Blog
Blog
Read about Sacramento's latest push to ban plastic bags
Latest Effort to Ban Plastic Bags Also Doomed to Fail
California’s long statewide nightmare might soon be over. The current generation of plastic bags are in line to be banned just as their predecessors were. Ten years after Sacramento outlawed single-use plastic bags (with the help of a majority of voters two years later in a referendum), legislators have approved ...
Blog
Spending Watch
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending Wayne Winegarden July 2024 It should not shock anyone that the FY2024-25 budget was short on fiscal discipline and long on budget gimmicks and fund shifts. Now that this year’s budget process is coming to an end, it is imperative ...
Blog
Read the latest on teachers' unions
Teacher Shortages in Schools? Blame the Teachers’ Unions
A just-released analysis by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) says, “there are at least 55,000 vacant teaching positions nationally.” However, contrary to the conventional belief that these vacancies are spread across the board, the NCTQ analysis observes, “The reality is, teacher shortages do exist—in specific subjects, regions, and ...
Agriculture
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Cities can end ‘food deserts’ by ending ‘crime oases’
But why is that? With urban crime out of control, nobody wants to open a store where unprosecuted theft drives unsustainable losses and random acts of violence are bottomless liabilities. To end urban “food deserts,” cities must end crime oases keeping businesses away from residents most in need. The U.S. ...
Blog
Flawed Project Homekey now immersed in scandal
My Pacific Research Institute colleague Kerry Jackson and I have written extensively about the inherent flaws of Project Homekey. As a refresher, Project Homekey is Gov. Gavin Newsom’s main program for addressing the state’s homelessness problem. It attempts to leverage the current hotel and motel infrastructure to move people from ...
Blog
Read latest about push for electric vehicles
California’s No-Car Salesman
Recently, Politico saucily reported that “Gavin Newsom is coming for your car, and he wants you to know it.” And below the headline: “The talked-about presidential contender is carving out an underutilized lane: climate crusader.” It’s hardly an empty lane. In fact, politicians are constantly crashing into each other just ...
Blog
Three Things I Would Like to See in the First Presidential Debate
Moderators, It’s Not About You Viewers anticipating the traditional presidential debate format will be in for a surprise as Presidents Biden and Trump opted not to participate in the debates proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates. This year’s presidential debates will be hosted by CNN and ABC News. One ...
Blog
Is government homeless spending really making a difference?
Inconsistencies Plague Sacramento’s Latest Homeless Count
Sometimes, when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. This can be especially true when it comes to data being touted in government reports. Take China’s government economic data, for example. The Chinese Communist machine routinely manipulates economic data to please their political superiors. The reported statistics ...
Blog
City HAL 9000: Do cities overpromise AI’s benefits?
Denver is using it to “speed up the approval and delivery of … coupons” that allow “residents to recycle televisions, monitors and other electronics at a discount.” The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada is using it to “understand traffic patterns and safety issues at select intersections in the Las Vegas Valley.” ...
Blog
Buses should be transportation, not homeless shelters
“At night time, from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., the homeless have nowhere to go,” a man who posted a video of a downtown-to-Santa Monica Metro bus filled with slumbering homeless told the Los Angeles Fox affiliate. “So they all get on the buses and they ride the buses all ...
Read about Sacramento's latest push to ban plastic bags
Latest Effort to Ban Plastic Bags Also Doomed to Fail
California’s long statewide nightmare might soon be over. The current generation of plastic bags are in line to be banned just as their predecessors were. Ten years after Sacramento outlawed single-use plastic bags (with the help of a majority of voters two years later in a referendum), legislators have approved ...
Spending Watch
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending
Californians Have Little to Show for All That Government Spending Wayne Winegarden July 2024 It should not shock anyone that the FY2024-25 budget was short on fiscal discipline and long on budget gimmicks and fund shifts. Now that this year’s budget process is coming to an end, it is imperative ...
Read the latest on teachers' unions
Teacher Shortages in Schools? Blame the Teachers’ Unions
A just-released analysis by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) says, “there are at least 55,000 vacant teaching positions nationally.” However, contrary to the conventional belief that these vacancies are spread across the board, the NCTQ analysis observes, “The reality is, teacher shortages do exist—in specific subjects, regions, and ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Cities can end ‘food deserts’ by ending ‘crime oases’
But why is that? With urban crime out of control, nobody wants to open a store where unprosecuted theft drives unsustainable losses and random acts of violence are bottomless liabilities. To end urban “food deserts,” cities must end crime oases keeping businesses away from residents most in need. The U.S. ...
Flawed Project Homekey now immersed in scandal
My Pacific Research Institute colleague Kerry Jackson and I have written extensively about the inherent flaws of Project Homekey. As a refresher, Project Homekey is Gov. Gavin Newsom’s main program for addressing the state’s homelessness problem. It attempts to leverage the current hotel and motel infrastructure to move people from ...
Read latest about push for electric vehicles
California’s No-Car Salesman
Recently, Politico saucily reported that “Gavin Newsom is coming for your car, and he wants you to know it.” And below the headline: “The talked-about presidential contender is carving out an underutilized lane: climate crusader.” It’s hardly an empty lane. In fact, politicians are constantly crashing into each other just ...
Three Things I Would Like to See in the First Presidential Debate
Moderators, It’s Not About You Viewers anticipating the traditional presidential debate format will be in for a surprise as Presidents Biden and Trump opted not to participate in the debates proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates. This year’s presidential debates will be hosted by CNN and ABC News. One ...
Is government homeless spending really making a difference?
Inconsistencies Plague Sacramento’s Latest Homeless Count
Sometimes, when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. This can be especially true when it comes to data being touted in government reports. Take China’s government economic data, for example. The Chinese Communist machine routinely manipulates economic data to please their political superiors. The reported statistics ...
City HAL 9000: Do cities overpromise AI’s benefits?
Denver is using it to “speed up the approval and delivery of … coupons” that allow “residents to recycle televisions, monitors and other electronics at a discount.” The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada is using it to “understand traffic patterns and safety issues at select intersections in the Las Vegas Valley.” ...
Buses should be transportation, not homeless shelters
“At night time, from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., the homeless have nowhere to go,” a man who posted a video of a downtown-to-Santa Monica Metro bus filled with slumbering homeless told the Los Angeles Fox affiliate. “So they all get on the buses and they ride the buses all ...
