California

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Should We Fear the Government Knowing How Much We Drive?

Earlier this year, when discussing a laughable proposal to ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars in California, my colleague Kerry Jackson asked a critical question – “What happens to the $52 billion in revenue the state is expecting from tax hikes on gasoline and diesel sales for road repair over ...
Commentary

Single-Payer Would Sicken, Not Cure, Massachusetts

Progressives in Massachusetts believe they’ve taken the first step toward a government-run, single-payer health care, thanks to a bill that passed the state Senate in November. The measure would, among other things, commission a study to analyze the cost of a statewide single-payer system. If the tab is less expensive ...
Commentary

Californians Like Single-Payer Health Care — Until They Learn Taxes Must Rise To Pay For It

Whether to establish a state-run, single-payer health-care system is shaping up to be one of the main differences among the candidates for governor in California in the run-up to the June primary election. The front-runner, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, says the only thing stopping single-payer in California is a lack ...
Blog

Political Investment Decisions Hurt Taxpayers, State Retirees

The most recent estimate says that California Public Employees Retirement System, the largest public employee pension fund in the nation with about 1.8 million beneficiaries, has an unfunded liability of roughly $138 billion with total obligations of around $435 billion. While part of that gap is due to the government ...
Commentary

Trump Right To End Obamacare Subsidies

President Trump delivered a surprise to health insurers — he ended billions of dollars in illegal federal payments to them. These payments are Obamacare’s “cost-sharing reduction” subsidies, or CSRs. They’re intended to reimburse insurers for covering out-of-pocket healthcare expenses for certain low-income exchange enrollees. Attorneys general from 18 states and ...
Blog

What If We Created a “Free-Market Hall of Fame”?

Last week, I had the great pleasure of attending the annual California Hall of Fame ceremony. Every year, the Governor presents our state’s highest honor to a group of Californians past and present who have made a lasting contribution to the fabric of the Golden State in business, arts and ...
California

David White – Red or White . . . or Blue?

Noted wine author and blogger David White joins us to talk about our favorite subject on PRI’s podcast – wine!  We discuss the policy issues facing California’s wine industry, and then get to the good stuff – some ideas for great wines to try or give as gifts this holiday ...
California

Fantasy Train

When the father of the current governor of California was governor, he was a driving force behind the highway building boom that gilded the already Golden State. Aggressive road construction and free-flowing water were Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Sr.’s lasting legacies. By contrast, Governor Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown, Jr. is ...
Blog

Is Prop. 54 Needed in Congress?

Over the weekend, I made the rounds of various bipartisan holiday parties filled with California politicos.  The late-night vote on the Senate GOP tax plan was certainly the conversation du jour. My liberal friends decried the harried, last-minute nature of the vote, specifically hundreds of pages of bill language being ...
Business & Economics

Michael Ramirez – The Art of Political Cartooning

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Michael Ramirez joins us to discuss his approach to cartooning, some of his favorite and noteworthy cartoons from over the years, and the important role that political cartoons play in shaping public opinion and inspiring grassroots activism.
Blog

Should We Fear the Government Knowing How Much We Drive?

Earlier this year, when discussing a laughable proposal to ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars in California, my colleague Kerry Jackson asked a critical question – “What happens to the $52 billion in revenue the state is expecting from tax hikes on gasoline and diesel sales for road repair over ...
Commentary

Single-Payer Would Sicken, Not Cure, Massachusetts

Progressives in Massachusetts believe they’ve taken the first step toward a government-run, single-payer health care, thanks to a bill that passed the state Senate in November. The measure would, among other things, commission a study to analyze the cost of a statewide single-payer system. If the tab is less expensive ...
Commentary

Californians Like Single-Payer Health Care — Until They Learn Taxes Must Rise To Pay For It

Whether to establish a state-run, single-payer health-care system is shaping up to be one of the main differences among the candidates for governor in California in the run-up to the June primary election. The front-runner, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, says the only thing stopping single-payer in California is a lack ...
Blog

Political Investment Decisions Hurt Taxpayers, State Retirees

The most recent estimate says that California Public Employees Retirement System, the largest public employee pension fund in the nation with about 1.8 million beneficiaries, has an unfunded liability of roughly $138 billion with total obligations of around $435 billion. While part of that gap is due to the government ...
Commentary

Trump Right To End Obamacare Subsidies

President Trump delivered a surprise to health insurers — he ended billions of dollars in illegal federal payments to them. These payments are Obamacare’s “cost-sharing reduction” subsidies, or CSRs. They’re intended to reimburse insurers for covering out-of-pocket healthcare expenses for certain low-income exchange enrollees. Attorneys general from 18 states and ...
Blog

What If We Created a “Free-Market Hall of Fame”?

Last week, I had the great pleasure of attending the annual California Hall of Fame ceremony. Every year, the Governor presents our state’s highest honor to a group of Californians past and present who have made a lasting contribution to the fabric of the Golden State in business, arts and ...
California

David White – Red or White . . . or Blue?

Noted wine author and blogger David White joins us to talk about our favorite subject on PRI’s podcast – wine!  We discuss the policy issues facing California’s wine industry, and then get to the good stuff – some ideas for great wines to try or give as gifts this holiday ...
California

Fantasy Train

When the father of the current governor of California was governor, he was a driving force behind the highway building boom that gilded the already Golden State. Aggressive road construction and free-flowing water were Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Sr.’s lasting legacies. By contrast, Governor Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown, Jr. is ...
Blog

Is Prop. 54 Needed in Congress?

Over the weekend, I made the rounds of various bipartisan holiday parties filled with California politicos.  The late-night vote on the Senate GOP tax plan was certainly the conversation du jour. My liberal friends decried the harried, last-minute nature of the vote, specifically hundreds of pages of bill language being ...
Business & Economics

Michael Ramirez – The Art of Political Cartooning

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Michael Ramirez joins us to discuss his approach to cartooning, some of his favorite and noteworthy cartoons from over the years, and the important role that political cartoons play in shaping public opinion and inspiring grassroots activism.
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