report from the nonpartisan California free-market think tank, the Pacific Research Institute.   Download the study here “California’s green energy mandates will require families and businesses to consume ...
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