California
California
Let’s Make a Deal!
This week, Tim and Matt discuss the frantic, last-minute negotiations going on at the Capitol to try and avert expensive ballot proposition fights this fall. They also discuss ideas to reform California’s electoral system in light of the June primary, and what can be done to speed up California’s notoriously ...
Budget
The Newsoms Under Investigation, Lawmakers Pass the Budget, and a White House Cage Match
On this week’s Next Round, Tim and Matt discuss Gavin Newsom’s bombshell announcement that he and the First Partner are being investigated by the Feds, lawmakers passing a state budget that isn’t final so they can keep getting paid, and the America 250 “cage match” on the White House lawn.
Blog
Broken Promises: The California High-Speed Rail Might End Up Being Little More Than A Regular Train — A Particularly Expensive One
Newsom denied that the cost — once a paltry, in comparison, $33 billion — had soared to $231 billion. “We’re actually making this project work,” he claimed. Newsom told Maher that the train “goes back three administrations” and he “inherited a mess” — both of which are true. It’s also true that the want-to-be-president governor ...
California
They’re Still Counting . . . and Counting
This week, Tim and Matt discuss the seemingly endless California election count and the statewide races that are finally coming into focus. Plus, they discuss the race for Los Angeles mayor and whether Spencer Pratt was cheated out of a spot in the November election.
Blog
Is There A Limit To The Abuse California Businesses Will Tolerate?
This isn’t the sort of insanity of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, but the type of insanity that doesn’t care what the outcome is. California’s Cartwright Act is the state’s primary antitrust law. It allows both government and private actors to make antitrust claims against businesses. A California Supreme ...
California
Impact Magazine Spring 2026
READ THE MAGAZINE Dear Friends and Supporters, Happy 250th, America! At Pacific Research Institute, we are celebrating the semiquincentennial all year long. We are producing patriotic programming that honors the nation’s founders and the great principles upon which this country was founded. On occasion, we also have to look at ...
California
PRI’s 2026 California Primary Halftime Show
With about half the votes in statewide, Tim and Matt go through the early returns from the California primary. They discuss the prospect of a Hilton-Becerra general election, and why Tom Steyer, Katie Porter and Matt Mahan didn’t fare better. They also analyze the Los Angeles mayor’s race that is ...
Blog
Newsom’s May budget portends future crises for local governments
Gov. Jerry Brown’s last budget spent $140.4 billion in the general fund for fiscal year 2018-19. Newsom’s May Revision to his 2026-27 budget exploded that to $246.6 billion. That’s a 76% increase in eight years at a time the state’s population didn’t grow and the Consumer Price Index rose just ...
Blog
A public bank in California would be costly, risky and unnecessary
But lawmakers were pushing forward anyway. AB 2243 would have established a taxpayer-funded commission to study the feasibility of a public bank and how it could act “as an additional financial tool to lower borrowing costs, strengthen local lending partnerships and help finance urgent public needs like affordable housing, infrastructure, ...
AI
Big Tech Lost in Monterey Park. California’s First Data Center Ban Is a Warning
I grew up in Monterey Park, attending both middle school and high school there. The Monterey Park I know is a small, family-centered community where people go to the park, kids go trick-or-treating, and youth sports are full of life. It has been recognized as one of America’s best places ...
Let’s Make a Deal!
This week, Tim and Matt discuss the frantic, last-minute negotiations going on at the Capitol to try and avert expensive ballot proposition fights this fall. They also discuss ideas to reform California’s electoral system in light of the June primary, and what can be done to speed up California’s notoriously ...
The Newsoms Under Investigation, Lawmakers Pass the Budget, and a White House Cage Match
On this week’s Next Round, Tim and Matt discuss Gavin Newsom’s bombshell announcement that he and the First Partner are being investigated by the Feds, lawmakers passing a state budget that isn’t final so they can keep getting paid, and the America 250 “cage match” on the White House lawn.
Broken Promises: The California High-Speed Rail Might End Up Being Little More Than A Regular Train — A Particularly Expensive One
Newsom denied that the cost — once a paltry, in comparison, $33 billion — had soared to $231 billion. “We’re actually making this project work,” he claimed. Newsom told Maher that the train “goes back three administrations” and he “inherited a mess” — both of which are true. It’s also true that the want-to-be-president governor ...
They’re Still Counting . . . and Counting
This week, Tim and Matt discuss the seemingly endless California election count and the statewide races that are finally coming into focus. Plus, they discuss the race for Los Angeles mayor and whether Spencer Pratt was cheated out of a spot in the November election.
Is There A Limit To The Abuse California Businesses Will Tolerate?
This isn’t the sort of insanity of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, but the type of insanity that doesn’t care what the outcome is. California’s Cartwright Act is the state’s primary antitrust law. It allows both government and private actors to make antitrust claims against businesses. A California Supreme ...
Impact Magazine Spring 2026
READ THE MAGAZINE Dear Friends and Supporters, Happy 250th, America! At Pacific Research Institute, we are celebrating the semiquincentennial all year long. We are producing patriotic programming that honors the nation’s founders and the great principles upon which this country was founded. On occasion, we also have to look at ...
PRI’s 2026 California Primary Halftime Show
With about half the votes in statewide, Tim and Matt go through the early returns from the California primary. They discuss the prospect of a Hilton-Becerra general election, and why Tom Steyer, Katie Porter and Matt Mahan didn’t fare better. They also analyze the Los Angeles mayor’s race that is ...
Newsom’s May budget portends future crises for local governments
Gov. Jerry Brown’s last budget spent $140.4 billion in the general fund for fiscal year 2018-19. Newsom’s May Revision to his 2026-27 budget exploded that to $246.6 billion. That’s a 76% increase in eight years at a time the state’s population didn’t grow and the Consumer Price Index rose just ...
A public bank in California would be costly, risky and unnecessary
But lawmakers were pushing forward anyway. AB 2243 would have established a taxpayer-funded commission to study the feasibility of a public bank and how it could act “as an additional financial tool to lower borrowing costs, strengthen local lending partnerships and help finance urgent public needs like affordable housing, infrastructure, ...
Big Tech Lost in Monterey Park. California’s First Data Center Ban Is a Warning
I grew up in Monterey Park, attending both middle school and high school there. The Monterey Park I know is a small, family-centered community where people go to the park, kids go trick-or-treating, and youth sports are full of life. It has been recognized as one of America’s best places ...