Blog
What Gavin Newsom Accidentally Admitted to Ben Shapiro
The conversation offered a chance to see how the governor responds when pressed by a critic. One of those moments came when Shapiro challenged Newsom’s office calling ICE operations in Minnesota “state-sponsored terrorism.” Shapiro pointed out that whatever people think about federal immigration policy, ICE officers are not terrorists. Language ...
Blog
Let people live as they want, with or without cars
Let people live as they want, with or without cars By Sal Rodriguez | March 13, 2026 Many urbanists were excited by a recent study from Arizona State University researchers reporting that “nearly one fifth of urban and suburban U.S. car owners express a definite interest in living car-free (18%), and an ...
Blog
Rooms for improvement: single-room occupancy in your state
Rooms for improvement: single-room occupancy in your state By D. Dowd Muska | March 12, 2026 “I would never want to live like that, so therefore [insert housing type] should be illegal.” Online chatter generates intense heat, and measly light, but occasionally, a profound truth is posted. The quote above ...
Blog
The Funston Case – The Dangerous Myth of the “Elderly Inmate”
In California, a life sentence rarely means life. With limited exceptions — death penalty cases, life without parole (LWOP) sentences, and certain murder convictions — most inmates serving life terms will eventually become eligible for release. In 2021, lawmakers passed AB 3234, lowering the age for “elderly parole” eligibility from ...
Blog
Another Tax That Backfired
Passed in 2022 by nearly 58% of Angeleno voters, Measure ULA initially imposes an additional 4% tax on the sales of any homes or commercial properties, not just mansions, valued at more than $5.3 million. The rate on sales of properties sold at more than $10.6 million rises to 5.5%. The dollars coming in are dedicated ...
Agriculture
SCOTUS’s rollback of tariffs is a win for farms
When the Trump Administration announced “Liberation Day” in April 2025 and told farmers to “have fun,” it was with the expectation that food producers would be able to market their product domestically rather than relying on the global market. It was a far-fetched expectation. Farmers and ranchers in the United ...
Blog
California’s Sanctuary State Paradox
Gov. Gavin Newsom has repeatedly argued that California cooperates with federal authorities to deport violent criminals who are in the country illegally—an assertion that appears to conflict with the state’s sanctuary reputation. In a recent interview with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, Newsom said that more than 10,000 criminals were deported during ...
Blog
Failed Los Angeles fire recovery proves need for self-governance
But why? In Los Angeles, and the rest of the state’s major cities, the public sector has become the city’s dominant political force, drowning out the votes and priorities of everyday citizens. With this imbalance making local politics an often-forgone conclusion, it’s time to consider a possible reform that could restore the competitive ...
Blog
California doubles down on the bullet-train boondoggle
There’s nothing intrinsically wrong — and a lot that’s right — about building a high-speed rail system that speedily transports people across vast tracts of land. Some family members recently returned from a trip to Japan, where they traveled the country on the Shinkansen network of bullet trains. Begun in 1964, the ...
Blog
Death by a Thousand Cuts: Andrew Gruel on the Cost of Regulations for California Restaurants
The challenge is not a single overwhelming regulation, it is accumulation. California layers rule upon rule, each one defensible on its own. Over time, those requirements reshape how restaurants hire, price, expand (or not), and compete. What appears manageable on paper becomes costly in practice. Restaurants are high-transaction, high-labor businesses. ...
What Gavin Newsom Accidentally Admitted to Ben Shapiro
The conversation offered a chance to see how the governor responds when pressed by a critic. One of those moments came when Shapiro challenged Newsom’s office calling ICE operations in Minnesota “state-sponsored terrorism.” Shapiro pointed out that whatever people think about federal immigration policy, ICE officers are not terrorists. Language ...
Let people live as they want, with or without cars
Let people live as they want, with or without cars By Sal Rodriguez | March 13, 2026 Many urbanists were excited by a recent study from Arizona State University researchers reporting that “nearly one fifth of urban and suburban U.S. car owners express a definite interest in living car-free (18%), and an ...
Rooms for improvement: single-room occupancy in your state
Rooms for improvement: single-room occupancy in your state By D. Dowd Muska | March 12, 2026 “I would never want to live like that, so therefore [insert housing type] should be illegal.” Online chatter generates intense heat, and measly light, but occasionally, a profound truth is posted. The quote above ...
The Funston Case – The Dangerous Myth of the “Elderly Inmate”
In California, a life sentence rarely means life. With limited exceptions — death penalty cases, life without parole (LWOP) sentences, and certain murder convictions — most inmates serving life terms will eventually become eligible for release. In 2021, lawmakers passed AB 3234, lowering the age for “elderly parole” eligibility from ...
Another Tax That Backfired
Passed in 2022 by nearly 58% of Angeleno voters, Measure ULA initially imposes an additional 4% tax on the sales of any homes or commercial properties, not just mansions, valued at more than $5.3 million. The rate on sales of properties sold at more than $10.6 million rises to 5.5%. The dollars coming in are dedicated ...
SCOTUS’s rollback of tariffs is a win for farms
When the Trump Administration announced “Liberation Day” in April 2025 and told farmers to “have fun,” it was with the expectation that food producers would be able to market their product domestically rather than relying on the global market. It was a far-fetched expectation. Farmers and ranchers in the United ...
California’s Sanctuary State Paradox
Gov. Gavin Newsom has repeatedly argued that California cooperates with federal authorities to deport violent criminals who are in the country illegally—an assertion that appears to conflict with the state’s sanctuary reputation. In a recent interview with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, Newsom said that more than 10,000 criminals were deported during ...
Failed Los Angeles fire recovery proves need for self-governance
But why? In Los Angeles, and the rest of the state’s major cities, the public sector has become the city’s dominant political force, drowning out the votes and priorities of everyday citizens. With this imbalance making local politics an often-forgone conclusion, it’s time to consider a possible reform that could restore the competitive ...
California doubles down on the bullet-train boondoggle
There’s nothing intrinsically wrong — and a lot that’s right — about building a high-speed rail system that speedily transports people across vast tracts of land. Some family members recently returned from a trip to Japan, where they traveled the country on the Shinkansen network of bullet trains. Begun in 1964, the ...
Death by a Thousand Cuts: Andrew Gruel on the Cost of Regulations for California Restaurants
The challenge is not a single overwhelming regulation, it is accumulation. California layers rule upon rule, each one defensible on its own. Over time, those requirements reshape how restaurants hire, price, expand (or not), and compete. What appears manageable on paper becomes costly in practice. Restaurants are high-transaction, high-labor businesses. ...