Blog
Blog
Covid-19 Lockdowns Brings Rise in Black Market
Media reports that some California businesses have gone underground during the pandemic lockdown should surprise no one. When politicians ban activities, both those accepted by society and those considered less honorable, they drive them into black markets. The desires and needs of our nature aren’t easy to legislate. Humans are ...
Kerry Jackson
January 26, 2021
Blog
LA’s New DA: A Case of Buyers’ Remorse?
After just two years in office, more than 1,000,000 disgruntled Californians have signed a petition to recall Gavin Newsom. But in less than two months, many Los Angelenos already have buyers’ remorse with its new district attorney, George Gascón. A “Recall George Gascón” candlelight vigil was recently held in front ...
Rowena Itchon
January 25, 2021
Blog
Winners and Losers – January 22
Tim Anaya, Senior Director of Communications and PRI’s Sacramento Office Winner: Amanda Gorman – At the risk of a social media backlash, I will admit that I was not a big fan of the first National Young Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman’s poem at the Biden inaugural this week. Poetry slams ...
Pacific Research Institute
January 22, 2021
Blog
Apple’s Superbowl “1984” Ad – Who’s Big Brother Now?
It was 38 years ago this weekend when during Super Bowl XVIII, Apple debuted one of the most powerful and provocative ads of all time. “1984” opens with an army of clone-like humans marching into a theater to watch on a giant screen a menacing Big Brother figure glorifying the ...
Rowena Itchon
January 21, 2021
Blog
Businesses To Bear The Burden Of Another Government Mandate
On the second business day after the state’s higher minimum wage took effect, employers in Los Angeles County had another weight dropped on them. The County Board of Supervisors approved a $5 an hour increase in “front-line” workers’ wages. It applies to “stores located in the unincorporated areas of the ...
Kerry Jackson
January 20, 2021
Blog
It’s the Payment System
Effectively addressing the drug affordability problem requires an understanding of its causes. Toward this end, the rhetoric of Matt Eyles, the president and chief executive of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), is unhelpful. According to Eyles, “Americans are being hurt by out-of-control drug prices, which are set and fully controlled ...
Wayne Winegarden
January 19, 2021
Blog
New Senate Majority Means Blue State Bailout on Horizon
While Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, and Democrats across America were cheering their party’s victories in the Georgia senate runoffs, no one was probably cheering louder than Gov. Gavin Newsom and his fellow blue state governors (plus scores of Democratic mayors). Once the two new senators are sworn in and Californian ...
Tim Anaya
January 18, 2021
Blog
Californians Reverse the State’s Legislature Providing a Fighting Chance for Innovation
Last month, Californians may very well have begun the process of saving their state, reversing a move by the state legislature. They voted by a large margin via Proposition 22 to preserve the ability of people to pursue flexible working arrangements if they so choose. In September 2019, the California ...
Bartlett Cleland
January 14, 2021
Blog
A New Year, A Promising New Education Model
With the disastrous education landscape of 2020 now in the rear-view mirror, the New Year offers the opportunity to consider new ways of delivering effective learning to America’s children. Portal Schools is one such promising model. Confronted with student-learning catastrophes during the COVID crisis, some states, according to a new ...
Lance Izumi
January 13, 2021
Blog
The Next California Gubernatorial Recall Election Will Be Held In …
When voters replaced Democrat Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor in 2003, it was the first time in the state’s 153-year history (at that point) it had recalled a governor. A growing exasperation with the current occupant of the office suggests Californians might not wait that long before ...
Kerry Jackson
January 12, 2021
Covid-19 Lockdowns Brings Rise in Black Market
Media reports that some California businesses have gone underground during the pandemic lockdown should surprise no one. When politicians ban activities, both those accepted by society and those considered less honorable, they drive them into black markets. The desires and needs of our nature aren’t easy to legislate. Humans are ...
LA’s New DA: A Case of Buyers’ Remorse?
After just two years in office, more than 1,000,000 disgruntled Californians have signed a petition to recall Gavin Newsom. But in less than two months, many Los Angelenos already have buyers’ remorse with its new district attorney, George Gascón. A “Recall George Gascón” candlelight vigil was recently held in front ...
Winners and Losers – January 22
Tim Anaya, Senior Director of Communications and PRI’s Sacramento Office Winner: Amanda Gorman – At the risk of a social media backlash, I will admit that I was not a big fan of the first National Young Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman’s poem at the Biden inaugural this week. Poetry slams ...
Apple’s Superbowl “1984” Ad – Who’s Big Brother Now?
It was 38 years ago this weekend when during Super Bowl XVIII, Apple debuted one of the most powerful and provocative ads of all time. “1984” opens with an army of clone-like humans marching into a theater to watch on a giant screen a menacing Big Brother figure glorifying the ...
Businesses To Bear The Burden Of Another Government Mandate
On the second business day after the state’s higher minimum wage took effect, employers in Los Angeles County had another weight dropped on them. The County Board of Supervisors approved a $5 an hour increase in “front-line” workers’ wages. It applies to “stores located in the unincorporated areas of the ...
It’s the Payment System
Effectively addressing the drug affordability problem requires an understanding of its causes. Toward this end, the rhetoric of Matt Eyles, the president and chief executive of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), is unhelpful. According to Eyles, “Americans are being hurt by out-of-control drug prices, which are set and fully controlled ...
New Senate Majority Means Blue State Bailout on Horizon
While Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, and Democrats across America were cheering their party’s victories in the Georgia senate runoffs, no one was probably cheering louder than Gov. Gavin Newsom and his fellow blue state governors (plus scores of Democratic mayors). Once the two new senators are sworn in and Californian ...
Californians Reverse the State’s Legislature Providing a Fighting Chance for Innovation
Last month, Californians may very well have begun the process of saving their state, reversing a move by the state legislature. They voted by a large margin via Proposition 22 to preserve the ability of people to pursue flexible working arrangements if they so choose. In September 2019, the California ...
A New Year, A Promising New Education Model
With the disastrous education landscape of 2020 now in the rear-view mirror, the New Year offers the opportunity to consider new ways of delivering effective learning to America’s children. Portal Schools is one such promising model. Confronted with student-learning catastrophes during the COVID crisis, some states, according to a new ...
The Next California Gubernatorial Recall Election Will Be Held In …
When voters replaced Democrat Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor in 2003, it was the first time in the state’s 153-year history (at that point) it had recalled a governor. A growing exasperation with the current occupant of the office suggests Californians might not wait that long before ...