California

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What to Expect from California’s New Governor and Liberal Supermajority

The 2018 election has come and passed. To paraphrase California’s governor-elect, Gavin Newsom will move to the “corner office” come January, “whether you like it or not.”  While a few races are still up in the air as of this writing, it looks like he will have a Democrat supermajority ...
California

Statewide Polystyrene Ban Would Bring Unintended Consequences

Supposedly civic-minded prohibitions on consumer conveniences always have unintended consequences. California’s single-use plastic bag ban, for instance, has led to a surge in E. coli infections, created a swarm of thicker plastics bags that are a greater environmental hazard than the outlawed single-use plastic bags, boosted shoplifting, and been the ...
Blog

Los Amazon? Not.

It’s official. Amazon has announced plans to establish its second headquarters in New York in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens and Crystal City, Virginia, which is just outside Washington, D.C. I first wrote about Amazon’s search in a blog back when several California cities were vying for HQ2, ...
California

San Diego Ignores Alternatives in Rush to Ban Styrofoam

San Diego has just dreamed up a Styrofoam prohibition so harsh that it will require consumers to change their foam containers to alternative packaging when they visit city property. The City Council recently voted 5-3 to approve an ordinance banning “the distribution of egg cartons, food service ware, and food trays which ...
Blog

More Election Woes: Tax Hikes to Save Pensions

In some excellent reporting by Chris Reed of CalWatchdog, Reed found that more than 100 local governments in California asked voters for tax hikes on Election Day, double the 56 the Bond Buyer said it recorded in November 2016. These 100+ measures were on top of the 36 city and ...
California

So, Now What? The PRI All Stars Post-Election Wrap Up

The PRI All Stars are back with a post-election wrap up on the results of the key races and propositions in California and nationally.  We discuss what the election results will mean for single-payer health care, tax reform and free-market policies, and what Californians can expected from a divided Congress, ...
Commentary

Homeless Kids – Federal Problems Block Local Solutions

Homelessness among children is more widespread than imagined, and the many problems faced by these children, from instability to personal safety, seriously impact their education. Yet federal housing policies undercut the ability of local organizations to implement proven solutions. A recent study by Schoolhouse Washington, an education research initiative in ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: California Ranked Last Again – Do Lawmakers Even Care?

DOWNLOAD THE PDF Keeping track of the many informative lists in which California ranks at or near the bottom is a wearying task. It is also discouraging. This state, once the envy of all others, is losing its luster because policymakers continue to take it down a dark road. While ...
Blog

Will California Voters Decide to “Fall Back” Permanently on Election Day?

Yesterday, Californians went through our twice-yearly ritual – changing the clocks one hour as our observance of Daylight Saving Time ends. If you’re like me, you spent Saturday night going around the house changing the myriad clocks on the wall and in appliances, while hunting for the owner’s manual to ...
Commentary

Democrats Bet Their Midterm Fortunes On Failed Health Care Policy

Health care has been the most-mentioned issue in Democratic advertisements in the run-up to this month’s midterm elections. Many Democrats are making Medicare for All the centerpiece of their pitch to voters. Cearly, Democrats didn’t learn their lesson in 2010, when their previous effort at government micromanagement of the health ...
Blog

What to Expect from California’s New Governor and Liberal Supermajority

The 2018 election has come and passed. To paraphrase California’s governor-elect, Gavin Newsom will move to the “corner office” come January, “whether you like it or not.”  While a few races are still up in the air as of this writing, it looks like he will have a Democrat supermajority ...
California

Statewide Polystyrene Ban Would Bring Unintended Consequences

Supposedly civic-minded prohibitions on consumer conveniences always have unintended consequences. California’s single-use plastic bag ban, for instance, has led to a surge in E. coli infections, created a swarm of thicker plastics bags that are a greater environmental hazard than the outlawed single-use plastic bags, boosted shoplifting, and been the ...
Blog

Los Amazon? Not.

It’s official. Amazon has announced plans to establish its second headquarters in New York in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens and Crystal City, Virginia, which is just outside Washington, D.C. I first wrote about Amazon’s search in a blog back when several California cities were vying for HQ2, ...
California

San Diego Ignores Alternatives in Rush to Ban Styrofoam

San Diego has just dreamed up a Styrofoam prohibition so harsh that it will require consumers to change their foam containers to alternative packaging when they visit city property. The City Council recently voted 5-3 to approve an ordinance banning “the distribution of egg cartons, food service ware, and food trays which ...
Blog

More Election Woes: Tax Hikes to Save Pensions

In some excellent reporting by Chris Reed of CalWatchdog, Reed found that more than 100 local governments in California asked voters for tax hikes on Election Day, double the 56 the Bond Buyer said it recorded in November 2016. These 100+ measures were on top of the 36 city and ...
California

So, Now What? The PRI All Stars Post-Election Wrap Up

The PRI All Stars are back with a post-election wrap up on the results of the key races and propositions in California and nationally.  We discuss what the election results will mean for single-payer health care, tax reform and free-market policies, and what Californians can expected from a divided Congress, ...
Commentary

Homeless Kids – Federal Problems Block Local Solutions

Homelessness among children is more widespread than imagined, and the many problems faced by these children, from instability to personal safety, seriously impact their education. Yet federal housing policies undercut the ability of local organizations to implement proven solutions. A recent study by Schoolhouse Washington, an education research initiative in ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: California Ranked Last Again – Do Lawmakers Even Care?

DOWNLOAD THE PDF Keeping track of the many informative lists in which California ranks at or near the bottom is a wearying task. It is also discouraging. This state, once the envy of all others, is losing its luster because policymakers continue to take it down a dark road. While ...
Blog

Will California Voters Decide to “Fall Back” Permanently on Election Day?

Yesterday, Californians went through our twice-yearly ritual – changing the clocks one hour as our observance of Daylight Saving Time ends. If you’re like me, you spent Saturday night going around the house changing the myriad clocks on the wall and in appliances, while hunting for the owner’s manual to ...
Commentary

Democrats Bet Their Midterm Fortunes On Failed Health Care Policy

Health care has been the most-mentioned issue in Democratic advertisements in the run-up to this month’s midterm elections. Many Democrats are making Medicare for All the centerpiece of their pitch to voters. Cearly, Democrats didn’t learn their lesson in 2010, when their previous effort at government micromanagement of the health ...
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