Housing
California
Does California Even Know How to Fix Its Housing Problem?
New Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget asks for $500 million to boost construction of housing for “moderate income” Californians. Housing, he said while introducing his first budget, “is the issue.” He is correct. Everyone is aware of the grim state of housing in California. But no one, at least those with enough political influence to shift policy, seems ...
California
California’s Carbon Fixation Allows Lawmakers to Avoid Hard Choices
Sacramento hasn’t yet outlawed gasoline- and diesel-driven automobiles. But it’s on the agenda. In the meantime, the state remains committed to former Gov. Jerry Brown’s goal of flooding California roads with zero-emissions vehicles. The transition, of course, won’t be free. In fact, it could cost as much as $14 billion. ...
Blog
Will Lawmakers Ever Be Held to Account For Their Legislative Malpractice?
California continues to rank last, or so near the bottom that it makes no difference, in quality-of-life lists, and it’s not quite clear if the news has made it to Sacramento yet. Because there are no efforts being made to turn things around. Instead, it seems the majority of lawmakers ...
California
How Gavin Newsom Could Earn the Title of Best Governor in California History
Edmund G. “Pat” Brown was the best governor California has ever had, many would argue. Free-market economist Art Laffer says Pat’s son Jerry was “one of the best.” Still others would name Earl Warren as the greatest. New Gov. Gavin Newsom would surpass them all, though, if he would complete ...
Blog
Yet Again, Government Intrudes On Private Matters, Puts A Boot On Charitable Activity
There is a long tradition of food sharing in California. It’s been called by its practitioners an “unregulated gift of compassion” for the hungry. For decades, however, this peaceful, voluntary act was illegal across the state unless participating groups registered for and received food-service permits, which, the East Bay Express ...
California
California’s Doomsday Clock Getting Closer to Midnight
In 1947 a group of scientists unveiled the Doomsday Clock to show how near civilization was to a man-made catastrophic end. Maybe California should have its own doomsday clock, since it seems headed for a wreck. Today’s official Doomsday Clock reads 11:58 pm, two minutes before disaster. The Bulletin of ...
Blog
San Francisco’s Proposition C Almost Claims Its First ‘Victims’
Making it more expensive to drink in San Francisco is not one of Proposition C’s objectives. But it was nearly one of its initial effects. Young’s Market Co., a wine and spirits distributor based in Tustin that does business across the western U.S., recently advised local bars it would be ...
Agriculture
CAPITAL IDEAS: California’s Recent History of Manipulative Taxation
Download the PDF The rest of the country wasn’t surprised when California recently considered becoming the first state in the country to tax text messages. It almost seems as if there is a group of unelected bureaucrats that does nothing but cloister itself behind closed doors and dream up new ...
Blog
If Only Brown Had Left His Copy Of ‘Atlas Shrugged’ On Newsom’s Desk
In what amounts to an exit interview with the New York Times, former California Gov. Jerry Brown complained the state has “too many damn laws” and argued “the coercive power of the state should be invoked sparingly.” We’ll never see another Democratic governor like him again in California. But then ...
California
With Business Fleeing, California Doesn’t Look So Golden
What California export is most appreciated by the rest of the states? Its world-class wines? Silicon Valley’s transformative technology? The Central Valley’s prized almonds and pistachios? How about companies, and the jobs that leave with them? We’re not talking about California institutions such as Trader Joe’s and In-N-Out expanding into ...
Does California Even Know How to Fix Its Housing Problem?
New Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget asks for $500 million to boost construction of housing for “moderate income” Californians. Housing, he said while introducing his first budget, “is the issue.” He is correct. Everyone is aware of the grim state of housing in California. But no one, at least those with enough political influence to shift policy, seems ...
California’s Carbon Fixation Allows Lawmakers to Avoid Hard Choices
Sacramento hasn’t yet outlawed gasoline- and diesel-driven automobiles. But it’s on the agenda. In the meantime, the state remains committed to former Gov. Jerry Brown’s goal of flooding California roads with zero-emissions vehicles. The transition, of course, won’t be free. In fact, it could cost as much as $14 billion. ...
Will Lawmakers Ever Be Held to Account For Their Legislative Malpractice?
California continues to rank last, or so near the bottom that it makes no difference, in quality-of-life lists, and it’s not quite clear if the news has made it to Sacramento yet. Because there are no efforts being made to turn things around. Instead, it seems the majority of lawmakers ...
How Gavin Newsom Could Earn the Title of Best Governor in California History
Edmund G. “Pat” Brown was the best governor California has ever had, many would argue. Free-market economist Art Laffer says Pat’s son Jerry was “one of the best.” Still others would name Earl Warren as the greatest. New Gov. Gavin Newsom would surpass them all, though, if he would complete ...
Yet Again, Government Intrudes On Private Matters, Puts A Boot On Charitable Activity
There is a long tradition of food sharing in California. It’s been called by its practitioners an “unregulated gift of compassion” for the hungry. For decades, however, this peaceful, voluntary act was illegal across the state unless participating groups registered for and received food-service permits, which, the East Bay Express ...
California’s Doomsday Clock Getting Closer to Midnight
In 1947 a group of scientists unveiled the Doomsday Clock to show how near civilization was to a man-made catastrophic end. Maybe California should have its own doomsday clock, since it seems headed for a wreck. Today’s official Doomsday Clock reads 11:58 pm, two minutes before disaster. The Bulletin of ...
San Francisco’s Proposition C Almost Claims Its First ‘Victims’
Making it more expensive to drink in San Francisco is not one of Proposition C’s objectives. But it was nearly one of its initial effects. Young’s Market Co., a wine and spirits distributor based in Tustin that does business across the western U.S., recently advised local bars it would be ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: California’s Recent History of Manipulative Taxation
Download the PDF The rest of the country wasn’t surprised when California recently considered becoming the first state in the country to tax text messages. It almost seems as if there is a group of unelected bureaucrats that does nothing but cloister itself behind closed doors and dream up new ...
If Only Brown Had Left His Copy Of ‘Atlas Shrugged’ On Newsom’s Desk
In what amounts to an exit interview with the New York Times, former California Gov. Jerry Brown complained the state has “too many damn laws” and argued “the coercive power of the state should be invoked sparingly.” We’ll never see another Democratic governor like him again in California. But then ...
With Business Fleeing, California Doesn’t Look So Golden
What California export is most appreciated by the rest of the states? Its world-class wines? Silicon Valley’s transformative technology? The Central Valley’s prized almonds and pistachios? How about companies, and the jobs that leave with them? We’re not talking about California institutions such as Trader Joe’s and In-N-Out expanding into ...
