California
California
CAPITAL IDEAS: Teacher Shortages, Union Contracts and the Supreme Court
A recent NBC Nightly News story warned of a nationwide teacher shortage, with 21,000 teacher positions needing to be filled in California alone. The NBC report said, “The demand is especially high in science, math, and special education.” What NBC failed to say, however, was that much of the shortage ...
Business & Economics
Hillary’s Wrong: California’s Paid Family Leave Mandate Hurting Small Business, State
Regulation: Hillary Clinton claimed that California’s paid family leave mandate hasn’t hurt business and job growth, and ought to be expanded nationwide. But a recent study shows that she’s living in a statist dream world. Clinton made the ill-informed remark at Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate during an exchange with CNN’s ...
Commentary
A solution to Medicaid’s chronic fraud problem
The Obama administration just announced that fighting Medicaid fraud is going to be a “key priority” for the final year of the president’s term. That’s a tall order. Last year, the program lost more than $17 billion to fraud. That’s on top of more than $14 billion in improper payments ...
California
What do the Common Core Test results Really Tell Us?
When the California Department of Education recently released the results of the 2015 Common Core math and English tests, officials attributed the low student scores to the increased rigor of both the new standards and the new test. However, the real reasons are not so simple, and much more worrying. ...
Agriculture
Water markets would alleviate shortages
We’ve all read the daily stories highlighting the drought’s impact on California’s economy and environment. Wells have run dry, forcing some Central Valley communities to shower in church parking lots. Farmers are fallowing land. In many areas of the state, over-pumping groundwater is causing the ground to sink. California faces ...
Business & Economics
Tax Reform Kabuki Theater Ready to Take Center Stage
Last month, the Legislature sent 600 bills to Governor Jerry Brown for his signature (or veto). Senator Bob Hertzberg’s SB 8 was not among them. Hertzberg created a buzz when he introduced his proposal in late 2014. Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton wrote Hertzberg’s proposal “points the way to ...
Agriculture
Capital Ideas: California’s Water “Shortage”
KEY POINTS IN THIS BRIEF: Many commentators incorrectly identify California’s historic draught, melting of its snow caps, or a handful of misguided policies as the cause of the state’s current water crisis. The cause of California’s current water crisis is the absence of scarcity pricing based on the supply and ...
Commentary
Obamacare Is Back In Court
Obamacare is back in court. This month, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has standing to sue the Obama administration over how it spent federal money implementing the Affordable Care Act. The lawsuit, brought by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), ...
Commentary
Walker Trumps the GOP Presidential Field in Healthcare Reform
Donald Trump may lead the Republican presidential candidates in the polls today. But he doesn’t lead the pack in ideas for how to replace Obamacare. At the recent GOP debate, Trump said he believed in single-payer healthcare. “It works in Canada. It works incredibly well in Scotland.” The business mogul ...
Business & Economics
Why Are All These California Companies Moving To Texas? Here Are A Bunch Of Reasons
A new study from the San Francisco-based Pacific Research Institute has ranked the regulatory climate for small businesses in California the worst out of all 50 states — and the Bay Area is a prime example of why. The reasons? Costly regulations on short-term disability insurance and a minimum wage ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Teacher Shortages, Union Contracts and the Supreme Court
A recent NBC Nightly News story warned of a nationwide teacher shortage, with 21,000 teacher positions needing to be filled in California alone. The NBC report said, “The demand is especially high in science, math, and special education.” What NBC failed to say, however, was that much of the shortage ...
Hillary’s Wrong: California’s Paid Family Leave Mandate Hurting Small Business, State
Regulation: Hillary Clinton claimed that California’s paid family leave mandate hasn’t hurt business and job growth, and ought to be expanded nationwide. But a recent study shows that she’s living in a statist dream world. Clinton made the ill-informed remark at Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate during an exchange with CNN’s ...
A solution to Medicaid’s chronic fraud problem
The Obama administration just announced that fighting Medicaid fraud is going to be a “key priority” for the final year of the president’s term. That’s a tall order. Last year, the program lost more than $17 billion to fraud. That’s on top of more than $14 billion in improper payments ...
What do the Common Core Test results Really Tell Us?
When the California Department of Education recently released the results of the 2015 Common Core math and English tests, officials attributed the low student scores to the increased rigor of both the new standards and the new test. However, the real reasons are not so simple, and much more worrying. ...
Water markets would alleviate shortages
We’ve all read the daily stories highlighting the drought’s impact on California’s economy and environment. Wells have run dry, forcing some Central Valley communities to shower in church parking lots. Farmers are fallowing land. In many areas of the state, over-pumping groundwater is causing the ground to sink. California faces ...
Tax Reform Kabuki Theater Ready to Take Center Stage
Last month, the Legislature sent 600 bills to Governor Jerry Brown for his signature (or veto). Senator Bob Hertzberg’s SB 8 was not among them. Hertzberg created a buzz when he introduced his proposal in late 2014. Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton wrote Hertzberg’s proposal “points the way to ...
Capital Ideas: California’s Water “Shortage”
KEY POINTS IN THIS BRIEF: Many commentators incorrectly identify California’s historic draught, melting of its snow caps, or a handful of misguided policies as the cause of the state’s current water crisis. The cause of California’s current water crisis is the absence of scarcity pricing based on the supply and ...
Obamacare Is Back In Court
Obamacare is back in court. This month, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has standing to sue the Obama administration over how it spent federal money implementing the Affordable Care Act. The lawsuit, brought by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), ...
Walker Trumps the GOP Presidential Field in Healthcare Reform
Donald Trump may lead the Republican presidential candidates in the polls today. But he doesn’t lead the pack in ideas for how to replace Obamacare. At the recent GOP debate, Trump said he believed in single-payer healthcare. “It works in Canada. It works incredibly well in Scotland.” The business mogul ...
Why Are All These California Companies Moving To Texas? Here Are A Bunch Of Reasons
A new study from the San Francisco-based Pacific Research Institute has ranked the regulatory climate for small businesses in California the worst out of all 50 states — and the Bay Area is a prime example of why. The reasons? Costly regulations on short-term disability insurance and a minimum wage ...
