Commentary
Business & Economics
Sunset In Taxifornia?
Deficits: We’ve been hard on Arnold Schwarzenegger in recent months, but we’re foursquare behind the California governor in his effort to balance the state’s budget without raising taxes. The Golden State’s $18.6 billion budget deficit, the nation’s largest, is the result of uncontrolled spending by the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature — ...
Business & Economics
Largest, smallest tax burdens
California is tied for last place on yet another study of how and what states tax. The report, “Taxifornia,” is part of the California Prosperity Project by the Pacific Research Institute, a free-market advocacy group. Here are the five least burdensome states, based on a 10-point scale (10 is best): ...
Business & Economics
Can Government Balance Nature by Killing Sea Lions?
SACRAMENTO – California sea lions sometimes swim some 90 miles up the Sacramento River, passing the state capitol on their journey. A local fisherman, Mr. Larry Legans, has been accused of shooting a sea lion for consuming the fish he caught. Mr. Legans, who faces three years in prison and ...
Business & Economics
Arnold, for once, is right
From fiscal failure to green destructiveness to an utter lack of courage when it would have mattered most, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tenure in office has not been an exercise in analytic rigor. But on one proposal – the sale and leaseback of 11 state office buildings – Arnold is correct, ...
Business & Economics
Artificially low interest rates bad for economy
Ultra-low interest rates fueled the housing bubble, thanks to former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan’s direction. And Americans should brace for another crash because that practice has continued. The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee recently announced it would maintain a target of zero to 0.25 percent for the federal funds rate ...
Business & Economics
Bankers vs. Everyone
Libertarian Ron Paul’s “Audit the Fed” movement has gained the support of socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and conservative Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). At the same time, anarchists in Greece riot against fiscal austerity measures, while organs of the strongest government on the planet—namely, the U.S. Justice Department and SEC—accuse ...
Business & Economics
Democrats dreamin’ — a public demanding tax hikes
California’s Assembly Democrats want you to be part of the state’s budget solution, which is how they are touting a series of live budget forums across the state. One took place Saturday in San Diego and the next one is scheduled May 13 in the Bay Area city of Albany. ...
Business & Economics
Spending will confine Americans to debtors’ prison
The Congressional Budget Office recently updated its estimates of the fiscal impact of the Obama administration’s proposals. The results are breathtaking, and show that the federal government is making a great leap forward into the red. While there is still time, taxpayers should be asking some tough questions. The CBO ...
Business & Economics
High taxes choke off jobs for Rhode Islanders
Rhode Island is still struggling with unemployment, a sluggish economic recovery, and increasing worker anxiety. It’s worthwhile to understand how tax policies generated on Smith Hill are hurting a state the recession has hit particularly hard. At 12.7 percent unemployment, Rhode Island has the country’s third-highest rate. Equally disturbing is ...
Business & Economics
Kansas needs better lobbying laws
Recent scandals, out-of-control spending and ongoing fiscal crises have all boosted interest in lobbying. Much of the new interest, understandably, is targeted on Washington, D.C. More scrutiny should trickle down to states that need it, such as Kansas. Overall, Kansas ranked a disappointing 42nd among states in lobbying transparency with ...
Sunset In Taxifornia?
Deficits: We’ve been hard on Arnold Schwarzenegger in recent months, but we’re foursquare behind the California governor in his effort to balance the state’s budget without raising taxes. The Golden State’s $18.6 billion budget deficit, the nation’s largest, is the result of uncontrolled spending by the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature — ...
Largest, smallest tax burdens
California is tied for last place on yet another study of how and what states tax. The report, “Taxifornia,” is part of the California Prosperity Project by the Pacific Research Institute, a free-market advocacy group. Here are the five least burdensome states, based on a 10-point scale (10 is best): ...
Can Government Balance Nature by Killing Sea Lions?
SACRAMENTO – California sea lions sometimes swim some 90 miles up the Sacramento River, passing the state capitol on their journey. A local fisherman, Mr. Larry Legans, has been accused of shooting a sea lion for consuming the fish he caught. Mr. Legans, who faces three years in prison and ...
Arnold, for once, is right
From fiscal failure to green destructiveness to an utter lack of courage when it would have mattered most, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tenure in office has not been an exercise in analytic rigor. But on one proposal – the sale and leaseback of 11 state office buildings – Arnold is correct, ...
Artificially low interest rates bad for economy
Ultra-low interest rates fueled the housing bubble, thanks to former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan’s direction. And Americans should brace for another crash because that practice has continued. The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee recently announced it would maintain a target of zero to 0.25 percent for the federal funds rate ...
Bankers vs. Everyone
Libertarian Ron Paul’s “Audit the Fed” movement has gained the support of socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and conservative Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). At the same time, anarchists in Greece riot against fiscal austerity measures, while organs of the strongest government on the planet—namely, the U.S. Justice Department and SEC—accuse ...
Democrats dreamin’ — a public demanding tax hikes
California’s Assembly Democrats want you to be part of the state’s budget solution, which is how they are touting a series of live budget forums across the state. One took place Saturday in San Diego and the next one is scheduled May 13 in the Bay Area city of Albany. ...
Spending will confine Americans to debtors’ prison
The Congressional Budget Office recently updated its estimates of the fiscal impact of the Obama administration’s proposals. The results are breathtaking, and show that the federal government is making a great leap forward into the red. While there is still time, taxpayers should be asking some tough questions. The CBO ...
High taxes choke off jobs for Rhode Islanders
Rhode Island is still struggling with unemployment, a sluggish economic recovery, and increasing worker anxiety. It’s worthwhile to understand how tax policies generated on Smith Hill are hurting a state the recession has hit particularly hard. At 12.7 percent unemployment, Rhode Island has the country’s third-highest rate. Equally disturbing is ...
Kansas needs better lobbying laws
Recent scandals, out-of-control spending and ongoing fiscal crises have all boosted interest in lobbying. Much of the new interest, understandably, is targeted on Washington, D.C. More scrutiny should trickle down to states that need it, such as Kansas. Overall, Kansas ranked a disappointing 42nd among states in lobbying transparency with ...
