California
Commentary
Has Obamacare Turned Uncle Sam into a Drug Dealer?
Obamacare is fueling the opioid epidemic. That’s according to an explosive new report from the Senate Homeland Security Committee. The health law expanded Medicaid coverage to millions of childless, able-bodied adults. Some of them have used their free coverage to obtain prescriptions for powerful opioids, which they have then sold ...
Blog
Basic Income Comes to Stockton
Just six years after declaring bankruptcy due to a 15-year spending binge, Stockton is now exploring creative new ways of spending again. This time, it’s a one-year experiment to give several dozen Stockton families $500 a month, with no strings attached. The idea of “universal basic income” – providing everyone ...
Blog
A Disunified State
Gov. Jerry Brown told us in his recent State of the State address that, of course, nearly all is well in California on his watch. The real state of this state is not so sweet, though. Beneath the sheen applied by the governor, there is a thickening layer of corrosion, ...
Blog
Nothing Is Certain but Death, Taxes . . . and Silly Bills
The famous quote goes that there is nothing certain in life but death and taxes. When talking about your California Legislature, I’d add a third item to the list – there’s nothing certain in life but death, taxes, and silly bills. In my past life working at the Capitol, we’d ...
Blog
Are Trailers the Solution to LA’s Homeless Problem?
A dashcam video of downtown Los Angeles on Christmas Day 2017 revealed the devastating reality of the city’s homelessness problem. The video, shot in the city’s Skid Row district, shows dozens of tents, makeshift shelters, and people walking aimlessly along streets littered with trash. The video looked like it was ...
Blog
Are Things Really “Fine” in California?
PRI’s coverage of California’s poverty problem through various op-eds and a policy brief have drawn considerable attention. Most of it has been positive, but one California writer for the hard-left Mother Jones claimed that despite the point we made, “California is doing just fine, thank you very much.” Rather than ...
California
California Can’t Afford Single-Payer Health Care Fantasy
A civil war is brewing within California’s Democratic party. Progressives — led by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the frontrunner for governor, and the politically powerful California Nurses Association — plan to fight for a single-payer healthcare system this year. Their more moderate rivals — among them Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon ...
California
Would An All-Electric Car Future Really Benefit Californians?
Sacramento is threatening to outlaw a freedom Californians have enjoyed for more than a century through a bill introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting, of San Francisco. If it’s passed and signed, new gasoline-powered cars will become the state’s new undocumented immigrants. Government will refuse to register them. Should it ...
Commentary
Governor Jerry Brown Has It All Wrong About California’s Education Funding
The recent press conference on California Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed 2018-19 budget revealed that the governor wants to increase funding to the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), his signature education finance program. However, there are very significant problems with LCFF. Prior to the enactment of the LCFF, funding California’s public ...
Blog
The State of the State’s Pensions Is Not So Strong
The governor covered quite a few topics in Thursday’s State of the State address, some of them in more detail than others. But one he skimmed over that should have received more attention is the state’s public-employee pension crisis. It was mentioned only twice, both times references to a reform ...
Has Obamacare Turned Uncle Sam into a Drug Dealer?
Obamacare is fueling the opioid epidemic. That’s according to an explosive new report from the Senate Homeland Security Committee. The health law expanded Medicaid coverage to millions of childless, able-bodied adults. Some of them have used their free coverage to obtain prescriptions for powerful opioids, which they have then sold ...
Basic Income Comes to Stockton
Just six years after declaring bankruptcy due to a 15-year spending binge, Stockton is now exploring creative new ways of spending again. This time, it’s a one-year experiment to give several dozen Stockton families $500 a month, with no strings attached. The idea of “universal basic income” – providing everyone ...
A Disunified State
Gov. Jerry Brown told us in his recent State of the State address that, of course, nearly all is well in California on his watch. The real state of this state is not so sweet, though. Beneath the sheen applied by the governor, there is a thickening layer of corrosion, ...
Nothing Is Certain but Death, Taxes . . . and Silly Bills
The famous quote goes that there is nothing certain in life but death and taxes. When talking about your California Legislature, I’d add a third item to the list – there’s nothing certain in life but death, taxes, and silly bills. In my past life working at the Capitol, we’d ...
Are Trailers the Solution to LA’s Homeless Problem?
A dashcam video of downtown Los Angeles on Christmas Day 2017 revealed the devastating reality of the city’s homelessness problem. The video, shot in the city’s Skid Row district, shows dozens of tents, makeshift shelters, and people walking aimlessly along streets littered with trash. The video looked like it was ...
Are Things Really “Fine” in California?
PRI’s coverage of California’s poverty problem through various op-eds and a policy brief have drawn considerable attention. Most of it has been positive, but one California writer for the hard-left Mother Jones claimed that despite the point we made, “California is doing just fine, thank you very much.” Rather than ...
California Can’t Afford Single-Payer Health Care Fantasy
A civil war is brewing within California’s Democratic party. Progressives — led by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the frontrunner for governor, and the politically powerful California Nurses Association — plan to fight for a single-payer healthcare system this year. Their more moderate rivals — among them Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon ...
Would An All-Electric Car Future Really Benefit Californians?
Sacramento is threatening to outlaw a freedom Californians have enjoyed for more than a century through a bill introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting, of San Francisco. If it’s passed and signed, new gasoline-powered cars will become the state’s new undocumented immigrants. Government will refuse to register them. Should it ...
Governor Jerry Brown Has It All Wrong About California’s Education Funding
The recent press conference on California Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed 2018-19 budget revealed that the governor wants to increase funding to the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), his signature education finance program. However, there are very significant problems with LCFF. Prior to the enactment of the LCFF, funding California’s public ...
The State of the State’s Pensions Is Not So Strong
The governor covered quite a few topics in Thursday’s State of the State address, some of them in more detail than others. But one he skimmed over that should have received more attention is the state’s public-employee pension crisis. It was mentioned only twice, both times references to a reform ...
