Water
Business & Economics
Solyndra crash shows shakiness of market subsidies
Solyndra, the Fremont solar-panel manufacturer that went belly up last week, was the subject of a hearing Wednesday all the way in the nation’s capital. Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Committee on Oversight and Investigations wanted to get to the bottom of how the much-hyped “green” company ...
California
The Conventional Jerry Brown
Common wisdom, embraced by many on the left and on the right, holds that California governor Jerry Brown is a most unconventional politician. Brown’s otherworldly attitude, quick wit, and unpredictable utterances have served him well throughout his long political career. Political observers in Sacramento are still trying to figure him ...
Business & Economics
Your Government Still the Main Threat to Your Freedoms
In my years writing for newspapers, I’ve always hated the commemoration ritual. What new insight can we offer about Thanksgiving? What words can still capture the essence of D-Day? And, this weekend, what can we really say that ameliorates the horror of 9/11? Mainly, I hate how commemorations, and national ...
Business & Economics
Unfounded fears threaten energy success story
Researchers at MIT recently forecast that natural gas production from five American shale reserves would double in five years and triple in 20. These U.S. sources of gas can transform America’s energy outlook, provided lawmakers don’t interfere with the process. Shale formations created from sea basins millions of years ago ...
Business & Economics
Making public pay for budget cuts
Sacramento – Last year, one of my reporters and her adult son were walking in downtown Sacramento when a couple of young toughs tried grabbing her purse. She pulled back her purse, and the robbers lunged at the two of them, leaving the son’s face covered in blood. Despite a ...
Business & Economics
The Alameda incident: ‘First responders’ who don’t
On Memorial Day, a suicidal man waded into San Francisco Bay outside the city of Alameda and stood there for about an hour, neck deep in chilly water, as about 75 bystanders watched. Local police and firefighters were dispatched to the scene after the man’s desperate mother called 911, but ...
Health Care
Health Insurance Exchanges: What If They Issued 347 Pages of Regulations and Nobody Cared?
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued regulations governing Health Benefits Exchanges and Small-Business Health Options Exchanges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). These regulations are poorly defined, confirming that the exchanges will empower state functionaries to reduce choice and competition in health ...
Business & Economics
Small-Business Health Care Tax Credits Are having a Miniscule Impact
The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council recently surveyed 304 small business owners about how satisfied they were with the new healthcare reform laws tax credits. Nearly 90% had not applied for the credits. Some had no idea they existed, others were deemed ineligible, and more than a fifth found that ...
Business & Economics
Bureaucrats Don’t Come to the Rescue
As a tragic San Francisco fire that claimed the life of at least one firefighter Thursday has shown, public safety jobs at times can be very dangerous. But an incident from earlier in the week across the bay in Alameda has also shown, public safety agencies also can be so ...
Business & Economics
Bashing Oil Industry is Counterproductive
In a recent speech, President Obama set a goal to reduce America’s oil imports by a third by 2025 — about 3 million to 4 million barrels a day. Unfortunately, Obama’s own energy policies undercut his goal. To reduce America’s dependence on foreign sources, domestic energy producers will need to ...
Solyndra crash shows shakiness of market subsidies
Solyndra, the Fremont solar-panel manufacturer that went belly up last week, was the subject of a hearing Wednesday all the way in the nation’s capital. Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Committee on Oversight and Investigations wanted to get to the bottom of how the much-hyped “green” company ...
The Conventional Jerry Brown
Common wisdom, embraced by many on the left and on the right, holds that California governor Jerry Brown is a most unconventional politician. Brown’s otherworldly attitude, quick wit, and unpredictable utterances have served him well throughout his long political career. Political observers in Sacramento are still trying to figure him ...
Your Government Still the Main Threat to Your Freedoms
In my years writing for newspapers, I’ve always hated the commemoration ritual. What new insight can we offer about Thanksgiving? What words can still capture the essence of D-Day? And, this weekend, what can we really say that ameliorates the horror of 9/11? Mainly, I hate how commemorations, and national ...
Unfounded fears threaten energy success story
Researchers at MIT recently forecast that natural gas production from five American shale reserves would double in five years and triple in 20. These U.S. sources of gas can transform America’s energy outlook, provided lawmakers don’t interfere with the process. Shale formations created from sea basins millions of years ago ...
Making public pay for budget cuts
Sacramento – Last year, one of my reporters and her adult son were walking in downtown Sacramento when a couple of young toughs tried grabbing her purse. She pulled back her purse, and the robbers lunged at the two of them, leaving the son’s face covered in blood. Despite a ...
The Alameda incident: ‘First responders’ who don’t
On Memorial Day, a suicidal man waded into San Francisco Bay outside the city of Alameda and stood there for about an hour, neck deep in chilly water, as about 75 bystanders watched. Local police and firefighters were dispatched to the scene after the man’s desperate mother called 911, but ...
Health Insurance Exchanges: What If They Issued 347 Pages of Regulations and Nobody Cared?
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued regulations governing Health Benefits Exchanges and Small-Business Health Options Exchanges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). These regulations are poorly defined, confirming that the exchanges will empower state functionaries to reduce choice and competition in health ...
Small-Business Health Care Tax Credits Are having a Miniscule Impact
The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council recently surveyed 304 small business owners about how satisfied they were with the new healthcare reform laws tax credits. Nearly 90% had not applied for the credits. Some had no idea they existed, others were deemed ineligible, and more than a fifth found that ...
Bureaucrats Don’t Come to the Rescue
As a tragic San Francisco fire that claimed the life of at least one firefighter Thursday has shown, public safety jobs at times can be very dangerous. But an incident from earlier in the week across the bay in Alameda has also shown, public safety agencies also can be so ...
Bashing Oil Industry is Counterproductive
In a recent speech, President Obama set a goal to reduce America’s oil imports by a third by 2025 — about 3 million to 4 million barrels a day. Unfortunately, Obama’s own energy policies undercut his goal. To reduce America’s dependence on foreign sources, domestic energy producers will need to ...
