State Budget
Business & Economics
More taxes won’t fix state debt
The Golden State continues to lead the nation in accumulating public debt, a race where being in first place isn’t the same thing as winning. “California again trumped other states with a $617 billion debt,” reported State Budget Solutions, a nonpartisan organization advocating “fundamental reforms” for state budgets. For the ...
Arthur Laffer
September 28, 2012
Business & Economics
FOR STATE BUDGET, NOTHING TO ‘LIKE’ ABOUT FACEBOOK IPO
Facebooks stock price is currently hovering just above its all-time low. Shares have lost nearly half their value since they hit the market in May. The social networks executives, employees and investors arent the only ones disappointed by the stocks underperformance. The state of California was hoping for roughly $2 ...
Arthur Laffer
August 29, 2012
Commentary
The CBO Just Rendered Its Verdict On The Cost Of Obamacare, And It Isn’t Pretty
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just rendered its latest opinion on the cost of Obamacare following the Supreme Courts decision to uphold most of the law back in June. The numbers arent pretty. Despite breathless media reports of additional savings, the governments bean counters actually exposed several flaws in the ...
Sally C. Pipes
August 6, 2012
Business & Economics
Brown should go back to idea of a flat tax to help economy
Gov. Jerry Brown just signed bills finalizing California’s budget and closing the Golden State’s $16 billion budget deficit. But the governor’s budget is contingent on voters approving a proposed $8.5 billion tax hike at the ballot box this November. If they don’t, some $6 billion in spending cuts will go ...
Arthur Laffer
July 15, 2012
Health Care
Block Grants to States Give Medicaid New Hope
The House of Representatives is now considering a piece of legislation that would fundamentally improve Medicaid the health insurance program for low-income Americans jointly funded by the federal government and the states and help this country avoid fiscal apocalypse. Medicaid is on the front-burner in Washington, as the ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 2, 2012
California
A Victory for Property Rights in California
I’m still giddy after the California Supreme Court ruled on Dec. 29 that the state had every right to shut down those noxious enemies of property rights and fiscal responsibility known as redevelopment agencies. Better yet, the state’s high court ruled that another law that allowed those agencies to come ...
Steven Greenhut
January 9, 2012
California
California Senate banishes pension truth-teller
California Democrats are so controlled by the public sector unions that they won’t even tolerate truth-telling by fellow Democrats, as evidenced by the end of David Crane’s tenure as a University of California regent. Crane is a true progressive who argues that one cannot be a progressive without backing pension ...
Steven Greenhut
December 31, 2011
Health Care
Just Say ‘No’ To New Health Insurance Taxes
This month, consulting firm Oliver Wyman released a new study revealing that surprise, surprise health insurance premiums will increase by several thousand dollars over the next ten years. Thats bad enough news for consumers. Even worse? The study only looked at the cost impact of Obamacares new tax ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 21, 2011
Commentary
A GOP ed reform roadmap
On the New York Times Education Watch, Dr. Lance Izumi lays out a post-election “lesson plan for Republicans” at the national level. He argues quite simply that the minority party needs to latch on to three basic themes in the area of education policy: Decentralization – repent for the federal ...
Ben DeGrow
November 11, 2011
Business & Economics
Governor should ground tax proposal
Gov. Jerry Brown wants to increase sales and income taxes in a quest to “find another $10 billion” in revenue. He will have to craft a plan soon to get it on the 2012 ballot. To help California’s struggling economy, any tax proposals should be rooted in sound economics, which ...
Lawrence J. McQuillan
October 17, 2011
More taxes won’t fix state debt
The Golden State continues to lead the nation in accumulating public debt, a race where being in first place isn’t the same thing as winning. “California again trumped other states with a $617 billion debt,” reported State Budget Solutions, a nonpartisan organization advocating “fundamental reforms” for state budgets. For the ...
FOR STATE BUDGET, NOTHING TO ‘LIKE’ ABOUT FACEBOOK IPO
Facebooks stock price is currently hovering just above its all-time low. Shares have lost nearly half their value since they hit the market in May. The social networks executives, employees and investors arent the only ones disappointed by the stocks underperformance. The state of California was hoping for roughly $2 ...
The CBO Just Rendered Its Verdict On The Cost Of Obamacare, And It Isn’t Pretty
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just rendered its latest opinion on the cost of Obamacare following the Supreme Courts decision to uphold most of the law back in June. The numbers arent pretty. Despite breathless media reports of additional savings, the governments bean counters actually exposed several flaws in the ...
Brown should go back to idea of a flat tax to help economy
Gov. Jerry Brown just signed bills finalizing California’s budget and closing the Golden State’s $16 billion budget deficit. But the governor’s budget is contingent on voters approving a proposed $8.5 billion tax hike at the ballot box this November. If they don’t, some $6 billion in spending cuts will go ...
Block Grants to States Give Medicaid New Hope
The House of Representatives is now considering a piece of legislation that would fundamentally improve Medicaid the health insurance program for low-income Americans jointly funded by the federal government and the states and help this country avoid fiscal apocalypse. Medicaid is on the front-burner in Washington, as the ...
A Victory for Property Rights in California
I’m still giddy after the California Supreme Court ruled on Dec. 29 that the state had every right to shut down those noxious enemies of property rights and fiscal responsibility known as redevelopment agencies. Better yet, the state’s high court ruled that another law that allowed those agencies to come ...
California Senate banishes pension truth-teller
California Democrats are so controlled by the public sector unions that they won’t even tolerate truth-telling by fellow Democrats, as evidenced by the end of David Crane’s tenure as a University of California regent. Crane is a true progressive who argues that one cannot be a progressive without backing pension ...
Just Say ‘No’ To New Health Insurance Taxes
This month, consulting firm Oliver Wyman released a new study revealing that surprise, surprise health insurance premiums will increase by several thousand dollars over the next ten years. Thats bad enough news for consumers. Even worse? The study only looked at the cost impact of Obamacares new tax ...
A GOP ed reform roadmap
On the New York Times Education Watch, Dr. Lance Izumi lays out a post-election “lesson plan for Republicans” at the national level. He argues quite simply that the minority party needs to latch on to three basic themes in the area of education policy: Decentralization – repent for the federal ...
Governor should ground tax proposal
Gov. Jerry Brown wants to increase sales and income taxes in a quest to “find another $10 billion” in revenue. He will have to craft a plan soon to get it on the 2012 ballot. To help California’s struggling economy, any tax proposals should be rooted in sound economics, which ...