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Blog
Read End of Session Preview
Three Bills to Watch in Final Two Weeks of Legislative Session
While new speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) probably lines up along the same lines ideologically as his predecessor Speaker Emeritus Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), their styles could not be more different. As San Francisco Chronicle columnist Emily Hoeven recently put it, “Rendon had given his appointed committee chairs outsized authority, allowing them ...
Blog
Mandates jamming big-city hospitals beyond capacity
Mandates jamming big-city hospitals beyond capacity by John Seiler | September 2, 2023 IN FEBRUARY 2010 SHARP PAINS STRUCK MY GUT around 8 a.m. I drove from my apartment in Huntington Beach to Newport Beach and Hoag Hospital, one of the country’s best, parked and struggled into the emergency room. ...
Blog
Read about latest push for rent control
Seattle rejects rent control in win for sound economics
It’s always a breath of fresh air when elected officials have a grasp on basic economics. On August 1, the Seattle City Council voted 6-to-2 to reject a rent control proposal from termed-out Socialist Alternative Councilmember Kshama Sawant. Sawant proposed a rent control trigger law that would impose a strict, ...
Blog
Read about latest bill to undermine public safety
SB 94 – Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics – Murderers do not “Age Out”
They received those sentences because their crimes are uniquely heinous and include one or more factors known as “special circumstances” that can include, the murder of public safety officers or officials, murders for financial gain, the use of torture, murders of multiple victims, prior convictions for murder, the use of ...
Blog
Read about an innovative new California school
New School Year, New Hope for At-Risk Students
I report on a lot of bad news about education in California, which is why it was so invigorating to attend the inaugural opening day of Cristo Rey Orange County, an innovative Catholic school that combines rigorous academics with a unique work-study program that has proved successful for countless students ...
Blog
Read about controversial Sacramento Forward plan
So-Called Sacramento Forward Plan Would Take City Backwards on Housing, Homelessness
In my most recent blog, I documented the city of Sacramento’s worsening homeless problem, and the inaction by city leaders to get the problem under control. Now entering the policy void are a troika of left-wing city councilmembers who have put forward a plan called “Sacramento Forward” that would be ...
Blog
America’s future cities: A case for decentralization
America’s future cities: A case for decentralization As the virulence of the COVID pandemic subsided in 2020, a new phrase, “urban doom loop,” became a common way to describe the failure of America’s downtowns to recover economically. The concept is simple enough. As occupancy in downtown buildings declines, businesses that ...
Blog
Read latest from Free Cities Center
Misusing ‘externality’ theories to bolster government power
In a recent article, economist Timothy D. Terrell pointed out problems in modern economic theory that deal with what economists call externalities, or spillover costs, noting that in a world in which value is subjective, attempts to find objective ways to allay costs are elusive and generally end in failure. ...
Blog
Read latest on California's growing crime problem
Murders are up – We’re just dying less.
Writing for The Atlantic recently, Jeff Asher predicted that, “The United States may be experiencing one of the largest annual percent changes in murder ever recorded, according to my preliminary data.” That’s a bold statement and will undoubtedly be used to evaluate the effectiveness of criminal justice policies around the ...
Blog
Read about latest minimum wage push
New Proposal Would Raise Minimum Wage to $30 for Theme Park, Hotel Workers
Board Chair Janice Hahn and Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath have ginned up a minimum-wage hike for hotel and theme park employees working at sites in unincorporated parts of the county. The idea was introduced at the Board’s Aug. 8 meeting and will be considered as a motion on Sept. 12. ...
Read End of Session Preview
Three Bills to Watch in Final Two Weeks of Legislative Session
While new speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) probably lines up along the same lines ideologically as his predecessor Speaker Emeritus Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), their styles could not be more different. As San Francisco Chronicle columnist Emily Hoeven recently put it, “Rendon had given his appointed committee chairs outsized authority, allowing them ...
Mandates jamming big-city hospitals beyond capacity
Mandates jamming big-city hospitals beyond capacity by John Seiler | September 2, 2023 IN FEBRUARY 2010 SHARP PAINS STRUCK MY GUT around 8 a.m. I drove from my apartment in Huntington Beach to Newport Beach and Hoag Hospital, one of the country’s best, parked and struggled into the emergency room. ...
Read about latest push for rent control
Seattle rejects rent control in win for sound economics
It’s always a breath of fresh air when elected officials have a grasp on basic economics. On August 1, the Seattle City Council voted 6-to-2 to reject a rent control proposal from termed-out Socialist Alternative Councilmember Kshama Sawant. Sawant proposed a rent control trigger law that would impose a strict, ...
Read about latest bill to undermine public safety
SB 94 – Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics – Murderers do not “Age Out”
They received those sentences because their crimes are uniquely heinous and include one or more factors known as “special circumstances” that can include, the murder of public safety officers or officials, murders for financial gain, the use of torture, murders of multiple victims, prior convictions for murder, the use of ...
Read about an innovative new California school
New School Year, New Hope for At-Risk Students
I report on a lot of bad news about education in California, which is why it was so invigorating to attend the inaugural opening day of Cristo Rey Orange County, an innovative Catholic school that combines rigorous academics with a unique work-study program that has proved successful for countless students ...
Read about controversial Sacramento Forward plan
So-Called Sacramento Forward Plan Would Take City Backwards on Housing, Homelessness
In my most recent blog, I documented the city of Sacramento’s worsening homeless problem, and the inaction by city leaders to get the problem under control. Now entering the policy void are a troika of left-wing city councilmembers who have put forward a plan called “Sacramento Forward” that would be ...
America’s future cities: A case for decentralization
America’s future cities: A case for decentralization As the virulence of the COVID pandemic subsided in 2020, a new phrase, “urban doom loop,” became a common way to describe the failure of America’s downtowns to recover economically. The concept is simple enough. As occupancy in downtown buildings declines, businesses that ...
Read latest from Free Cities Center
Misusing ‘externality’ theories to bolster government power
In a recent article, economist Timothy D. Terrell pointed out problems in modern economic theory that deal with what economists call externalities, or spillover costs, noting that in a world in which value is subjective, attempts to find objective ways to allay costs are elusive and generally end in failure. ...
Read latest on California's growing crime problem
Murders are up – We’re just dying less.
Writing for The Atlantic recently, Jeff Asher predicted that, “The United States may be experiencing one of the largest annual percent changes in murder ever recorded, according to my preliminary data.” That’s a bold statement and will undoubtedly be used to evaluate the effectiveness of criminal justice policies around the ...
Read about latest minimum wage push
New Proposal Would Raise Minimum Wage to $30 for Theme Park, Hotel Workers
Board Chair Janice Hahn and Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath have ginned up a minimum-wage hike for hotel and theme park employees working at sites in unincorporated parts of the county. The idea was introduced at the Board’s Aug. 8 meeting and will be considered as a motion on Sept. 12. ...
