California
Blog
California Politics in 2019: Not Much To Be Happy About
December is about half gone, and, as the Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz once sang, “it’s getting cold in California.” In another song from the same 1996 album Duritz also sang that it’s been “a long December and there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last.” ...
Kerry Jackson
December 19, 2019
Blog
Things Just Keep Going The Wrong Way In California
Two days before Thanksgiving, financial services firm Charles Schwab announced it was relocating its headquarters from San Francisco to Texas. The Wall Street Journal’s explanation: “The brokerage giant heads for a state that doesn’t punish finance.” Fresh from its $26 billion acquisition of TD Ameritrade, Schwab, located in San Francisco ...
Kerry Jackson
December 16, 2019
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: The Old City Dumps Aren’t What They Used To Be
Nearly two decades ago, before “ban everything” fever was sweeping through California, San Francisco committed to eliminating a staple of human progress: the modern landfill. The idea, concocted in 2002, was to reach a “zero waste” existence by 2020, which “means that we send zero discards to the landfill or ...
Kerry Jackson
December 12, 2019
Blog
The Real Reason Behind Shelving of Full and Fair Funding Initiative
The California School Boards Association (CSBA) and proponents of the “Full and Fair Funding” proposal – a $15 billion annual tax increase for school funding – announced last week that they were pulling the proposal from the November 2020 ballot. The reason? CSBA said publicly that its polling showed voters ...
Tim Anaya
December 11, 2019
Blog
State Leaders Admit California Is Subsidizing the Rich at the Expense of the Poor
You won’t read this headline anytime soon, but it is consistent with the recent changes to California’s electric-car rebate program enacted by the state’s Air Resources Board. Both California and the federal government offer generous tax credits to purchasers of electric vehicles. Until the recent changes, California offered purchasers of ...
Wayne Winegarden
December 10, 2019
Commentary
Sanders, Warren want ‘Medicare-for-all’ like Canada – But Canadian health care is awful
Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren want you to believe Canada’s health care system is a dream come true. And they want to make the dream even better with their “Medicare-for-all” plans. Don’t believe them. In truth, Canada’s system of socialized medicine is actually a nightmare. It has left hospitals overcrowded, ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 9, 2019
Blog
Water World
A state overflowing with natural resources and more than 840 miles of direct access to the largest body of water on Earth seems to always be suffering through a dry spell. Even though seven years of drought ended earlier this year, and winter storms have lashed the state, thirsty Central ...
Kerry Jackson
December 9, 2019
California
Thought San Francisco’s Quality of Life Couldn’t Get Worse? Think Again
San Francisco garnered national headlines with the election of its new district attorney, a progressive, which means there will be zero progress made in the homelessness crisis, and little if any made toward reducing crime in the city and county. Chesa Boudin, a one-time deputy public defender who has never ...
Kerry Jackson
December 6, 2019
Blog
What’s the deal with state attorneys general?
California’s attorney general has become one of the most powerful political offices in the state. The powers granted to the Golden State’s top cop are numerous and impactful. The attorney general is often front and center for state and federal lawsuits, legal reform, even writing the titles and summaries for ...
Evan Harris
December 5, 2019
California Politics in 2019: Not Much To Be Happy About
December is about half gone, and, as the Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz once sang, “it’s getting cold in California.” In another song from the same 1996 album Duritz also sang that it’s been “a long December and there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last.” ...
Things Just Keep Going The Wrong Way In California
Two days before Thanksgiving, financial services firm Charles Schwab announced it was relocating its headquarters from San Francisco to Texas. The Wall Street Journal’s explanation: “The brokerage giant heads for a state that doesn’t punish finance.” Fresh from its $26 billion acquisition of TD Ameritrade, Schwab, located in San Francisco ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: The Old City Dumps Aren’t What They Used To Be
Nearly two decades ago, before “ban everything” fever was sweeping through California, San Francisco committed to eliminating a staple of human progress: the modern landfill. The idea, concocted in 2002, was to reach a “zero waste” existence by 2020, which “means that we send zero discards to the landfill or ...
The Real Reason Behind Shelving of Full and Fair Funding Initiative
The California School Boards Association (CSBA) and proponents of the “Full and Fair Funding” proposal – a $15 billion annual tax increase for school funding – announced last week that they were pulling the proposal from the November 2020 ballot. The reason? CSBA said publicly that its polling showed voters ...
State Leaders Admit California Is Subsidizing the Rich at the Expense of the Poor
You won’t read this headline anytime soon, but it is consistent with the recent changes to California’s electric-car rebate program enacted by the state’s Air Resources Board. Both California and the federal government offer generous tax credits to purchasers of electric vehicles. Until the recent changes, California offered purchasers of ...
Sanders, Warren want ‘Medicare-for-all’ like Canada – But Canadian health care is awful
Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren want you to believe Canada’s health care system is a dream come true. And they want to make the dream even better with their “Medicare-for-all” plans. Don’t believe them. In truth, Canada’s system of socialized medicine is actually a nightmare. It has left hospitals overcrowded, ...
Water World
A state overflowing with natural resources and more than 840 miles of direct access to the largest body of water on Earth seems to always be suffering through a dry spell. Even though seven years of drought ended earlier this year, and winter storms have lashed the state, thirsty Central ...
Thought San Francisco’s Quality of Life Couldn’t Get Worse? Think Again
San Francisco garnered national headlines with the election of its new district attorney, a progressive, which means there will be zero progress made in the homelessness crisis, and little if any made toward reducing crime in the city and county. Chesa Boudin, a one-time deputy public defender who has never ...
What’s the deal with state attorneys general?
California’s attorney general has become one of the most powerful political offices in the state. The powers granted to the Golden State’s top cop are numerous and impactful. The attorney general is often front and center for state and federal lawsuits, legal reform, even writing the titles and summaries for ...