Infrastructure
Agriculture
Facing Down Fear of a Mega-Drought
Four years ago, then-Gov. Jerry Brown announced the end of California’s historically severe drought by lifting various emergency restrictions. “This drought emergency is over, but the next drought could be around the corner,” the governor intoned. “Conservation must remain a way of life.” Brown was right about the next drought now ...
Commentary
Biden’s infrastructure plan reinforces elderly care failings
President Joe Biden is continuing his quest to inject more government into our healthcare system. His $2 trillion infrastructure plan would direct $400 billion to expand Medicaid coverage for at-home and community-based care for the elderly. It’s the costliest line item in the package. Nearly 75% of likely voters support the measure, according to recent polling. ...
Blog
Corrupting Infrastructure in Order to Expand the Federal Government’s Size and Scope
Allusions to George Orwell’s 1984 are often overdone, but the applicability is simply too great to ignore. After all, how else do you refer to a proposed $2.7 trillion infrastructure package that spends only 16-cents on the dollar for infrastructure? Having reviewed the President’s proposed package based on the White ...
Blackouts
California’s Energy Policy Risks Tilting at Windmills as Electric Car Sales Grow
A cosmic policy convergence is brewing a nasty storm that will hit California hard in a few years. With deadlines for an all-renewable electricity grid as well as the end of sales of new gasoline-powered cars bearing down on the state, we’re facing a future of commonplace blackouts and energy ...
Blog
Will Vaccine Passports Hasten California Exodus?
Orange County is testing a digital vaccine passport, but so far, there’s been no movement at the state level to require all Californians to present their papers to freely move about. Meanwhile, Texas, Florida, and Idaho have banned vaccine passports. Other red states are likely to follow. Should Sacramento decide ...
Blog
Why the Senate Parliamentarian Budget Reconciliation Approval is a Big Deal
Any comedy lovers and fans of stand-up comedians know that the number one rule of improv, or “improvisation,” is to say yes. The United States Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough is doing her best improv impersonation by saying yes (again) to Senate Democrats in their quest to use the budget reconciliation ...
Blog
Winners and Losers – April 9
Tim Anaya – Senior Director of Communications and PRI’s Sacramento Office Winners: Stanford University’s Women’s Basketball Team – They had to withstand two one point, nail biter victories in the Final Four, but Stanford University’s women’s basketball team emerged victorious this week in the NCAA Women’s Basketball championship and delivered ...
Blog
The Bullet Train Looking More Like A Dud All The Time
A California high-speed rail contractor has warned the project’s state authority that due to delays in land procurement, completion of the line’s first leg is at risk of falling behind by two years. Sounds like we’re just catching up on old news. We’re not. The bullet train has run into ...
Blog
Maybe It Won’t Be So Easy to Pass These Tax Hikes
Much of the political energy in Sacramento and Washington lately has focused on taxes. Speculation has focused on which taxes liberal politicians will raise, and by how much. While pundits are all but declaring it a fait accompli, two recent developments suggest it will be more difficult than first thought. ...
Agriculture
What Secretary Yellen and Chairman Powell’s Congressional Testimony Mean
There’s a great parable relayed in the movie Charlie Wilson’s War between Rep. Charles Wilson and CIA agent Gust Avrakotos, played by Tom Hanks and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It’s about a Zen master and a boy. The Zen master repeats the phrase, “we’ll see,” while others in the fable quickly ...
Facing Down Fear of a Mega-Drought
Four years ago, then-Gov. Jerry Brown announced the end of California’s historically severe drought by lifting various emergency restrictions. “This drought emergency is over, but the next drought could be around the corner,” the governor intoned. “Conservation must remain a way of life.” Brown was right about the next drought now ...
Biden’s infrastructure plan reinforces elderly care failings
President Joe Biden is continuing his quest to inject more government into our healthcare system. His $2 trillion infrastructure plan would direct $400 billion to expand Medicaid coverage for at-home and community-based care for the elderly. It’s the costliest line item in the package. Nearly 75% of likely voters support the measure, according to recent polling. ...
Corrupting Infrastructure in Order to Expand the Federal Government’s Size and Scope
Allusions to George Orwell’s 1984 are often overdone, but the applicability is simply too great to ignore. After all, how else do you refer to a proposed $2.7 trillion infrastructure package that spends only 16-cents on the dollar for infrastructure? Having reviewed the President’s proposed package based on the White ...
California’s Energy Policy Risks Tilting at Windmills as Electric Car Sales Grow
A cosmic policy convergence is brewing a nasty storm that will hit California hard in a few years. With deadlines for an all-renewable electricity grid as well as the end of sales of new gasoline-powered cars bearing down on the state, we’re facing a future of commonplace blackouts and energy ...
Will Vaccine Passports Hasten California Exodus?
Orange County is testing a digital vaccine passport, but so far, there’s been no movement at the state level to require all Californians to present their papers to freely move about. Meanwhile, Texas, Florida, and Idaho have banned vaccine passports. Other red states are likely to follow. Should Sacramento decide ...
Why the Senate Parliamentarian Budget Reconciliation Approval is a Big Deal
Any comedy lovers and fans of stand-up comedians know that the number one rule of improv, or “improvisation,” is to say yes. The United States Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough is doing her best improv impersonation by saying yes (again) to Senate Democrats in their quest to use the budget reconciliation ...
Winners and Losers – April 9
Tim Anaya – Senior Director of Communications and PRI’s Sacramento Office Winners: Stanford University’s Women’s Basketball Team – They had to withstand two one point, nail biter victories in the Final Four, but Stanford University’s women’s basketball team emerged victorious this week in the NCAA Women’s Basketball championship and delivered ...
The Bullet Train Looking More Like A Dud All The Time
A California high-speed rail contractor has warned the project’s state authority that due to delays in land procurement, completion of the line’s first leg is at risk of falling behind by two years. Sounds like we’re just catching up on old news. We’re not. The bullet train has run into ...
Maybe It Won’t Be So Easy to Pass These Tax Hikes
Much of the political energy in Sacramento and Washington lately has focused on taxes. Speculation has focused on which taxes liberal politicians will raise, and by how much. While pundits are all but declaring it a fait accompli, two recent developments suggest it will be more difficult than first thought. ...
What Secretary Yellen and Chairman Powell’s Congressional Testimony Mean
There’s a great parable relayed in the movie Charlie Wilson’s War between Rep. Charles Wilson and CIA agent Gust Avrakotos, played by Tom Hanks and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It’s about a Zen master and a boy. The Zen master repeats the phrase, “we’ll see,” while others in the fable quickly ...
